Spaghetti Kitchen Dinner with Bill Marchetti

A few days ago i had the chance to dine with Italian chef and all round enfant terrible Bill Marchetti, now of the Spaghetti Kitchen. Bill is actually a half German, half Italian who grew up in Australia and has worked around the world. Before Spaghetti Kitchen he also ran Westview for the ITC group in Delhi.

First thing i noticed about Bill was that he likes his drinks and he likes to talk, which means he is great dinner company. Add to that one of my fav people in the world is also someone he happens to know and like very much and you have the makings of a stellar evening (we were joined by Salonee and Aatish Nath)

Started off with a glass of Yellow Tail Chardonnay, i am not averse to new world wines and this one went down swimmingly well.

The Caprese is a classic, as mentioend before, its one of my fav salads and its all i ate for breakfast during my time in Italy-Greece. Not complicated to do but the whole thing lives and dies by freshness. They get their Mozzarella from North India because of buffalo milk and also because sourcing it locally keeps it fresh.

This one was a bit of a shocker, paneer skewers dont seem like they belong on the Spaghetti Kitchen menu. I would put this down to Bill's time in Delhi, i certainly would never have the audacity to order them. However they were brilliant, succulent, tasty and there was some pineapple in the middle which i absolutely loved.

When it comes to Bruschetta, i like mine the traditional way, however i am always open to trying new things. The mushrooms was okay, the sun dried tomato was great, Bill insisted i try his fav the Spinach, unfortunately i did not share his enthusiasm for it.

The little quinoa side salad was interesting, not bad but nothing spectacular, im not a fan of quinoa (or Dukkah)

The Smoked Walnut & Cheese Ravioli was creamy, cheese stuffed and not bad, light to taste, again its not something i am a fan of, i prefer heavier flavours but it was certainly not bad.

The grilled veggies were nice, cept not sure how much i like corn here.

The spaghetti with mushrooms, was perfectly lovely. Nice, light flavour, accentuated by a little helping of Parmesan.

The Zuppa Inglese was god-damned good. Spot on. Next time I am going to go for th colourful ones.

The tiramisu was interesting, a little twist on the traditional but still pretty good.

The chocolate hazlenut creme brulee was again, pretty different but still good.

Overall, it was a lovely evening, good food, good company and great conversation.The food was good, Spaghetti Kitchen is miles ahead of its sister restaurants Noodle Bar & Bombay Blue.

Its also nice to see a chef who comes to a foreign land and focuses on getting the best possible ingredients and suppliers possible locally rather than importing and freezing. However Bill Marchetti does not seem so foreign, he has been in India for a while and like most people who come to this country, he too has become one of us.

Breakfast @ Garware Club (BCA)

We woke up early last weekend and decided to go out for breakfast, however since Saturday is a full working day we decided not to venture too far and headed to my club. The Garware sits in the shadow of The Wankhede Stadium and unlike most other clubs in Bombay, Garware is relatively newer and has a smaller footprint. The entire complex was ripped out and has been under heavy re-construction for a while. In another two-three years they expect a few more restaurants to show up, which will be welcome.

We started with the Idly which was fairly ordinary, no great shakes. The Sambar & Chutney was spicy.

The chilli cheese toast is a must have, brilliant.

The Veg Club Sandwich too is a snack staple i have been gorging on since i was a kid. Back when i was a kid, it was daunting to think about finishing it alone, lot easier now.

Mrs J ordered the paneer pakoras, maybe coz it was a rainy day, not bad at all.

The whole thing was washed down with a Fresh Lime Soday.

Overall, the club is a safe space to dine out in, the food is usually pretty good if inconsistent but the snacks are always on the mark.

Food 7/10
Service 8/10

Damage : 250

Dakshinayan

Rest : Dakshinayan
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Teenbatti, Walkeshwar

Dakshinayan sits on the insanely busy Teen Batti/Walkeshwar stretch, in fact the restaurant is bang opposite the turn where teen batti meets the road towards Hanging Garden.Beware of rush hour.


Though they have been around for a while, i have always been partial to the Matunga joints for my South Indian fix. So on a complete lark at 9.30 on Sunday night we decided to go check Dakshinayan out (Jjamppong sits about 120 meters away)

We started with the rasam of which there was a bowl full. Good stuff this, immense heat but not too spicy and not very sour either. The only thing annoying was the boat load of pepper that I had to keep spitting out.

The molgapudi idli was pretty good, mrs Jain thought it was the best she had tasted in a long time. While i didnt think it was that great it certainly was not bad. A little ghee or butter would have really made it awesome.

The garlic rava dosa was quite spicy, had opted for the rava and no the mysore to avoid the fiery stuff but it showed up nonetheless. Had to leave half of it.

Their sambar is not bad, mild and not to sweet.

they serve two chutneys and the brown one is a LOT spicier than the red one.

The appam and stew was not bad. The appams could have been better and the stew was very mild and bordering on the sweet.

The curd rice was pretty decent, however add the pickle they serve on the side and it completely changes into all kinds of wonderful! Absolutely brilliant.

Overall Dakshinayan is a decent option to the Matunga belt, especially if you live 10 mins away like us. The food is decent and if they just tweak things a little, it could be stellar. They need to make a little effort and it could really push things up a notch.

For example, the china they serve the food in, is not only chipped but inconvenient to eat from. Rasam can be served in a glass, and without the 100 pieces of pepper. The stew in a soup bowl is very inconvenient.

Also, the idlis we had were definitely not the freshest, the appam was okay, the stew was sweet. Maybe it being Sunday night, they had prepped things for speed.

Service is efficient but not very friendly, the waiters seem to have the aloof South Indian style down pat. They are also a dubious lot, serving bottled water on the table and adding it to the check without asking. When we did point it out, they took it off by scratching it away.

Worth a try if you are in the mood but not willing to go drive to Matunga.

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