Taj Lands End Vista - The Atlantis Middle Eastern Special

Rest : Vista
Meal : Dinner
Loc : Taj Lands End, Bandra Bandstand.

The Lands End and particularly Vista is a happy place for me, i spent some time there when i was dating the Mrs, although we loved the food going back there often enough post wedding has been rare.

So i was quite happy when i was invited to sample the dishes at the ongoing Arabic Cuisine festival put together by the Taj Lands End & Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai. Atlantis again is a happy connection of sorts, from Spring break way back when, I had actually been to the Atlantis property in the Bahamas. It wasnt as big then, the signature towers came later.

My good friends KB & MB live in Dubai for part of the year, their house is near the Atlantis and they visit often meals especially Nobu, which they rate very well. I could go into my Nobu story but i digress.

The layout was fairly expansive, the festival dishes were in addition to the regular evening buffet but i dont think anyone really touched any of the regular food. Start with a tomato shorba with some veggies, There was a large lamb biryaniesque preparation, a tagine, cold and hot mezzes, brown rice with lentils as well as desserts. The menu shall be more or less the same throughout the festival.

There were some cold mezze starters, the dolmas were pretty good. The crunchy fried roll was allright.

The absolutely spectacular tahini fountain, falafals, grilled veggies and breads, dip and eat. I think ill take a tahini fountain to a choco one any day. Loved it.

I didnt get the name for this, it was a cross between a watered down cacik but tasted more like a liquid labneh, brilliant, garlicky taste, a mezze you can drink.

While there were a whole bunch of dishes to be tried, the falafal with tahini, the cold fattoush with toasted pita chips, all of them top notch.

Potato lightly spiced fried in olive oil were lovely. However the standout dish that i gorged on was the smooth, creamy, hummus. absolutely the best i have ever had. Freshly made and perhaps why it was such a brilliant dish and shall be the standard against which all future hummus consumption shall be judged by.

While there were plenty of desserts i played safe with a brilliant baklava

as well as a little tiramisu.

Overall the food is brilliant, while we do have Souk at the Taj & Mabruk at Sahara Star to lean on for our middle eastern fix, the food here was spectacular. The spring roll starter was perhaps the weakest offering. The festival deserves a longer run at present its on until 18th September at 2100 per person.

I was also in a rather long conversation with Lands End GM Birgit Zorniger, a remarkable woman who knows the India hotel scene inside out. She happened to mention that Riva a Mediterranean restaurant that will replace Pure should open by mid-October.

As i was there by invitation, a rating would not be appropriate but in general the food, service and company were all top notch.

All Stiry Fry - Return of the Prodigal

Rest : All Stir Fry
Meal: Lunch
Loc : The Gordon House Hotel, Near Regal Cinema, Colaba

Talk about a blast from the past (previous visits here and here) my good friend and frequent dining companion Mr.Patel and i were having one of our inane chats and All Stir Fry somehow came up, turns out, we hadn't been there for a good three of four years. We wondered if it was still around. Back in the day we used to end up there for our Asian fix a few times a month. However the quality really went downhill, some of the dishes we loved too disappeared.

Also, the dining scene in the city took a great surge forward with more cuisines and options mushrooming up. Chinese food though joyous has always been unhealthy and hard on the stomach, so it ASF all but disappeared.. until now.

While discussing lunch options on this bank holiday week we settled on All Stir Fry, to try out our old stomping ground going in expecting the worse. An addition being my wife, who tagged along, she was not in the picture during ASF's heyday.

The menu is much the same, dishes that cover a fairly wide area of Asian cuisine, you have Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and of course Thai with a smattering of Japanese. There is also a separate Dim Sum Menu. One can also do the Wok, where you get a bowl, fill up your ingredients (veg & non-veg) pick a sauce and toppings and they cook it for you while you wait.

The place too has not changed much in the last few years, it was always a pretty slickly done, Asian inspired layout, still one of the best casual dining layout in the city, i absolutely love the benches that give it a street food stand feel, although your back can only take so much. The biggest change they had made was when they took over the neighboring sea food restaurant Tides and doubled the floor space. This was also the time when the food and service really went downhill.

For those picking the Wok, as the three of us did, there are plenty of options you can choose from Onions, Peppers, Mushrooms, Bamboo Shoots, Carrots, Corn, Leafy options to fill up your bowl with. Add one or more of the five kind of noodles, choose from the dozen or so sauces (mild, hot, spicy) and add your toppings (crushed pepper, chilli flakes, garlic, crushed peanuts etc etc etc) There is a fairly large selection of meats as well.

As you can tell, i really love mushrooms

the wife chose bean sprouts and corn (yes, she could be slightly deranged)

i stuck to my old formula, mushrooms, onions, peppers, bamboo shoots, spaghetti thin noodles, garlic and crushed peanuts. The sauces i went for were Woh Ping which is mild, Kung Pao & hunan both of which were hot.

One can taste the sauces separately before ordering too. Next time i am hoping to try some of the Spicy selections. I would also say that one must make at least three trips to the Wok and therefore its important to fill the bowl as little as possible before handing it over.

The Wok was not bad at all, its also a very well priced option (450 + taxes) a shame that it took so long to come back, the service was strictly okay and i think the menu and the Wok need some refreshing but otherwise no complaints.

I think i will easily be back here soon enough.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage for 3 without drinks 1800

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