Durga Lunch Home (Mahim West)

Tolerable - not too bad if they've got your order right

The single most dimly-lit eatery in all of Mahim, Durga may be forgiven for the stewards not quite being able to see what they are carrying. This is a mistake often made in vegetarian dishes, where atrocities like Aloo Tamatar have been served instead of Aloo Gobi. The steward might also emerge 20 minutes later and tell you that the gobi for your aloo-gobi is not available, and you may choose something else. When it comes to the non-vegetarian dishes though, promises are mostly fulfilled in terms of the food item, though not necessarily the food quality. The chicken lollypop, served with some extremely intense chilli sauce, hardly evokes any taste except what is absolutely necessary to accompany beer. The same may be said of the Chicken 65 - the flavour of the chicken gets lost amidst all the allied things that get added to the plate. The only dish worth its salt is the Boneless Chicken - a completely unpretentious, blunt name, and accompanied by no separate salad either. Enjoy your beer and fork up pieces of shredded boneless chicken in the dark - at Durga, that is the definition of 'Bliss'.

Ambience                ★★ 
Service                    ★★
Presentation            ★★
Taste                      ★★★★ 


http://mumbai.burrp.com/listing/durga-lunch-home_mahim_mumbai_restaurants/17311337336

Sheesha (Bandra West)

Class on the...floor

It starts with a transparent-wall elevator that opens up more and more of Bandra and adjoining areas to your eye as you go up 9 stories to the iconic rooftop restaurant. The experience is ironically elevated when you bring yourself to the floor, and sprawl on the carpet next to your common  table, where the hookah is being passed around. And do not hesitate to take a whiff of the rather moderate and absolutely harmless smoke, unless you are too much of the food sort not to order a few mocktails and appetisers instead. Among the mocktails, the House Special Sheesha Thunder is easily the best pick, with its soda-induced fizz complemented by vanilla ice-cream leaving you in a pleasant dilemma between getting the best of the fizz in a hurry, and waiting for the ice-cream to melt into the drink. The virgin mojito is another good option on the lighter side, as the soda helps you get into the mood for food. The best appetisers at Sheesha are easily the ones influenced by middle-eastern cuisine. The Murgh Lebnani Tikka is a wonderful adaptation of Lebanese seasoning to suit the Indian palate, with a good smattering of yoghurt that takes away the dryness of quintessential Lebanese cuisine. The Murgh Tarki Kabab also keeps the diner interested with its soft and succulent interior delightfully camouflaged in the brown sauce. The Vegetarian Kabab Platter, however, fails to impress with only the potatoes being noteworthy by virtue of perfect boiling. If you are a non-vegetarian,  therefore, just get more starters, maybe with rotis, and have a full meal. If, however, you cannot not have a main course, the iconic Murgh Tikka Masala is a good bet with the right combination of spices, although it appears much below the two appetisers mentioned earlier in terms of taste. Not to be forgotten either is the Roomali Roti which is not just bigger than at any other restaurant in the country but is also extremely tasty  by itself and forms a perfect accompaniment to both gravy dishes and kababs. Everything here - the food, the drink, the seating and even the laid back stewards - are indicative of the fact that Sheesha is where you come in a group of 5 to 8, spend the evening eating, drinking and making merry, and get refreshed for another hectic day at work. If Sheesha was indeed a dance bar earlier, as the story goes, the euphoria hasn't really diminished since those days.

Ambience                ★★★★★ 
Service                    ★★★★
Presentation            ★★★★
Taste                      ★★★★


http://mumbai.burrp.com/listing/sheesha_bandra-west_mumbai_restaurants/1302079__CA__menu

Punjab Grill, High Street Phoenix (Lower Parel)

Where innovation complements the traditional

Celebrity chef Jiggs Kalra is presumably most confident when it comes to whipping up delicacy after gastronomic delicacy from his native Punjab. At Punjab Grill, the restaurant he owns at the Palladium Mall in Mumbai, the level of comfort reigns supreme as traditional Punjabi fare is effortlessly tweaked to appeal to a wider clientele. One example (and a highly recommended one, too) is the chicken and litchi salad, where the sweet fruit slice combined with the cold and tangy chicken produces just the perfect taste when rolled together on the tongue. The soft and succulent chicken kebabs in a garlic-based sauce also make for excellent starters. For the main course, a good idea would be to switch back to the good old Murgh makhani - butter chicken which can double up as an Indian version of Sweet and Sour Chicken thanks to the synergistic coexistence of cashewnuts and tomatoes in the gravy. Accompanied by a naan baked fresh in the oven, it can take you rather close to perfection inside your mouth. Where Punjab Grill fails to live up to its reputation is in the dessert department, with rather bland phirni (advertised on the menu as a rice souffle capable of making the best French patissiers blush!) and malai pudding; and completely tasteless chocolate gulab jamun - a rare case of an experiment gone wrong here with the essential flavour of the gulab jamun itself being hijacked by the not-so-exotic chocolate. The finale, however, is a triumph for Punjab Grill, in the form of the complimentary paan (betel juice) shot that is offered in lieu of after-mint. The food apart, Punjab Grill also scores high on table service, although there are clear areas of improvement especially with respect to the time being taken to serve some dishes (which literal gap you are given the complimentary papad to fill). The noiseless, soothing cascade down the front window just adds to the overall experience. Little wonder then that despite being situated right between Rajdhani (the undisputed master of Rajasthani fare) and Asia Seven (arguably the best oriental restaurant in the city), Punjab Grill is where you need a prior reservation on any given evening to be able to get a seat in the first place!

Ambience                ★★★★
Service                    ★★★★
Presentation            ★★★★
Taste                      ★★★★

http://mumbai.burrp.com/listing/punjab-grill_lower-parel_mumbai_restaurants/1644982445__UR__reviews

Mocambo (Kolkata)

Khush Nahin Hua

With so much fanfare in Kolkata about Mocambo being the premier continental restaurant in the city, once can be expected to walk in with sky-high expectations. Unfortunately, the offerings leave a lot to be desired, and are not even close to those of the Leopolds and Mondegars of the world. The mushroom soup is much too bland to be relished, while the Risotto alla parmigiana - a Southern Italian rice-based pasta with pan-fried cheese fillings -  is a good dish for the main course by itself, but does not really interrupt your conversation by virtue of just superior taste, as one is wont to expect here. The agonising lack of options among vegetarian dishes in almost every section of the menu is also a deterrent in Marwari-strong Kolkata. Where Mocambo scores, of course, is the experiential aspect of dining, with soup being served in lidded metal bowls and miniature lamps being suspended above every table to add to the mood. The stewards compliment this with some outstanding service, and it is a delight for any customer to see even his own ordering mistake being condoned and the dish being replaced free of cost. So do step in, not necessarily for the continental cuisine but for a dash of this city's inherent taste for fine dining, and unmatched hospitality.

Ambience                ★★★★
Service                    ★★★★★
Presentation            ★★★★
Taste                      ★★★

http://kolkata.burrp.com/listing/mocambo_park-street_kolkata_restaurants/190350019 

Mustard (Kolkata)

The joker in the pack

Would you ever get on to the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass just to eat at a restaurant there? And even if you do stop on the way back from the commercial area of Salt Lake or Rajarhat or on your way to the airport to grab a bite, would you expect anything better than a roadside dhaba. Welcome to Mustard then - a complete surprise package thanks to the superior quality of its food. The chicken reshmi kabab, served with a mean salad, is the softest and tastiest kebab you would get in Kolkata, and is reminiscent of what you get at that undisputed champion of kebabs in Mumbai, Kakori House. Add to that some very soft naan with mouth-watering Chicken Lazawab, and you have a perfect meal. The latter is essentially chicken in peanut gravy, which administers sweetness to the dish without taking away the flavour of the chicken any bit. Like its famous cousin the Chicken Badami at Khyber in Mumbai, the Lazawab too has gravy that would constitute a standalone dish, and may even be consumed as dessert once you are through with the rest of the meal. The enjoyment of the meal is accentuated by the peace prevailing in the large dining hall with mustard-coloured (well, of course) walls, thanks probably to the aforementioned problem with the location of the restaurant. One area where there is still some scope for improvement is the presentation of the food. While the naan is served in a quaint basket, the Lazawab certainly deserves to be a better looker before the deflowering than the oddity it appears to be, with the chicken pieces looking lost in the gravy and almonds and pieces of peanut sticking out at crazy angles in different places. Everything is, of course, forgiven once the food reaches your palate – there is no surpassing Mustard there, at least in this part of the city.

Ambience                ★★★★
Service                    ★★★
Presentation            ★★★
Taste                      ★★★★★

Gypsy (Kolkata)

Why not to wander here

Gypsy is one of the scattered eateries you encounter in the by-lanes of Chittaranjan Avenue, in the very heart of the city. Unlike some of its more famous peers in these parts, however, Gypsy is not a particularly popular lunch hangout for office-goers, and a visit there makes it clear just why. The stewards, without exception, are lax and have complete disregard for the customer’s time – it is not unusual for them to demand more time rather impudently since whatever you are ordering is reportedly being prepared from scratch. What makes things worse is that the wait is not worth it at all. The chicken pakoras are much too bland, and cry out for some onion rings to make them taste a little better. The chicken cutlet, albeit comparatively better, still leaves a lot to be desired. The food being presented on tea saucers does not help either. Thankfully, the prices are reasonable, and the only satisfaction one gets while walking out is that of not being cheated on the financial front. That said, it is virtually impossible for Gypsy to have repeat customers, for even a Kolkata office-goer cannot spend so much time away from work just to grab a bite.

Ambience                ★★★
Service                    ★ 
Presentation            ★★
Taste                      ★★