Sunday, December 04, 2011

Hot Review - Smoke House Deli

Rest : Smoke House Deli
Meal : Lunch
Loc: High Street Phoenix near McDonalds

Smoke House Deli is the brand spanking new restaurant in whats turning out to be the most attractive one stop shop for eating out, High Street Phoenix. The entrance is so subtle you could just miss it, so watch out between for the white door between McDonalds and the Blue Foods monstrosities Noodle Bar & Bombay Blue.

You walk in and the first thing that strikes you is that it is perhaps the most original, interesting and attractive space this city has seen in a long time. While Veda located a few feet away interprets all that is excessive about India, Smoke House Deli interprets, simplicity with quirky hand drawn art on its walls (i have been looking into their design, turns out its actually very cheap for a restaurant so full marks for originality and a lesson to everyone who thinks money trumps originality. More on the decor here)



The menu is directly in competition with the Indigo Deli's and Moshe's of the world, both of which have a presence only a few meters away. There is a breakfast section as well as a separate offering of eggs any which way. Sandwiches & Burgers, Soups & Salads and Mains round up the rest.


They have a full service license which means wine and booze, since we were there for lunch, skipped out on the cocktails but went for a Sangria which was awesome. The iced tea was sans sugar, considering my recent health scare (more on that some other day) but tasted allright.



The Greek salad was near perfect, gobbled it down fairly quick, nothing to say really, spot on.. just what a Greek salad should taste like. The feta makes or breaks it, there have been times when folk have used weaker or staler feta at times, which pretty much kills it.


The second salad we had was a sweety sweet mix of figs, pine , grapes et al. the salad was pretty good but a tad too sweet with grapes in there. if they just through in some goats cheese in there to dial down the sweetness, it would kill.


The spinach ravioli was not too bad, unfortunately for my wife who ordered it and fortunately for me it was not as big a portion as my entree.. :)


The penne in tomato and garlic dashed with Gorgonzola cream was simple and that was great. Nothing heavy, nothing overt, simple taste of tomatoes, garlic and pasta.. good stuff.


The bread basket was small but filled with fresh bread and was served in a little bag reminiscent of how they used to serve their bread back in the day at Salt Water Grill.. (thank you Maharashtra Government for robbing us of a brilliant location and continue pillaging do not stop till the well runs dry) The fresh butter was also pretty awesome.

The dessert was a Creme Brulee, which was pretty good, and a chocolate tort which was everything a chocolate torte should taste like and more.

Overall Smoke House Deli is a welcome addition to what is a crowded and competitive space. As i mentioned before, the theme of the menu is similar to both Indigo Deli & Moshe's and despite  Indigo Deli being the big daddy, the Smoke House Deli is younger and less intimidating (and i still cant get over the decor)

Hopefully SMD can keep up to the mark like Indigo Deli has which has been reason enough to over look what is terrible service.

Price wise too, they score, roughly 20% cheaper than Indigo Deli they are greater value for money and also have soup and half sandwich options for a soup + half a sandwich 400 a pop (which by comparison is a steal) 

Service was reasonably quick and friendly.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 3000 for 2 with a Sangria each.










7 comments:

Srishti said...

Hey Gaurav, I was wondering if there were one or two restaurants you'd say were an absolute must-visit in Bombay.

I'll be there for a week and want to make the most of it, but coming from New York I'm more excited about the Indian food rather than the Mediterranean/European fare which seems to be served at most top restaurants.

I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Gaurav said...

Srishti, you haven't mentioned what part of town you will be in nor your budget. So from a general perspective I recommend you check out Kebabs n Kurries at ITC Parel, Dum Pukth at ITC Maratha near the international airport for North Indian. For South Indian check out Konkan Cafe at the President or Dakshin at ITC Maratha, both serve a bunch of different thalis.
For local maharashtrian fare head down to Prakash at dadar, or vinay in girgaon. Crystal at chowpatty does great home style north Indian for very little money. Swati does various gujju, chat and Parsi dishes and is very popular. Give me specifics and I'll recommend some more but you can't go wrong with any of these.

Srishti said...

Hi Gaurav, yeah sorry about being so vague, but I don't have a set budget and I'm willing to travel if it's worth it so I figured I'd hear what you had to say first.

Heard a lot about Dum Pukth and Kebabs n Kurries, will definitely check them out. I'm also craving Hyderabadi food but I'm not sure how many good options are available in Mumbai, any recommendations?

Thanks!

Gaurav said...

Srishti,

Unfortunately we dont have a dedicated Hyderabadi restaurant as such in the city and Hyderabadi cooking anyway is fairly complex.

However Kebabs n Kurries and Dum Pukth (which is close to the Hyderabadi style of cooking)I recommend you try either Kebabs n Kurries or Dum Pukth as there will be plenty of overlap.

KK has the best of the ITC kitchens, a sort of greatest hits, DP on the other hand is more cuisine specific.

I also recommend you really give Dakshin or Konkan Cafe a shot.. you will not be disappointed. ITC restaurants are staggeringly expensive, so beware.. a meal for 2 without any drinks can easily touch 5-6k.

slowpoke 2687 said...

Great write up. I visited Smoke House Deli last week and the food was amazing. The decor was mindblowing and the service was worth every penny paid. In comparison to Indigo Deli or Moshe's This offering is way better and is now my top spot to eat in Mumbai.

slowpoke 2687 said...

Great write up. I visited Smoke House Deli last week and the food was amazing. The decor was mindblowing and the service was worth every penny paid. In comparison to Indigo Deli or Moshe's This offering is way better and is now my top spot to eat in Mumbai.

Unknown said...

Great place to have your morning breakfast like Vanilla Supple Pancake! I loved the place. I had visited Smoke House Deli at high Street Phoenix. A great place for food lovers!

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