TK come

Colaba’s newest European eatery is tucked away on the road running behind Radio Club. Open for dinner for now, The Pier plans to start lunch services in the near future. In its earlier avatar as the Japanese restaurant, Tetsuma, it wasn’t uncommon to find revellers from the nightclub Prive drinking at the bar (most of whom had sneaked in through the shared bathroom!). Unfortunately, The Pier still shares its bathroom with revellers at Ghost (the renamed and renovated nightclub) next door.

The cobalt blue sofas add much needed colour to the dimly lit restaurant that is done up predominantly in dark wood. A long, amply stocked bar runs along one wall with sofa seating along another. Both the Pier Flip (dark rum, triple sec, fresh cream, egg yolk and sugar syrup) and Sangria we ordered, had bite and taste in equal measure. The Pier Flip was too sweet and yet strangely, left a bitter aftertaste, as if to remind us of its potency. The sangria though, was light yet flavourful largely in part to the fruit pulp that had been added to it. It’s not on the menu though and will have to be specially requested.

On the owner, Samir Chhabria’s recommendation – he was chatting with patrons and asking for feedback – we ordered the beer battered fried calamari and quinoa tabouli salad to start with. The lightly fried calamari had a thin layer of batter and the right amount of crunch, our only complaint was we couldn’t taste any beer. The quinoa salad though, came off as one-note and was too citrusy for our liking.  

While waiting for our pan seared rawas with lemon grass beurre blanc, we studied the menu which features truffle scrambled eggs, duck confit, mushroom risotto, amongst other European favourites. Our main course, which came with cherry tomatoes and braised bok choy, was a revelation for its sauce, which unfortunately looked like dahi chutney but surprised us by adding a subtle lemon grass flavour to our dish. The evening ended with a fluffy cappuccino soufflé accompanied by a piquant Kahlua sauce.  

The Pier has nothing to distinguish it from other European eateries in the city. Its bland interiors aren’t inviting and its food is not going to be the main draw. What makes it a winner though are the relatively inexpensive, innovative cocktails.

This review first appeared in Time Out Mumbai

Know your Kopi Luwak from your Monkey Parchment? While these exotic beans, enhanced with bodily fluids from civet cats and primates, may take a while to reach your street, you can just walk down to a neighbourhood café for other imported variants. If your wallet permits and you feel like experimenting, beans from Ethiopia, Guatemala and Kenya can be sampled at Moshe’s and Indigo Deli. Usually priced from R150-300 per cup, they’re suitable for an occasional afternoon caffeine fix, but for a cheaper option, go with the house blend at most city cafés.

For caffeine heads, a house blend is the coffee that restaurants serve if you don’t specify a preference, and it usually competes with most coffee chains on taste and quality. The French crêperie Suzette, serves an arabica blend consisting of a monsoon Malabar and an estate blend from Coorg, especially for the café. This special mix pairs especially well with a home-made caramel crêpe, a book and a lazy afternoon. The folks at Kala Ghoda Café also use a bespoke blend, which contains both arabica and robusta beans that gets along famously with their subtle carrot cake. Moshe’s, too has a custom blend made from both the beans.

If you’re confused about the difference between the two, here’s a little primer. The arabica bean is more expensive as it is more delicate to grow and has a diverse flavour profile. Robusta beans, however, contain twice as much caffeine as arabica but are easier to grow, and hence cheaper. Coffee snobs generally prefer arabica, with robusta relegated to massproduced brands like Nescafé and Bru coffee.

Colaba restaurants like Ellipsis and The Table are an indulgent visit, but their coffee prices hover in the same range as the other restaurants mentioned above. With the added benefit of great ambience and superior service.

Both the restaurants, however, are only open for lunch and dinner, which means you have to regulate your coffee craving to meal times. Bandra hipsters and laptop-toting media types are at home at The Bagel Shop andPali Village Café for their laidback vibe and reasonable prices (though only where the coffee is concerned). The Bagel Shop sources its beans from Nilgiri Foods, a wholesaler in Malad. That’s all they’d really tell us, and we don’t mind if the composition of their wake-cuppam remains a secret. 

This article first appeared in Time Out Mumbai

TAKE A PIT STOP

The Bagel Shop Anand Villa, 13 Pali Mala Road, Bandra (W) (+91 22 2605 0178). Daily 8am-10pm. All major cards. From R80.

Ellipsis Amarchand Mansion, 16 Madam Cama Road, Colaba (+91 22 6621 3333). Tue-Sun 12.30-3pm, 7.30pm-1.30am. All major cards. FromR150.

Indigo Deli Palladium Mall, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (+91 22 4366 6666). Daily 9am-midnight. All major cards. From R135. Also at Andheri, Colaba, Bandra and Ghatkopar.

Kala Ghoda Café 10 Ropewalk Lane, Kala Ghoda, Fort (+91 22 2265 0195). Daily 7.30am-10.30pm. All major cards. From R75.

Moshe’s No 7 Minoo Manor, Cuffe Parade (+91 22 2216 1226). Daily noon-midnight. All major cards. From R170. Also at Colaba, Bandra, Ghatkopar, Goregaon, Juhu, Kemps Corner, Lower Parel and Malad.

Pali Village Café Pali Naka, BR Ambedkar Road, Bandra (W) (+91 22 2605 0401). Daily 9am-midnight. All major cards. From R110.

Suzette Atlanta Building, Vinayak Shah Marg, Nariman Point (+91 22 2288 0055). Mon-Sat 8.30am-10.30pm. All major cards. From R113. Also at Bandra.

The Table Hotel Suba Palace, Apollo Bunder, Colaba (+91 22 2282 5000). Noon-3.30pm,7pmmidnight. All major cards. From R125.  

Earlier today, Stereogum put out a list of the 10 Best National Songs and it was a travesty. Seven out of the ten songs on the list came from the band’s last two albums, High Violet and Boxer. Barring a single entry from the band’s third album, Boxer, the list leans heavily on material that was put out after 2007  ignoring the output that not only shaped the sound of the outfit, but also the songs that were most likely to draw initial fans in. Harley Brown, the writer of the Stereogum piece justifies the lack of earlier material by saying that “the band itself is divided on how their earlier material should be received.”  Music though, like all creative expression depends not on how it should be received but how it is. So here’s my list of the 10 best National Songs.

10. Daughters of  the Soho Riots

9. Lit Up

8. Lucky You

7. Conversation 16

6. All the Wine

5. Little Faith

4.Slow Show

3. So Far Around the Bend

2. Fake Empire

1.  The Geese of Beverly Road

So what is bubble tea? 
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan and is named for the black tapioca “bubbles” that are introduced to a basic iced tea; either milk or water-based. At Teaze, they’ve expanded the range of bubbles from simple tapioca to include flavours like mango and lychee as well as others. Be warned: it’s known to be highly addictive. 

So it doesn’t taste like gum? 
Not quite. Our green apple-flavoured green tea was sickeningly sweet, though not unexpected for a drink made with syrup, bottles of which were behind the counter. They also offer black tea, in flavours like almond, honey and taro. 

Am I only going to find tea there? 
Teaze does not serve food and is devoted to teas, milkshakes and smoothies. Their “Energisers” are made using fresh fruit juice. We tried the watermelon quencher with yogurt bubbles. The drink had none of the promised mint or ginger, and we ended up with a simple watermelon juice with a generous zing of chaat masala. The yogurt bubble – a small ball filled with yogurt that oozes out once bitten into – brought nothing to the table. It is as vile as it sounds. You may fare better with the smoothies that are made from fruit-juice yogurt, or the “T-shakes”, that is milk tea whipped with chocolate or ice cream, but we didn’t hazard a try of either after the taste left in our mouth by the “Energiser”. 

Are you paying for the ambience? 
Not really. Teaze is a hole-in-the-wall opposite Golden Star at Charni Road. Inside, against the wall at the back, is the machine used to vaccum-seal each glass. Getting to the entrance requires some training in calisthenics: you’ll have to leap over college kids lounging on the steps with their colourful drinks. 

This review first appeared in Time Out Mumbai

An expertly rolled sushi is one of the few dishes Time Out will hoof the whole city for – and the prawn tempura roll at Skky, the new rooftop restaurant and lounge bar, made the trek to Powai bearable. The densely packed rice gave way to the crunchy prawn and we tasted a hint of the teriyaki glaze the menu had promised. We’d browsed the menu on an interactive Sony tablet, with photographs of each dish and were impressed, if somewhat confused by its diversity: sushi, salads and dim sum sat comfortably alongside pizzas and, err, a tandoor menu. 

Skky is a serene restaurant and bar, furnished in dark greys and blacks, with frangipani trees and faux lotuses in ankle-deep water. A long bar – Skky claims it’s the longest in the city – along the entrance means boisterous drinkers can raise hell without disturbing diners. The entire restaurant is laid out to provide privacy and quiet for diners, but that makes catching the waiter’s eye just a little bit harder. 

We eventually succeeded in placing our order and celebrated with a whiskey sour and orange margarita. The bar uses fresh ingredients; syrups and mixers are made in-house with no artificial sweetners. A relief, because we like our frothy margaritas flavourful, but with a kick. 

Our drunken prawn soup, a thick, quivering broth, was delicious, and made us wish they hadn’t scrimped on the prawn pieces (we got only two). The chicken dim sum, four pieces to an order, were great as well. On the chef’s recommendation, we went with the salmon in black bean sauce which turned out to have too little sauce and was overcooked. It was saved by the soba noodles that alone would make a great one-dish lunch. 

The chef insisted we try the green tea and a paan ice cream for a sweet end to the meal. The subtlety of the green tea was lost after a meal with intense soy and chilli flavours. But the paan ice cream, managed to recreate the taste of betel leaves, and the hidden areca nut (supari) was like finding a butterscotch crunchie. 

The attentive staff, good food and outdoor setting, a rarity in Mumbai, make us hope Skky starts attracting more than just hotel guests and the odd couple out on a date. But its steep prices and location may deter even those who love their sushi.

This review first appeared in Time Out Mumbai

We nearly thought Aoi (pronounced “aawee”) was a manga café. The handle on the door is an origami crane; the birds nest on the ceiling too. A bookshelf with volumes on ikebana and haiku, as well as green tea guides, can be found next to the kitchen. 

The à la carte menu (bound on the right, the way Japanese books are) reflects the meticulousness displayed in the interiors. The steamed prawn with cream cheese dumpling caught our eye, but the portion, served with the tail peaking out of the dim sum, was disappointing. The refined-flour skin was too thick, and overpowered the delicately steamed prawn inside; the white of the cream cheese didn’t impart any flavour either. 

We fared better with the crab sushi, with Japanese mayonnaise and chives, but it’s better without its accompaniments. The soy sauce is overly light and very sweet, while the tiny wasabi balls lack any kick. Our ramen, the white miso bouillabaisse, is a subtle dish: the slightly tangy broth, perfectly cooked noodles, seafood and garnish of nori combined to make a great spoonful. The vegetarian golden curry that we tried was sans the spicy kimchi the menu promised; a shame, as the piquant curry could have done with some tempering. 

Aoi had not yet started serving desserts, so we ended our meal with green tea. Our organic and almost caffeine-free tea was a light and refreshing end to a meal filled with several overwhelming flavours. 

Aoi’s moderate pricing is likely to be a draw, but the range of dishes and uneven execution makes navigating their menu a bit of a task. With the hope of a little more attention in our hearts, we’ll be back to sample more from their impressive selection.

This review first appeared in Time Out Mumbai

Bohri Mohalla, famous for its khau gully, street food options, bakeries and mithai shops, is all set to get a modern makeover. The shops will remain but will over time be rehoused in more contemporary structures. What will vanish forever is the hustle bustle of a much-loved neighbourhood. Time Outnavigates the bylanes to find the dishes most famous for flavour.

1. BAIDA ROTI 
Indian Hotel is nothing more than two massive tavas in a bare store front, but luckily, that’s all that is needed to make their chicken baida roti. Made on-the-spot on order, the baida roti is made with rumali roti and egg before being expertly folded into a neat square around the minced chicken. While waiting for our delectable dish, we looked around at the other meats on the tava, and spotted bheja and gurda (kidney) along with kheema, all of which are popular.

2. BARA HANDI 
The cuts of meat that go into this 12-pot spread, at Vali Bhai Payawala, are diverse: there’s everything from trotters to tail (of both beef and mutton). The meats are simmered in their own juices overnight and by the time they’re ready to be served, they’re as tender as the choicest of cuts. Combined with dal and sprinkled with homemade masala, the four gelatinous stews (paya, nalli, sukha and nihari) come accompanied with a light Irani roti (made with maida) that is pillowy soft and takes on the multiple, layered flavours that keeps people coming back for this dish.

3. CHANA BATATA 
Alvi’s street stall is not hard to miss. No matter what time of the day you visit, it’s always surrounded by hungry patrons. An all-day affair, the snack stand is located outside a juice store also called Alvi’s. The Chinese soup bowl in which their chana batata is served looks deceptively small, but the portion is substantial. The chana and aloo is topped with tangy and spicy sauces before being served. Those looking for a meatier bite can add chicken liver.

4. CHICKEN SHAWARMA 
Walk past Haji Tikka in the afternoon, and you’ll spot an empty restaurant with a lone man skewering kebabs. Reward his handiwork after the 20-seater restaurant opens at 5pm by ordering a filling chicken shawarma and a juicy seekh kebab on the side. The shawarma at Haji Tikka is a generous portion of chicken, with lettuce, pickled beetroot and a creamy garlic sauce wrapped in pita bread. The thick pita bread is heated on the flames of the vertical spit, which lets it soak up some of the juices dripping off the chicken rotating next to it.

5. JALEBI 
The jalebis served at JJ Jalebi are an acquired taste (they taste and look slightly burnt). Unlike their bright orange counterparts from other mithai shops, these dark brown jalebis are thicker (about half an inch thick) and have a generous mawa filling. Biting into one is a sensory experience – the thin crunchy outside gives way to a soft inside unlike any jalebi we have tasted before. The change in texture, however, enhances the jalebi’s sweetness. Other yummies on the menu are the gulab jamun and halwa parathas. 

6. KHARI 
The khari at Imdadiya Bakery, baked at 5.30am every day, is so popular that customers travel from Kurla to stock up on the flaky biscuits, as we learned on chatting with the customer next to us. A long counter with cakes and other sweets displayed behind the glass are enough to entice passers-by. But it quickly becomes clear that their biscuits are what they are famous for. The varkhi (a puffy circular biscuit) and khari are the hot sellers. A second batch of both is made at 2pm to satiate the afternoon and evening crowd.

7. KHEEMA SAMOSAS 
The patti kheema samosas from Gulzar-e-Mohamad Hotel are incredibly cheap and a great buy at R3 each. The crunchy pastry gives way to a mint and kheema concoction. The samosas are freshly fried on a gas stove just outside the hotel and are a perfect snack for bargain hunters looking to grab a bite while they explore Chor Bazaar. A warning; carry a wad of tissues with you to soak up the oil before biting in. Served only after 1.30pm, the samosas tend to run out by 3pm.

8. KHICHDA 
Khichda, a dish of mutton and dal mixed with pounded wheat and topped with burnt onion and slices of garlic, is a hearty meal. At HM Jalil Cold Drink and Juice Centre, the portion size is small but substantial. The khichda has a texture similar to glutinous porridge but tastes nothing like it. The small portion packs a power punch in terms of taste and flavour. The corner stand is a onedish shop and though it’s open all through the day (serving juices and cold drinks), the khichda is available only after 4pm.

9. MALAI KHAJA 
During Ramzan, their phirni is what draws people from miles around, but that’s not the only thing Tawakkal Sweets has to offer. The shop’s famous malai khaja is a delicious and flaky puff pastry made with malai. The melt-in-your-mouth chunk of decadence tempers the sweetness of the malai with a flaky pastry. Don’t get put off by the imposing glass display that showcases desserts in a variety of colours. Just stand on your toes and confidently place your orders for their special dahi wada (dipped in hot sugar syrup before being served) and malpuas which are the other popular items here.

10. SITAPHAL ICE CREAM 
You know that Taj Ice Cream’s fame is justified when global street food junkie Anthony Bourdain stopped by to sample its icy delights. All their ice creams are made daily with real fruit, and are churned in a sancha (a wooden tub with a copper cylinder in the centre.) The generous portions have been pleasing regulars for over 120 years and it isn’t uncommon to use the restaurant as a local landmark when making your way around the bazaar. The sitaphal and mango flavours are the most popular, and both are available all year round. Also try the delicious choco-hazelnut and strawberry flavours

This article first appeared in Time Out Mumbai. 

The second generation is always looking for ways to expand and develop the family business. Zyros Zend, 44, is no different. This selfstyled cookie man’s family owns the Yazdani Bakery at Fort, so baking was naturally in his blood. A stint roughly 20 years ago, when working on a cruise ship based in Miami with jaunts to Mexico and Jamaica, introduced him to fortune cookies. On returning to the city, he decided it was a novel concept worth introducing and he took it upon himself to do so.

Zend took the plunge in 1998, after spending a year at Sophia Polytechnic, doing the Craftsman’s course: after the full-time programme that included a seven-month training period at a city hotel, Zend started baking cookies at home. What started as a one-man operation based out of the family kitchen, has today evolved into the nine-member company, Fortune Cookie India. The team makes cookies in Mumbai and sells them all over the country through courier. Their clients in the city include All Stir Fry (the Chinese restaurant at the Gordon House Suites) and San-Qi (the Pan-Asian restaurant at the Four Seasons).

Between 1998 and 2000, each cookie was made and shaped by hand: this included the tough task of achieving the cookie’s distinctive half-moon shape. Today, however, the entire production process has been automated. Zend uses a machine that he designed and got local craftsmen to build. He still recalls the feedback he was given by Hemant Oberoi (now the corporate chef for the Taj group of hotels and grand executive chef at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower) after the chef tasted his first batch of handmade cookies. He was told that Indians are used to sweeter and richer textures, so Zend upped the sugar and butter quantities to make it more palatable to our taste buds. That the recipe has remained unchanged for the last 12 years is testimony to the cookie’s popularity. Today, the Indian Hotels Company (the group that runs the Taj group of hotels) is Zend’s biggest customer. In addition to supplying to hotels and restaurants, Zend’s fortune cookies are also retailed at Godrej Nature’s Basket and Gourmet West at Westside.

The company makes between 1,000-2,000 cookies daily, which are shipped nationally (as well as internationally where he has a distributor in Australia)for marketing events, birthdays or even wedding proposals. (Zend can regale you for hours about men who have asked him to bake a wedding ring into the cookie for a surprise ending to a romantic meal.) For requests like these, the entire bakery is shut down and a single cookie made to ensure there are no mix-ups. A cookie proposal is the only time he allows the customer into the bakery, and he proudly stated, “Until now, all are successful cases.” For these proposals he charges customers a shagun amount of Rs101. Naturally, these proposals are most popular around Valentine’s Day. The ring is normally included with a fortune that says something like, “Your life is about to change in the next 10 seconds.”

Apart from romantic proposals, Zend also takes orders for personalised birthday fortunes, post-wedding thank-you messages, and birth announcements. Individual customers aside, there has been a shift in his clientele over the past two years: more corporates now use fortune cookies as a marketing device, either for new product launches or simply to entice would-be customers with innovative and product related fortunes. Requests for customisation require a minimum order of 100 cookies.

Zend’s regular fortune cookies are made with eggs, but he does have an eggless recipe for vegetarians. Thanks to the internet, he now routinely delivers to cities like Nashik and Kolkata, as well as further afield, to countries that include Singapore and the UAE where he says people prefer the sweeter taste.

As important as the cookies – or some may argue, even more so – are the paper fortunes. These slivers of parchment-thin paper are produced in-house and mechanically inserted into each cookie after being baked. The fortunes have been culled by Zend from books of wisdom that he purchased in the US and each fortune is personally selected by him. He has a library of about 600 fortunes that he uses, which cater to nearly every occasion.

His biggest concerns today are ensuring that his cookies are made hygienically and meet his quality standards; another complaint is the lack of space in the city. “Today, I want to expand and I am having a fucking big problem,” he rued. “It’s expensive, yaar.”

Other than his bakeries, Zend is a HAM radio enthusiast and a founder of the Mumbai amateur radio society which assists public bodies like the police as well as the coast guard on the final day of Ganpati Visarjan helping co-ordinate between different agencies. The Colaba-based father of two also enjoys yachting and is a member of the Colaba Sailing Club. He divides his time between the Fort bakery and the Marine Lines one where the cookies are produced daily.

Even after 24 years, Zend still remembers a Sister Celia at the Sophia Polytechnic who gave him the confidence to play around with the original recipe and tweak it to suit Indian palates. Over the past seven years, he has served as an external examiner at the same institute. For a man who believes in paying it forward, that’s how the cookie crumbles.

This article first appeared in Time Out Mumbai