Joss

Rest : Joss
Loc : Kala Ghoda, Rampart Row
Meal : Lunch

So it turns out that the women i know had a tremendous lunch at Joss last week. Not wanting to be left behind i made it to Joss for a quick bite.

Joss has been around for a while, i had been there a few times in its previous avatar Sanuk Thai, which then became Sanuk Oriental (Thai was way better) my last visit though was quite a long time ago. Even now i find the menu to be a little weird, they have Chinese, some Eastern hot pots and Sushi.

A scary start, i asked for a Hoegarden with a dash of oranges.. my server looked at me like i had grabbed his ass. They didn't serve it with oranges, to their credit they came back with an offer of apples or kiwi but they didn't have oranges. I did the safest thing possible and ordered a Tiger which turned out to be a splendid decision. It went great with everything i had.

Now, we ordered Sushi as the wife highly recommended it. Unlike most things this time she was correct. Joss is already quite popular for their Sushi but i was skeptical as they did Chinese and other Eastern dishes as well. The house rolls with avocados and cream cheese were fantastic. In fact they were so good that we ordered another sushi platter to make the most of it.

Button mushrooms with water chestnuts were very weak. Typical fried stuff with some chilli and pepper. nothing special.

The carrot and onion houserolls were amazing as well. I think the cream cheese has the edge simply coz its so different with the use of its ingredients. However this one too was a winner. absolutely no complaints.

For the main course we went for the Balinese curry, it was okay. I have had this curry elsewhere and its always been a very heavy flavor which i liked immensely. this one had the aroma but the thick flavor was missing, it felt watered down but it was not bad.

Overall, the ambiance is average, they need to redecorate, its like the space is stuck in the 90’s.

Food wise, i think they would do very well if they just cut out their Chinese which is average and focus on their fantastic Sushi. Which as good as it is i do consider it over priced. At 520 + tax for a platter of veg sushi its about 20% too high. .

Service was okay if a little scatterbrained.

Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1900

Joss
30, K. Dubhash Marg
Next to Chetana Restaurant, Kala Ghoda
Fort, Mumbai
Phone 66356908, 66334233

Sula & Beyond

The Sula vineyards are spread across Nashik & Dindori and they have created a beautiful, landscaped little gem with an Italian restaurant (Little Italy) and a tasting room.

A long road with grape vines on either side leads to the main winery and other buildings.

the space is clean and well laid out, we got there at 10 am and not a soul was stirring. Used to early starts from Mumbai we were a little surprised to learn that nothing would happen until 11am when everyone showed up.

the buildings are like charming old bungalows yet there is a great mixture of modern glass and bright colors

everywhere the eye can see you see the planted vines spread across the landscape. It was unfortunately not the right season and we had forgo the actual wine tour, instead we toured the winery itself and got a lesson in how they make wine.

the tasting room is a an outdoors and indoors space where they offer a tasting of six wines and one can also sit and order cold cuts and cheese to nibble on while sipping other wines from the menu.

The wine tasting was fun, six glasses of Sula wines were on offer, having taken a class on wines i knew a lot more than the layman but it was fun to get a refresher. Of all the wines a Dindori Reserve Viognier was the best, great refreshing taste, sweetish but not too acidic.

For those who like them sweet an interesting late harvest dessert sweet Chenin Blanc was also on offer. Indian wines are slowly getting there..

Sula also offers a space where one can stay the night, there is help on call as well as a chef, television with satellite tv and even an infinity p0ol.

the three rooms are modern and spacious, well laid out and extremely comfortable. The entire living area is modern and an oasis of calm looking out to a large lake and planted vines.

the breakfast was aloo paratha served with fresh yoghurt and pickle. plenty good this, very tasty and quite a large serving.

the dinner was tasty too, black dal, paneer kofta and mixed vegetables served with rice and chapatis. One can order the food from a set menu which is fairly expansive.

Overall the stay was fantastic, the place was a revelation and it would be foolish not to visit here at least once.

A special thanks to our beautiful hostess Mitali and birthday boy Kunal for having us over !

Road trip to a Vineyard !

Nashik, originally an industrial town, has grown into the wine capital of India with majority of the labels established in and around the area.

The city is actually not as far as people seem to think, we headed out at about 6am and were at the winery by 9.30 am including a rest stop. An under construction 4 lane highway connects Mumbai to Nashik and is a joy to drive on.

The 6am start however, seemed like a mistake, especially since our planned stop at Cafe Madras in Matunga did not materialize. None of the cafes were open and we moved on.

Unlike driving across the United States of Continental Europe, food options are fairly narrow when driving across India. They are narrower still between 7am-9am. So despite perking up at Kailas Parbat & Bhagatchand Tarachand we were gutted to find out that they wouldn't start serving till 11 am.

Finally it was Cafe Coffee Day that came to the rescue, 80kms from our destination, hungry and cranky we waltzed in to the amusement of the sole person manning the table.

A glorious cafe mocha and a very average sandwich ( we were not complaining) later we walked out with our blood sugar back to normal.  Thus ends part 1.