El Toro Cantina - Reclamation, Bandra, Mumbai.

El Toro Cantina may sound Spanish due to its obvious naming and it does use the two words most Indians associate with Spanish. Cantina however is a term rarely heard of in India, I first heard of it in the 90s while watching Star Wars -  a New Hope. A Cantina in Mexico or Spain usually serves drinks and small plates or Tapas. Literally, it could mean an equivalent of a canteen or a mess. However El Toro Cantina is a mix of a cantina, a sophisticated cafe and a fine dine.

It had a pleasant ambiance which felt very European in decor. Thankfully, it hadn't used any annoying stereotyped cultural props like most foreign cuisine restaurants in India now days do. I arrived here on a rainy afternoon for a late lunch. The place felt quite comfortable. The bar was radiant and looked straight out of a popular pub.

The food was very continental. It was a mix of Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese. Do note that there is a difference between Spanish and Mexican food. Spanish food is made out of native and European influences while Mexican food is a mix of Spanish, South American and Texan influences. The Mediterranean flavors suit Indian palates very well and as such I can see El Toro becoming quite popular in the future. 

Here is what I sampled.

These colorful citrusy cocktails were ideal for a summer afternoon which was still hot despite the rain. The colors of these cocktails blended well with the vibrant ambiance of the Bar.

Beetroot Carpaccio was an Italian appetizer that worked well as a vegetarian version of the meat based Carpaccio. It added green to the red and white themes commonly associated with Carpaccio. The Beet was marinated in liquor and was the hero of the dish. Its addicting flavor made me gobble down this salad in no time. Crumbled Feta provided a salty depth to the sweet, tangy and candied beets.

Chicken Liver Pate. I will admit that Liver is one part of any meat that I vehemently avoid. However the pate here was a balance of both bitter and savory. The Pear Jam drizzle and the Melba toast helped augment the flavor profile. I could eat a substantial portion of it but I'd still stick to avoiding liver in the future.

Pollo, aceitunas y chorizo was a mix of spice rubbed chicken chunks tossed in Chorizo oil and mixed with Spanish Chorizo and Olives. This was quite a delicious snack. The flavor seduced my taste buds to no end. I love Chorizo and it was a nice change from the Goan chorizo that I am so used to. The flavor was subtle, less spicy and quite savory.

Gambas al Ajillo is a famous prawn dish from the region of Catalonia. Made with a mixture of native Catalonian, Spanish mainstream and Italian influences - this dish was a bowlful of flavor. Its garlicky and subtly spicy flavor will pamper Indian palates quite a lot. The dish went well with the drinks, although it could use a bit of improvement on the presentation part.

Braised Lamb. This delicious slow cooked lamb looked like a mountain of meat surrounded by a forest of vegetables sitting on top of a potato mash island surrounded by a sea of black pepper gravy. Maybe that's my travel seeking self drifting away while writing this though ha.

Risotto of the day. As the name suggests, this one changes everyday. The Arborio was topped with a ton of fried lotus stalks. The dish was delicious though I have had better.

Sticky Toffee Pudding. Pretty sure this was the puddin' Harley Quinn keeps jabbering about. This has to be one of the best Sticky Toffee Puddings that I have had anywhere and I'd say this was the best that I have had in Mumbai. The Toffee sauce was deliciously rich and the cake was soft and fresh. The Ice cream was of premium quality. All elements worked well over here. A sweet alchemy well orchestrated.

The service was good and the staff knew the menu well. Despite the place being new, the servers made it feel that they have been running the show for years.

The pricing is slightly on the higher side but if you have made it this far into reading this article, I am sure that you can tell that the grub was well worth the moolah.

To wrap this up, El Toro Cantina delivers well with its Pan European food, ambiance, drinks and service. But can it sustain itself in an area infamous for open and shut eateries? Time will tell but from my side I'd say it was a rainy afternoon well spent.


The Captain's Score : 8/10

Map Co-Ordinates
El Toro
ONGC Lane, Opposite Lilavati Hospital,
Next To Broasters & Doolally,
Bandra West, Mumbai.


-I was invited by the Restaurant to sample the menu. My review however is objective.-

Bohemian Brew - Khar, Mumbai.

The word Bohemian has both an artistic and adventurous context to it. It evokes the feeling of being different, liberal, adventurous and an explorer of the unknown. Mumbai is quickly becoming one of the World's best places for food. It joins the ranks of New York, Sydney, Singapore and Hong Kong when it comes to having multicultural food, fusion food and restaurants with interesting themes.

Bohemian Brew is a new hangout kind of a restaurant near the Khar railway station. It is the perfect place for the Bohemians to flock together and discuss their intrepid craft. The Brew part may initially throw you off making one believe that its a beer marker but make no mistake, the brew here actually means tea. Helmed by Chef Rahul Desai who is a Tea sommelier and a master brewer, the place shows great promise.

The place is made up of four distinct zones. The indoor dining area which is good for the quieter refined crowd, the outdoor area which is a shisha zone and perfect for large groups of people, A small private seating zone for elites and an underground room with board games for the cool kids.

Regardless of what kind of person you are, you will always find your zone at Bohemian brew. The decor is impressive. It is not over the top, radical and in your face ambiance. And it makes maximum use of every bit of estate available. It thus scores highly in ambiance. Do note that it looks far more beautiful in the evening.

The Feta and melon salad was a simple but rather effective construction. The salty feta complimented the balsamic drizzle very well and the sweet, tangy, savory flavors created a medley of sensations on the palate.

The Potato Gnocchi scored high on visuals but was average in flavor. I won't say that it was bad but I have definitely had better.

The Hummus bin Lamhe was delightful in both optics and flavor. The pulled lamb in the middle went excellently with the well flavored house made Hummus but I felt that this needed a bit of roughage. Maybe a piece of Pita or Lavash cracker at the side would have fit the bill. The menu did mention grilled pita as an accompaniment but none was served to me.

The Tea leaves Salad was suggested by Chef Rahul as a house specialty. Now I am not really a salad person but this did taste quite well. It was far better than the salads that I have had at many other places. So here is a healthy option for those who would like to narrow down their waistlines ha.

The Three stuffed cheese Mushroom was a disappointment. The cheese felt rather low as each bite was only mushroom all the way. A relatively simple construction and quite popular across many restaurants, this could have been better.

The Cajun Spiced Chicken pizza was the perfect meaty and cheesy pie. Light, less oily and made on a thin crust - this was one great offering of a pizza. The juicy Cajun chicken chunks were full of flavor which jumped out with every bite. And the cheese had a bit of stretchy lift effect too.

This Gooey Chocolate cake was a nice end to the whole experience. Sweet and decadent, just the way I like it. It was not on the menu as desserts supposedly rotate everyday, ask your server for your sweet options.

I cannot comment much on the service since the place is new but it appeared variable. Some servers seemed to perform better than some others. Probably a teething issue at this stage.

The pricing is pocket friendly and seems suited to cater the masses.

In entirety, the Bohemian Brew experience was good. There were some kinks that need to be worked upon but the restaurant concept feels refreshing and the food was mostly good. Do note that the restaurant serves thirty different types of tea. The Brew forms a big part of the restaurant and many a times your concoction will be brewed by Chef Rahul Desai himself. The Bohemian steampunk in me demands more tea mate.


The Captain's Score : 7/10

Map Co-Ordinates
Bohemian Brew
Shop 1, Mahesh Apartment,
Off SV Road,
Khar, Mumbai


-I was invited to sample the grub by the Restaurant. My review however remains objective.-

Pondichery Cafe at The Sofitel - BKC, Mumbai

They say that sometimes there is magic in the air. I was surfing through the web looking for a good Turkish fare in Mumbai. I needed something authentic and not simply a deconstruction of North Indian food being passed around as Turkish Kebabs. And that is when I heard about the Turkish food festival at Pondichery Cafe in Sofitel. Maybe it was providence that the prize to my quest was found so easily.

Sofitel by Accor Hotels provides one of the best experiences in luxury dining. And I have experienced the same at Artisan and Tuskers. Pondichery is the general purpose restaurant area within Sofitel which serves a mix of all cuisines from around the world. So it makes an ideal place to host any kind of food festival. This area had a lot of decor and references symbolizing Turkey. The event's principal sponsor Turkish Airlines is well known for its elan worldwide and it had done its part in providing an authentic Turkish experience.

Two young chefs from Turkey had flew in to make sure that the food was authentically Turkish. Chef Emre and Chef Ramazan could not speak English but were fluent in the language of food. Teamed up with Sofitel's resident Chefs, they provided the guests a great Turkish experience. The only thing that disappointed me is the ephemeral nature of food festivals. The festival will end on the 27th of March, where will I find my Turkish fix then?

This was the first day of the festival and I was told that the platter will change every day. Cafe Pondichery is a multi cuisine restaurant meant to cater all patrons of the Hotel. However, anyone interested in the Turkish Food could promptly head over to the Turkish food stations and grab some grub. I started with a bit of Turkish yoghurt, soups and Kuzu Tandir.

Kuzu Tandir were delectable Lamb nuggets with a salty and savory flavor. I also picked up a bit of Turkish Sote which was made out of non animal ingredients to suit Vegetarians.

Tavuk Kanat reminded me of the delectable Chicken wings which I first had in Dubai. These Turkish chicken wings had the flavors of Central Asia. The flavors felt rather close to Indian Kebabs and these were smaller in size as compared to American wings.

Then there were Turkish salads too like the Acili ezme Salatsi, one cannot find this in a place without Turkish chefs. Try Googling that and you won't even find a single English link for it. This was specially prepared by the Turkish chefs and this was something one would rarely find outside Turkey. Yayla Corbasi was a delectable Turkish Yogurt soup with a strong flavor of Tahini in it.

Then there was the subtle flavored Teryagli Pilav which was far milder in taste than India Pulaos. This rice dish paired well with other Turkish mains.

There were two Turkish desserts available at this time. I managed to sample one. Mahalabia is a smooth and pleasant flavored pudding. The consistency of this was very much like a custard. The flavor felt familiar. I was a bit disappointed that Baklava or Kanafeh weren't available as I was looking forward to both. I felt that there could have been more Turkish desserts but Pondicheri's Dessert section is so huge that one rarely has room for complaints ha.

And I filled in my sweet void with a bunch of desserts from the huge platter. Pondicheri definitely has one of the best dessert platters that I have seen within Mumbai's Five star properties.

Pictured here(L to R) are Chef Emre, Chef Manav from Sofitel, Chef Ramazan and Chef Singh from Sofitel. The four chefs who made the evening grand.

As this was a buffet, this was mostly a self serve affair so I cannot comment on the service. The pricing is high as this is within a five star property. But given the rich buffet with so many choices, its well worth the spend. Turkish food is but a part of the entire buffet. There were also Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Western cuisines to choose from. The entire experience was good and this was definitely one of the better buffet spreads that I have seen.

The festival concluded on the 27th of March, 2017 but Pondicheri Cafe is famous for its food festivals and another one could just be around the corner. It still has a great buffet spread and can be visited at any time of the year.


The Captain's Score : 8/10

Map Co-Ordinates
Pondichery Cafe,
Sofitel Hotel,
C 57, Bandra Kurla Complex,
Mumbai



-I was invited to sample the event menu by the Restaurant. My review however remains objective.-

Yauatcha - Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai

Yauatcha derived from the Chinese words Yum Cha(meaning tea and Dim sum house) is a classy fine dine that is popular for its dim sums(or the most famous of Chinese dumplings). Though it does have other things on its menu, the place is best visited for dim sums.

This isn't my first post on Yauatcha as I had been here for a festival last year. I thus won't be covering ambiance or service in this post as those have remained exactly the same as the previous time.
You can read my older post over here :
http://www.grubzon.com/2016/06/yauatcha-bandra-kurla-complex-mumbai.html

So let me pull a Dan Brown here and jump straight to the action, The Food.

I was here for a Blogger's meet to sample some of the newest additions to their menu. A communal table blogger's meet often ends up with things being disproportionately divided between bloggers. So I will write about things I was able to sample properly.

Fried Turnip Cakes were dry in texture and quite savory. The flavor felt very similar to savory cakes that I have had in India. The appearance was an accurate rendition of Turnip cakes eaten in East Asia and abroad. This was my first experience with these and all I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed these. There was somehow a familiar feel to the flavor. Vegetarians would love these savoury cakes.

Crispy Asparagus rolls had a subtle savoury flavor of corn and a pleasant asparagus undertone. There were hints of spices but otherwise this was a very gentle on the tongue dish. This would complement well with various Chinese teas like Jasmine tea. In essence, these rolls with piping hot tea capture the true spirit of a yum cha.

Spicy Hargau dim sums were pretty little things that were gently spicy and had an earthy feel to them. Another treat for the vegetarians though I felt that more effort was put behind the optics than required. Nonetheless, this was a unique experience. There are a few places in Mumbai that serve Hargau and I would definitely vouch for Yauatcha’s experience.

Crunchy Iceberg dumplings topped in terms of optics but the flavor felt a bit on the flatter side. The dim sum was not crunchy enough for its name. The thing that worked for this dumpling however was its rural flavor. One could feel as if this was food from the refreshing countryside.

Spicy Pork Sichuan Wontons - These were very delicious and one of the highlights of the menu. This item is popular in the Yauatchas abroad and I am glad that this finally made it into India. Served in a traditional bowl, the wontons were submerged in a savory soup. This is the correct way of having wontons though we were used to having dry fried wontons in India.

The flavor was a mix of savory, sour and salty. There was an undertone of peanut and these dumplings were easy on the palate. Contrary to its naming, I felt no spiciness in this.

Crispy Prawn Dumplings were my favorite of the night. These rather simple looking rolls were packed with an amazing flavor. The rolls were made out of bean curd sheets which gave them the smooth velvety appearance. The flavor was savory with minced prawn filling most of the roll. It was slightly crunchy as one chewed past the bean curd. There was a creamy flavor to it as well. I think these rolls really pampered my taste buds.

Yauatcha is well known for its artistic desserts made in the patisserie below the restaurant. Though I was not able to sample all of these as tossing unguarded desserts in the midst of certain food bloggers is often akin to tossing a piece of meat in between a bunch of hungry wolves ha.

Pear and Almond Tart was a fruity end to the meal. This colorful dessert had pear and kiwi in the top layer while almond meal dominated the lower layer inside the crust. I do feel like coming to Yauatcha separately for the desserts someday.

The pricing at Yauatcha is definitely on the higher side though it does do good business which speaks in favor of the food and quality served here.

The new menu seemed to have more hits than misses for me. What impressed me the most was the fact that the chefs were rigorously trained to produce near exact versions of those produced by Traditional chefs in China. Do note that I am not using the terms "emulation" or "replica" here. Yauatcha is a little bit of China in India.

In a posh office district dominated by high quality niche eateries, Yauatcha does stand out high and ranks among the best, I would definitely visit the place again though not part of any group ha.


The Captain's Score : 7/10


Map Co-Ordinates
Yauatcha,
Raheja Towers,
Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai


-I was invited to a bloggers event by the Restaurant's PR. My review however remains objective.-