Masala Library w my Pops

Rest : Masala Library

Meal : Lunch
Loc : BKC

While i have been to Masala Library a few times now, this time i was able to take my dad along as we were both heading to a meeting in Andheri post lunch. Being a Saturday i was not sure if we would get a table and tweeted ML the night before and they got in touch. After a brief time on the waitlist i was assured a table for 1.30.

Annoyed that they claimed to be full, i wanted to make sure they weren't just pulling the old trick, (they weren't. when we got there, ours was the only empty table)It was very kind of them to accommodate us.

We started out with the pappad platter, which is still pretty kick ass and like all papad platters a bad idea when on a table for two. we kinda filled up on this but it was still worth it. 

the pesto kebabs, dryish, hint of pesto with a little sweetness, not your regular old kebab this one. The Paneer had a grainy texture and a very familiar taste, it was served with bits of asparagus which was interesting but didn't add to the dish at all. 

the mushroom chai brought out like tea service for two, with dried mushrooms representing tea leaves, truffle powder representing sugar and a mushroom broth representing water. still a hit.

the mishti doi palate cleanser is a so good. they should bring em out in stacks.

this was the malabari parotta served as a quesadilla , i recall it being on the money and pretty different

This was the aloo tikki i think, served with a little bit of corn and chana, again, dry but on the money. 

the dessert was this pista burfi thing paan style with coconut foam on the side. too rich, should have gone for something else. It was not bad, just not my thing. 

Overall, the food continues to be pretty good, it was a pity we missed the tasting menu time slots, i would have really liked my dad to have experienced the wider menu but perhaps another time. I do wish they expand the menu somewhat, having been there four times now, it seems like the same stuff each time.

We didnt get to the mains at all because we stuffed ourselves on the appetizers and the papad platter did most of the damage.

Still a great place to go once or twice a year.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 4500 without drinks (pretty expensive for just appetizers. word to the wise, the tasting menu is way WAY better value for money) and most importantly, dont let your dad see the check.

Sharma's at Tarabag

Ever since i was a kid, my folks have been taking us to Sharma's for Chaat,  since its located on a very busy street, we attack it like gureillas with someone watching the car while the others gorge, or we take a cab.

Although i haven't been here in a while because i hate being the guy stuck in the car during peak hours.

Recently I was parked out at Saifee Hospital next door, which meant i was at Sharma's a whole lot, sometimes twice a day for my meals.

kanji vada is one of my fav things in the world. Not easy to find. This one was above average

A photo posted by Gaurav (@gauravgjain) on Dec 28, 2014 at 4:59am PST

The Kanji Vada, is a rare thing to find, this is the only place i know where these are available, they can be hit and miss, the taste depending on how well the water has been pickled and for how long. The guys here serve it nice and cold, which i love.

Dahi puri after years

A photo posted by Gaurav (@gauravgjain) on Dec 15, 2014 at 8:54am PST

The Dahi Puri, is another specialty, the dahi can be cold sometimes which is not much fun but this is rarely a miss.

Ragda Pattice just as good as I remember it

A photo posted by Gaurav (@gauravgjain) on Dec 15, 2014 at 8:57am PST

the Ragda Pattice is easily the star here. love it. served UP style, although not fried red, like the northerners like it.

The space, is cheap, even now, each dish is about 30 rupees. My mother swears by their Pani Puri and they do serve more things like bhel, sev puri, dahi samosa, etc. So its a short but varied enough menu. And you are served almost immediately.

Do check em out if in the area. 

Crystal

Went back to Crystal after ages, this time with usual Crystal partner in Crime Shailesh Prabhu (@yellowmonkeygames) for a pretty terrific meal. As usual we got there just at 1.15 pm and got an empty table.

Slash and i usually vary up our orders but this time we stuck to the usual the dry aloo, the chana masala and the paneer bhurji. unfortunately there was no space for a rajma chawal this time but in any case, the food was terrific. no complaints whatsoever.

The prices though have shot up. it was 350 for two which is about 70-80 more than i would pay usually. A few days after this i got another round of take out for some friends where we had malai kofta and rajma as well as the chana masala and the sukha aloo. terrific then too. easily one of the best places ever. 

Onam @ Mani's

Rest : Mani's

Meal: Lunch
Loc : Matunga

Onam along with Rakhi and Festivus are my fav festival of the year, Onam, especially because i am only in it for the food. After my last year's epic run where i had not only a lunch sadhya at 11am, i also went on to add a 830 pm Dinner service. Insane by all counts but loads of fun and unlikely to be pulled off ever again.

This year Onam was on a Sunday and afraid of the big ass queue that was sure to form, i got there at 11 am to make sure i was one of the first ones in. It was a relatively hot day and with some struggle in finding the luncheon location, (its never at the restaurant, they hire a hall or a larger venue, this time a school) i made it there and was 23rd in line. 

In anticipation for the feast

While they seated us at 11, they didn't start serving till about 11.15 and only when all the seats had been filled. 

pretty, self evident. 

the chutney was fantastic, out of this world even. 

as was the tamarind chutney, again, pretty insane. had some amazing tamarind chutney at a friend's wedding and this was just as good. 

unfortunately, i dont recall all the dishes that were served coz its been a little while. 

of course, they serve no roti or puri, only rice with papad. Dahi, Rasam & Sambar are not pictured here. 

Overall, it was a fabulous meal, blew the socks of last years which i thought was a little middling and badly organised (while i was there anyway) Was so glad i made it there and that too early enough because i got texts from mates who took about three hours in all to get in and out. 

While food at Mani's is pretty good throughout the year, Sadhya is Sadhya.

Food : 9/10
Serv : 8/10

Damage : 250

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

Crystal - A Summer Lunch

Rest : Crystal

Loc : Chowpatty
Meal : Lunch

After a long gap of not being able to dine out due to several issues, i finally persuaded my buddy CJ to tag along to lunch at Crystal. The bandra boy that he is, he had never been there and i thought he would appreciate the food being the Punjabi that he is.

Having been there many, many times i decided a while ago to order things that i didnt order on my previous visit. So we got the Malai Kofta which was excellent, tender koftas with the spicyish gravy, the always excellent Paneer Butter Masala and the ever dependable Chana Masala.

Not pictured here are the myriad glasses of their sickly sweet chaas and bottles of thums up (a must to wash down this kind of a meal) Finished off with their most excellent Rajma Chawal.

This being summer and the month of the Alphonso, bypassed the usual order of Kheer for the chilled Aam Ras, looks good and it tasted even better.

Overall, the food continues to be excellent, has become a little more expensive but still value for money this. Service is super quick. One of my fav places in the world, still. 

Food : 8/10
Serv : 7/10

Damage : 600 

Masala Library

Rest : Masala Library

Meal : Dinner
Loc : BKC

Ever since Masala Library opened its doors a few weeks ago, i have been trying to tee up an evening there but thwarted each time by distance and fellow diners.

Finally this past week on a complete lark, we tried to get a table at Masala Library but were told they were booked solid and only could be seated at 1030 or try our luck as walk ins. So we booked us a table at 9pm at Ping Pong as a back up and showed up at Masala Library at 8.15 and had a table by 8.30

The place has a fairly standard, fine dine decor to it, nothing special but its certainly not bad. I found racks of empty wine bottles at the entrance to be quite weird. It's called Masala Library which speaks of a more traditional, studied place but the cuisine is much more nouevau as is the presentation. Perhaps replacing the rack of empty bottles with some books might be a better idea. 

That aside, the little bread they served at the start was delicious. Slightly sweet and a tad cheesy in its finish. these went quickly. 

The next thing we got was this diabolical papad platter, comprised of 5-6 different kids of pappad with 8 chutneys, its a papad lovers delight. 

the amuse bouche was a de constructed papdi chaat where the a dollop of yoghurt with chutney and sev sat at the bottom of a shot glass and the papdi was served on the side. Drink up and then bite into the papdi where the taste takes shape.a great idea and it hits the mark taste wise. only complaint being that the yoghurt can congeal on the bottom and needs prodding which is ultimately a non issue. 

                

the pesto kebab was our first starter, an interesting idea and while the kebab tasted pretty good, the taste of pesto was missing. I liked the kebab anyway though. 

our second starter was the gucchi with truffle oil. this was just stunning. a bunch of different things happening here and all of them good. it certainly didn't taste like anything i had before.  

while we waited for our main's they brought out these awesome vada pav's, again, playing with the ingredients here, adding cheddar etc, to give it a newer flavour, it was indeed delicious. 

the palate cleanser was next, frozen yoghurt with strawberry/rasberry. boy was this good. rabdiseque taste. 

the mains range from quirky to traditional, we went for the paneer lababdar which was pretty delicious, creamy but the taste of tomato had been dialled down. 

the gucchi naan was again morels, cheese and truffle oil. very heavy. 

the black daal was again, spot on, like a dal should be (i still think dal bukhara at ITC Kebabs n Kurries is the greatest) 

also had the sweetish sheermal which is a bread one does not see often. in fact the last time i had a go at one was a few years ago at Shalimar on Kemps Corner when they had some festival going on. 

we had two splendid desserts, the thandai creme brulee and the ghevar cheesecae. Both ideas are quite out there, they work well and make for an interesting take, however they are very different from the original underlying desserts as well. 

we ended the meal with paan flavoured candy floss. 

Masala Library certainly is a twist in the tale for Indian cuisine, nowhere near as radical as Vinit Bhatia's Zia (which has been hit & miss) the experimentation with ingredients and serving works well espcially because it has been limited to appetizers and desserts. The main's for the most part are traditionally executed.

The food, the concept and the flavours are well imagined and executed and it would be interesting to see what older diners make of it.

The service is fairly quick but i think a couple of things need to be ironed out, such as the empty bottles, the answer to the question where is the library and also, that the chef's need to have their amuse bouche ready to go. We were a table of six but were given only five of the vada pav's and the chef didnt have an extra. We shared our portions quite grudgingly.

Overall, i'm impressed. i hope they start doing a 8-10 course tasting menu because there is plenty here i would like to try.

Food : 9/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 8500 for 6 without drinks.

Peshawri

Rest : Peshawri
Meal : Dinner
Loc : ITC Grand Maratha

After a long day in Andheri, i had a meeting in the dreaded Andheri East area, to shorten the drive i set up the meeting at the ITC, they usually are stellar with their food and add to that my Culinary + membership which gets me good solid discounts, i figured it was the sensible course. 

Peshawri of course is essentially a replica of Delhi's famed Bukhara, from the menu to the decor, to the patently uncomfortable seating. We asked to be re-seated but were told they were sold out, which as it turns out was true. There was no seat empty by 930, not sure where this promised slow down is happening. 

we skipped the starters and went into the food, the Paneer Lababdar was suggested as a dry dish to contrast with the dal bukhara. The paneer was delicious, soft, succulent and it went down pretty well. 

the garlic naan was on the money as well. 

the dal bukhara for some reason has never worked correctly for me whilst here, Kebabs n Kurries at The other ITC property the Grand Central does an impeccable version. 

Peshawri is really a non-veg diners paradise however there is plenty for all players. The service is fairly quick and they are pretty friendly and ready to make suggestions. A large group should try the massive naan bukhara. 

To conclude my story on choosing the ITC, it turns out i forgot my culinary plus card and paid full price.

Food : 8/10

Service : 8/10
Damage : FUBAR 

Hotel Delux

Rest : Hotel Deluxe
Meal : Lunch
Loc : Near Citibank, Fort.

I have heard about Hotel Deluxe from a few people on my twitter time line as well as through some of my independent research. As some of you may know i have quite a taste for South Indian thalis and am always in pursuit of more.

Deluxe is located in Fort and can be hard to find. In fact even our GPS got it wrong, (iphone 4s, google maps) the phone was off by about 300 metres.  Anyway Deluxe is an old hat, serving some serious Malyali food for the working folk in and around the very busy Fort area.

the meal started with pickles and chutney. All of it delicious.

Then came the veggies, there was Avial which is a traditional dish and one of the better known ones. There was a pineapple stew which was just fantastic, whoever thought a sweet entree could be this delicious. There was a tomatoish curry which was pretty good too. The last one i did not like so much.

Pictured here is the rasam which was also delicious, loved it. they were quite stingy with it, serving it in little cups which was quite annoying as it was quite good. The other one is the Payasam, which was also pretty freaking delicious.


They did not serve any puris or roti or breads of any kind. You could choose between their red rice (which isn't actually red) or regular white rice which is then served with dollops of Sambar. Boy this was some heady stuff. Must have had two mountains of rice with the sambar and gobbled it down.

I am quite happy to have made it to Deluxe, its closer than heading to Matunga every time i am jonesing for Southie food. Deluxe though is not free from problems. The place is basic, functional, though they do have a limited air conditioned section as well.

The service on a bank holiday was pretty laid back, they took their time getting us started, rasam was brought after repeated reminders. The thali comes with no butter milk or yoghurt, so we ordered separates. They did not have yoghurt but someone went and bought us little cup. The Buttermilk was fantastic nice, tangy taste but not ice to cool it down.

Overall, the food is just brilliant but there are way too many things missing, i would have liked a chapati to start with.

However, all things considered, it was certainly not bad and considering the price, i should just keep my mouth shut.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage for 2 : 240

Friends Union Joshi Club

Rest : Friends Union Joshi Club

Loc : Kalbadevi Road

Meal : Lunch

My dad turned me on to Friends Union a few years ago and i end up there once a year or so, the fact that it is located on Kalbadevi Road, which is near impossible to get in and out of keeps me away from some absolutely amazing food. This Sunday afternoon, whilst trying to figure out where to go, my friend and frequent dining companion Slash (not the GNR axeman) and Mr.Samant were in the mood for something not South Indian. So FUJC seemed like a good idea.

Located on the first floor, FUJC club is an old khanaval serving home style Gujarati food for less (more on that later) it is not easy to find but once you are on Kalbadevi Road, walk roughly towards the middle and you will find a sign towards the first floor, enter the door below and find your way up.

The space is fairly basic and functional, no luxuries here, as Mr.Samant noticed, you get an idea of how serious they are when you see the heavy steel plates (parats as we call em)

The place was not too busy when we walked in and they brought up a litle plate of chutneys and pickles.

The first thing to come out was the white dhokla served with delectable white yoghurt chutney, absolutely brilliant, the little kachori pakoda thing was not bad a tad on the hot side. Good start.

the garlic chutney was strong and fiery, awesomesauce.

the patta gobi (cabbage, cauliflower n peas) was oily but brilliant.

the veggies were a very punjabi onion-tomato which was hot and actually pretty good but stuck out like a sore thumb. the cholly was awesome as was the watery tomato n potato (aloo tomato) brilliant.

Sunday menu is different, they dont serve Bakhris but Puris and the dal is not sweet, they also serve a yellow kadi along with the sweet white one. I am not a fan of the yellow kadi and i like my sweet dal so i was disappointed.

Overall the food was fabulous, my fellow diners were constantly saying that it was fantastic and i think this is one of the best if not THE best gujju meals in the city. The fact that they keep it simple really goes a long way.Also, a fantastic dish was the basundi, which was phenomenal.

The ambiance is nothing to write home about so do not come expecting luxury, this is all about quick functional delicious food.

The service too is basic, not the most efficient, you need to ask for somethings but they bring em out quickly enough. Frustratingly they serve an awesome glass of chilled chaas but only bring you a second very very begrudgingly, quite frustrating for someone like me who is a big chaas drinker.

Overall, the food still kicks major ass (previous visits here) and i highly recommend a visit if you can brave the traffic and find it.

Food : 9/10
Service : 6/10
Damage : 160 per person (with two sweets on Sundays, week days without sweets is i think about 100)