Ghatkopar as an area has recently witnessed the arrival of several vegetarian cafes, with the latest entrant being Tea Villa. The spacious area is broken down into sections and zones so as to give a different experience to customers every time they visit. The parametric cup wall gives an artistic touch to the place while unhindered views throughout the massive frontage bring the essence of Ghatkopar inside and provide glimpses to those outside.

The menu has been designed keeping the locality in mind with plenty of Jain options to choose from. With a separate seating section for bigger groups, discounts are available for kitty parties and other groups.


Take your pick from a range of delicious food items such as Cottage Cheese Shashlik, Chilly Garlic Paneer, Open Sandwich with Focaccia Bread, Quinoa Salad, Scrambled Tofu with Toast, Villa Special Hummus Platter and Char Grilled Cottage Cheese with Mash Potato. The food ranges from Continental to Mexican with the newly introduced Indian menu serving Chole Paratha, Pav Bhaji Fondue and more.

There is something for everyone with healthy breakfast options such as Scrambled Tofu with Toast, Quinoa Salad and Villa Special Hummus Platter for the health conscious, pizzas and sizzlers for foodies, etc.

Tea Villa is famous for its waffles and, of course, its teas. On offer are Refreshment Herb (a fascinating and cooling blend of peppermint, hibiscus and rose petals), Pondicherry Fruit Tisane (this tea is a miscellany of cherries, cranberries, raspberries and blackberries), Bengal Chai (Black tea with black pepper, cloves, cinnamon chips, cardamom with cloves, ginger and vanilla flavouring), Indian teas served with milk and more. The Kesar Elaichi Tea and Villa Special tea, which are most popular among visitors, can be paired with Bun Muska or Punjabi Samosa during a lazy monsoon evening.

Where: Tea Villa, Shop 20 and 21, Neelkanth Regent Towers, Narkar Road, Near Vanita Vikas School, Pant Nagar, Ghatkopar (E).

Call: +9190290 15123, 919664968894.

What was supposed to be a Father’s Day meal, turned out to be a stomach-churning experience for a man from New York. Curtis Mays’ daughter and granddaughter took him out to a restaurant for burgers and beer. Everything was fine, until they got a receipt. At that point, he noticed something really disgusting.

Along with the request to add cheddar cheese and mayo to his burger was this directive, “Please spit in it too.” But Curtis had already eaten his burger by then.


Curtis then decided to take up the matter with the waitress, but she couldn’t tell him what happened. When Curtis told the manager on-duty about the receipt he received, the waitress was immediately sacked and the man got his refund.

Many are now speculating that the man must have given instructions to split the bill in two, to which somebody on the receipt counter wrote on the bill as spit into my food!

Indulge in lip-smacking delicacies this monsoon
Marwaadi the newest QSR chain looks like the perfect destination for your garma garam monsoon food cravings. The eatery was started in January this year and serves authentic Rajasthani Pyaz Kachoris and Jumbo Samosas. They have their outlets in Bhandup, Powai and Andheri (E).

You can relish Hariyali Samosa with the chef ’s special, spicy green filling which will tantalise your taste buds. The spicy garlic and the sweet-tangy tamarind chutney served with these snacks are equally magical.


Marwaadi also serves the super spicy Jodhpuri special Mirchi Bada and the Hing-flavoured Mogar Kachori from Kota. The Kesar Pista-stuffed Gulab Jamun and the Rajasthani-style Moong Dal Halwa is the heavenly answer to all sweet lovers. Although you can order their food on all leading food ordering apps, but they recommend visiting their Bhandup outlet which offers a swift service of a QSR and relaxed sitting. Another benefit of visiting their outlet is the dinein special `151 combo offer that they are currently offering for the monsoon. This offer includes Mumbai’s biggest Pyaz Kachori, monsoon special Hariyali Samosa, Desi Ghee Navratan Gulab Jamun, a glass full of Pudina Panna and Navras Pani Puri with nine different flavoured water. The combo is available only at their Bhandup outlet. Also, don’t forget to ask for some Mirch Ke Tipore — the typical homestyle fresh pickle with your order.

Where: Marwaadi, Ground Floor, EBD Neptune Mall (Metro), LBS Road, Bhandup (W) Call: 7240372403, 7240372404

Cementing Bandra’s reputation as Mumbai’s party hub is this casual dining cum bar, The House of Tipsy.

The place has three levels where you can chill out, with a well-stocked bar at the ground level, the mezzanine level for more intimate conversations and the top level with the pièce de résistance; a show bar.


High ceilings and plenty of light makes the place ideal for conversations and live concerts that they plan to host. You can also indulge in the affordable delicacies on offer. The restaurant has painted walls with flamingos, comfy wooden furniture and plants in the bar that lend a cosy feeling.

Says Vishal Gurnani, Founder & Director, Gipsy Hospitality & Destinations Pvt Ltd, “The House of Tipsy marries the best of music, live gigs with crazy cocktails and exotic beers all in a magical garden setting. We are overwhelmed with the initial response to the brand and look forward to bringing the best hospitality experience to Bandra.”

The food menu is curated by Chef Dev Singh Negi who has incorporated healthy dishes which include world cuisine, fusion as well as classic dishes. Both finger food and main chow options are lipsmacking and presented beautifully. The menu is designed to pair perfectly with the drinks. Mixologist Aman Dua has created a cocktail menu that will pleasantly surprise the drinkers with craft cocktails like the coffee and kewra- based Rise ‘N’ Shine and the beetroot puree infused ‘Life in a Metro’. All of this makes it an ideal casual dining place where you can unwind and be yourself.

A bar driven by food


Located in the heart of Andheri, Autumn Bar & Bistro is named after the season that marks a significant change. With its positioning — not just focusing on drinks but also food-driven — the place aims to bring about just that change. Considering the other spots around, which are mostly low-key when it comes to their food menu to accommodate the drinks, the place aims to break that jinx with a variety of cuisines. Their open door policy allows guests to suggest changes to the staff.

AMBIENCE


With comfy seating both indoors and outdoors, the mantra here is less is more. When it comes to its interiors, they have kept it subtle with grey walls and minimal décor. A bright breakfast and lunch place during the day, it transforms to not-sodim-lit one by evening. The venue has the latest peppy music that won’t overpower your conversations. Enough space to dance, too.

FOOD & DRINKS

A multi-cuisine bistro and bar, they serve a mix of European, Oriental and North Indian cuisines. With tiny twists to tease your taste buds, they do so without going wrong with the classics. There’s enough and more for both vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians. Arancini served with hot sauce, Dahi Ke Kebab, Quinoa and Kale Salad with interesting dressing are worth trying. For non-vegetarians, the Tempura Fried Prawns, Chicken Drumettes make for a good choice. Great bar nibbles — Crunch Lotus Stem, Masala Papad and Peri Peri Popcorn — too. The portions are good for a group of two; great value for money. Delight for Pizza lovers as its wafer-thin crust thankfully doesn’t go soggy in seconds. Stuffed Chicken Supreme is perfectly cooked with good amount of veggies to its side and beautiful garnishing. They also serve all-day breakfast. Spicy Hot Garlic Noodles and Indi Style Chilli Paneer don’t disappoint. For drinks, beside classics like Cosmopolitan, Bull Frog, LIIT, they have an interesting concoctions like Spanish Orange Rosemary Negroni, Indo Cuban among others.

Where: Autumn Bar & Bistro, B 40, Unit 1-5, Patel Commercial Premises, Opposite Citi Mall, New Link Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai – 400 053 Call: 022-3371 6095 Timings: 9 am to 1 am Price For Two: `1,200 to `1,500; with alcohol, `2,000

Spicy Hot Garlic Noodles and Indi Style Chilli Paneer


Tempura Fried Prawns


Interiors of the restaurant


Indo Cuban and Spanish Orange Rosemary Negroni

WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS

KALA GHODA CAFÉ & WINE BAR


MULTI-CUISINE
Shhh! There’s a new wine bar café in town. Surprise, surprise…there was no hype or hoopla surrounding its launch. But then, keeping a low profile is in its DNA as it’s been sired by the simply named Kala Ghoda Café. Beloved, quiet and an institution. It started off as a seriously tiny space. Last year, it quietly stretched itself into a ‘Dining Room’. And just as quietly, very recently it opened its ‘den’ wine bar, a new ‘tapas’ menu. I’d re-discovered KGC last year, thanks to award-winning filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia, a regular here. But this time, I owe this discovery to the beauty with brains, Niharika Singh actress, former Miss India and founder, Green Beauty Secrets (awesome non-toxic alternatives in the beauty business). She took time off her shooting for feature films, advertising campaigns, and music videos to spend an early evening with me. And we met up with the vivacious creative director, Prerna Saraff and philosopher and yoga teacher Ewa Simone.

DECOR & SERVICE


Walk past the dining area to the back into the cosy, dimly lit, comfy, wood-panelled room. Worn velvet drapes, lamps, tiles et al. The vibe is young and the General Manager, Asmita Kabre ensures friendly service and encourages feedback.

FOOD

Since it was early evening, we sampled the KGC and the new bar menu, too. Deliciously calorific dishes and many tasty, gluten-free, healthy ones, too. Must trys: Gluten-free desi Waffles, Pancakes, Ragi Pizzas, too. Robustly spiced Parsi Pora, Salli Boti with Oat ‘n’ Flax Roti highly recommended. I was told they’re the Parsi owner’s mom’s recipes. Chef Nilesh Patade’s Chicken Yakitori with pickled radish, Blue Monster Pizza with blue cheese come up tops in the bar bites. Niharika’s favourites turn out to be mine too. Flavourful Kodo Millet Veg Burger, succulent Mutton Sandwich, healthily delicious Green Monster and the flavoursome Thai Rawas.

OMG! Must try the famed, addictive, though ordinary looking, Almond Cake. Moist, sticky Ginger ‘n’ Date Cake, and hey! Can chocolate cake made of ragi taste good? Here it does. Thanks to their state of the art wine preservation system, wines are available by the glass (including many a must try Indian ones).

MINUS POINTS

Parking is impossible. Some of the salads could do with crisper leaves, mushy baby bravas. Ditto for the Mushroom Stew. Oversweet Choco Sundae. No hard spirits or beer, only wines and sake.

MY POINT

A Wi-Fied, unpretentious, home away for home for many (love that). Not only does the low profile owner Farhad Bomanjee brew his own superb coffee, but also ensures that food here reflects care and a commitment to fresh ingredients and the menu balances between healthful, sinful, gluten-free and vegan (kudos). Now with Mutton Boti and Ragi Pita you can tipple on many an undiscovered wine by the glass and listen to music. It’s a labour of obvious and obsessive love. (I love THAT!!!)

Football fever has taken over the city and it’s all about gathering your squad, downing mugs of chilled brews, getting some delicious pub grub and cheering for your favourite team. With big projector screens, multiple TVs, live commentary on big matches, the perfect pub vibe and eight locations across the city, The Irish House has you covered for all of the above.

What’s football without an ice-cold bucket of chilled pints? Get a bucket deal of four beers at Rs 845 (plus tax) to get you started on the 90-minute football marathon. If you’re looking for something light to nibble on and yet kill those hunger pangs, pick from their recently launched Pint Sized Menu, which has some fantastic options of light bar nibbles and gourmet small plates.




Starting at Rs 145 (plus tax), options include Chips and Dips, Wasabi Coated Nuts, Sweet Corn Pops, Grilled Pita and Hummus, Beetroot and Goat Cheese Crackers, Chermoula Cottage Cheese Bites, Pulled Lamb Tostadas, Crispy Calamari and Morrocan Chicken Skewers amongst others. They also have some super saver combos on their popular community cocktails and platters through the season, ideal for big groups.

Besides these deals, there will be a whole bunch of fun activities and offers to keep that excitement going. Predict the winner in the first 30 minutes and you get a free pint. Or dress in either of the playing team’s jerseys to show your support and get a pint on the house. There is also limited official merchandise being given away on select days. So, if you didn’t get a chance to go to Russia, here’s another place right in your neighbourhood where you can an equally fun world cup experience.

“I’m Baked Alaska – hot from outside, chilled inside,” says temperamental celebrity chef Hemant Oberoi

And he shares his love for travelling and French cuisine

Chef Hemant Oberoi considers cumin to be the queen of all spices

• Date of birth: February 6
• Place of birth: Faridkot (Punjab)
• Sun sign: Aquarius
• Home town: Delhi
• School/college: DC Model School, Ferozepur/ Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition, Pusa, New Delhi
• Low point of your life: The aftermath of 26/11
• High point of your life: Becoming executive chef of Taj Mahal Palace and running it for 30 years

Does Arvind Kejriwal lay eggs? Yes, I know it is a silly question but you would be amazed by how many variations on that theme I have heard over the last few years. The question stems from the new-found popularity of a fairly old dish: Eggs Kejriwal.

If you live in Mumbai, you may or may not have heard of Eggs Kejriwal (I grew up in Mumbai and had never heard of the dish, by the way, for most of my life). It was invented apparently at the Willingdon Club, one of the city’s most exclusive (in the post-Independence period) clubs.

During the Raj, Indians were not allowed to enter the top clubs in every city. So any Indian would have been turned away at the gate of the Bombay Gymkhana (by another Indian, happy to work as a lackey for his British masters). Legend has it that Jamsetji Tata was sent back from the gate of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club for the crime of having a brown skin though he was a knight of the realm. Jamsetji vowed to build a grand hotel that would eclipse the Yacht Club, then the city’s most exclusive spot. Which, of course, he did when the Taj opened.


In 1918, Lord Willingdon opened the Willingdon Club where Indians were allowed entry
When Lord Willingdon was Governor of Bombay in 1917, he tried to take a Maharaja to dinner at the Bombay Gym and the Yacht Club only to be told that while his Excellency was most welcome, the brown fellow would have to eat somewhere else. A more decent and decisive governor would have forced the top clubs to end the colour bar, but old Willingdon took a different approach. Why not open another club where the white sahibs could mingle on equal (oh well; more or less equal) terms with the natives? And so, in 1918, he opened the Willingdon Club (named, modestly, after the great man himself) where Indians were allowed entry.

Over the post Independence years, as pressure forced the Bombay Gym, the Yacht Club (and eventually, even the notorious Breach Candy Club) to let Indians in, the Willingdon lost its special cachet. But its membership consisted of descendants of some of Bombay’s top families, people whose ancestors had been rich and successful in the days when Mahatma Gandhi was still in jail.

A rich merchant, Devi Prasad Kejriwal, got The Willingdon Club’s cooks to tart up his daily egg-and-toast, and thus was born Eggs Kejriwal
Many of the members came from old Parsi and Muslim families (among the builders of Bombay before it became Mumbai). And the Willingdon has always had a fair number of bania/vania members from rich Gujarati and Marwari families.

Many of these members lived in joint families and ate satvik food cooked by maharajs in their mansions. But when they felt like a drink or a bite of something more daring, they scampered off to the Willingdon or later, to such Bombay restaurants as The Other Room at the Ambassador. Most of these rich Gujaratis and Marwaris were not averse to a Scotch or two. Some wanted special dishes made for them (for years, The Other Room kept a Chunni Cutlet on the menu, for a rich patron called Chunnibhai) and often they hungered for something expressly forbidden at home.

Obviously meat was no-no at bania/vania mansions. But so were eggs. The story goes (and I warn you that it might be apocryphal) that a rich merchant called Devi Prasad Kejriwal would go to the Willingdon for his daily egg-and-toast. But because the food of the white sahibs could be a little boring, Mr. Kejriwal got the club’s cooks to tart up
his eggs.


Eggs Kejriwal is a spruced up version of egg-and-toast (Getty Images)
Thus was born Eggs Kejriwal. It consisted of a slice of toasted pao bread (some versions of the story say that it was plain white bread) some grated cheese (probably Kraft from tins; there was no Amul in those days) topped by a fried egg (or two eggs) with a garnish of chillis and kothmir (coriander).

Long after the original Mr. Kejriwal has been forgotten, the Willingdon Club continues to serve Eggs Kejriwal as a sort of sad and weak-kneed Indian response to Eggs Benedict (invented by Delmonico’s in New York for a rich patron using bread, eggs, Hollandaise and a slice of bacon) as a signature dish.


Eggs Kejriwal was invented at The Willingdon Club in Mumbai (Photo: Bombaywalla.org)
I doubt if Eggs Kejriwal would have travelled very far from the tables of the Willingdon if it hadn’t been for Arvind Kejriwal. When Thomas Zacharias, Floyd Cardoz, and the rest of the team were putting together the menu at the soon-to-be-opened The Bombay Canteen, Arvind Kejriwal was in the news every day. Somebody remembered that the Willingdon had a dish called Kejriwal and wondered if they could do something witty with it.


Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was in the news every day when The Bombay Canteen was all set to open
Sameer Seth, one of the partners at The Bombay Canteen, told me the story. They had been working on a dish which never made it to the menu, and the chef, Thomas Zacharias (or Chef Zach as he is called by nearly everyone) had come up with a green chilli chutney that was terrific. They looked for uses for the chutney and thought that perhaps they could combine it with Eggs Kejriwal. There were some brioche rounds in the kitchen and they had the bright idea of throwing out the pao (or Britannia white bread, depending on which Willingdon recipe you prefer) and replacing it with brioche. They kept the grated processed cheese, used high-quality eggs, retained the chilly and kothmir garnish but elevated the dish with Zach’s chutney which gave it a zing that the boring Willingdon Club original sadly lacked.


The Bombay Canteen’s own version of the dish is a bestseller
According to Sameer, they put it on the menu when they opened the restaurant in 2015 because they thought the name Kejriwal would provoke some curiosity. The Bombay Canteen changes its menus regularly so they believed that Eggs Kejriwal would be a novelty item on the first menu and would disappear after a few weeks. But Sameer and his partners were staggered by the response. It became one of the fastest moving items on the menu and critics loved it. (I said at the time that it would become “the restaurant’s signature dish” on these pages.) Though the Canteen menu has been overhauled regularly, Eggs Kejriwal is one of the few dishes that they have never removed.

The Delhi Club House has its own version of Kejriwal Eggs with spicy chutney

At The Bombay Canteen, executive chef Thomas Zacharias uses green chilli chutney to add a zing to the dish
Marut Sikka opened his Delhi Club House with the idea of recreating the great dishes of Indian club cuisine.

It was not a concept I loved (as you can probably tell from the sneering tone of this piece, I have no time for clubs that restrict admission on the basis of ‘social acceptability’ or colour; and am a member of none of these so-called elite clubs) and in any case, club food has no great reputation for quality.

Marut started out by putting akuri on the menu to represent the egg dishes of clubland but now, even the Club House has its own version of Eggs Kejriwal. Like Zach, Marut was impressed by the idea behind the Willingdon Club dish but not overly pleased with the Willingdon’s execution. He uses his own kind of brioche as the base for the eggs. A spicy chutney, while not the same as Zach’s (which, with its coconut oil, is vaguely Malayali), is used to perk up the dish. It remains one of the Delhi Club House’s bestsellers and that’s no mean feat given that the rest of the food at the restaurant is of such high quality.


Marut Sikka uses his own kind of brioche as base for the eggs at Delhi Club House
Both Zach and Marut have had the same basic idea. There are some interesting dishes out there in clubland but most of them work better as ideas than they do as complete dishes. A talented chef will take these ideas, use top-quality ingredients and convert boring dishes into gourmet classics.

The secret of The Bombay Canteen’s re-invention of Eggs Kejriwal lies in the quality of the bread and, more significantly, with the tasty, top-quality, orange-yolked eggs that Zach uses in his kitchen. So it is with the club dishes on Marut’s menu: none of them ever tasted this good in the hands of club cooks.

Which takes us back to Lord Willingdon and Arvind Kejriwal. I am not one of those rename-everything maniacs but I do find it offensive to celebrate anything with Willingdon’s name on it. At one stage, all kinds of places in Delhi were named after Willingdon and his pushy wife, from Willingdon Airfield (now Safdarjung Airport) to Lady Willingdon Park (now Lodhi Garden) to Willingdon Hospital (now RM Lohia Hospital).

And as for Arvind Kejriwal, I know that the dish has nothing to do with him. But is there a lesson for him in its popular revival? Take the basic idea and start all over again with higher quality ingredients and more imagination?