3am at Trattoria

Rest : Trattoria
Loc : Vivanta/Taj President, Cuffe Parade
Meal : 3am chow down

Trattoria (previous visits here, here)at the Taj President continues to be the perennial 3am joint, especially when hunger strikes during the glorious hours of 1 - 5 am. This is when 'Trats' really comes alive, in my near 20 years that i have been goin there, i dont think i have ever been there when the sun was out.

To be fair, Trats is more than a late night coffee shop, they serve just one cuisine and is actually a far superior alternative when compared to the traditional something for everyone 5 star coffee shops such as Shamiana at the Taj Palace & Tower or Bayview at Marine Plaza which are more or less nearby.

The roast tomato soup with goats cheese, was brilliant, not as good as the one from Hornby's Pavilion but still pretty good.

Followed up with a salad of spinach with feta, walnut and a balsamic vinaigrette, possibly the weakest dish of the evening. Looked like a winning mix, bitter spinach, sour feta and sweet drizzle, its a combination that has worked well before but this time just sort of fell flat.

The garlic bread served with the soup was yummy, unfortunately the bread basket that came in otherwise was pretty bare. Seems like five stars are scrimping nowadays as well.


The pizzas on the menu are all top notch, i dont think i have ever had a bad one. This one was a thin crust with peppers and olives. Just brilliant. I usually pick their lasagna which is luscious and the wife always goes for the pizza. Smart woman that.

A mousse of some kind from what i recall, we skipped on the tiramisu, not bad but nothing spectacular.

On the whole, the restaurant continues to serve awesome food, so long as you stick to the tried and tested dishes, experiment too much and you could end up with something below par. Be prepared for a large, extremely noisy crowd even at 3 am, the place is quite a fish market, with a fair sprinkling of obnoxious drunks during the weekend.

Service is quick and friendly as expected.

What is your fav 3am place?

Food : 7/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 2000 without drinks.

Candies

Meal : Candies
Loc : Pali Hill, Bandra West

After a meeting in the killing fields of Andheri-Kurla, we were headed back to the more familiar and preferable confines of South Bombay, as has become a habit, we either dine at the hotels that line the Western Express Highway or make our way to Bandra. Not in the mood for a long drawn out sit down lunch, we debated between Moshe & Cafe Basilico but ultimately agreed on trying out Candies.


Candies is part of Bandra lore and though i have been coming to Bandra a lot more over the last five years than i ever did in the 25 before that, i never had a chance to try Candies. They serve a variety of pre-cooked meals which are heated up and ready to serve. Spaghetti, Thai Curry, Paneer Makhani etc are all on offer.

Also on the menu is an all day breakfast as well as a large selection of quiches, sandwiches etc. They also have a single serving salad bar (130) which has various salads and a large section for desserts.

We picked up a quiche, a veg patty of some kind and a salad. The quiche was not too bad, the patty however was oily and tasted mediocre at best. The fresh lime soda was brilliant and we had a few more of those.

The Salad is by far the single most interesting of all the dishes they have on offer. I picked up a little bit of each, from memory there was Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, Olives, Croutons, Romaine & Lettuce. Couldnt find any dressing anywhere but no biggy. Every single thing was spectacular, i wish they could just triple up the price and make it all you can eat.

We also picked up some Hummus which was pretty good but was served with some mediocre Lavash, ruined it.

I picked up a small rum ball which was below average, the chocolate cake, i didnt get a chance to taste, its sitting in the refrigerator so maybe i will give it a shot later today.

Overall, Candies is a place geared towards teens and the young college going crowd, folks who are bound to be attracted by the value for money pricing, self service, casual ambiance and varied menu. The place is deceptively huge with seating spread over lots and lots of space, indoors and outdoors and was fairly busy.

The food is hit and miss, i am not a fan of pre-cooked food, so i don't think i would pick any of the dishes unless nothing else was available, most of the sandwiches and rolls seemed unattractive.

The all day breakfast looks attractive, however the salad bar was spectacular. A place like Candies could only exist in Bandra, it would be run down if it were any further and financially un viable if closer to South Bombay. A true Bandra belle this, worth checking out, some might like it and some might not.

Food : 7/10
Service : 5/10
Damage : 500