China Garden

Rest : China Garden

Meal : Dinner
Loc : Kemps Corner.


Once in a while hunger pangs strike and one wishes to go out but not make much of an effort. So we decided to walk up the 10 mins to China Garden. 5 of the 10 were spent on the long climb up to the restaurant as if it were an ancient monastery and we were looking for answers.

CG is a land mark south bombay restaurant and part of the memories of just about everyone that has lived here over the years. It also has to be one of the busiest restaurants in the city this, i have been here on regular week days and found it 90% full at most times. 

started off with a quick appetizer 

and one for the Mrs. the Kung Pao Potato. Not the most authentic restaurant this is but boy does the food taste like it ought to. 

this was the paneer in the blackbean sauce i believe. whatever the hell that means. 

crisp pan fried noodles. 

So the food was good. it hasnt changed in the 2.5 decades i have been going there, more or less tastes the same i reckon. i dont even recall ever getting different dishes, the orders too are the same and i think this is true for all the other diners too.

The service is a little retarded at times, they could not find me chopsticks forever but its not too bad.

Comfort food this. Worth a try.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1800 for 2 with a beer.

Busago

Rest : Busago
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Bandra, Off Pali Naka.

Busago is the little brother of Colaba's Busaba the Asian eatery with a slight difference.. back in the day Busaba used to be a place to get your  drink on.. eventually that image died and it came into its own as a restaurant. Slowly they crept towards the suburbs opening a branch in Lower Parel (or mid town if you please) outlet. 

Which brings us to Busago, their newest venture condensed version of the original. Small, crammed and with the looks of a health cafe, it however is not all together unattractive. The menu has eight dishes (unheard of for an Asian eatery) serves momos, red & green curry, kaukswe & stir fry.

The Tibetan momos come with chopped veggies and are a fairly light, quick eat. Tasty too.. we went through four portions between four people. Unfortunately, all the recommended Chib's sauces suck as accompaniments..

The Green Curry was okay but crazy spicy, should come with a warning or atleast a choice of how spicy one wants it. Its relatively runnier than your average Thai Curry which is by no means a bad thing. Lots of peas, some more mushrooms would have been great. The side of rice they served it with could be a whole lot fresher.. 

Busaba was one of the first guys to popularize Khow Suey or Kaukswey as they call it leaning towards the Burmese rather than the Thai. A snack like dish, which apparently is hawked by folks who can be flagged down for a quick meal. 

For the uninitiated, the concept is to take noodles, add the curry and then pick up on the accompaniments which are served along.  

I used pretty much everything except for the celery. Fried onions added a brilliant crunch and the curry itself was pretty tasty. 

The Banoffee was weird, although it tasted good, the base was hard..i mean HARD.. Mrs J tried to force her way into it and it flew all over the table and across her arm. That sounds a tad dodgy. 

Overall, the place is small, the menu limited but the food is good. It could be even better if they could get their act together. The curries and the kaukswe were both served slightly warm, rather than hot and the base of the banoffee is a matter of concern.

The service though needs immense work and our table was quite irritated when they brought out momos and put them on the table without telling us which was veg and which was non-veg. I recommend different colored baskets if its difficult to keep track.. because some day this will lead to an incident. 

The pricing too is quite on the reasonable side, the city needs more joints like this which not only offer good food but good value for money. The place has potential to be a fabled neighborhood restaurant this. 

Food : 7/10
Service : 6/10
Damage : 1800 for four. 

Koh - Second time around.. a chance worth taking

Rest : Koh by Ian Kittachai
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Intercontinental at Marine Drive

My last visit to Koh (here) had left me convinced that Koh was a bad idea, it only furthered my belief that not only is Thai Pavilion the best Thai restaurant in the city but pretty much one of the best restaurants in the country.

I was pretty sure that everytime i go out for a Thai meal there really would be no contest until recently i caught fellow food blogger, bon vivant, BILLIONIARE  Nikhil Merchant raving about the food. I decided to set aside my prejudice and give them a shot. So here we go. 

Koh is fancy, the tables are laid out lengthwise with loads of tables. Like most restaurants in Bombay it channels North American glitz. Since the menu is actually non traditional, the decor, the music & the ambiance has its own twist too. While i could do with a little more privacy, it works nice, you would not be surprised to find a place like this in Singapore or Hong Kong.

We were greeted with Lemon glass coolers, usually i am wary  but this one was really good, Mrs Jain rarely ever raves about drinks, really enjoyed it. Good Stuff. 

they have a separate bar area which precedes the dining room. I started with a Bloody Mary which had a distinctly Asian flavour but was tremendously spicy. Although it was immensely enjoyable, it was not such a good idea before dinner.

The Sirocco, which is supposed to be a dry desert wind, was quite the opposite, could return just for this alone.

The White Tom Kha, was interesting, with bits of corn, it seemed different from the traditional tom kha, good stuff. . 

The corn cakes, i had this before as well, during my previous visit, wasn't impressed then, am not impressed now. 

The amuse-bouce was interesting, very asian yet, at its heart it tasted like a bhel. possibly an Indian twist?

The mushroom puff was another twisted little dish, both the appetizers were quite hot, a cold appetizer would have been a better idea.

A medley of mushrooms (shitake, straw, hon-shemeji) with bak choy. Not bad, did not in all honesty feel very Thai but it was good so no complaints.



The Green Curry, was on the money, i was going to go for the Red so i could compare it with Thai Pavilion but the Green was recommended and no complaints. Even the way its served in the white paper, kinda cool.



The Pad Thai was very good, the garlic rice was actually prepared at the table, so there was a little bit of a show, however, it was strictly okay. I ordered it erroneously anyway, forgetting i was getting curry, so i had to order a small portion of white rice too.

The Guava crumble was weird, it felt like a apple crumble only weirder.

The de-constructed cheesecake, a fun little way of ending the meal. No problems at all with this one.

Overall, I certainly do think that the new menu does make as difference, the restaurant is a far cry from the last time I dined. They prepare/finish of a few dishes/desserts on the table which means its a little about form but also that they go through a little more work. Interesting, does not happen a lot in Bombay yet.

They a much stronger offering now, Its not traditional Thai cooking but a  modern/eclectic Asian twist to a lot of dishes, bear that in mind and you will be okay. The appetizers are the weakest link, a little more tweaking here, some more flavours would really elevate the experience. The main's are on the money, no trouble there.

The cocktails were fantastic, good thing i went with the recommendations. Would love to come back and try them again except the fucking pricing is out of this world (1200+ taxes a cocktail) so they will need to come up with a Happy hour ! 

The service was prompt & friendly and spot on with recommendations.

i stand corrected, Koh is worth a go now but not for the faint walleted. 

Food : 7/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 3000 pp w Cocktails.

Umame Launch

Churchgate has not been very kind to new restaurant ventures, so I was a little apprehensive when I accepted an invite to the launch of Umame, the new Farrokh Khambata restaurant set to replace Valhalla which in turn replaced Starters & More (one can see the remains of Chez Vous below it)

Khambata previously ran Joss which was quite popular but has now shuttered, so it was hardly surprising that Umame has a Pan Asian menu, Joss loyalists will not be disappointed. The space is adequate, the décor reminds one of Amadeus (also a Khambata property) there is also a lounge area separated from the restaurant and a small patio area for smokers.

The menu is not very expansive but offers a variety of options sushi, dim sum, appetizers, Chinese & Thai main courses in both veg/non-veg. The shortened menu is a trend i have been catching more and more and its great to see restaurants try and do a fewer dishes and do them well (contrast with China Gardens gargantuan tome.. but we do not speak ill of China Garden)

The Mojito was on the money, good start. Not a fan of the glasses though.

The bloody mary was even better ! Pity i was driving.

The Dim Sum's were not too bad, i don't recall the names of em all but i remember one being excellent and the other being not so bad.


This one was the winner - Char Grilled burnt pepper mushroom with holy basil cream, i think this one is from Amadeus.. just brilliant. could not get enough.

The sushi was all right, i enjoyed the little twist of the carrot tempura with spicy sauce and the gheisa rolls with Jalapenos cream were pretty good too.

The pan grilled potatoes in thai spices were not bad.

The silken tofu with cashew, again, no complaints at all.Very familiar ground for a Chindian diner.

The palm hearts and asparagus salad was pretty good, The noodles with the mushrooms were excellent, The second tofu main i did not like it at all.Avoidable. The water chestnut steaks in thai sambhal were extremely weird, they tasted pastaesque but tasted great.

The best thing however on the menu was the green curry ! fantastic, i would love to see what they can do with Red (Thai Pavilion is king of that particular hill)

The desserts, were fantastic. Not a single mis-step here, the rum and coke ice-cream was probably the best. For a Pan-Asian restaurant to do desserts like this is quite rare.

Overall, the space is interesting, Pan-Asian is a very competitive space but Umame seem to have the offering down right. Most of the dishes are pretty good, the desserts & cocktails are also top notch, hopefully they can keep the standards up. Worth a look.

Cafe Pico Express

I visited Cafe Pico Express, a few weeks ago and enjoyed their food more or less. They have an express location in a gym not very far from my home and office, i was hoping they would start delivering soon.

I saw the leaflet while entering the flat and called them up right away. The menu is health focused so there are soups, salads, sandwiches and some pasta as well as juices & smoothies. The food came in a very cool little bag which i am sure they can skimp on to save on cost.

I ordered the roast tomato and garlic soup. The cup seemed deceptively small, however it was a nice portion. Unfortunately it was on the bland side, it lacked serious flavour, especially with the promise of garlic.
The Falafal wrap, meant to be eaten cold (as said on the menu) was actually not bad. The portion was sizable and it tasted good.

Overall, the menu is a mix of Mediterranean & Asian dishes, which are priced very well. So if you are in the mood for a healthy meal which does burn a hole in the pocket, give them a call.

Food : 7/10
Service : NA
Damage : 150

The Lost Week

In the 1920's Ernest Hemingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald, T.S.Eliot amongst others were a group of artists & writers that came of age in the shadow of World War I, they were called the Lost Generation

In the 1940's Billy Wilder made a ground breaking film about an alcoholic writer called The Lost Weekend.

While i cannot profess anything remotely close to the level of talent contained above, nonetheless i too experienced a lost week in the culinary wilderness.

This was the reasonably delicious mushroom soup i had at Corniche in Bandra, however the rest of the meal was quite a let down, average salad, mediocre pasta, excellent company however.

This was followed by dinner at All Stir Fry, once a favorite which fell by the way side only to rise into prominence again.
We did the Wok which is pretty much filling up bowls with noodles & veggies which can be cooked in a variety of chosen sauces etc.

The sauces i went for were the Schezuan & Kung Pao, couldn't tell you which one was worse. Completely ruined the evening for us, in fact both my brother & cousin who i dined with got sick the next morning. (2100 for 3 no drinks)

This one was the hardest blow, Papa Pancho has been a fav of mine ever since i started visiting Bandra a few years ago. In fact my order probably hasn't changed in all the years i have dined there.

The Papdi Chaat was the only flicker in a miserable down ward spiral. Delicious.

The Paneer Makhani, my usual pick felt like it was made the night before, no flavour at all. Absolutely no redeeming quality whatsoever. The Dal was tasteless, only the yoghurt was fresh and tasty, not much of a consolation. (850 for 2)

Thus, the week ended, the mighty fell, favorites were laid to rest and new ones must be sought. Life goes on.

Jjammpong

Rest : Jjamppong
Loc : Walkeshwar Road, Walkeshwar
Meal : Dinner

For the past few days, i have been trying to make my way to the unlikeliest of locations for a restaurant, Walkeshwar. The location is known for many things but not for food. 

The area has a serious limitation of restaurants, Dakhshinayan is around the corner but other than you have trek downhill to Petit Hall for The Sun or Santosh Sagar at Napean Sea Road. 

 Not too much choice otherwise, unless you head on towards Chowpatty & Marine Drive. 

So this is a welcome addition. The shiny new eatery (only 3 weeks old) sits a few metres away from Teen Batti . The decor is minimalist, the ambiance casual, benches red. You could squeeze bout 30 people there and it has a hole in the wall feel to it.
 

Aptly named Jjamppong which i am told is a spicy Korean soup, derived from Chinese cuisine, it also has a Japanese version. The pan Asian antecedents of Jjamppong the soup sort of mirror the menu which has a dish or two from everywhere (cept malaysia) One of the more interesting things that drew me to the menu in the first place was their infusion of quirky ingredients such as lychee, plum, pineapple, raw bananas into dishes. 

 The obligatory and gratuitous shot of a Diet Coke. Someday like 1950's America we might get Coke in classic bottles and world will be a much MUCH better place. 

The Red Wonton Soup was pretty good. For a second it tasted like your regular Chindian Manchow but just for a fleeting second. It was hot, not too spicy but boy was it hot. The wanton was effing brilliant. The wife liked it so much she asked to try the Lychee Wantons.

While our original appetizer was the Kung Pao which was a mish mash of veggies, potato and paneer, the crunchy spears came highly recommended and we modified our order. In all honesty this was not bad, French beans, asparagus tossed in a wok, what's not to like. Not stupendous but not bad.

The lychee wanton, sounds uber weird and the truth is i am not a fan of Lychee i think its a bizzare fruit and looks like eyeballs.  The wife loves Lychee and what she loves she gets. I tried them with some hesitation but it turned out to be pretty good. Just a slight hint of the lychee not enough to distract just enough to entertain. The dipping sauce it came with sucked though. 

They also recommended Corn Curd but the wife shot it down, they brought out a sampler so she could taste it. She didn't approve, I thought they were pretty good if a tad luke warm. 

The gravy was a  veggies with cottage cheese in a reddish hot sauce. A little spicy and hot but not overt which was good. Just the kind of taste i was looking for. Not bad.

While i was leaning towards the Burnt Chili Garlic rice, it was recommended i try the minty Vietnamese fried rice. While this was not bad and without the hint of mint (hehe) it would have just been an ordinary fried rice it went well with the gravy.

We intended to order (when i say we i mean the Mrs) the Pad Thai Noodles but since we were going all Chinese we skipped it, which is good as the portions are relatively healthy and it would have been way too much food.

Overall, the space is small but the food is splendid. The menu has some pretty interesting dishes that deserve a try. They clearly win on imagination and unlike the other hole in the wall eater Francesco's they have got the formula right (when you are this small, the food needs to be superlative)

Best to go with a bunch of friends so you can try out a bit of everything. While there are a few misses, such as the dipping sauces which are weak, the funky bottles need to be clearly labelled but nothing major. There is enough standard pan Asian food and enough new ideas to keep most people interested.

I really hope they keep the standards up.

Service is warm and friendly but the waiters are a bit nervous.

Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : 1010 for two.

Note : They are all Vegetarian & Serve No Alcohol