Byblos

Rest : Byblos

Meal : Lunch

Loc : Phoenix

Byblo is the new Middle Eastern/Lebanese restaurant that has replaced the much lamented Komala's. It is the second middle eastern restaurant in Lower Parel, the splendid Aqaba being the other. I 

met with @vbubber for a nice drawn out lunch. Varun had already been there on the second night and said the menu now was actually shorter than the launch menu from a few days ago.

Still, its a pretty substantial menu, with plenty of mezze, flatbreads, salads, sandwiches , shawarma, some pasta and my fav Byblos all day iftaar breakfast which has some dishes you wouldn't find around the city easily. 

started off with the hummus with fried chick peas, which i didnt like at first bite but then it grew on me. good stuff. also they have the toum which is a garlicky butter which is just awesome. make sure you get your hands on it. 

The full egyptian fry up from the breakfast menu was freaking HUGE. with the medames (fried beans) potato, tomato and mint salad, this was something else. i was oddly expecting a skillet for some reason but this was pretty brilliant if a little unwieldy. 

The Red Velvet Gnocchi was pretty amazing, the sauce was kind of like an Alfredo sauce but pretty good nonetheless. Worth a try certainly. 

Varun also got the peri peri chicken which he said was amazing but pretty hot. We were suckered into splitting a brownie with some caramel (sweeter than id like) 

Overall, i think the menu is a tad too large but going by all i had, if they do all the dishes well enough, no complaints. The prices are okayish, just a little less than what you would pay at Indigo Deli.

Its a great place to go in a bigger group so one can share dishes. Def hoping to make it back soon to order some of the dishes i missed out on. There is a bar too and considering its slightly secluded location, it could pick up as a place for a bit of a party.

Food : 8/10
Serv : 8/10
Damage : 3300 for two without drinks. 

Mai Tai for pre movie cocktails

Rest : MaiTai

Loc : Phoenix Mills,
Meal : Pre Movie Dinner & Drinks

The last time i went out for a movie, i spent a few mins sipping on Mai Tai's and enjoyed it immensely. So this time around too a bunch of us got together and chugged a few cocktails and had a burger or two before our screening of Gravity.

The Mai Tai is their signature cocktail and they do a bunch of variations on them as well. The Maui MT is decent and i especially enjoyed the Mango Mai Tai's (455) liberally laced with rum

The Senor Pico salad promises a lot but was quite weak, all one can taste is mayo, which is the key dressing but still, falls flat. 

terrific Falafal burger, not the most middle eastern of things but tasted awesome. marriage of bun and patty is essential and here its all harmony. loved it. fact, we ordered another one since this went so quick. 

i like the place and being situated right outside PVR means one can make an evening of it and not have to run or walk around too much. the food is good (what i have had so far, cept the salad) and the drinks are strong. Service is quick and friendly. be careful though, MaiTai's go down quick. 

Food : 7/10

Service : 8/10

Damage: 4000 for 4 with drinks 

Formaggio - New to the neighbourhood

Name : Formaggio

Loc : Cumballa Hill, Opp 36, Oak & Barley
Meal : Dinner

While walking up to Moshe's @ Crossword from my parents i saw to my surprise that the Falafal Hummus House is no more and has been replaced by the two day old Formaggio. A little dismayed as I have had many a meal delivered from Falafel in my time of need.

So we decided to skip Cafe Moshe and dived in. The place is small and split levelled, pre-dominantly white (even the exposed brick wall is white washed) Its not a full fledged restaurant as much as it is a hole in the wall.

With a name like Formaggio i was expecting lots of Italian and a cheese platter (ha!) but the menu is fairly expansive and covers a lot of ground. They serve something for everyone with soups, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, north Indian and Mezze.

The cream of mushroom was a little runny and did not have any mushroom in it (which is super annoying to me personally) it tasted okay, but a little truffle oil perhaps or some chopped mushroom and a little less water would go a long way. 

Mrs J got the taco, which was a lot of lettuce and some beans, passable. 

The falafal wrap was pretty good, not soggy, contained most of the staples, no complaints here. 

Another Mrs J order, the potato wedges were microwaved hot and all i could taste was seasoning. 

The place is just two days old and yet to get its bearings, majority of the diners that evening seemed to be friends of the owners. Most things on the menu were not available yet (sandwiches, mezze) so they have not gone the whole nine yards in the kitchen yet.

Overall, its a neighbourhood restaurant that tries to do a lot of things, while i did not try that much i believe its going to be a Gujju interpretation of most dishes (which is not a slur in anyway, the Gujju versions certainly have their place in the sun and i love the stuff once in a while )

The Jains in the area will surely rejoice. I probably will not go there again but will certainly call up to order stuff, especially their mezze which they seem to have a decent handle on.

Food : 6/10
Service : 6/10
Damage: 550

Dolce Vita

Rest : Dolce Vita
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Highstreet Phoenix

One of my post movie rituals at Phoenix High Street is to stop by Dolce Vita and then the Food Hall to see if any of my favourites have made an appearance (Strong Bow cider, Sarsons Malt Vinegar, McV's Jaffa Cakes etc) so far i have only found the malt vinegar at both places. Still 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Post Avengers, whilst strolling around Dolce Vita, we decided to check out their Cafe and give the usual Moshe & Indigo Deli a miss. We could spy an empty table and that sealed the deal.

Dolce Vita is modelled after Dean & Deluca in spirit if not in size, while a cafe within a grocery store is fairly common abroad in India it is quite a rarity. The accent and product range within the store is high end and we assumed the menu would be the same.

However the menu was quite accessible, a world menu with a something for everyone vibe. Usually that is a red flag to me, because i have been to very few restaurants that can truly cater to everyone, including 5 star coffee shops. The mains are more or less European inspired which is different from the pasta heavy options in and around Phoenix. 

Also happened to notice some old school favs, which you don't see around too much nowadays, French Onion soup being one, Creamed Spinach the other. 

 trusty ol tonic for the mrs.

superb ice tea, was so good i had another one right away

The French Onion  i had to order, thankfully the garlic toast came on the side, i have seen a few places set it afloat in the soup which makes it a bit of a soggy mess. The soup itself was good a little more flavour would have made it absolutely awesome.

Mushrooms stuffed with goat cheese were a no brainer, not bad either, i added a little extra balsamic vinegar on em and it went from good to great.

The Caprese was pretty good too, them Mediterranean folk really know how to keep it simple, caprese is a travel staple for us when in Europe. It came with a little balasmic drizzle, some flecks of pesto and some herbs. nicely done

The couscous salad should have been the first indicator of things to come, this was literally the biggest salad i have seen in this country. romaine, green beans, squash, olives and of course couscous.Not bad, a summery salad.

The wife uncharacteristically ordered a burger which she liked from the get go. Unfortunately this was again too big a dish, the giant bowl of crispy fries was brilliant but had to be left alone as well..

The burrito, served with sour cream and salsa, was nice. They were out of guacamole and i noticed the hub hub in the corner of the restaurant which indicated to me that they did not have fresh guacamole. I saw them trying to find some avocados in the restaurant but they weren't ready either.

A little disappointing but ive seen the same complaint made at (Sanchos, the erstwhile Taco Fresco, Sammy Sosa, only Starboard gets avocado on demands.. but then that's the Taj) Thankfully they did not try to fob us off with avocado paste (which the wife uses when avocados aren't available)

My only complaint here was that there were no refried beans in the burrito just rice.

I was far too stuffed to get the cheese course to finish off, the wife preferred to go with the server's recommendation the White Chocolate Fondant, the menu says its served with whisky ice cream but i think it was served with plain ol Vanilla.

I must say this is probably one of the best desserts available out there, up there with the Belgian Chocolate at Indigo Deli. Beyond delicious, this one is a must have. The wife wolfed it down and she is not a fan of white chocolate.

Overall, the space is decent and the menu attractive. The focus and style is definitely on the European side for the mains without being too Mediterranean which is refreshing to see.  

I have seen crowds there most of the time, so the experiment must be working. However they should surely market it a little as a stand alone restaurant/ dining option as the food is good and should have a larger audience.

The service is warm and friendly but the dishes can take a little time to come around.

For the carnivores, they have a butcher shop where one can pick up meat or sea food  and the chef will cook it as per your desire. They had some New Zealand Beef on sale, so steak aficionados, should check it out.

The  pricing is on the higher side but cheaper than an Indigo Deli, so not a bank breaker. I did not notice till we were leaving that they have a full bar and cocktail menu beyond the wine list.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 2500 for 2 without drinks. 

Coming Soon: New Restaurant @ Grand Hyatt

The Grand Hyatt @ Kalina is a place i think of with great fondness, my wife & i shared our first few dates gorging in their coffee shop. While they have quite a few dining options (Celini visits here and here) its their coffee shop i love, for its elabroately imagined sandwiches, possibly the best in the city.

Their restaurants have always had a stable patronage and the hotel has been a great business destination. For a long time i have done suburban meetings either at the Grand Hyatt or Taj Lands End. Depending on client and time of day, GH has been a safe place to entertain.



So, imagine my excitement when a little birdie recently told me that M, their grill is being replaced by a new dining option called Fifty Five East. The new eatery will offer an eclectic mix of Sushi, Mezze, Asian (Thai), South Indian, western grills and live desserts.. Very adventurous outlook by the folks at the Hyatt, especially considering most hotel chains like to play it relatively safe.

Intriguing culinary choices, I am all for more Sushi & Mezze. While i dont have any specifics on the menu, i can only hope its expansive.

The restaurant is going to be launched under the eye of executive chef Jean-Christophe Fieschi and is expected to be operational by the end of March-April 2010. Ill drop some pics when i get my hands on them. A full blown review should not be too far away.

Olio

Res: Olio
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Novotel (used to be the Holiday Inn) Juhu

The old Holiday Inn now rebranded as the Novotel after a $40million face lift has gone all out to make itself an interesting culinary destination. The hotel space looks brand new and they have built the restaurants around the view. The old warhorse Sampan for Chinese, a rooftop bar, a coffee shop and of course Olio for Mediterranean offer a wide mix.

The restaurant has a classy indoor section where no one was seated. Everyone chose the dimly lit but very attractive outdoors section as did we. The water is in the distance but the January air is just about perfect to sit outdoors and feel no discomfort.

Although the name is Italian and the menu is Italian heavy, it traverses all corners of the Mediterranean. Pasta, mezze & tagine are on the menu as well as some very interesting side dishes.

I wanted grappa but they didnt have any though it was on the menu...
So it was Lemon ice-tea although it tasted like anything but ice tea, pretty good though.

i prefer diet coke but you take what you can get..

The meal starts of with their bread service which is probably the best of any place. Warm pita and foccacia served wih a side of olive n pest, tomato and tahina. We went through possibly three servings, excellent stuff. Set some high expectations for the rest of the meal..

We chose the cold mezze, Tzatziki which is a garlic and yoghurt based dip, fresh feta cheese and dolmades, which are stuffed vine leaves. Initially i wanted the feta cheese salad, unfortunately our server (more on him later) could not tell us what was in it. Well, he said everything was in it but couldnt elaborate further.

The tzatziki was allright, the fresh feta was over salted although they insisted thats how it was meant to be. I have had enough feta to know what it tastes like, they offered to take it back but we decided to live with it.

The dolmades were just horribly icky tasting, Mabruk does them really well, these felt a little disgusting and paan (betel)like.

While they have an extensive pasta menu, we decided to skip the pasta and go for the pizza. They have a wood burning oven and it was not a difficult choice. The traditional margeritha was thin and perfect, a must have whilst here.

The vegetable tagine was also on the menu and since we were intent on trying the unusual, we went for it. Ive had tagine before, quite a few places, its usually a veggie heavy broth with a kick. Unfortunately this one was just heavy handed with lumpy vegetables, no great taste or nothing. Very Disapppointing. Moshe does a far superior version.


It was also served with an apology for couscous. I mean look at it, why even bother throwing it out there?

So we ordered more, fortunately the portion this time was a lot more appropriate.

Overall, the venue itself is very attractive but the food is very average, the niche items on the menu really dont stack up and as a whole leave you underwhelmed. The bread service is outstanding as is the pizza, so one can still make a meal out of it.

The service is amazingly scatter brained. Our server was possibly on his second day of the job, made way too many cardinal mistakes. He couldnt tell us anything about the grappa i wanted, the salad contained "everything", he tried to cover a small dish of couscous with the giant tagine cover, when asked to reheat the tagine, he said he would microwave it and be right back.

Honestly though, i couldnt get mad, he had a funny smile and he was really trying to help. But someone could get mad and they need to really to look at training their staff better. It didnt help that we had possibly the most insane family seated behind us having the most ridiculously boring and personal conversation in the history of mankind.

Food : 6/10
Service : 6/10
Damage : 2400 (without drinks)

Olio
Novotel Hotel, Balraj Sahani Marg,
Juhu Beach, Juhu, Vile Parle (W), Mumbai
Tel : 66934444

Mabruk

Rest : Mabruk
Loc : Sahara Star, Domestic Airport
Meal : Late Dinner

Mabruk is the Lebanese/middle eastern restaurant at the Sahara Star (previous visit here) one of the only ones offering the cuisine formally in the city.


Mabruk offers a fairly Mediterranean menu with a bent on towards the middle east, the menu has hot and cold mezzes, food of the grill and rice preparations.

The place as i have said before is a palace of excess along the lines of a Dubai hotel, lots of lights, flash, artifical environment. While i dont mind things like that, it is not the classiest looking place in the world, nouveau riche is what comes to mind.

Mabruk specifically has lovely seating by the lagoon. The seats are too comfortable.

The place has a distinctly middle eastern feel to it, Morocco (i know Morocco is not in the ME) via Iran.

The wife had a virgin pina colada which was not too bad, except it was a virgin!

The Horiatiki was a fresh salad made with feta cheese, olives, onions and greens drizzled with some lime & olive oil. The salad and the dressing were both great but the feta elevated the dish to something beyond.

The Falafal drizzled with tahina was pretty good, served with some pickles and tomatos were on the money.

We also had the Warkinab (not pictured) which was rice in vine leaves, a sweetish taste but again a fairly good dish. They also serve plenty of fresh pita with the food.

Overall, the place is different with regards to ambiance and cuisine and both are fairly impressive. The service is a little rough around the edges and lacks finesse but is both friendly and quick.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1600 for 2 without drinks.

Mabruk

Rest : Mabruk
Location : Sahara Star, Near Domestic Airport
Meal : Late Dinner

Mabruk is the Lebanese restaurant at the Sahara Star. My last visit to Sahara was very good in terms of cuisine however i considered the ambiance a tad excessive and tasteless. This time around we were seated in the open area of the lagoon which is where Mabruk is laid out.


The view is really something in a Las Vegas sort of way. Anyway, the view is good, the seating is very comfortable and the place busy. We got our menus quickly, there are plenty of mezzes hot and cold with options for veggies and carnivores. Not so much in the entree section however.


We chose the Falafil which was fairly authentic and tasted great, the hummus was ok, the rice with lentils and onions was average, the beans in lime and garlic were good.

Overall, the restaurant is priced ok and the service is allright. The ambiance is great and food isnt too bad. The hostess was nice enough to call us the next day and ensure that our experience was a good one.

Worth visiting.

Food : 7/10
Service 7/10

Damage 2000 for two without drinks

Mabruk
Sahara Star,
Western Express Highway,
Domestic Airport,
Santa Cruz (E), Mumbai
Tel : 39895000

New Yorker (new)

Rest : New Yorker
Meal : Lunch
Date : 21/12/2006
Location :Chowpatty
Company : Pie, Gautam

Experience- Terribly hungry but not in the mood for too much food, we decide to trek to the closes place possible for a quick quick lunch. The place has recently been renovated, seating has increased, the place itself looks like an impossibly high end, chic minimalist restuarant which is completely contrary to the cuisine, crowd and prices. Its also not as comfortable as it should be (not that it ever was a comfortable place)

Drink :Brownie Shake, Water

Food : The first order of things was a nachos with cheese as is their specialty. thing came out in less than 3 mins too. before the drink was there. talk about anticipation. Then we ordered half a portion of enchiladas which werent too bad, they tasted like they used to. the taste hasnt changed so far though the decor has.
At last we ordered the lebanese sizzler (they need more options for this thing) it was a bit of a mish mash, veggies, rice, chick peas topped with baba ganoush, hummus, some felafil, hummus and leabanese sauce (watever THAT is) It took a while to come, which i reckn means they werent anticipating this.
The choc brownie shake, was nice and big, had enougb brownies, but wasnt cold enough and was too heavy on the hersheys.

Rating : Food 7/10, Service 7/10

Damage : 700 ($17)

Japengo Cafe

Rest : Japengo
Meal : Lunch
Date : 20/12/2006
Location :Nariman Point
Company : Pie

Experience- A well lit, modern design outlook to this place. Not bad, in terms of design, seats made my back hurt though

Drink :Water

Food : The cuisine is spread around lebanese, japanese, italian and american. quite hodge podge. The hummus was not too bad, but it wasnt tasty either though the pita bread was fantastic.
We got the stir fry veggies in schezuan with rice. Very Japanese taste to a chinese dish. no kick, no flavour just sauce. Next thing was a Lebanese pizza thing which was pretty off too. i think. No real taste, salty cheese thats it.
The wait staff didnt know much about the food and when they asked if the meal was ok i said it wasnt, they didnt do anything about it other than saying its not very Indian. No Shit it isnt. I would have gone to Moti Mahal upstairs if i wanted Indian.
Rating : Food 3/10, Service 7/10

Damage : 850 ($17)