Mani's

Rest : Mani's
Meal : Lunch
Loc : Matunga

I love South Indian thali's just love em, unfortunately neither my wife, nor my brother are big fans, which means i dont end up going as often as i'd like. They are both Cafe Madras fans, which means i drop them there and then drive over to Ramanayak's mostly to have my thali by myself and pick them up on the way back.

In any case, i was meeting a my friend Happy for a working lunch of sorts and was quite excited to return there since my epic Onam lunch last september (here) also my first visit to Mani's is here

The full meal, is served on banana leaves and served in a separate room and is all you can eat. 

not a fan of puris and so glad they serve chapatis here, large enveloping chapatis and crunchy, crunchy papads. 

this is the exact same meal i had at Mani's at my first visit i think, the veggie were great, on their own none of them stand out but together they are a pretty harmonious bunch. immensely enjoyable. 

the pickle is pretty awesome too and i a rarely eat pickle away from home. 

There was Rasam, Sambar, Curd & Buttermilk. my complaint continues to be the same, chilled buttermilk would be awesome but other than that, it was a stupendous meal. nothing to complaint about except the waiter thought i was part of his family and insisted i have an extra chapati and extra pickle. He figured my penchant for buttermilk and got me a couple of glasses.

By the end of it all i was extremely stuffed and did not have dinner. All for a 150 bucks. Enough said.

Food : 9/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 150pp

White Owl

My friend, fellow diner and frequent punching bag Nikhil Merchant (@nikhil_merchant) has taken his skills out to the restaurant world. In collaboration with Chef Kshama of The White Owl, a special new menu has been created and they were kind enough to invite a bunch of us over to check out his creations. 

the first thing out were the poached eggs on garlic toast with mushrooms on a murette sauce, a fairly classic French dish this one, was tremendous. I love poached eggs to begin with, the sauce was perfect but the mushrooms were just stunning. Should have had more. 

the Asian style mango salad with julienned veggies and a hint of chilli, was a spot on summery salad. 

pumpkin gnocchi casserole, im not a fan of pumpkin, while the dish tasted okay, my pumpkin prejudice does not allow to offer a better take. 

the bleu cheese quiche was a tad low on the bleu but tasted okay as quiches go. 

Overall, i thought the food was pretty inventive, not your usual safe generic fare. 

Having dined at Nik's a few times, i reckon he should do more of these and feel free to experiment. and if you ever get invited over to his place for a meal, insist on the sizzler. 

Long and Short

Swung by Long & Short at the Intercontinental Marine drive,  one of my fav new bars a few days ago. They invited us over for a Sunday brunch to hang out with their new team led by Manas Krishnamoorthy who has arrived from The Imperial. 

The Mojito is my fav Summer cocktail and this one was on the money and i love the little jars, though they are found everywhere now, i still love em. 

the salad was a little disappointing as it just did not come together for me. a little too sweet, not enoug bitter or cheese. 

the focaccia was terrific, tasted this one and another both were kickass. 

whiskey with maple syrup, so weird it has to be tried

I was only there for a short while, the drinks are good but the food is the real star at this place. 

Salt Water Cafe

Rest : Salt Water Cafe

Meal : Dinner
Loc : Veer Nariman Road, Churchgate, 

Salt Water Cafe, is a worthy replacement for the quite pointless Mocha brand, a much more mature, upmarket offering this one. 

a decentish bread basket, served in typical SWC/Smoke House style. 

started off with a cheese course because it never works in lieu of dessert. a decent mix, cheddar, gorgonzola, swiss with little toasties. 

the poached pear was disappointing, seemed like it was put together very absentmindedly, the bitter sweet and blue cheesy flavours sound good on paper but just didnt come through. 

This was the potato, ricotta, pea gnocchi, easily one of the best things i have tasted every. simply stunning.  doesnt sound like the greatest of dishes but boy does it come together ! this was under appetizers and little brother picked it but they apparently do an entree sized portion as well. highly recommended. 

kickass mojitos 

the lasgana was decent put together family style, which works best when simple, this wasn't bad per se but had a little too much going on, ingredients wise. 

this was the poutine, tasted awesome but was just a tremendously heavy dish, even two people would be hard pressed to finish this. awesome though. 

Overall, the food was pretty good, except for the odd misfire, most of the dishes come together well. They do a really good set of pickled veggies and feta which is a must try (at least it is in the Bandra outlet)

Service was on the money, pretty prompt though it was a busy evening.

Food : 8/10

Service : 8/10

Damage : 3000 with one cocktail