Mumbai Foodie Diaries!

Mumbai, as they say is the ‘city of dreams’

Mumbai, as I say is ‘every foodie’s paradise’

 

Two and a half long months in Mumbai, quite a long period I wondered to myself before leaving from Bengaluru. This wasn’t the first time I was visiting Mumbai! I’ve been here several times before, but this was the first time I was staying here for so long and alone!

I had made a list, actually several lists, no surprise there. These lists were all about things I wanted to do to the places I wanted to visit to the restaurants I wanted to dine at; it was quite an extensive one that I can guarantee you. Was I able to mark off everything on my list? Well, let’s say I covered a lot places and there were some which I couldn’t due to time or money constraints. Yes, I was a tad bit disappointed, but I knew I would be coming back to the city hence I could continue my exploits then!

Mumbai has a very vibrant food culture, there is just so much to eat and savour! If there is something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed here it's the street food! If you are a sucker for street food, Mumbai is the place to be, and explore the street food culture! From dosa to sandwiches to chaats and oh how can I forget the ever popular vada pavs, these were part of my weekly diet! Heading to a popular street food area and eating to my heart’s content is what I did every Sunday!

My favourite was the dosa and Bombay sandwich! Loaded with cheese and butter, these dosa’s were part of my Sunday morning breakfast! Each stall boasting of having more than 51-100 varieties on their menu, I usually spent first ten minutes on deciding which one I wanted to eat! No, I couldn’t try out all the 51-100 varieties but I did try something different every time. Mysore and paneer dosa topped the list. Not only was it flavoursome, but just one plate of it was so filling!

Bombay sandwich is something I always treat myself to every time I visit this city. This time was no different! Apart from shopping and gorging on cupcakes, I used to pamper myself to these scrumptious Bombay sandwiches! You know like they say in Hindi, ‘arrey iski toh baat hi kuch alag hai’, these lines used to run in my mind every time I had a bite of these sandwiches! Again, variety excites and confuses you, but I would suggest start off with the age old classic one, veg toast sandwich! It might be the simplest one to prepare, but it is rich in flavours!

When it comes to chaats, pav bhaji, pani puri and sev puri remained as my favourites! Of course apart from this, the classic Mumbai special misal pav and usal pav is a must have! There were times when I had just this for dinner and later complained of not being able to move because I was so full!

Vada pav, more than enough has been said by people about it, however during this trip I realized that they are a bit over rated. Yes, I have had some delicious ones, but I have had many bad ones as well. Almost every street in Mumbai has a vada pav stall, and sometimes when you have too much of something it kind of gets to you!

So here is the first of things to do in Mumbai!

• Enjoy your Sunday breakfast having dosa’s in Malad (chincholi bunder) or in Vile Parle. The one in Bandra linking road is another option. Treat yourself to Bombay sandwiches at Vile Parle again. Yes, there are many places, but the one in this area has remained my favourite for years now! For chaats, go to Juhu or Chowpatty, the best chaats are experienced and tasted by the beach! Who said that? Me! :D
• For vada pav, Bansi vada pav stall is one option, but honestly till this date the best vada pav I’ve had was in Kalyan, you will grab another one just to relish the taste of the chutney!

    Mysore dosa

Moving onto a different segment, namely restaurants and Café’s! If there is one café you must dine at in this city is Café Moshe’s! Having several outlets spread across the city, this place is known for its Mediterranean food and desserts! Recently this café introduced a whole new menu, which is more extensive and caters to a wider taste! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get an opportunity to experience the new menu, but the old one wasn’t bad either. After a long day if you are looking for a relaxed ambience and some comfort food, this is your go to place!

 #nomnomnom at Cafe Moshes

Oh and Café Leopold! Café Leopold is to Mumbai, what Koshy’s is to Bengaluru. More than enough reason to head there, isn’t it?

Chinese being my favourite cuisine was something I didn’t really enjoy here! It was good yes, but nothing more than that. 

For the love for Chinese

A special mention for Mamagoto for their excellent service though! While dining here, as I was relishing my meal, by mistake I ended up eating a chilli, and my god I was teary eyed! Seeing this, not only did the waiter get me some sugar and honey, but also got a bowl of ice-cream just so that I can feel better! Oh and they didn’t bill me for ice-cream! This kind of attention and service will always make you want to go back to the place again! Mamagoto recently opened in Bengaluru as well, although haven’t tried it out yet!

Finger food is another segment which quite a few restaurants here offer! If you are looking out for just something to munch on and enjoy your drinks, there are places like He Said She Said to experience! A bit pricy, but the experience is worth it!

So the next thing to do in Mumbai is –

• Go café hopping in Colaba. This area is oh so British and the café’s here reflect that culture. There are a number of café’s which offer just not food, but also beer, what more can one ask for? 
• Go restaurant and pub hopping in Andheri and Bandra. Yes, it’s going to be an expensive affair but you wouldn’t want to miss out on all the food and fun! There are plenty of restaurants in both the areas, hence shortlist the ones which cater to your taste.

At one of the cafes in Colaba 

Probably something which I missed the most while I was in Mumbai was Nachos. Crispy, yummy nachos! My cravings led me to try nachos at several places but nothing really made me go ‘Oh my god, this is so good’!  Most tasted like bingo chips and the others were devoid of toppings and/or sour cream! From pubs like British Brewing Company to café’s in Colaba, none impressed me and all I could do was wait, wait to get back to Bengaluru and satisfy my craving.

Coming to my favourite, desserts! You can’t go to Mumbai and not try out the cupcakes from Theobrama and LSD (Love Sugar Dough), like you just can’t! After Glen’s Bakehouse the finest red velvet cupcake I’ve had was at Theobrama. Oh the thought of it gets me mouth-watering! The best part about the cupcakes here is that the taste lingers in your mouth for a long time, making you crave for more. LSD again is a very popular dessert café in Mumbai. Soft and glossy, these cupcakes are a shortcut to happiness!

So yes, the next in things to do list involves,

• Visit to LSD and Theobrama to get a sugar rush!

Red velvet cupcake, picture says it all, doesn't it? 

I love breakfasts! I consider myself to be a very breakfast person hence exploring the breakfast outlets in the city was on my list as well. Mumbai isn’t short of breakfast places; I couldn’t pay a visit to all, but tried my best to visit a few of them.

Hence, the next in things to do list involves,

• Visiting some of the popular breakfast spots in the city. Most of them are situated in Colaba, but there are some small cafe's located in other areas of the city too. My favourite was Le Pain Quotidien in Powai! 

Happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast, right?

Also, roadside tea! This is something Bengaluru lacks and what I miss about Mumbai. Trying out the roadside masala chai is a must! Standing/sitting on the footpath as you drink your chai while you watch the traffic in front of you is an experience in itself!

So, add this on your list as well,

•  Roadside masala chai!

Coming to the other things you should do while you are in this city –

• An evening walk in Marine Drive followed by eating chaats at Chowpatty
•  Shopping at Linking road in Bandra and Colaba causeway
• Drive through Bandra Worli Sea link, its magnificent!
• Spend the evening walking or sitting on the benches on the promenade facing the Arabian Sea! It’s the most romantic place in Mumbai if you ask me!
• Travel by local train
• And go for a late night walk

    Beautiful, isn't it? 

There are several things which you can do in this city, however these top my list! These are probably some of the ways you can best enjoy the culture of the city and soak into it. Crowded yet empty, noisy yet calm, tall buildings and slums, this city has everything!

For a foodie, Mumbai is a place which pampers your taste buds. You can be on a tight budget yet enjoy a lavish meal, something we all look forward for, don’t we?

Yes, there were few things which I really wanted to explore, like dine at an Iranian café, enjoy a traditional Maharashtrian meal, etc. It’s definitely on top of my list when I visit this city again.

Someone asked me, what I liked about Mumbai the most apart from food of course! I said,

“The tall skylines! Because every time I looked outside my bedroom balcony, seeing those tall skylines made me realize how far I’ve come, and the fact that you can be alone yet never lonely! It’s a very strong emotion, a feeling which made me feel so comfortable, a feeling which perhaps filled the void in me!”

P.S - Apologies for the lack of pictures for this post! Unfortunately, lost a lot of them!

A new experience altogether – Dining at Tim Tai

It’s a perfect love story. Love story of Chinese food and me. Like every love story eventually finds its happy ending, I found my happy ending with Chinese food at Tim Tai!

In the bustling crowd of Chinese restaurants in the city, Tim Tai gives a whole new outlook on Pan Asian cuisine. It’s just not the food, but the ambience too, which will overwhelm you. My love story has been taken to a different level here. Wondering how? Read on. 

Ambience

Bright, cheery and colourful these are the adjectives which will pop up in your mind as you enter this restaurant. There is something about this place which gives out such positive vibes; it’s the kind of place which makes you feel good. This is the kind of ambience which every restaurant should have, an ambience which makes you smile and look forward to your meal.

From outside, it seems like the restaurant is not a big one, but as you step in, it’s a complete different picture. So spacious, so bright! An open kitchen, a tree right in the middle of the restaurant, glass ceiling and a waterfall on the other side, these are just some aspects which makes Tim Tai’s ambience stand out from the rest. Yellow is the colour which dominates this place and I believe this is where the place gets it cheerful aura from. Words don’t do justice in describing how lovely the ambience is. 

Menu and Grub

The menu caters equally to vegetarians and non-vegetarians; this I thought was a good thing on their part because usually when it comes to Pan Asian cuisine, there are hardly any vegetarian items on the menu.

Extensive would be quite an understatement to describe their menu. Soups, salads, dim sums, and then there is a separate starters section, enough number of dishes under every heading which can get you really puzzled as to what you would like to eat. The best of all is the Stir fries section which has 20 + curry items. 

We started our meal with drinks, Yellow Fellow and Asian Mary. Both drinks were brilliant! I opted for Yellow Fellow mainly because of partiality. I love the colour yellow, and anything that has yellow in it is what I will opt for so yes, since the name of the drink had yellow in it I just had to try it. :D

Yellow Fellow is a combination of Peach elderflower and lime. A simple drink but absolutely delicious! Gives a soothing effect, making you want it all the more!

Yellow Fellow!

Asian Mary on the other hand was the exact opposite of Yellow Fellow in taste. If Yellow Fellow was cold and a blend of sour and sweet, Asian Mary was slightly warm and had a sharp tinge of spiciness which was because of the tobasco! Guava juice, pepper, lime and basil were the other components in this drink. There was a balance in the flavours, and what I particularly enjoyed was the presentation. 

Asian Mary!

For the starters we ordered baby corn with roasted chilli paste, and my goodness what a dish it indeed was! The flavours of it come out so sharply which leaves behind a lingering taste. A kind of taste that you just don’t want to get rid of! There was right amount of spiciness and it was cooked to perfection. A bite of this and it makes you go, ‘this is just so good’!

                                                                Looks good, doesn't it?

Next came the main course! Confused whether to have rice or noodles with the help of the staff we finally settled for noodles which was ‘Indonesian Bamee Goreng’. Along with this we ordered Quick Fried Mix Vegetables with Ginger Wine Sauce. It was indeed quite a combination!

The noodles was spicy, but it was balanced with the sweetness of the curry. The flavour of Ginger was very distinct which I thought was interesting. The aroma of noodles was powerful and the essence of ginger wine sauce was even better. I was savoring every spoon of this and with every spoon I found it all the more delicious!

                                                                   Indonesian Bamee Goreng

                                                                Its all about the vegetables!

A meal is incomplete without a dessert hence I couldn't let this experience end so abruptly. Their dessert section is quite limited which is kind of disappointing, but the items they have on the menu seem very interesting. I settled for Banana Spring Roll with Chocolate sauce.

A warning here, if you dislike bananas, don’t go for this one because this dessert has hot, squished banana as a filling within the crispy spring rolls. Presented with hot chocolate sauce over the spring rolls and a scoop of vanilla bean ice – cream, this dessert has such contrasting flavours! It’s nothing like I have had before! The hot squished banana and the crispness of the spring rolls just burst out in the mouth, and this bursting of flavours I believe is exactly what every dessert should do!

                                                 Banana spring roll and Vanilla bean ice-cream! 

Service and Pricing

Exemplary service! I have come across restaurants which have beautiful ambience, I have been to restaurants which serve absolutely delicious food, but I have never before come across a restaurant which has such excellent service like Tim Tai. Not only are they attentive to every need of yours they are very quick in serving you making sure you don’t stay hungry for long! When I went here the place was packed, there wasn't a single table which was empty hence one would naturally expect a slight delay in service, but Tim Tai took me by surprise. Not only were our orders taken in quickly but we were also served with our food within ten minutes! 

Apart from this the staff took their time out to ask us if we liked the food and even explained how they do their cooking, the kind of ice-cream flavours they have so on and so forth. So much courtesy, what more could a diner ask for?

Pricing is slightly on the expensive side, but I feel it’s worth it. The pricing for the quality of food they provide is apt, hence no complaints there.

I have never been so impressed with a restaurant so much. Tim Tai has set a new standard; it has excelled in all the three criteria’s namely, ambience, food and service! Here, the food is all about flavours. The ambience is all about happiness and the service is all about paying attention to diners needs.

The ambience sets the floor, the food does all the magic and in the end you leave this place with a full happy tummy and a happy face.

Indeed, dinning at Tim Tai is an experience!

Quick Bites

Rating – 4.5/5

Cost for Two – 1700/- inclusive of taxes.

Why you should go here – To enjoy Pan Asian cuisine at its best

Location - 130, 1st cross, 5th block, Koramangala, Bangalore

Landmark - Lane perpendicular to 100 ft road.

P.S - If you are going on a weekend, make a reservation. 

Casual Dining at Cup O' Joe

Are you looking for a café with a rooftop ambience? Or a café which will keep you entertained with a wide screen TV? Or a café which keeps you busy with board games and books or a café where you can sit alone, relax and introspect? Or a café which serves only breakfast, be it English, American, Spanish or Indian? Or how about a café which provides you with all the above! That would be an absolute bliss, wouldn’t it?

The city has cafes which cater to every kind of need, from ambience to food. The latest entry to this bang wagon is Cup O’ Joe!

Rooftop ambience + European and Mexican food + board games + books = Cup O’ Joe

Ambience

Cup O’ Joe finds itself sitting comfortably in Koramangala surrounded with a number of other eatery places. Located in 5^th cross, near Jyothi Nivas College, this café stands out on this road with its bright lemon yellow coloured walls on the outside. The café is in two floors, the first floor has 2-3 tables and the second floor or rather the rooftop is the area where most people prefer to dine. Book shelf in one corner and a guitar on another, a quaint waterfall in between these two corners is perhaps the best part about their ambience. 

Well-spaced, comfortable seating and books and games to keep you engaged, sounds good, right? However, if you compare the ambience of this place to the other café’s it lags behind a bit in terms of the cosiness.

Menu and Grub

Serving European and Mexican cuisine, this café also serves you with some delightful breakfast. This way the menu caters to all kinds of craving. From Soups to Salads, French toasts to burgers, Pastas to Burritos, Beverages to Desserts, it’s everything what one could be craving for, am I right or am I right!

What I found really interesting about the menu is the quotes! Some very quirky to witty food quotes can be found on every page of the menu at the bottom.

So, I was craving for nachos, no surprise there. :P This is when Sneha and I first went to this place. California Burrito is our usual place to have nachos since it’s close to college but this time we wanted to try a new place. After hearing quite a lot about how good Cup O’ Joe supposedly is, we immediately Zomato-ed and had a look at the menu and it was right there, nachos! We had made our decision, Cup O’ Joe it was!

We took a table at the rooftop and ordered for nachos. We weren't really looking forward to have anything more since first we wanted to quench our cravings.

But, that wasn't the only time I came here. My second visit here was with Anushka. We were meeting after a really long time, and since I wanted to give Cup O’ Joe another chance we ended up going here.

So here is how Cup O’ Joe fares when it comes to food.

Oreo Chocolate chip cookie and the Kiwi Mojito are a must have here. The beverages and drinks (smoothie, mojito, margarita) served here is very impressive, bang on when it comes to taste.

For someone who loves Oreo, this smoothie will make your day! You might even come back here again just to have this. No kidding. The taste of Oreo isn't very distinct. The flavour of it is there but it’s the chocolate chip cookie which stands out!

                                                                       *Yummalicious*

Oh and what can I say about Kiwi Mojito, refreshing in all its glory! This one literally takes always all your tiredness and stress making you feel all fresh in no time.  I've had Kiwi smoothie and mojito at a number of places, but nothing which tastes like this one! Absolutely energizing!

                         Looks refreshing, doesn't it?

Coming to my favourite, nachos! This was something I was really looking forward to for obvious reasons. Every time I try out nachos at a new place, nervousness is all I experience. This is because I don’t want to be disappointed. If I am, then my craving gets worse. Problems of being a girl I tell you!

So, the nachos here was a disappointment. The chips were not too crispy and the sour cream lacked taste, added to this, the toppings disappointed me the most.

Have you ever experienced this feeling when you are craving for something so much that even if it doesn't taste all that good you still end up eating it all and trying to comfort yourself saying, “it wasn't that bad”? Well, that’s exactly what I was doing after having these nachos.

                                                                     Nachos!!

The cottage cheese skewer on the other hand was impressive. Well plated, just by looking at the dish one could tell how delicious it would be and it was! The mint chutney was slightly bland but the seasoning in the cottage cheese made up for it. This one, I recommend. 

                                                                    Looks good or what!?

I was confused whether to order for a sandwich or pasta. After much debate with each other and my mind, Anushka and I settled for Arrabiata. There is nothing much to be said about this one, it was just like how Arrabiata tastes everywhere. Not too bland not too tasteful, just the right amount of everything. 

                                                                   Arrabiata! 

Finally my favourite section of the meal, desserts! After a tad bit of disappointment on hearing that New York cheesecake wasn’t available we decided to go for Joe’s Sundae.

So Joe’s Sundae is a lot of things put together. Fruits, hot chocolate, whipped cream, ice-cream and a handful of nuts. It looks mouth-watering, but it really isn't once you take a spoon of it. The problem with this one lies in the whipped cream, it’s all over! There is hardly any ice-cream; all you get is the whipped cream, fruits soaked in chocolate and loads of nuts. It is all kind of out of proportion here.

                                                               Sundae, Joe's Sundae!

Service and Pricing

Service is friendly, but not quick enough. We waited for twenty minutes for the dessert, can get anyone impatient, right?

Pricing is the other factor which will drag you to this café. Reasonably priced, and well suitable for a college students wallet! You can eat like a glutton here and still not end up spending a bomb, that’s all what we college students look for, don’t we?

The café is open all day from 11 in the morning, apt for a quick lunch or a relaxing meal when you want to spend time with no one but yourself.

Food is a little unsatisfactory here; it’s not that it’s really bad; it is just ordinary, nothing too delicious that can make you go gaga over it.

Quick Bites

Rating – 3/5

Cost for two – 700 for a full-fledged 3 course meal.

Why should you go here – To enjoy the beverages and other drinks and for its reasonable pricing.

Location - 483, 1A cross road, 5th block, Koramangala, Bangalore

Landmark - On the same lane as Golmaal Paratha and Tandoor Hut.

Happiness at “The Cupcake Company”

Very often we find ourselves asking the question, how to be happy or we come across people who ask us the same. No, I am not going to get philosophical here; honestly the answer is quite simple. Do anything and everything which you think would make you happy. Be spontaneous, do what comes to your mind and tada, you’ll find yourself smiling again, well, at least temporarily. :P

If you ask me, I would say happiness is cupcakes. Yes, I am a dessert lover, but cupcakes take a special place in my heart. I could gobble these glossy cakes in seconds and never get enough of it. So yes, like they say, you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy cupcakes and that’s kind of the same thing, right? ;)

Bangalore never had so many cupcake joints like it does now. Each one providing a variety when it comes to flavour and toppings! Cupcake Company is one such place. Having two outlets in the city, this cupcake outlet in no time has become quite a hot spot.

Ambience

Indiranagar and Richmond road is where the two outlets are located. The outlet on Richmond road, to be more specific, Convent road occupies a small space inside the restaurant, Green Theory.

The walls are decorated with several hangings which praise these lustrous cakes and then there is the counter which is ‘oh so inviting’ where cupcakes they have to offer are arranged. The ambience is simple but not plain. But, seriously, you won’t bother much about the ambience when there are mouth-watering cupcakes right in front of you.

Menu and Food

When it comes to flavour, Cupcake Company definitely offers a variety. From chocolate to custard to lemon to orange, you name it and they have it. Each of these cupcakes has a fancy name, like Pink Panther, Choco Crazy, Pineapple Express, so on and so forth.

As you go through their short menu, you’ll see that they have everything to offer what a cupcake lover would want. Apart from the tiny cakes, they have pie, donuts and beverages to offer too. So if you’re looking for a quick dessert snack, this place can be considered.

Chocolate is again synonymous with happiness, hence their Chip and Dale cupcake was something I had to have. The cupcake was made of chocolate chip and the chocolate ganache frosting was the perfect “icing on the cake type” one could have asked for. This cupcake was what I would like to call, gastro-orgasmic. After having this cupcake you are just left to wonder how something can taste so heavenly, just how!

                                                                     Chip n Dale

The Plain Jane is another one of my favourites! Vanilla is one of the most under-rated flavours. Many a times I’ve come across people who’ve told me that the flavour they dislike the most is vanilla, I just can’t seem to understand the reason for this. Vanilla is one of the most basic flavours, yes but if this flavour is used in the appropriate proportion and manner it can be one of the yummiest thing you’ve had! Just like this cupcake!

Plain Jane, is a vanilla flavoured cupcake and one of the most delicious one I’ve ever got my mouth on. With the vanilla buttercream frosting, the flavour slowly undresses itself in the mouth, making it all the more delicious. Plain Jane is like lays you know, no one can eat just one types? Try it, and you’ll know why I say this. :D

                                                                       Plain Jane

Next comes, the Lady in Red. I like how it sounds. But I like how it tastes more.

Lady in red is the red velvet flavoured cupcake. One of my favourite flavours, the best red velvet cupcake I’ve had was at Glen’s Bakehouse and if there is another one which competes closely to it is this one.

When it comes to looks, it’s not as yummy as the others but the taste is better than the rest. With cream cheese frosting, the moistness of this cupcake oozes out with every bite you take!

                                                                      Lady in Red

Apart from the cake pops if there is something that has been trending in the dessert section from the past year, it is the rainbow cake! This multicolour cake can get anyone drooling just with one look. No, I am not kidding, especially if you are someone who likes colours.

The Cupcake Company offers rainbow cake and I was obviously tempted to try. This however, was a big mistake. The cake is yummy, no doubt, but it’s a slice of diabetes!

Yes, you read that right! Even for a dessert person like me, I have a very sweet tooth, but this cake here was way too sweet even for someone like me to handle! The flavours were just right, the cream was good too, it was just the sugar, way too much sugar I tell you! Apart from the sugar which is already required in the cake, the sugar, a lot of it is sprinkled over the cream and this is what adds onto the extra sweetness.

                                                                        Rainbow Cake

Service and Pricing

Here, you just have to go to the counter, order your cupcakes, pay the bill, go outside, sit and enjoy your cupcake. It’s as simple as that. There is take away option too.

At the Cupcake Company, what hurts is the pricing. The cupcakes are priced between 90-125/- bucks which actually made me think have the prices for flour and sugar actually increased that much! o.O

The cupcakes are big in size so I convinced myself that maybe that’s why it’s priced so high, but 125 bucks for a red velvet cupcake just seemed a bit high compared to the other places in town. Added to this, the cheesecakes and the rainbow cake are priced at 195/- bucks each. Yeah, the place isn’t that cheap as one would have thought. The only consolation is that the cake portions are big, so if it pleases the tummy, it won’t hurt paying that much.

I would definitely recommend a visit to Cupcake Company, the place might not be very reasonable but the cupcakes they have to offer are one of the best I’ve had in town.

As the popular saying goes, “You can’t be sad when you’re holding a cupcake and no day is so bad that it can’t be fixed with a cupcake”. :D

Quick Bites

Rating – 4/5

Cost for two – 500/- (if you just have one or two cupcakes and leave out the beverages it’s even less)

Why you should go here – For the array of cupcakes they have to offer. Don’t think you need another reason apart from this!

Location – 15, Convent road, Shanthala Nagar, Richmond Town, Bangalore

Landmark – Inside Green Theory restaurant, lane opposite to Bishop Cotton Girls School.

P.S – If you want to pamper me, a box of cupcakes would do. Just saying! :P