The Sahib Room

Rest : The Sahib Room
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Palladium 

The Palladium is def one of the more interesting new hotel spaces, having dined at their other restaurants i was happy to accept their invite to check out their new Indian restaurant. 

The space is what you would expect from an upscale fine dine, although they fortunately don't go all native. 

Kim's Game, named after Kipling's great novel, was a little too sweet, a dash of bitters would have perhaps tightened it up. 

i had asked for an old fashioned but they got me a whiskey sour which was just as well because this one was pretty terrific. 

the amuse bouche was a little moong dal bhajiya, which i am not personally a big fan off. 

the lotus stem tikki thing was pretty awesome. i have seen a lot of lotus in asian cooking and only the more courageous or high end Indian cuisine restaurants will bring lotus stems to the fore.

the gucchi ki tikki was brilliant, there was  a really strong after taste of mushroom which was pretty terrific and one doesn't see mushrooms in this form very often.

We got tasting portions of a terrific black dal which was enjoyable. There was a kalonji wala baigan which was in near perfect imitation of a mirchi ka salan . There was a paneer khada masala was spicy and pretty good as was the Jaipuri aloo.

The purvanchal ka saag i didnt like much because i am not a saag guy.

Their selection of breads is also pretty impressive, the garlic naan was terrific and the zaffrani taftan is something i haven't had before. the warqi malai paratha was a little sweet. 

the biryani was pretty decent and went well with the salan and the daal. The burhani raita though was not so great. 

the rabdi was okay but the khubani ka meetha was tops. 

Overall, the food is pretty good, they could do with a slightly wider selection, i find it slightly limited at this point. The dishes over all are not heavy on the gravy or cream but a lot dryer which is a positive change. A comparable meal anywhere else would leave one feeling like a beached whale. 

Although execution is different to your regular North Indian fine dines, I also think that they played it safe with the menu, there are really no Raj era dishes despite the theme which i think is an opportunity lost.

However The Sahib Room stands out in what is a very competitive fine dine space.  

Prego

Rest : Prego

Meal : Dinner 

Loc : Inox 2, Nariman Point

Back at Prego after quite a while for a family dinner the place certainly does not look worse for wear  

Since i was in the area, i ended up at the restaurant early but fortunately i was able to nosh on some bread and delightful tomato salsa.

i also sipped on this halfway decent Bloody  Mary 

my fav thing about mu last prego visit was their anti pasti platter which it turns out its still pretty on the money. However for whatever reason they have gotten rid of the little hunk of gorgonozola or bleu they served along with. 

the lasagna rolls were disappointing, not going anywhere taste wise. 

The stuffed mushrooms were strictly okay. 

Spaghetti in pesto was pretty good, i wish they threw in some sundried tomato in here but it was pretty decent. 

the penne arabbiata was okay, spicy but that was about it. 

loved, loved the pizza they do it pretty well. thin crust, nice sauce. slick. 

the espresso creme brulee was gone in 20 seconds. lightl, fluffy and pretty effing tasty. 

Overall, the food is decent, they continue to do the staples well but their appetizers kind of falter. If they just take things up a notch flavour wise, it would be something. The menu is however fairly generic, so expect no real surprises or experiments.

Service is quick and friendly and the menu is well priced.

Food : 7/10
Service : 8/10
Damages : 5000 for 5 with one cocktail 

Hakkasan

Rest : Hakkasan 

Meal : Lunch 

Loc : Bandra 

I haven't been a fan of Chinese for sometime now as it really messes up my system the day after. So i have been mostly avoiding eating Chinese out. My kid brother on the other hand is a big, big fan and gets a lot of take away from China Garden which is close by.

However he swears by Hakkasan which is is his fav Chinese eatery in Bombay, in fact having studied in London, he was a fan of Hakkasan on Wardour St.

Somehow, getting to Hakkasan never quite worked out but this past week i got an opportunity i couldn't pass up. I frequently dine with some friends and got the opportunity to finally check the space out. (@anaggh, @theflyingsikh, @girishmallya) 

All i drink in the day.. 

The dim sum platter was fantastic, the black fungus dumpling was exquisite as was the crystal dumpling. The chive dumpling and the lotus roll were excellent as well. 

i think these were the carrot cake, spicy but excellent. 

these might have been the wild mushroom and veggies wrap, can't be sure but i remember eating most of em and they were pretty kick ass. 

stir fry french beans were a win, i wouldn't have ordered em, choosing a regular gravy main but this was excellent. 

the (relatively) weakest dish of the evening was the stiry fry lotus root with asparagus. 

i think this was blueberry sorbet with what looks like a blueberry cheesecake, both were awesome, the sorbet was something else. 

the mango fingybob was excellent as well. just loved it. 

cant recall the name of this one but was spot on. 

creme brulee was excellent as well. 

Overall, the food was excellent, kid brother says the London flavours are a lot lighter, so the dishes have certainly been adapted to an extent but they are still fairly different. There is plenty of choice and there are some delicate flavors which is not something Chinese in India is known for.

The Michelin star in London is certainly well deserved according to my kid brother but the Bombay branch is no slouch.

The desserts too were just tantalizingly good. They have a lunch special nowadays where they do a three course lunch which is vfm, although the restaurant is not nearly as expensive as its made out to be. It's not cheap but it certainly isn't extravagant. 

I joined  my friends who were there on invitation from the restaurant, so will not rate the food as such but i will say its worth a go.