Sunday Brunch @ JW Cafe

Rest : JW Cafe

Meal : Sunday Brunch
Loc : JW Marriott Hotel, Sahar. Belly of the International Airport

This past Sunday we got to partake in the Sunday brunch at the new J.W. Marriott, Sahar, which is right in the belly of the international airport. While i am not one to travel far for a bite, on Sunday, the route drive was about 25 mins and my parents were residing at the hotel to boot, so it was a decision made fairly easy, since we had to go pick them up. (Now, justifications done, onward)

The Juhu JW Marriott, is a massive property with half a dozen restaurants and bars and the new Hotel is much smaller with fewer dining options, however, they have done a stupendous job with the rather boringly named JW Cafe, which is way better than the gargantuan but ultimately middling Lotus Cafe. 

While its pretty, well furnished and large its not quite the centerpiece that Lotus Cafe is. Anyway, enough comparison. There is a lovely section by the windows and insist on table, 1-6, which are by the doors leading to the garden. Well lit yet offering a semblance of privacy as they are a bit away from the main dining section.

Now, even as brunches go, this was one massive spread, food was laid out in every corner and you were not more than 10 feet away from a bite. You place your order at a counter and they serve you on the table which beats having to queue.

I started with the soup, the choice was a clear Thai soup or a Tom Yum. I chose the Tom Yum which was close to a Tom Kha, with a strong coconut base. It was excellent, despite the base, it was spicy, hot deliciousness topped of with some mushrooms. 

Next up, the Mezze section, was end to end with hummus, tabuleh, ganoush, labneh, moutabal as well as rice and some more meat dishes. It was just wow, easily one of the star turns, not a single thing that was not up to the mark. They even had a chef warming pita and making falafal pockets if one were not inclined to do so.

The falafals too were kind of different. The texture, shape and color varied from from what i have usually consumed. Brilliant still however, i kinda like the discs better than the rotund falafal balls.

The anti pasti section was adequate with peppers, squash, eggplant, tomato but the artichokes were the stars here. brilliant isnt the word. 

Next up another star turn, the Italian section was populated with this stunning potato with some green onion was mind mindbogglingly good but when compared to its neighboring dish 

the mushroom ragout, it became at once pretty ordinary. If i had to pick a single dish that stood out i would say it was this and that is saying something. It was like some mushroom god had granted flavors on a plate.

they have a sushi section of course but its strictly okay, atleast the vegetarian section is. 

the pineapple curry which i chose on noodles was again staggering, just the right mix of sweet and spicy and bursting with flavor, this was second only to the ragout and NOT by much. 

they have a small section doing tacos and nachos and it doesnt quite work, its neither authentic nor is it fully local a la cream center and kind of falls flat.

i avoided the indian appetizers but took a little taste from Mrs Jain's Indian selection and found it to be decent, the dal was good the paneer average.

The pizza looked the part, this was the four cheese, perfect crust around the edges but limp in the middle, served a tad cold and largely tasteless. 

the spaghetti was much delayed in getting to our table and it didnt quite incorporate what we wanted (kinda important when you its made to order) It wasn't bad just not what we asked for. 

the egg benedict was lonely and under salted and kind of disappointing. 

the waffles which we chose with blueberry and maple syrup was on the money. should have picked up a side of some fruits with that but i wasnt quite thinking healthy. 

the cheese selection was adequate with Parmesan, Cheddar, Swiss, Edam and Feta. A stronger cheese (Bleu, Gorgonzola) was missed. Also couldn't find any olives around so i improvised by stealing some from the Italian live counter. 

the dessert section was massive with everything under the sun although at most buffet's i prefer getting ice cream or sorbet. 

so i chose the kulfi rabdi falooda which was great but kept hurting my tooth and it was impossible to eat easily with the massive spoon and tiny cup but somehow i managed. 

they also had a home made gulkand ice cream which wasn't half bad. Mrs Jain tried most of the western desserts and chocolates which im afraid i didn't have a go at. 

Overall, its a pretty massive spread, possibly the biggest in the city with a lot of hits and the odd miss which is rare and usually the other way round. A few of the sections arent even pictured like the chaat and the Indian appetizers, Chinese etc. I think a South Indian section would be a good strong addition, a dosa counter with curd rice and rasam is surely a good idea. Personally, i dont see the need for Chaat at brunch but then , thats just me.

Beyond being good, the Middle Eastern, Thai & Italian are proper, restaurant grade preparations and not making up the numbers which is likely in a spread this wide. In fact, when i went for a second helping of the mezze and the pineapple curry i went from man to pig.

The pasta section is slow and needs to speed up and get the orders right while the pizza sections needs a bit of a revamp. This would be a popular section, so hope they fix it up soonish.

Also i think their selection of beverages is a little ordinary, with tetrapack juices and soft drinks out of big bottles. I think cans and fresh juices is the way to go and would be far more appropriate.

From what i gather, the carnivores would find this to be even more exciting, as they have Shawarma, Australian Leg of Lamb and Alaskan Crab which is surely a novelty and a massive satay section with various things on a stick.  So rejoice.

 

Besides the decent ambiance and superlative food, the single best thing about the brunch was there was not one, and i mean not a SINGE kid running around screaming or being obnoxious.

They were all hanging with clowns and balloons and slides. Not something you would see at another brunch and that alone is worth the price of admission.

I went straight up to the room for a quick nap. 

Food : 9/10

Service : 8/10

Damage : 2015 + taxes without booze. 

ITC

Rest : Hornby's Pavilion

Meal : Lunch
Loc : Lower Parel

On an atrocious day when nothing worked, we decided on our long drive back from the far suburbs to stop by and have a decent lunch. Since we hadnt been to the ITC in a while we decided to give them a shot.

True to form the spread is massive as would be expected from a chain like ITC. They have salads, appetizers, hors d'ouvrese, plenty for even the most picky. 

The dips, salsa, hummus etc were first rate, fresh and tasty. 

The appam and stew were freshly made and possibly the best thing they served. absolute winner

the Indian selection was very weak, the generic paneer, the non descript black dal, for some reason the Indian selection at Hornby's is always weak, unless its part of a festival. 

A decent selection of cheese. 

beverages are not part of the buffet. 

good stuff if you stick to salads, south Indian etc. The Chinese selection has almost never been half way decent, let alone acceptable. So the mains are to be avoided

the dessert selection is fairly expansive.

Overall, everything was great except the Indian & Asian main courses which were below par as they always have been. So in essence i should not really have been disappointed.

Service was excellent as usual, quick and attentive.

Food : 6/10
Service 8/10
Damage : 2000 pp.

7

Rest : Seven
Loc : Shangri La, Lower Parel
Meal : Dinner

Once a year comes the great feast of my friend Vishal Patel, who once a year splurges money on a party for his friends. Although he resides in Hong Kong now, he was in town and as is the practice he picks a new place to dine at which is not revealed until the evening of the dinner. 

Seven at the newly launched Shangri La is quite a space, gigantic with a huge buffet it puts just about every coffee shop this side of town to shame. The Lotus Cafe at the Mariott perhaps comes close in size and the erstwhile Palms at the Oberoi. Pictured above however is the creepiest, freakiest thing i have ever seen done with bread or otherwise, truly disturbing. 

                                             

The spread is huge, covers a lot of ground, so its best to be placed close to the food i suppose, howevet the staff will bring out just about anything you desire. 

They served some pretty good pizza, which i enjoyed, more so when i got pineapple on mine and no one took a piece. 

The made to order Pasta was not bad, i wish they would add some finesse into these live counter stations beyond the usual pesto, aglio olio and arrabiata or cream. 

One will face a problem of plenty, we found ourselves surveying the buffet and planning a move at times. However the Asian selection was a little weak, though i enjoyed the dim sum the other dishes were weak. 

no one seemed to have like the Indian selection but the appetizers were pretty good. 

                                      

the dessert selection was pretty massive as expected, complete with just about everything imaginable in the right bite sized portions. 

my fav thing was this moving wheel of goodness containing some amazing flavours, the sorbet was awesome as were the chocolate and the strawberry. 

Overall, the place is huge and the service good, the hotel seems to have gone for size and grandeur and has done it well. The restaurant itself needs to work out a few things, they offer something for everyone but if they play their cards right and experiment a little, they could have an unbeatable combo. 

The pricing i am told is pretty reasonable for a five star coffee shop, however i am sure that will change once the patronage goes up.

Food : 7/10

Service : 8/10
Damage : 14000 between five with wine. 

The Rajasthan Food Festival at Hornby's Pavilion

Rest : Hornby's Pavilion
Meal : Lunch
Loc : ITC Grand Central, Parel

Hornby's Pavilion is a coffee shop i have spent a fair bit of time at. They do a lot of festivals Hyderabadi, Coastal and this time it was the Rajasthani Food Festival. I spent a week in a heritage hotel outside of Jodhpur called Fort Chanwa. The chef at the hotel was a local villager and we had the most fabulous week of some very tasty dishes.

So it was with some excitement that i accepted the invitation and it turned into a little bloggers meet, which was an added bonus.

While the festival was on they were also serving their regular menu which included a selection of salads.as well as Lasagna which too was pretty good. I guess i cheated a little by trying out the non festival items.

The mini samosas were yummy

The perfect accompaniment for a dinner like this is a glass of thick buttermilk, it wasn't cold but it was still pretty good, i am a fan of butter milk and this was as good as any ive had.

The piece de resistance of any Rajasthani meal has to be the Daal Baati, served here as a churma (crushed) with a spot of daal and some jaggery. While i don't enjoy jaggery in particular i didn't mind it as much here, the daal baati worked pretty well, no complaints. The generous dose of ghee meant it was quite a heavy dish, did not go back for seconds.

Poppadums are a must, the green one was i think made with spinach as well as believe it or not, foam from the Sambhar lake in Calcutta.

To start with there was some of the most amazing Paneer tikkis, little fried pieces of cottage cheese, brilliant these were. There was also the stuffed bhavnagri chilli which looks quite furious but was not very spicy.

The patra was delicious, dressed up like bhel, The Greek salad is pretty far from Rajasthani cuisine but it was allright. They also served some other traditional dishes, one of them similar to gatte ki sabzi along with bajra ki roti.

Some of the sweets on offer, Indian as well as the usual selection of desserts.

The Laksi was a traditional dessert from the chef's village which was very simple yet interesting.

Overall, the food was pretty decent, the coffee shop festival (anywhere) suffers from having to cater to the hotel's other guests which means a large cosmopolitan spread. The festival dishes are ample but a part of the larger spread, which means the diner is usually distracted.

It would work better if this were a separate option, served on a platter as Rajasthani cuisine is meant to be. Anyway, the food was good and the service was spot on.


The evening turned into a mini bloggers meet with @Foodchants, @CaramelWings, @ScrollsNInk & @Desh and yours truly joining us. Also pictured is Chef Kailash Maharaj the mid mannered, soft spoken chef who has worked in many a royal kitchen including that of the Late Maharani Gayatri Devi and is now at ITC Shonar in Calcutta. Also with us was the lovely Arundhati Ghosh from the ITC who was the architect of the evening.

Le Mill - Cafe Pico

Le Mill is an oddly located store which  houses furniture, clothing, a  florist and an outlet of Cafe Pico.

Cafe Pico has lately been on an expansion spree and have also set up at the horrid Phoenix Market City.

Anyway, Le Mill is located in Masjid Bunder, which is actually about 10 mins from where i live but having never been there it took us about 20 to locate the place.

Located in an old mill, the place is a smashing, if we had more offices like this, the city would be a lot more fun to work in. The mill structure has been retained and the old worn out industrila motif has been carried significantly forward.

The architect was a year junior to me in high school. 

The menu is plenty interesting, like most popular restaurants/cafes in the city, it too has a strong Mediterranean bent.

The salads especially are very interesting and on the money.

We were there on Sunday and they were serving a Sunday Brunch which was culled from the menu.

A little disappointed by that but it is what it is.  The staff however were willing to get us items for the menu if we so wished (we didn't, i hate pushing chefs to do things the don't want to)

The Fritata, was okay. Fits in well with the menu but not the strongest of flavours.

The Orange Juice was prfct, had more than a glass, and it would have made a kickass mimosa (one should definetely try a Mimosa at Indigo Deli made with Malta Oranges, smashing.

The rest of the brunch was the usual suspects, a bunch of egg preparations, french toast, muesli, eggs sunny side up.

 Smashing pancakes with a side of maple syrup. I wish they served some fruit compote but they didnt have any. We made our own little strawberry spread with fresh strawberries they were serving.

This was the poached figs with pecorino i think, again not bad at all, bitter leaves, sweet figs and a regulation cheese. Not bad.

The Barley salad with some cherry tomato, french beans in a sort of lemony dressing, was very summery. Went back for seconds.

 They also serve mains made to order, the one we shared was a pesto main, which was not too bad, a little under salted but that was easily remedied.

Overall, The Cafe Pico is a victory of design, rather than the usual, overly laid out spaces one tends to visit nowadays, this one is the other way, quite under designed which makes it very interesting  to be in and around.

However, the food is imaginative and actually pretty decent, worth a go, perhaps the other locations will be in keeping with the theme. Price wise, the restaurant offers way more value for money than similar places and we need more evenly priced locations in this city.

Maybe its compensation for the trek one must make to find it.

Food : 7/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 800pp for brunch Non Alcoholic Beverages (250 for OJ & a can of Sprite)

(Something is seriously wrong with my template, ergo why the pics and text are a little out of whack)