Sahibaan, Colaba

Sahibaan at Colaba is apparently the first of the many Sahibaan restaurants open in Mumbai. Being the first, it boasts of an extensive menu, Chinese and India, that most of its brethren do not.

We were at Colaba searching for a place to chill and have dinner and chanced upon Sahibaan. Did not hesitate to walk in. The place is pretty small but has good seating arrangement. They generously offered us a table for six people even though we were just two!

They serve this for free but only after an order is placed.

Have already had the sizzlers from here so decided to try out something new. For me, new meant having Momos. So ordered for Steam Chicken Momos which were served along with three different sauces. One was sweet, one a bit sweet and sour and another just plain spicy!

My friend told me about how they serve  Momos elsewhere such that you can dip a whole Momo in a sauce and relish the flavour. Here you had to use the fork and the spoon but that was no problem either.

After the momos, we ordered for Chicken Pot Rice. Very much like Biryani cooked in an earthen pot, the Pot Rice was served in a ceramic bowl. Steamed chicken was the delicacy of the day for us with loads of freshly cut veggies. We were given chop sticks too. It was my first time with a chop stick and I think I didn’t do a bad job afterall. The pot rice was a bit bland and had to be mixed with some Soy Sauce (which I like) .

The food was delicious. The thing with Chinese food is the magic of the various sauces and when done right makes any thing you can have into a tasty delicacy. But we weren’t done yet. Ordered for a Sizzling Brownie (had to order something sizzling at Sahibaan!). The chocolate was a bit burnt and the brownie was just a plain old brownie, had hoped to find some nuts in there.

Overall, Sahibaan is a really good place serving good food and every attendee there has a ‘real’ smile on his face. Such a lovely thing when you are out for dinner after a tiring day!

Food: 4/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Service: 4/5

MacCraig, another one of those takeaways in Bandra

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!

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!

(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).

(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!