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.

Happy Hour @ Ellipsis

Ellipsis opened with much fanfare a little while ago and the reactions to it have been mostly mixed. The culinary celebrity behind the scenes raised expectations wildly. It has certainly made it a place to go by sheer notoriety and infamy. However it has not altered the culinary landscape of the city as most people expected it to.

Since i have not dined there ill keep this short and quick.

I was meeting AJ( http://www.livefromalounge.com/) for a drink and decided on Ellipsis since i had only been there once and had left without eating or drinking due to a change in plan.

I started off with the Old Fashioned which was Bourbon, bitters and demera i think. This baby was strong.. ill say one thing, the bar tenders here are not short changing you on the quantity. A little bit more of the mixers would have softened the taste a tad, this literally felt like a massive shot of whiskey. A friend of mine just told me that this is the cocktail of choice for Don Draper.. interesting.

The fried cheese, we split an appetizer and boy was this something. Brilliant, cheesy as hell, a tad sweet but spot on. i could eat loads. I will say i am not a fan of odd sized servings.

The American was the last one i picked, this was if i remember correctly Campari, Vermouth amongst other things. Again not bad but the taste was neither here nor there.

Overall, Ellipsis has the quality offering right, they arent trying to rip you off or fob you off which at their prices i wouldn't expect them to either.

They also have a MASSIVE list of cocktails (but no real special beers or ales) so one should feel free to experiment. I had a peek at the food menu on the way out, it was a one pager which i think is daring and changes with availability of ingredients which i reckon is smart. The pricing also was not as prohibitive as i was led to believe, although it is certainly on the higher side.

Will definitely check them out for dinner one of these days.

Damage : 3000 for 4 cocktails and appetizer during happy hours (6-8)

Angsana Hotel - Phuket

I was in Thailand recently, a part of it was spent at the wedding of my one of my best mates kid brother. They chose Phuket as a location and there was lots of anxiety about how things would go but boy did they hit a home run.

an aerial view of the property (not my picture)

The property chosen was The Angsana in the Laguna area, which is about 20kms away from the town of Phuket. Phuket town in itself is really not all that interesting for someone like me (lazy, not a sex tourist or a bargain hunter) and i would highly recommend picking one of among half dozen properties in this location if you want a self contained and relaxing vacation.

The Lobby which is not pictured here is also quite stunning, exactly what i would expect from a high end Thai resort, spacious, open, ethnic Thai style even lovelier in the evening than in the day. Unfortunately when we entered we were led through a smaller entrance for wedding check ins and didnt notice it till much later.


The property has been renovated post the Tsunami and if i recall correctly was re-opened late last year, which is why everything is in tremendous newness. Built around a lagoon, most of the rooms either face a pool, beach or the laguna itself.

The room we got was the Laguna King Room, which came with twin beds a couch and an ample gallery outside. I also had a look at the one room loft which is very nice, has a view of the laguna and the beach and is appropriate for a family with kids or more people wanting to stay together. For a couple, you need not look further.

The bathroom was spacious with a large, ornate tub, the kit was nothing fancy, basic stuff but no complaints. Complimentary bottles of water were placed here instead of the room.

Our rooms had a splendid view of the beach and were extremely well located. A short flight of stairs led to the gym or to the breakfast buffet, a few steps led to the infinity pool and the beach.One can take a boat ride to any of the other Laguna properties or hit the market place as desired.

Speaking of the Infinity pool, here it is, although there are a bunch of other, larger pools on the property, this was the most fun to spend time at. There is a bar a few feet away. No complaints, although i don't recommend drinking and swimming. No Lifeguards on duty.

While i rarely put pics of myself up, this is the best way for me to illustrate the massive private beach which spreads across the Laguna properties and stretches for miles. It really is the only way to visit a beach, there were maybe 2o people across that entire stretch.

While hotel reviews are not my area of expertise, i will say that the property is stunning in every which way, we requested a couple of things from the front desk, the concierge and house keeping and barring a nail clipper all of them were promptly delivered.

The staff is prompt, attentive and willing to go the extra mile if needs be. Language can be a barrier but if you are a little patient you can easily get through to them. The location is quite stunning and if you tire of the surroundings or the options, a small but interesting market, restaurant strip is a few mins away.

From the food perspective, the breakfasts were large and sumptuous, which spoil you for choice. All other meals were catered for the wedding and would be unfair to comment. A room like ours without meals starts at 4500THB (140$US)