Kurries and Burries - Chowpatty, Mumbai

The winds roared as me ship sailed along the coast. I love the rains as tis' be the season of stronger winds, giving me ship more mileage. I was scouting the shores for coastal taverns. Suddenly, I spotted two - A small Bistro and a large cafe. Being a sailor who has an eye for hidden gems, I chose the Bistro over the cafe much to me crew's chagrin who always assumed that bigger is better. I looked up, read the Bistro's sign and smiled. "Kurries and Burries eh? What's your story?"

Hola and Ni hao readers.

Kurries and Burries is a quick service restaurant with a very Bistroesque feel to it. It faces the ginormous establishment of Starbucks and is akin to David staring Goliath in the eye. Anyone would wonder if this little Bistro can survive with a Starbucks facing it. Well, open the doors, and dispel your doubts. This Chota Bheem can beat the great Samson.

Filled with college kids and youngsters of all types, this place seems like a popular shack that has been running for ages. All that despite being relatively new. It started as a final year MBA project by the young Kushal Todi with the aid of his elder brother Mitul Todi. But the project apparently became a massive success and the rest is Lishi. (That's Chinese for History)


A comfortable and golden lit ambiance awaits the patron. Due to restaurant's small size, the seating could be limited during lunch/dinner hours but such is always the case with all quick service restaurants. No matter, one could always order take out or pick up food to be eaten elsewhere.

The menu is mix of Mexican and Asian primarily. And its all vegetarian but there are some items that could make even the hardest of carnivores happy.

Mexicana Soup - Whenever I hear the word Mexicana, my mind automatically plugs Hermosa after that and then somehow I get a vision of Salma Hayek running on a beach. Beautiful thoughts before a grub are always healthy ahem. This is a soup made of a spicy mix, Mexican beans, coriander, Tortilla bits and I think I sensed some Masoor lentils too. The soup strikingly resembles Dal Makhani in visuals but rest assured that it does not taste like it. The flavor feels Mexican with notable Indian influences but nonetheless its quite addicting and I found myself cleaning up the bowl in no time.

Kung Pao Potato could be really spicy. Those with a low spice tolerance should best avoid this but those with a normal tolerance must relish it like no tomorrow. Made with large dices of well cooked potatoes wrapped in Chili and Schezwan sauce, this dish was literally a party for my taste buds.

Captain : I feel all fired up after eating this lad.

Crewmate :(Narrows eyes and smiles) Do you mean that the spice got to you?

Captain : What? No, what in the name of Davey Jone's Locker is wrong with you lad? You are trolling your Captain now?

Mex-O-Fusion Quesadillas provided little entertainment as compared to the blockbusters above. The flavor was a bit flat and the tortilla somehow tasted similar to Theplas. The filling was chiefly made of corn and greens. There should have been a bit more cheese as I found it a little low for my liking. And the salsa dip somehow felt redundant as it did not add to the taste.

Nachos Supremo was visibly enticing but again fell a little short of being ideal. The Tortillas and the cheese were excellent. I quite enjoyed that part. But I felt that the Mexican bean mash in the middle was very mild. It seemed to lack its own identity and I promptly shifted that out and ate the rest of the Nachos. The mashing felt like a home breaker in a perfect marriage between the Nachos and the cheese. The salsa was uncharacteristically mild. I do expect the salsa to be quite spicier then it was.

Thai Green Curry was an absolute delight. It was well plated and the flavor was far better than the average Green Thai curries. I usually avoid Thai curries since I dislike both rice and coconut but this was literally my "green eggs and ham" or shall I say "Green curry and coconut" moment.

The spices were just right, the dish had a soft texture with a creamy feel, soul touching aroma and just the right amount of coconut. The moment I took in the aroma, my hands moved on their own loading the curry and rice into my mouth. It was so good that it got over faster than the time you took to read this paragraph. Guess Kurries n Burries lived up to its name.

Captain : The spices right. The curry light. This sailor feels all right.

Crewmate : The rice is white? 

Captain : There, you just ruined my poem lad. One month of toilet scrubbing duty for you.

Crewmate : The Captain's bullying me with all his might?

Captain : Two months.

Crewmate : Barnacles.


The place is largely a self service establishment.

The pricing is fair for a place located in Chowpatty. The fact that its always packed with students perhaps is a testament to its comfortable pricing.

They have a large delivery radius with deliveries being made as far as Nariman point and the bulk of their business comes from deliveries. There is just one thing that they need to work on, they need to improve the store visibility and store front. With Cars being parked in front of the entrance, KnB could be hard to spot and hard to get in.

But for the most part, great food for everyone and a real treat for vegetarians everywhere.

The Captain's Score : 7/10

"You had yer fill lads and now I want all hands on deck, there be storms and sea monsters ahead. Hasta la Vista."

Map Co-Ordinates
Kurries and Burries

29/A, Jethabhai Govindji Building, 

Metro Motors Lane, Rangekar Road,

Chowpatty, Mumbai

-I was invited by the Restaurant to sample some of their grub. -

Noodle Play - Bandra West, Mumbai

There was not a single piece of land anywhere in sight. The lads looked dull and unhappy. As a Captain, I had to quickly find a way to appease them with good food. Taking out me looking glass, I spotted a peculiar ship in the distance. Alerted, I ordered the lads to be on guard. However, this peculiar ship turned out to be a restaurant on the seas. Amazed and hungry at the same time, I welcomed its appearance and prepared for a mid sea trade. Island restaurants or sailing restaurants, who cares, as long as they feed me grub.

Noodle play is a Takeout restaurant much far from my home. It was the talk of the town and obviously I was intrigued in it. Then, I was referred to Hitesh Bhatia who is the owner of this brand by fellow connoisseur Shwetaa Sharma. I was told that they do not have a dine-in facility as they specialize only in home deliveries. This disappointed me a bit initially because I am located quite far from them and it would have been very hard for them to deliver it out here.

However, Hitesh's "never say never" attitude amazed me. He said without hesitation that he will have it delivered it to my place. I was skeptical about the whole thing. But I was silenced with noodles and chicken, literally.

Pritam, who mans Noodle Play's logistics, gave me a call and a confirmation was made for next week.
 Moving on to next week, it was a Tuesday and I had completely forgotten about the whole affair. I was planning to go get my grub from the local fast food place when suddenly my phone buzzed. It was Pritam and he notified me that my order will reach me shortly. And it did. A few minutes later, Noodle Play delivered the goods on my door. It was impressive that the food was still warm, given the distance. Not luke warm, not burning hot - Goldilock's kind of warm.

Packed in a neat and compact manner, the cargo looked great at delivery. A pair of chopsticks, a fork and a spoon were among the things included. These guys really worked hard on presentation and the delivery. I started my meal with good spirits.

In a top secret food facility somewhere in Area Ikyavana(इक्यावन), An aging food scientist manages to successfully blend Indian and Chinese cuisines using the Large Foodron Collider. "Eureka", he screams before handing out his secret to select restaurants in India. He hoped that his creation will help humanity and hungry people everywhere.

It is a long known tradition in India where foreign cuisines are often adjusted for Indian tastes. They may be saltier or have Indian spices. May even have pure vegetarian variants which otherwise don't exist in the country of origin. However, the worst part about them is that they claim to be authentic Chinese and do injustice to both cuisines.

Noodle Play happily admits that it blends the two cuisines and does a great job too. It does total justice to my totally true story about Area Ikyavana.

The Black Pepper Chicken had more Chinese and less Indian influence as compared to many other items on their menu. The fresh vegetables, black pepper sauce, rich spices and the marinated chicken were a perfect team. Together they could take on any taste buds in the world. Indeed, the flavor was great with the succulent chicken able to satisfy the cravings of every carnivore. And the aroma and the presentation were great too. To be honest, for a takeout place this dish had quality on par with most fine dines. And at a fraction of the cost.

Captain : I love this chicken.

Crewmate : You look a little clumsy with the chop sticks Captain.

Captain : I know how to use them....I just am not very good at it.

Then I opened the Wok Box of the never ending Burnt Chilli Garlic Noodles. All right, the never ending part was a jest but the noodle quantity in one box easily surpasses the hunger levels of two average human beings. The content was less oily, pleasantly aromatic and with an addictive garlicky flavor. Loaded with Chilli chicken and a hint of a smoky flavor, this is the best takeout noodles that I have ever had. The vegetables were added in just the right amount with an artistic touch.  Sometimes, the treasure is box of gold coins and sometimes, the treasure is a box of golden noodles. Especially if it is a wok box.

It served as my lunch and also my dinner, such was the huge quantity. And what came as a surprise was that at dinner even in its cold state, it was still tasty. Don't know if this was by design or co-incidence but there are very few places that can cook food that tastes good in both hot and cold states.

Captain : There is enough grub in this treasure chest to feed the whole crew.

Crewmate : But you will probably have it all alone, right?

Captain : No lad, its too much even for me.

Crewmate : Thundering Typhoons, Its a miracle.

Captain : Get off your Belgian Comics lad.

The food was delivered with a lot of accompaniments like a Fortune cookie, Imli Chooran and a Mint Ball.

Also included were some puzzles, just in case you are traveling while eating and are really bored. Why look at the weird guy sitting opposite to you staring at your food when you can look at the intriguing puzzles. Let me help you out with the first answer - Lollypop is hidden at the bottom right vertical of the word puzzle.

Concluding, I would say that it would be quite cool if Noodle play gets a dine in restaurant but it really delivers on food and service (no pun intended). The prices are really low. Almost half of what I get from my local places and the quantity is almost double. That is a value factor of 4x.

The Captain's Score : 8/10

"All right lads, you had your fill even in the middle of the sea. Time to get back to yer stations. We have a long voyage ahead of us."

Map Co-Ordinates
 Noodle Play
They will deliver if you lie within their area of operation.
http://www.noodleplay.in/
 
-The food was on the house-
-Thanks go to Sweta Sharma, Hitesh Bhatia and Pritam-