Yummies, Carter Road – Not really that Yummy but light on the wallet!

November 14, 2009 Nishant Singh Leave a comment

Yummies is a small takeaway outlet located close to Rizvi College and is a favourite hangout of the college kids and passers-by. Mainly a Chinese eatery, it serves both veg and non-veg. I have been here a few times and tried out a couple of puffs, croissants and rice. Their rice items come in either half or full plate. The full rice plate is enough to satiate 2 gargantum tummies (tummies, yummies get it?) like mine. Though if one is only looking to eat something irrespective of the taste and other things, yummies is a good choice for its cheap takeaways. This is not the say the food is not good. But it is far more simpler and lacks the complex mixture of ingredients found elsewhere.

In my opinion, the rice/noodle items are one of the better ones here. One can try the items kept in the shelf but the problem with such food is that it stays in the shelf for a considerable duration. There isn’t anything else that I would prefer here if I was hungry except for the rice (Since I am not a big noodles fan).

Address: 36 A Rajan Apts, Nr Rizvi Complex, Off Carter Rd, Bandra West, Mumbai – 400050

Ph: +(91)-9833908045 | +(91)-(22)-26002467, 26040040

(The do home delivery in Bandra)

Merhaba – Gourmet Cafe

November 13, 2009 Nishant Singh Leave a comment

Discovered this outlet while on my way to Turner Road through the bylanes of Bandra starting from Carter Road! Located in the quiet Sherly Rajan Road, it is not suprising that no one knew about this place. Since it was around 11 PM, most of the shelf was already empty with only a couple of chicken and mutton cutlets remaining. Giving them some company were the pastries which were at the other end of a very long shelf! This rectangular shaped ‘cafe’ doesn’t have seating space, making it essentially a takeaway or a free home delivery option (which it does have).

Now, you will not associate a takeaway with an extensive menu. Normally, what you see is what you can get but here its something different. An extensive menu, with exactly 250 items (They have numbered every item in the menu. Did you really think I would count all 250 of em??), makes me wonder how they can manage to offer so much. If you look closely at the menu, it is easy to figure out that this place primarily serves Lebanese.

Merhaba1

Merhaba2Alright then, since it was late night and most of the items were already over, I decided to try the Mutton Cutlet which was covered with Vermicelli – making it a crispy delight. The presentation was a bit different wherein the cutlet wrapped around a thin stick in a way similar to the way chikken tikka is served in the many takeaways in Bandra. The cutlet wasn’t a hit with my taste buds. Maybe it was because the cutlet was made in the Lebanese style – less oily and less spicy – which was a bummer! Though less oily is a winner in my book, less spicy isn’t!

Merhaba extensively serves Lebanese and is the first such place I came across which does so. Otherwise, for instance, for Falafels you need to go somewhere and for Shawerma somewhere else! I am definitely coming back to try out their many dishes on offer.

Address: No.4, Hardik Villa, Sherly Rajan ROad, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050

Ph: 9222384321 | 9222394321

 

 

Gloria Jeans – What’s a takeaway?

November 11, 2009 Nishant Singh 1 comment

Here is a small little rant about a big name coffee house which doesn’t know what a takeaway is! We ordered for a Caramel Latte and a Cafe Latte. Anyways, after ordering coffee worth over INR 200 we weren’t given a takeaway cup but the usual cup which is used if coffee is served within the premises itself. We thought the guy at the counter forgot that it is a takeaway so we asked again and were told that this is all we will get as they didn’t have any takeaway cups. How can a coffee house not have takeaways?? Cafe Coffee Day has and so does Barista and they give you the coffee nicely packed!

I am unsure whether they have a takeaway system or no but the fact that we had to carry 2 coffee cups without proper packaging, on a bike, over bad roads, did not sit well with us. I hope they implement a takeaway system if they do not already have one asap or else they might just loose valuable customers!

We experienced this at the Bandra Outlet which is located next to Sahibaan on Turner Road.

Croissants, Bandra – A lot of Bread and whole lot less meat!

November 10, 2009 Nishant Singh 1 comment

It is amazing how many times you see the same place but never get a chance to check it out! With Croissants, it was a long wait. Always knew it existed but never tasted! So took a friend along to try the many croissants available here.

croissants-the-cake-shop-2

First up we had the Chicken Reshmi Sheekh Croissant followed by the Bhuna Ghost croissants and then the Chicken Barbeque Croissant and another variation of a Croissant which was double the size of the Barbeque croissants but was priced at only INR 10 extra. Man that was a lot of croissants, ‘literally’ speaking! Best dish of the day was the Sheekh variant which has a reshmi sheekh kebab running through the middle of the croissant! The rest though had paste filled inside the soft bread. That was such a let down as I was really hoping for chunks of chicken and not a paste that in one instance (Barbeque Chicken) tasted like Pav Bhaji!

Most of the non-veg croissants are priced between INR 35-45 while the vegetarian versions are for INR 30 and above. Croissants also keeps cakes and according to my friend that is their real specialty. Since we both intend to cut down on some weight (by simultaneously hogging on 3 croissants each!) we decided to skip the pastries for a later date!

Address: No. 5-6, Pluto, Perry Road, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050

Short trip to Yeoor Hills, Thane

November 9, 2009 Nishant Singh 2 comments

Ever since a friend told another friend about Yeoor Hills, he has been itching to go this place at night. The Hills are homes for snakes and at night are considered to be a dangerous place. However, as we found out, its pretty safe around the village at Yeoor but could be otherwise if one ventures deep in the jungle. Also, people are advised against trekking in the jungle after dark.

Moon

Yeoor Hills can be approached from either the Eastern Express Highway while coming from Sion/Jogeshwari or from the Ghodbunder Road while coming from Borivali. We choose to traverse via. Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link RoadEastern Express HighwayThane – Yeoor Hills and come back by Ghodbunder Road – Western Express Highway. It took us an hour to reach Yeoor from Jogeshwari as we started at around 11 PM. Desolate roads greeted us once inside Yeoor but the occasional car or bike gang did pass us by. We were told a lot of parties at the many farmhouses happen here. But we were here to chill by nature away from all the blaring music which was clearly audible!

Ghostly Path

Once inside the park, we drove all the up, mostly through a stone littered path, to a small stream where a few of us took pictures while the others lit up a cigerette. It was pitch black with the apparent eminent threat of a leopard attack! We left after sometime and went to chill at another place and later headed to a restaurant. Forgot the name, but they served really good chicken tandoori!

At the Restaurant

We ate and we chatted a bit and at around 3:30 AM headed back for home via. Ghodbunder Road. This road is a treat to ride on. Nearly 22 KMs of pothole free road! No wonder I hear so many stories of superbikes racing here in the night! Sadly didn’t see any that day!

The trip was a short and refreshing one with, as my friend puts it, 5 interesting people! It’s amazing how much you can discover about people on a short bike trip! Looking forward to doing a day trip followed by a trek in the jungle.

Dum Laga Ke – Not as good as before!

November 8, 2009 Nishant Singh 2 comments

A search for an apparently cheap eatery in Malad West led me to Dum Laga Ke which is an offshoot of the famous Borivali Biryani Centre. Though a friend suggested Rasoi (Which is close to Dum Laga Ke), we choose to go to Dum as it is a tried and tested place by my friends. I have been here only once, which was over a year ago, and honestly speaking, it was amazing back then! So for me, it was to know whether Dum was still maintaining the same standards!

Dum Laga KeOur order consisted of the Prawns and Chicken Tikka Biryani and also Brain Garlic Fry for starters. While there are no complaints about the Brain Garlic Fry we were a tad bit disappointed with Biryanis. The quantity of rice was good but sadly that of the prawns wasn’t. We were hunting for the prawns in the sea of rice! Though my friend who ordered for the Chicken Tikka Biryani didn’t have any such problems he did complain about the Chicken Tikka not tasting like Chicken Tikka. Correct though he was, I think it was deliberately done so as a pungent Chicken Tikka negates the flavour of the Biryani so you either taste the tikka or the rice and not the Biryani. As a whole, it tasted like Biryani and not chicken pulav which was a good thing in my opinion. What was missing from both the Biryanis was the distint aroma associated with the dish. My guess is that since the Biryani here is in such high demand they must be preparing the dish in huge quantities. That’s a shame really for food made like it’s an assembly line product never comes out as good as the one made with love and care!

In comparison though, the Biryani at ‘Just Biryani‘ at the same price is better!

The best meal of the night was the Brain! Cooked to perfection. Though expensive at INR 170 it was worth the money. Many write tales about how a certain dish at a certain place gets them hooked on for life. Well Dum Lage Ke did just that with their Garlic Brain preparation.

Lastly for drinks I ordered for Zaffran which is a Kesar flavoured drink. Last time I came, there were Kesar strands floating in the drink which gave it the peculiar taste. This time, it was just a sugary-flavoured drink! Recession affecting them?

Overall, the meal was satisfying. Though a bit disappointed with the Prawns Biryani but the Brain Garlic Fry more than made up for it!

Address: Shop No 2 & 3, Ganga Niwas, Next to Toyota Showroom, Link Road, Malad West, Mumbai

Rating: Ambiance – 3.5/5. Setting of the place is nice though intriguingly the seats here are a little too low and for tall people it could cause a major discomfort!

Food – 3/5

Price – 3/5. Definitely on the expensive side but they don’t cringe on the quantity. Not yet atleast.

China Blue – Chinese Hukka anyone?

November 7, 2009 Nishant Singh Leave a comment

Suhail’s China blue as the name suggest is a Chinese restaurant which also serves Hukka (a first of its kind maybe?) but lo and behold there is Mughlai and Indian fare on offer as wel! Well that is not a problem really cause’ we were here to smoke some hukka! As suggested by a hukka specialist that I happen to know (what are the chances!), we ordered for a Grape Mint, a mixture of grape and mint flavours!

In the meantime while the hukka was being ready, we changed our seats to a more comfortable lounge like sitting area where one can spend hours smoking and not realise!! The hukka we ordered was for INR 250. It began all well but the small pieces of coal kept running out which got on my nerves. However, one guy, Bablu, who is  in charge of the top floor did manage to get us the big pieces of coal which lasted for like 30 minutes and was still going strong until some idiot changed the coal and again put smaller pieces in there! So here is a tip, if going to China Blue, please ask Bablu to change the coal for you. He seems to be far more experienced at making/serving hukka’s then the rest of the guys there!

Anyways, the hukka session was followed by a quick dinner which I couldn’t eat that time and had to get it parceled! Ordered for a Paneer Kadai and Roti. The food was really good but if only the pricing was a tad lower. We ended up spending INR 200 each (between two people) for the Hukka and the dinner. A bit on the expensive side though if in a big group (say 4 or more) then this is a must go to place for the food and the Hukka.

Comparison with Mezban Sheesha, Carter Road – Though Sheesha’s at Sheesha’s are costlier by INR 50, they are far far better as the flavour lasts a long time and the coal doesn’t need changing as often as at China Blue! Food is more expensive at Sheesha though its a bit bland. For a more spicy affair, China Blue is a better choice!

Address: Rays Chs Shop No 8/9 New Kantawadi, Towards Perry Rd, One-way from Sherly Rajan Rd, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400050

Rating: Ambiance – 4/5 (Excellent ambiance. Made to look like a Sheesha parlour with a lounge like area downstairs and more of a restaurant feel upstairs.)

Food – 4/5 (The food isn’t hot but spicy which I liketh. It isn’t like places where putting a few chillies means your food is now ’spicy’!)

Price – 3/5 (The real downer here. Expensive for just 2 people!)

Venus Bakery, Bandra

November 5, 2009 Nishant Singh Leave a comment

One of the oldest bakeries in Bandra, Venus is a popular one amongst people of all ages. And why not? With desserts and snacks ranging from INR 15-INR 50, it is easy to see why its well recieved by many! Its not just the pricing but the quality too which provides Venus with repeat customers like me. Cakes can also be had from here and they will, like most all bakeries, bake a cake according to your specification.

Though they do have many snack items like chicken fingers, chicken wings, chicken lollipops, chicken/mutton cutlets, burgers, rolls and many more. My current favourite though is the Chicken Sandwich. For INR 20, you get 3 half cut slices of wheat bread and in between as much chicken as you can stuff! Though the sandwich still doesn’t beat the one at Star Bazaar (Which is for INR 35 and with big chunks of chicken and tastes totally yummy) but its still good enough to be had on a daily basis!

Besides the sandwich, the plum cake is great and so is the pack of wheat bread which is for INR 15! The plum cake is a favourite of many in my office while the wheat bread is my personal favourite! Every friday I buy wheat bread from here so that my whole family can enjoy either as a sandwich, toast or just plain bread with milk!

A nice little bakery, Venus is a must visit during Christmas when they bakery itself is nicely decorated and selling even more delicious products!

Address: Near MET Building, Near Mount Carmel’s Church, Bandra Reclamation, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400050.

Ph No.: 26433263

Grub Corner, Bandra

November 4, 2009 Nishant Singh 2 comments

‘Grub’ amongst many things, literally means ‘food‘ or to ‘supply with food‘. This nifty little outlet at St John Baptish Road which leads to the Mount Mary Church is very popular with our office folks. And why not? Low on price, high on quantity and insane on the oil quantity in the food (no seriously!), this place attracts many! Looking for a quick bite? Wanting a heavy meal? Need to mix and match Chinese with Mughlai without burning a hole in your pocket? Come to Grub Corner! (Now that did sound like a PR person talking!, I should be getting paid for this now!)

Grub corner serves a lot more than its size portrays otherwise. It’s the current favourite of a friend who was bored with Chinese at Jim-me’s Kitchen and the croissants at Cheron Caterers. Grub does offer a bit of both with dishes like Chicken Fried Rice and Chicken Noodles Fried or Chicken Schzewan Fried Rice. If that is not enough then one can gorge on chicken lollipops, Chicken Liver (my favourite), Mutton Cutlets and Mutton Balls (another favourite). In just under INR 100 pretty much anyone can satisfy their hunger and that I think is their USP. While the food quality may not comparable to places which charge double or triple the rates, it is still justifiable for its price and is not a bad choice either!

Most of the rice items can be had for under INR 70 while the starters like Lollipops and mutton cutlets are for INR 20 or less!

Will update later with more info on the prices and a few pics as well!

Takeaways in and around Bandra!

November 3, 2009 Nishant Singh 4 comments

Got the idea of posting a small blog on the many takeaways in and around Bandra that I have either been to or want to go to! Bandra is dotted with such eateries. In every corner, nukkad there has to be one atleast and what is more amazing is how they have managed to sustain themselves!

I have blogged about quite a few of them already.

First up is Mac Craig where I went recently. This small eatery serves chicken, beef, mutton, fish and also desserts! Besides, it also sells wheat bread!

Rating: Food – 3/5

Price: 3/5

Mac Craig, Pali Naka

The daddy of Mac Craig is definitely Candies. Though there is ample seating space many do prefer to order takeaways!

Rating: Food – 4.5/5

Price: 2/5

Candies, Union Park

Then there is the good ole Kalpana Stores at Chappel Road. Cheap and never once gave me stomach problems! Burgers are good, so are puffs and lollies, but only when they are hot!

Rating: Food – 3.5/5

Price: 4.5/5

Kalpana Stores, Chappel Road

Near Kalpana is Jeff Caterers. Been a while since I have been here but the Sheesh Kebab is still as good I hear!

Rating: Food – 3/5

Price: 3/5

Jeff Caterers, Chappel Road

Cheron Caterers on hill road is similar to Mac Craig though is much cheaper. Here sandwiches are good and so is the Chicken Biryani. Also serve Dhansak! I love the Chicken Croissants here. Can never get enough of them!

Rating: Food – 4.5/5

Price: 4/5

Cheron Caterers, Hill Road

Rating: Food – 4/5

Price: 4/5

Then there is Dee Rolls as well. Excellent Chicken Rolls!  but not sure where they are now! Last I heard they had shifted somewhere close to Mount Mary Church!

Rating: Food – 4.5/5

Price: 4/5

Dee Rolls

Another one of the takeaways is Open Bake situated at Pali Naka. Does have ample seating space though!

Rating: Food – 3.5/5

Price: 2.5/5

Open Bake, Pali Naka

Ribbon and Balloons is essentially a a cake shop but does stock up on puffs, patties and similar items. Do not prefer the food here though. They rather stick to making pasteries!

Rating: Food – 2.5/5

Price: 3/5

Ribbons and Balloons, Chappel Road

There is another place I frequent a lot, Carter Blue. One of the best places to have a Shwarma and is considerably cheaper than the competition!

Rating: Food – 5/5

Price: 4/5

Carter Blue, Carter Road

A new takeaway recently opened is Mikneil neat St. Andrew’s Church. Liked the Chicken Sandwich and Beef Pan Roll I had there. They also serve Vindaloo.

Rating: Food – NA

Price: NA

*Only eaten once so no rating here!

Mikneil

An old takeaway place, Hearsche Bakery has never disappointed.

Rating: Food – 3.5/5

Price: 3.5/5

Hearsche Bakery, Hill Road

Opposite Hearsche is American Express Bakery. Been there only once though. Shall try soon!

Rating: Food – NA

Price: NA

*Only eaten once so no rating here!

American Express Bakery, Hill Road

There is another bakery,Venus Bakery that has been at Bandra for many many years now. These guys are known for their Plum Cakes and many other Delicacies.  However they also serve quite a few items such as chicken and veg sandwiches, puffs, chicken wings, chicken fingers and mutton cutlets among others. This is offcourse besides the many cakes and pastries they have in stock!

Rating: Food – 3/5 (While I love the Sandwich I rather pass the rest of the stuff here)

Price: 4.5/5

The last one on the list for now is Grub Corner. Again, I like it for its cheap and gives exactly what it charges! This doesn’t mean that the food is bad but quite the opposite. Try out the chinese preparations here or if you want to indulge in some starters the Mutton Kebabs and Chicken Liver is worth the money!

Rating: Food – 3.5/5

Price: 3/5

Grub Corner, St John Baptish Road

The others I have tried out include Lucky Star near Jeff and the small takeaway outlet of Lucky Restaurant on SV Road. While Lucky Star has become expensive (since I first began going there) lollipthe one to look out for is the Lucky Restaurant Outlet. Wonderful varieties of chicken including Schezwan lollies!

There are few I have missed I am sure but will update this once I visit those places. Anyone else wants to add anything more please feel free to comment!

MacCraig, another one of those takeaways in Bandra

November 2, 2009 Nishant Singh 2 comments

The queen of the Suburbs is dotted with takeaways in almost every locality. Majority of them serve quick bites namely burgers, pan rolls, rotis, puffs, cutlets and so on. Some of them however, do differentiate from the others with Mac Craig being one of them! Even then though, it just ends up being a cheap (price wise and not necessarily in a bad way) copy of Candies.

Mac Craig is located at the Hub of the foodies paradise which is Pali Naka, the Khau Nagar of the upper middle class. It is in the same lane (St. John’s Road) a Cocoberry Frozen Yogurt and Papa Pancho da Dhaba.

One thing I really like about the whole setting of Mac Craig is how inviting it is once inside. You can go on ordering and only later realise how how much you have really eaten!

P1050208

P1050210

Something like that happened with me as well! I first ordered for a Chicken Pudhina Roll along with a Mutton Chop. While the Pudhina Roll was strictly ok, the Mutton Chop was good. The taste of the Chop did linger for quite sometime! Following up these two quick fill items, was a Beef Sandwich. Not the first time I ate beef but I am increasingly being drawn to beef or maybe I am just bored of chicken!  Well anyways, I didn’t like the beef sandwich, it was just too plain and dry for my liking. Wouldn’t have hurt to add some sauce I think! In the mean time also took a bite of the Fish Cutlet which is (As the pic above shows) places amongst the veggie items! (I guess it proves the point that Fish is indeed veg in some parts of the world!). Also had a ChickenPuff but sadly the freshly baked and hot puffs I get at Kalpana have really spoilt me to that extent that I do not like puffs anywhere else!

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Chicken Steak(That is the Chicken Steak my friend had. If I remember correctly, the gravy was a lot thicker two years ago when I first went there).

Garlic Chicken(The Garlic Chicken above was supposedly very good!. I didn’t want to be tearing meat from bones that day, so opted for boneless starters)

After the chicken, the mutton and the beef, I tried a bit if Aloo Paratha from my friend who flaunts his dislike for vegetarian food as if he is flaunting his 36-24-36 babe (doesn’t have one though!). I though the Aloo Paratha would go well with a chicken tikka or a garlic chicken which is what I had to conclude my meal! Overall, the meal wasn’t pricey (at INR 100) and wassatisfactory to the taste buds! Maybe it could be a bit better, but then again the prices might increase. Even though I was critical about the place, I still liked it. The mutton, fish and chicken was nice and so was the aloo paratha!

Before I forget, also bought wheat bread – thick slices and whole lot of wheat!!. That was on a friday. Its Monday now and I still haven’t finished it!  Chow!

Bread Poster

Candies, yet again!

November 1, 2009 Nishant Singh 2 comments

The bright white colours, the well laid edibles, the gorgeous salad bar, the unrestricted section, the Michael Jackson (MJ) Wallpapers and whiteboards with people’s comments on it and last but not the least the beautiful people that frequent the place! Oh they have a bunch of huge LCDs playing VH1 all the time!Candies at Pali Naka is quite a huge one. I wonder how much the rent would be! One of the biggest eateries in Mumbai, Candies is also open air and just makes for such a romantic setting. Oh friends can enjoy too and so can large groups of noisy colourful people!

They have a 25% discount after 8PM which is what we love the most about candies. Some of the best food items at 25% off is a real steal! Taking advantage, I ordered for a Chicken Burger and Cappuccino while my friend had a Chicken Fried Dish and Lime Juice. Well, the setting was beautiful but the food disappointed us. Burger is strictly OK though the Chicken Fried Dish was yummy even at that hour! I liked the coffee though which was accompanied by a sugary cup cake! The extremities in taste was overwhelming to say the least!

P1050230Oh another thing, we also got free tuna salad with the Fried Chicken, which interestingly, was the best part of the meal! How I wish they had more Tuna Salad left. Sigh! The meal was filling yet disappointing as it lacked the flavour and taste associated with Candies!

 

 

Late evening stopover at Mikneil Caterers

October 31, 2009 Nishant Singh Leave a comment

Read about this new eatery opened near St. Andrew’s Church in the newspaper Midday. Its just a week-old or maybe a bit older and is run by a family that lives behind Mikneil. They are similar to Kalpana which is on Chappel Road.

Mikneil

Mikneil is a essentially a takeaway. As you can see from the photo above it is quite tiny eatery. And the big dood standing on the left, though inadvertently clicked in the picture, makes for a nice comparison on the size aspect. As the photo above suggests there isn’t much seating space on the outside and on the inside there are two stools which cannot seat us big guys! What occupies the space inside are piles of boxes,  a fridge and the storage shelf (for lack of a better word!) where the ready made food items are kept!

P1050225Mikneil keeps similar food items to that of Kalpana including pan rolls, chops, cutlets, rotis. However, the differentiating factor here is the Goan Cuisine Vindaloo! Yes they keep vindaloo too! Not sure about the pricing but I am definitely trying this out soon! While there, I laid my hands on a chicken sandwich and a beef pan roll. The food was not spicy like the ones at Kalpana or even Cheron Caterers nor was it overtly oily! I liked both the items and wished I had taken a few more from there! Nonetheless it was a good appetizer before the final dinner at Candies!! (and here I was trying to loose weight!)

I am most definitely eat here more often!

 

 

A photoblog of Aarey Colony, Goregaon

October 26, 2009 Nishant Singh Leave a comment

Aarey Colony is the place where I go for my jogs. Ok Ok. Walks! Anyways, took my camera along on Sunday to click some pictures.

Below is the Oberoi Complex. It would be one awesome view from the top floor of the building. Imagine the green expanse between you and the horizon. Bliss!

OberoiOne of the many tree lined paths out there.

Path

Another one…if you are wondering what the brown spots are, well that is dried cow dung!

PathAnd another one…

Another Path

Well this is one of the smaller ones :P

P1050149A Tree that makes you go round and round and round

Tree

Money plant covered Streelight

P1050169Damn! public transport reaches here as well!

P1050158

The sunset, hidden by the bushes

Sunset

The final moment before the sun disappears to rise again, another day

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A photoblog of Lucky Biryani!

October 25, 2009 Nishant Singh Leave a comment

This is my first attempt at a combination of pixels and paragraphs (picked that catchy tag from the website pixelsandparagraphs.com, which I am following these days to get some inspiration!).

Anyways, coming back to the topic, I chanced upon Lucky Biryani, at Oshiwara, Jogeshwari, an offshoot of Lucky Restaurant in Bandra and apparently their third franchisee with the second one being located in Malad, Mumbai. Strange to see the place being branded as a Biryani-specialty restaurant as I would have thought they would want to keep their original branding of ‘Lucky Restaurant’ as they are anyways famous for Biryanis! But then again, seeing as to the popularity of Biryani-places in the vicinity it does look like a shrewd business decision to capitalise on what they know best!

The Oshiwara outlet is a lot smaller than the one in Bandra. We had to wait for 5 minutes before someone got up. Thankfully the service here is really quick so we didn’t spend much time waiting outside until the tables were cleaned etc. Once seated, we were handed a small booklet which also serves as takeaway menu. To me, this is an innovative idea. If you live nearby and like the food at Lucky, just take the menu card given to you and order next time you feel like gorging on the many items they serve here!

Menu Card

For starters we ordered for a Mutton Seekh Kebab and Lassi to go with. The Seekh Kebabs were at our table in no time. Accompanied by freshly chopped onions and hot green chutney, the Seekh kebabs were delightful. Not overcooked nor was it dry as a stick which is not how I like it! The Mutton Kebab was good but I don’t think it was worth the INR 120 we paid for it!

mutton Seekh Kabab

The starters were followed by the Biryani which, priced at INR 125, seemed a tad cheaper compared to the starters! The Biryani is not quite like the one at Bandra. It does not have the aroma like the one served at Lucky, Bandra and is a bit bland. The Biryani here lacks the gravy as well which you would normally associate with Lucky’s Biryanis. It’s no wonder then that the Raita had to be ordered separately as I doubt most order for Raita with such bland Biryani. Bland though it was, I still liked it and gorged on it as if it was the best food I have come across so far! Also, the amount of Raita these guys serve can easily be enough for a family of six. Infact the bowl is so big we should have been asked to pay for it but we weren’t! Strange. I guess either they forget or they actually do not charge for it!

Biryani

Raita

Accompanying the food was the Lassi. At INR 35 it wouldn’t dent your pocket in any which way. But I wouldn’t suggest the Lassi with the Biryani, rather have it with something a bit more spicy and coloured :D . In the end it just become a bit too much of milk products!

Lassi

Ending the meal was the famous Caramel Custard of Lucky. It seemed bigger than the one served at Bandra but tasted just as good! These guys really do make good Caramel Custard. One cannot smell the egg in the custard which suggests that the dessert is relatively fresh! The custard was for INR 40, which is the same price as at Bandra. Curiously though, the Custard is the only dessert they serve at the Oshiwara outlet while at Bandra they have a few more including the Firni as well.

Custurd

It was a good meal but was a let down on the pricing front – at INR 355 it was a tad too pricey for just two people! But then again, my endless pit is to be blamed for it knows no boundaries!

PS: Don’t mind the watermark! Was trying something and ended up with a 100% opaque watermark in the centre of the images which I cannot remove unfortunately!