Maroosh, Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel

I fell in love with Shawarma after i went to Greece. The Greeks call their version the Souvlaki but I suspect that the same has its root in Turkey and the Arabian heartland. As much as the taste I think what gets you going is the feel at the restaurants. Chunks of meat, in India - unfortunately only chicken, being skewered and roasted in an open oven.
The Shawarma for the uninitiated is pieces of cooked chicken slow roasted in an oven, rolled in Pita bread along with some fries and various sauces merging brilliantly with each other and with the chicken. At Maroosh, which is basically a walk-side shack at Phoenix Mills, the Shawarma is served with some salad that is salted and soaked in venegar, mint sauce and some white sour cream. I personally feel that the sour cream goes very well with the Chicken Shawarma and I would strongly advise you to be generous with your dips. Be advised you may need to overcome etiquette demons as Maroosh is an open walk-side cafe without organised seating!
I strongly advise you to stick to Shawarmas at Maroosh though you may need two if you are going for lunch or dinner. I had also tried the Chicken Bhuna and rotis there which were also good without being really exceptional.
A meal for two at Maroosh would cost you approximately Rs 450/-
How to get there: Maroosh is on the ground floor at Phoenix Mills.

Sadichha, Bandra East

Sadichha keeps to the tradition of outstanding, value for money food options in Maximum City. The decor is neat and hygienic without being lavish in the least. Focus is on utilisation of space and the chairs are just prevented from being top of each other. The message is clear, have outstanding food, pay and leave, please do not stretch your arms and relax... This is a hard core place for hard core foodies.
The food is coastal, there are meal options, masala and fry for prawn, pomfret, mutton and chicken. The meals come with rice and a chapattis with soul curry to be added. Strongly advise all to have at least one plate and share fish fry, Bombvil, Pomfret, Bangda or prawns all four of which are really nice, though prawns would just steal it if given a choice. After being gastronomically drowned with the meal one is strongly advised to cap off the same with some Aamras which is as good as God made mangoes and I think he made them really special.
Overall a fantastic meal. Long live the Konkan Coast!
A meal for two at Sadichha would cost you Rs 550/-
How to get there: Sadichha is right opposite the MIG ground in Bandra East. If you are driving on the WE highway from Andheri towards Bandra take the left exit just before the Bandra fly over. Take the first right at the circle. Sadichha would be on your left.

Yellow Chilli, Powai

The restaurant has a lot of hype. The location is on top of Mainland China, Powai. The restaurant is owned by Sanjeev Kapoor - probably the most famous culinary personality in India - at least on popular TV. The offering is quite creative, having an option of having Chilli-Q or unlimited mouth watering offerings or so they say (to be fair we actually chose a-la-carte).
On the whole however i would have to rate the restaurant as rather disappointing and is easily out done by any of the other fine dining options in Powai. The food is just about ok; eatable but none of the dishes that we had left us wanting for more and given that we ordered a kebab platter and two other non - veg curries that was a really bad return for a place with hype. The decor was neat without really leaving a lasting impression and sort of added to the damp squib dinner experience on the whole. Overall, it was rather uninspiring and is not recommended which is saying a lot as it is probably the first such instance in this rather kind blog.
Oh! forgot to mention the onion pickle which was served along with the Indian fare was the highlight of the meal (meant to be sincere and not sarcastic!).
A meal for two at Yellow Chilli without drinks would cost you approximately Rs 1100/-
How to get there: Yellow Chilli is on the left if you are driving towards Chandivali from the main Hiranandani circle after passing Haiko on your right.

Urban Tadka, R-City Mall, Ghatkopar

Urban Tadka has always been one of my favorite Mumbai restaurants with one big problem - getting a place to sit. Though they have increased their network of late, but as we recently found out, getting space to sit still remains a huge problem.

The food at Urban Tadka is to die for, none more so than the Nimbu Chicken, the same is present in there starters section as says that it is not to be missed. The point I believe needs to be highlighted far more that it currently is. The Nimbu Chicken is one of the best dishes I have ever had in Mumbai and i have found the offering only at Urban Tadka. Cooked with generous helpings of butter, ginger and lime, the dish is so good that it is often the only thing I eat at Urban Tadka... I would like to add that it goes very well with the Rumali Roti.

Other dishes you can try if you can get away from Nimbu Chicken are the Rajma, Methi Paneer and Mutton Rahrah which are really good also. The Mutton Rahrah which consists of pieces of mutton is cooked with kheema acting as gravy - this deserves a special mention. Do not forget to cap off the meal by keeping some stomach space for some Rabri and Garam Jalebi. Though keeping space might prove to be a challenge I would recommend the same as a perfect dessert for the Nimbu Chicken and Mutton Rahrah.

The decor of Urban Tadka is very Punjabi with a decent sprinklings of wall frescoes depicting country side scenes, though recently I thought that they have gone slightly over the top with dholaks and the like. Though going by the crowd reaction and the dancing customers it seems that it is very much here to stay. Oldies like me I guess always have the option for ordering in!

A meal for two at Urban Tadka without drinks would cost Rs 500/-

How to get there: Urban Tadka is on the 3rd floor at R-City Mall next to the food court.

Malgudi, R-City Mall, Ghatkopar

Great Coffee! Fantastic size of the Dosas! but rather ordinary taste - would be a one line description of Malgudi at R-City Mall... The same is to be taken with a pinch of salt however as

1) I am not really a fan of Veg food and as for Dosas even less so.

2) My better half consistently orders the Rava Masala Dosa from the joint and claims it is rather good.

Anyways, last time we were there at the R-City food court, I had ordered a Paper Masala Dosa and a Filter Coffee. This was one of the days when i was just feeling like a dosa and I was almost over the moon at seeing the size - which was about 2 and a half feet long. The Dosa came with the Masala served separately, sambhar and two chutneys instead of the usual one. The additional chutney was slightly reddish and actually rather nice - a sort of tangier version of the standard coconut chutney that you get. The Dosa was rather sad as it seemed tasteless, maybe in part due to the humungous amount that was served but was not a patch on what is served at say... Madras Cafe. The masala was decent but unfortunately did not make up for the Dosa. The coffee however was really very nice as filter coffee always seems to be and did not disappoint in the least.

Overall I would rate this as ok and one of the more viable options in the food court... only do not be greedy like I was and steer clear of Paper Dosas.

A meal for 2 at Malgudi would cost you approximately Rs 250/-

How To get there: Malgudi is on the food court of R-City Mall.

Bowl House, R-City Mall, Ghatkopar

Bowl House is a restaurant that I have been eyeing for a long time, but given the glut of competition from Urban Tadka and the food court - Malgudi and KFC, we had not been able to zero down on the outlet. The opportunity finally presented itself when we felt like having east Asian food, and did not want to travel too far... Bowl House was not a disappointment.
Bowl House introduces itself as serving cuisine from South East Asia and has a menu containing dishes from quite a few countries of the regions, Tibetan Momos, Burmese Fish Cakes and a smattering of dishes from Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The decor I felt was reasonably tasteful although slightly overdone with Chinese Dragon wall painitings vying for attention with the ubiquitous Thai Buddhas. The circular iron bars constructed on the outside having circular cut glass was one feature that stood out in particular.
We were to see a movie after lunch and so did not order heavily. We ordered a plate of steamed rice, Thai Prawns as starters and Vietnamese Orange Chicken. The Thai prawns were very good, with the sauce especially standing out, i think hint of ginger makes silghtly hot east Asian food taste better and the combination was very nice in the Thai prawns. The Vietnamese Orange chicken was however easily the highlight of the meal. Completely non - spicy and almost sweet, the chicken cooked in Orange juice was really tasty and is highly recommended. The little pieces of zuchinni and orange pieces really added to the overall taste. Lastly the steamed rice, I felt was perfect and went very well with both the dishes corroborating my theory that it is easily the best carbohydrate to accompany East Asian food unless one is in the mood for some old fashioned Bengali chinese.
We rounded off the meal with some Vanilla and Honey noodles to round off a really good lunch!

A meal for two at the bowl house without drinks would cost you approximately Rs 800/-
How to get there: Its on the food court floor at R-City Mall, opposite Rajdhani.