Papa Pancho

Rest : Papa Pancho da Dhaba
Loc : Bandra West,
Meal : dinner

Many people seem to have noticed my penchant of Bandra joints of late. No i havent moved out of my beloved South Bombay but work carries me out there often. We were recording the title track for my film there and thus dined in the area.

Now, we spent about 10 mins with the car parked to one side trying to figure out where we wanted to dine. The choices were Bonobo, Mabruk and Papa Pancho.Mabruk seemed a touch too far for once, one of the partners at Bonobo is a friend but i wanted something quieter and thus headed to PP.

Papa Pancho is a small place, the novelty of their ambiance has faded with time and the kitsch factor is long gone and plenty of others have imitated the concept on a grander scale.

So, now that the gimmick has worn out its novely, the space has to live and die by its dishes. The menu has not changed in the time i have been coming, although they do have a chalk board full of new dishes listed daily.

The wife got the ol favouraite, Rajma & Chawal, a classic combination (another place famous for this dish is Crystal. The dish comes complete with a pappadum, some yoghurt. Personally i really liked it, the wife insists she can do it better and she is possibly right. BUT i thought it was fairly well done anyway.


My choice was something i have ordered everytime i have been here, Paneer Makhani with a Naan. For some reason i cannot find myself to be too adventurous whilst i am here. I always go for the same dish, which is not like me. Yet, i did so again and was not disappointed. Creamy gravy, soft paneer, rich heavy taste on the spicier side of things. It came with yoghurt and pappadum. Enough to satiate...

I continue to enjoy Papa Pancho even though most people i know do not rate it highly or frequent it. Its not a date kind of place, nor is it a spot for a working lunch.

But if you are in the mood for a quick meal with good food and a helluva value for money price. Head on down.

Food : 8/10
Service : 6/10
Damage 650

Woodside Inn

Rest : Woodside Inn
Meal : Sunday Lunch
Loc : Opp Regal Cinema, Colaba.

Woodside Inn has never really been on my radar, not until the recent redesign anyway. Post the renovation it has become a popular watering hole for corporate types in the area as well as students. Possibly due to its menu which is made up of mostly popular dishes, as well as reasonably priced drinks.

The space itself is split over two levels and seating is fairly limited on the higher floor. The lower floor is the bar area.

i was there for a lunch with cousins and family on a lazy Sunday afternoon. the space was full and quite a few people pop in for breakfast as well. If coming with a large party, its best to reserve a table or get in early. They have no valet so be prepared for problems if arriving at anytime other than Sunday afternoons. Anyway, my mojito was okay, no great shakes.

The roast mushroom with thyme was an average soup. The taste was blandish more or less.

Not bad, surprisingly, we made fun of my brother for getting tomato soup and it turned out to be delicious. Sweet & spicy both at the same time.

Onion rings were, well onion rings. Greasy and not very appetising. Same with the mushrooms that came with the basket.

The garlic bread with cheese was delicious.

The salad was not bad, bitter roqo with sweet figs and balsamic drizzle was a great combination.

The pesto was a badly ordered dish. instead of ordering of the menu, we asked for a penne with pasta and it came with pretty much a plain penne with pasta. i.e. sweet sauce, no garlic, no veggies nothing. Dreadful.

The jalapeno ravioli with saffron cream was a dish with no real purpose. It wasnt flavourful nor was it spicy. Once the creamy sauce cooled it was pretty disgusting.

The veggie lasagna was above average. Interesting mix of vegetables and yet a fairly light dish. It was enjoyable allright.

The Margaritha wa stupendous. Thin, crispy, sourish, the best dish of the luncheon i reckon. A pity it was so small. We ended up calling for two more.

Goat cheese pizza was the other one we called for. I personally loved it but i guess goat cheese is not a taste appreciated by my plebian brothers.

The molten chocolate was a boring dessert and tasted boringly good.

The tiramisu capuccino was not bad, they got the ingredients just right. Went down pretty good.

Overall, the food is a lot of hits and misses. Some things work while some dont work at all, so The menu is varied enough to attract appeal to all kinds and the pricing is just about right. So if they get some of their dishes right they could really become a solid offering.

The service was allright, a little scatter brained but not too bad.

Food : 7/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 3800 for 6 with one cocktail

Interview @ The Diplomat

Hey, got interviewed by the lovely Ulara Nakagawa who writes out of the Tokyo bureau of The Diplomat.

Full interview is here

Lemongrass

Hello everyone, its been a while since i updated. Thanks to everyone who commented and emailed about the lack of updates. Good to know people take this blog seriously :)

Have been eating out regularly but no place new and my schedule has not helped much. Most of my writing of late has been related to my film. But im back with a new update. Enjoy!


Rest : Lemongrass
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Turner Road Bandra, West

Lemongrass is an old name in Thai, they had an outing in central Bombay a few years ago, for a brief period they were a reasonably priced option for good food and drinks, however things went down the tube very quickly. So it was with great terpidation that i chose to give them a shot again. Had just finished a meeting and we wanted to check out something new, the first name that popped up was Lemongrass and we decided to give them one more shot.


The menu is the same as before, which means a few soups, salads, some appetizers and curries. Its opened up in the same space as the ol Potpurri and not much has been changed except for a small A/C section. We got in about 10 and it was pretty much packed which is good on a Monday night.

I started with the Tom Kha, which is pretty much standard for me now, when i pick Thai. Good but not great, i didnt like the little pieces of chilly that i bit into (oww) not a bad start.

The satay was pretty decent. no real complaints, the peanut sauce was sweet, spicy and plenty flavourful.
Thanks to the wife, i had to have a go at the most inauthentic dish on the menu, fried chilli potato, sweet and spicy again, a hint of honey maybe.

the bowl sounded interesting but it was fairly weak, it was a bunch of different mushrooms and peppers in a light sauce, could have worked better with something more flavourful, quite unfortunate.

The two ladies wanted to go for a green curry and i was outvoted. It can get a little boring when picking traditional items, i wanted to go for the spicy cashew curry, maybe next time i reckon. Although the curry was not bad at all, not quite an intense flavour but not bad at all.

Overall, i would say Lemongrass has again started out strongly, the menu is varied and the food is good. The service was quick and the place was packed. I only hope they dont make a mess of it like they did before.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1100 for 3

Lemon Grass
Carlton Court,
Junction of Turner Road,
Bandra (W), Mumbai