Grandmama's Cafe

2000 hours, Feb 1, Wednesday, Juhu

The Prelude:

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Grandmama’s Café, launched in 2015, is an all-day Café, coming from the stable of Abhayraj Singh Kohli, the same group which owns Pritam, Pritam da Dhaba and MRP. The brand has grown to as many as three outlets within a ridiculously short span of time – the Juhu one being as nascent as Oct 2016 - and there are plans for a fourth one soonest.

 

 

The Personality:

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We were hosted by Preet Sanghvi, the Marketing Manager of the place since it's inception. Well knowledgeable and cherubic, her enthusiasm for the place was kind of contagious. Preet has worked in the same capacity for an FMCG brand in Dubai and brings over the learnings here. As a marketing manager, she helms the overall marketing responsibility for the place, including promotions, branding, advertising, reviews, new menu launch, guest feedback and a little bit of operations.

The Precursor:

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The story has it that the owners were very close to their grand mom, and hence came up with this brand as a tribute to her. So the entire ambience is rooted towards the ethos of comfort, family orientation, and “coming home”. There are not many fancy exotic food items here, rather the emphasis is on exactly the kind of food what your grandmamma would serve you if you go to visit her after many many days. The place opens from 9.00 am onwards to serve breakfast and closes only around midnight. It also has the distinction of not accepting reservations, as it goes jam packed on most days. So much so that people queue up to gain entry. (A fact which I personally got to witness).

The Picture:

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A dainty location packing a lot of punch. Transporting you to a fairy land and in a house of yore. An air conditioned indoor and an outdoor garden seating both. An overlooking well stocked bar cum cake display counter. Popular English numbers running in the background.

 

The first thing that you notice are the mini cages hanging all across the length of the eatery holding old style lamp bulbs. Vintage square – blocked doors and windows with a Persian green varnish. Small length white frilled curtains hailing from the Victorian era. Pristine white-bricked walls. Chalk and board announcements. Quirky photo frames. Mosaic mini tiled dining tables and coordinated flooring. Sofa cushion seating. Or antiquated chairs, have your pick. Potted plants hanging on the walls. Shelves with antique cups and saucers. A cabinet in a corner with an archaic telephone instrument, a typewriter and a grandmamma clock. The picture is complete.

 

The Platter:

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HUMMUS (3 / 5):

This one turned out to be a bummer, and our collective hearts sank. A chickpea paste hummus served as a nice presentation. Served with a dash of paprika and a few exotica. With the customary triangles of pita bread standing as lifeguards surrounding it. A dull affair, I would say. The chef had probably forgotten to add salt to it which further contributed to despondency. To its credit, the hummus was smooth and grainy, nicely flavoured as hummus is wont to be and the pita pieces were crisp. Just a wee bit more imagination here, please.

HOME STYLE KHOW SUEY (4.5 / 5): 

From thence the stocks started rising up. This was an extremely delicious Khow Suey precisely the way I like. A vegetable curry with generous doses of coconut milk to enhance the flavour. Aptly spicy, aptly sweet and sour, and aptly hot. The large gobs of soft springy prawns made it all the more kick ass. The layers of noodles represented mere noise, the dish was stellar on its own, minus those.

MINI CHICKEN KIEV (4 / 5):

These were mid-sized chicken balls, with butter and burnt garlic stuffed in their hollow, coated with bread crumbs on the exterior, and tender deep fried to golden perfection. Served on a platter and drizzled with an orange dressing atop. The first bite came across with a stunning effect, this was a burst of flavours and textures on the palate. Crunchy, crispy, chewy, sour, salted, and sweet. Yes sweet too, owing to the added drizzle. So this a heads-up for those who do not like to mix business with pleasure, for me this was A-one.

HARISSA FISH SKEWERS (4 / 5):

Pan seared Basa marinated with Harissa and layered with chilli garlic mayo served on Kulfi sticks. Butter soft and mildly spicy.

 

PIZZA HALF AND HALF (4.5 / 5):

So these were two pizza halves – one-half was a Grandmama’s special veg pizza, the other a Spicy Chicken sausage. A thin crust pizza. The first had an overload of sundried tomato bits, onion, green and black olives and yellow and red bells – a full blast of healthy colours. The second had chicken sausages, roasted garlic and chilli oil. I would liken the two to Betty and Veronica, the first one soft and smooth, the other one extremely fiery. But both extremely appealing.

 

KEEMA PAV (5 / 5):

Easily the best, THE best Keema pav I have ever had. Ever. No noise of green peas? Check. No cheating with boiled potatoes? Check. No overload or underwhelming of spices? Check. No skimping on quantity. Double check. Came topped with French fries to add to the crunch. Also on the platter were three big sized bread paos, golden toasted and generously slathered with butter. Every turn of dunking a piece of the buttered pao into the generous quantity of flavourful keema and scooping it up created fresher expectations each time. Edge of Tomorrow redux. Something like that.

The Pitcher:

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THAI GINGER ALE (3 / 5):

A fizzy drink of lychee, lemongrass and ginger. Okay okay types, the triumvirate did not go well together for me.

HOMEMADE GINGER ALE (4 / 5):

Fizzy Ginger drink. Surprisingly not sweet at all. Which was good with me. Went well with the heavy meat stuff. 

 

The Pleasure:

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COOKIE DOUGH PUDDING (5 / 5):

The best for the last. The caveat on the menu emphatically declares that the preparation time may span twenty. Pray why? Because this beautiful affair is a presentation of freshly baked cookie dough in real time. That’s why. Even while you are wait, you can sense the aroma wafting in the air. And then the gooey, nostalgia inducing, grandmama’s time - cookie dough is presented on a large platter with a big sized scoop of vanilla ice cream resting atop. Drizzled with sizzling hot chocolate sauce. The vanilla cookie duet created a riot, mildly speaking. The combination is awesome and this is an absolute Must Have every visit to this place.

The Postlude:

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Grandmama’s Café has got all things going right for itself. The place is tucked in a corner of Hotel Royal Garden and has now been elevated to taking charge of the F and B for the hotel. The food is excellent doubtless but the prices are winsome too. The quality of food and the hygiene are properly taken care of (their breads are baked in their own Central bakery), and the service is super (there are as many as FORTY members of the kitchen staff). A particular mention also of Zoheb Hassan, the smiling, fussy Unit Head of the place who takes care of his guests as an absolute personal concern. With so many ticks, it doesn't take long for the grandmama’s affection to bear hug you.

The Parameters:

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The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4.5 / 5, Food Choices 4.5 / 5, Food Portion 4 / 5, Food Presentation 4 / 5

The Other Determinants: Location 4.5 / 5, Cleanliness 4 / 5, Warmth 4.5 / 5

The Hygiene Factors : Ambience 4.5 / 5, Space quotient 4 / 5, Delivery time 4.5 / 5

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

The Ps:

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