Cafe Bandra

2030 hours, Aug 22, 2017, Tuesday, Bandra Pali Hill

The Prelude:

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Bandra seems to be one of the most buzzing locations of late, especially for the gastronomical enterprises. Hail Café Bandra then, a culinary tribute to the queen of suburbs. Opened up barely a month ago, July 21, 2017, to be precise, it has become a massive draw for the Bandraites. It is open from 12 noon till 1.00 am, and there is nary a moment when it's devoid of patrons.We were there on a Tuesday evening, and by 2130 hours they were running a full house with guests in waiting.

The Persona:

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We were hosted by Husain Mister – the owner partner of this place. Both his partner Altaf Sheikh and he are rank outsiders for the industry. But having tasted raging success with Bhaijaanz two and a half years ago, they have braved to venture into a second enterprise in the form of this eatery, and seemingly the gamble has paid off. Justifiably so, because the hosts are also big time into social service - partnering big way with MCGM and Salman Khan’s initiative for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, besides scores of other things. Salute.

The Picture:

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It is a small place, maybe a fifty seater or so, divided into two sections – for the Sheesha lovers and for the naysayers. There is also one VIP room for a private party for eight to ten people. (Did I get the feel of a spaceship there? I guess I did.)

The first thing you notice is the presence of a hand sanitizer on every table. Something which immediately warms you to the place. Then the Nail art on the walls. A painstaking artistic affair. The rustic look overall. Simplistic wooden chairs and tables. Potted plants hanging from the walls. Rope work meshes on the ceiling. Lots of mini light bulbs, sufficiently illuminating the place. A job well done.

The Platter:

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We were fussed over by the restaurant manager Mr Dinesh, who needs a special mention in this piece. Dinesh seemed warm and genuinely caring - at one point even proactively allaying some misgivings of ours, which he happened to overhear and decode - given that it was coming to him in a strange language.

Soon, we were spoilt for choices with the following delicacies:

BOUILLABAISSE SOUP (4.5 / 5): 

A strike right from the word go. A French style cream and tomato based seafood stew. Thick as they come and deep orange in hue. Ginger, garlic, parsley, herbs, the works. With seafood – mostly prawns and fish – delight. Care had been taken to customise it to my taste by refraining from adding calamari to it. And thankfully no Basa here – it had been replaced with Rawas. The result had to be outstanding. Hot. Soothing. Smoothly flowing down the gullet. A kind of panacea for all ailments. The accompanying crisp pesto toast was merely ornamental, the zuppe was the lone star here.

CHICKEN HARISSA (4.5 / 5): 

Chicken breast chunks on skewers a la desi Kulfi. Slathered, nay sloshed in Harissa sauce. Such that the sauce had seeped to the core, making it flavoursome every bite. The chicken itself seemed fresh and well cooked. A healthy affair overall, and sexily spiced up too.

SRIRACHA PRAWNS (4 / 5): 

Nice jumbo sized prawns. Grilled and brushed with the chilli pepper sriracha. The prawns were sufficiently springy, and the sriracha added the necessary personality. But a strictly uni dimensional affair all in all. No less than a cut and dried affair. Necessary to add here that my opinion strikingly differed from my little one’s, whose eyes went wide open at the first bite. Well, what does youth know, isn’t it? Or does it?

MUTTON SEEKH KABAB (4.5 / 5): 

Sigh! It's delights like these that make your hearts do somersaults. Lamb mince, cooked over the fire and served on a skewer. Juicy. Aromatic. Rich. Now if only the overpowering nutmeg had been toned down a bit. But a minor peccadillo, still. The accompanying green “sauce” was the yoghurt based green chilli and mint chutney – a match made in heaven. Like Shae and Tyrion Lannister.

PIZZA (3.5/5):

Thin crust, cheese loaded and customised to the daughter’s preference. Olives and jalapenos and onion and American corn. As good as they come, but I am not a pizza person, my sense of aesthetics has always veered towards Indian beauties. The ladies seemed to be relishing it though.

ENGLISH KHEEMA PAV TOWER (FUSION) (3.5/5):

Okay now a fusion is a misnomer here – and genuinely thank God for that. A keema is a sacred thing, something which should be left uncorrupted, ungarnished, unsullied. Any attempt to décor it by fusion attempts or similar such should be considered no less than a sacrilege punishable with time. The keema here was precisely the way I like it – real mincemeat perfectly cooked, perfectly salted and sans the noise of potatoes, peas, beans or carrot. Whew! It came designed in the form of a tower, with half a bun carrying a layer of keema, then the other half, again that carried another layer of keema and topped with a small layer of cheese. And two bun halves resting by the side. That’s a tower for you. The buns were fluffy, golden toasted, buttered up, soft and crunchy. The only suggestion here would be to add a wee bit more keema matter to the plate - after a while, the meat seemed woefully imbalanced as compared to the bread. But that apart, this dish definitely deserves an applause.

The Pitcher:

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COCOLYCHIOUS (4.5 / 5): 

Litchi juice and coconut syrup tangoing together in this brew – a first of sorts for me. The effect was stunning, I sat up with the first sip. Both played an equal role here, neither overpowering the other in this delicate balance. The sweet sour further enhanced this concoction, and I would like to come again and again for this.

BERRY BANG BANG (4.5 / 5): 

A smoothie with a medley of Blueberries, Strawberries and Raspberries. Perfect blend, thankfully appropriately sweet. The fine grains of berry fruits worked wonders on the palate. 

The Pleasure:

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TRES LECHES (4 / 5):

Couldn’t have asked for a better closure. The cake was moist, spongy and offered on a bed of three kinds of leches. Quite honestly took me to the era of nostalgia, the Victorian times where English cakes were so easily available. The slice of kiwi fruit here is strictly and strongly avoidable.

The Postlude:

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Bandra Café is a high stakes risk enterprise, considering the gazillions of eateries around. And the audience today is a highly pampered lot – forever in the mood for a combat style spectacle full of blood and gore. Nobody wants genteel, its time for rough and tough, bare hands action. A fully stacked artillery then seems to be the only solution, and this café seems to be equipped galore with it. The Salman Khan adulation for one. The ode to the suburb another. The social service angle, check. Then the biggest draw, the non-imposition of Service charge – absolute zilch. (Why, they are not levying any GST too for that matter, till the time they get the GST number.). The supreme quality of food. The bread and cakes from an in house bakery. The exemplary service, and not just to their invited guests. The Food prices. The availability of sheesha, albeit at a premium. The thronging by Bandra girls, ooh la la. The warmth-oozing personality of Mr Mister. Seems like all the possible formulaic ideas have been pumped into this Bollywood ishtyle gastronomic potboiler. Bandra Café is that gladiator which has jumped into the pit, exploring it's surroundings, ready to hunker up, and roar when the time comes.

The Parameters:

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The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4.5 / 5, Food Choices 4.5 / 5, Food Portion 4.5 / 5, Food Presentation 4.5 / 5

The Other Determinants: Location 4 / 5, Cleanliness 4 / 5, Warmth 5 / 5

The Hygiene Factors: Ambience 4 / 5, Space quotient 3 / 5, Delivery time 4 / 5

The Conclusives : Food Price 4 / 5, Overall Experience 4.5 / 5, Will I Visit again 5 / 5

The Ps:

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