Foodie Tales Part 1

Over a month ago, I re-visited Bombay to bond with family and friends. An endless flow of alcohol and shameless exhibition of gluttony is always on the cards whenever I visit the city. And since I’m on the subject, I guess it’s worth sharing a few restaurant stories of the city.

China Garden@Kemps Corner and CR2: As a kid, the day we (family included) landed in Bombay, it was a given that dinner would be at Nelson Wang’s iconic restaurant at Om Chambers. And if the day happened to be a Saturday or Friday, my uncle would reserve the table at least in a week in advance. Once, we had to wait for nearly 45 minutes in the adjacent Piano Bar till a vacant table was found. Apparently, crowds used to gather outside the restaurant over the weekend to catch a glimpse of their favourite movie stars. All of them would end up dining at CG or downing a few drinks after their film premieres. CG was known (and still is) for its eefoo wontons, cream corn, sapo vegetables and chicken manchurian. It moved to the crassy CR2 mall I Worli for a brief period but townies preferred the newer – and more authentic – Chinese eateries which had mushroomed. Now it’s returned back to Om Chambers in a newer avatar – CG83 – but it’s not even a shadow of what it used to be. Except for their signature dishes, everything else is oily, spicy and plain boring. I’d rather eat home-cooked Chinese food than go to CG83. It’ll be a cheaper, healthier option.

Thai Pavilion@ Taj President: When someone tells you that a chicken appetiser is served on a long toothpick-like stick with peanut-butter sauce, you start getting second thoughts about the place. But once I tasted Chicken Satay, I fell in love with it and with Thai Pavilion for dishing out some fabulous Thai cuisine. Be it Tom Yum soup, Penang Curry or Masaman Curry, this South Bombay restaurant soon became quite a rage. But unfortunately Thai Pavilion too went downhill for a few years. The food became horrible, menus remained unchanged, service was bad and loyal clientele preferred India Jones and others to Ananda Solomon’s eatery. In fact, there were times when Taj President offered free pick-up services to those who wanted to lunch at Thai Pavilion. Inevitably, good sense prevailed and the restaurant was closed for renovation. It reopened last year and to say that it has outdone itself would be an understatement. Solomon’s given it a contemporary twist so now the menu’s got flambé prawns with a hint of orange and the Thai curry is devoid of spices. Yet, it all tastes so good. The décor is friendlier and the restaurant’s more spacious than before. Let’s not discuss prices though. The appetite gets ruined.

Bagdadi’s@ Colaba (Behind the Taj Mahal Hotel): Now before I’m labelled as an elitist snob, I’d like to write that my most memorable meals have been at this non-descript eatery. After drinking ourselves silly at Leopold’s or Sports Bar, my friends and I digged into the most amazing Mutton/Beef Biryani, Chicken Masala, and Chicken Fry which is available under 50 bucks. That we blew up most of the cash on booze is another matter, but fact remains that Bagdadi’s dishes are much better than it’s overhyped neighbour, Bade Miyan. Another factor which sets Bagdadi’s apart is its egalitarian nature: be it a sozzled rich brat or a disgruntled taxi driver, all of them descend here for a quick bite. Signs such as “food will not be served to overdrunken person” and friendly waiters (one of them remembered that I hadn’t visited since the 26/11 attacks) are added features. So if you’re short on cash but looking for a delicious meal, Bagdadi’s is your destination – provided your not overdrunken!

Trishna@ Fort and JVPD: If there’s one restaurant in Bombay which is jam-packed at 10:45 PM on a weeknight, it has to be Trishna. Famous for its butter garlic crabs, fish hyderabadi, dal hyderabadi and Lonely Planeters, this South Bombay eatery has started spreading its wings to the ‘burbs. Not only is the JVPD outlet more spacious, it serves more dishes than the one in Fort. The Chettinad Crab was a wonderful discovery – especially since it was de-shelled and mildly spicy. But the real revelation was the pomfret tikka: soft, chunky pieces grilled to perfection. A welcome change from the hyderabadi fish I’m so used to eating. Add to that Trishna’s signature Dal Hyderabadi, a few neer dosas and malai kulfi, and you have the perfect meal!

Eating out @ The Chinese

Went for dinner to The Chinese in Connaught Place last night. Had been hearing a lot of good stuff about the food there (esp. the Hunan dishes). It's perhaps the only restaurant I've been to which has a separate menu for hunan and szechwan dishes. Usually, most restaurants have just one menu which is an assortment of Cantonese, Hunan and Szechwan food. 

About the food, well, I did think it is overhyped. At least the Szechwan dishes. Don't get me wrong here. The food isn't particularly bad, but, it isn't wow! material either. In fact - and I hate to say this - the vegetarian fare was much better than the non-veg one (barring the prawn dimsums). We ordered a fish in szechwan sauce and some prawns in black bean sauce - both of which were very average dishes. The fish was very dry and not too soft (considering it was a 'fresh' river sole). There was neither black nor any bean in the prawns which clearly showed that the chef mixed two or more sauces to come up with his own version of the black bean one. The prawns 'shao maao' dimsums were very yummy, though. The dough wasn't very thick,  and the meat inside was piping hot. Quite a breather this, since I've been looking out for better alternatives to those sadakchaap momos. The last time I ate an original dimsum was probably at Royal China, Bombay around two years ago, so I had nearly forgotten what it tastes like. Thankfully, The Chinese reminded me in time. However, the stand-out dishes were the chinese greens in garlic which, even though it isn't exotic, was absolutely wonderful. The veggies were juicy, the mix of garlic and butter was just right and it complemented it's spicier cousin very well. Here was another assortment of veggies in a sauce which had a strong vinegar flavour cooked in what seemed to be black pepper sauce. Moreover, it was sans any onion or garlic. I'm pretty apprehensive about a no-onion-and-garlic dish because more often than not, the chef ends up destroying it by overloading it either with spices or just serving something horribly bland. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found that the sauce was not too spicy  - which meant I could actually taste the veggies - and had a nice vinegar flavouring to it. 

I can't say much about the service because the restaurant was nearly empty so waiters were always around to serve us. The decor was pretty run-of-the-mill too: walls covered in blue with chinese alphabets embedded on them. Dragon designs covering the ceiling didn't do much to reduce the garishness as well. Overall, a pretty decent restaurant for a quick business lunch or if you want to taste decent chinese without shelling out too much. Will I go there again? Yes, because I'd like to try out the Hunan menu. The pickled prawns dish sounded a bit interesting. 

Rating 2.3/3/5.

Location: Adjacent to Competent House, F-Block, Middle Circle, Connaught place.

P.S. Still have a few leftover veggies which I am now going to dig into.