I have been a long serving loyalist of Pop Tates Mumbai and have visited 3 outlets of the joint, at Versova, Saki Naka and the latest one at Ghatkopar.
Pop Tates as the name suggests is modeled as an American style cafe. Lots of posters of Hollywood movies with the usual favorites Clint Eastwood and Marilyn Monroe adorning the
walls. A large dummy beer pint bottle hanging from the ceilings. Muhammad Ali peering at you saying that he moves like a butterfly and stings like a bee. Good, typically American decor giving a warm and welcoming ambience.
The food - Pop Tates serves good continental and American food. Great steaks and sizzlers and decently good Lamb and Chicken Stroganoff. We ordered Chicken Stroganoff the last time we went and it was good as usual. My love for the Stroganoff stems from the great days spent at Tomatoes in Ahmedabad where the Stroganoff is made in brown sauce and is slightly spicier. The Stroganoff at Pop Tates is made in a lighter sauce and while I tend to prefer the browner version in my memories, the Pop Tates version is pretty good. The warning though is that Pop Tates has some disaster dishes notably the Biriyani which we once ordered. You may argue that the fault lay with us for ordering the same at an American cafe but they still have not knocked that off the menu! Same with the starters. The nachos are pretty decent at Pop Tates but our latest experiment with Batter Fry Butterfly Prawns back fired with the highlight of the dish being the sauce which accompanied the prawns. The dish was very unspectacular, seemed that the prawns were just fried in batter - no evident flavor at all.
We tried some interesting mocktails at Pop Tates. The combinations were pretty interesting with fruit juices, pulps, black salt and chillies available. My advice would be to try the same but avoid pulp mixes as it makes the drink too thick to really act as a compliment to the meal.
The only sour point at Pop Tates was the service. There is actually too much noise with the place being packed most of the time for the communication from the table to be always seen but that is a problem that needs working on. Overall however Pop Tates is a great place to visit and enjoy great food at a decent price.
How to get there: Pop Tates, Ghatkopar is on the private road connecting Powai to LBS Marg Ghatkopar. If you are coming from Powai. You need to take the road going uphill opposite to Galleria Mall and the KFC on the opposite side. You will come to a T crossing and take right. The right will force you to take the car through some iron gates leading to the private road. The road will take you through some swerves but there are no terms. After some inclines and swerves you will come out on a relatively straighter stretch leading up to LBS. Pop Tates is on the right before you reach LBS Marg. You will not need to take a turn after you hit the private road. If you come upon a T with a large Cafe Coffee Day in front you will know that you have missed it. Just take a U Turn and keep looking left.
food joints in the Andheri East area. The restaurant takes its Dhaba promise very seriously and the decor is great if slightly over the top. There are a sprinkling of posters of old Hindi classics, but what strikes you are the Matkas and Khatiyas which hang from the ceiling. Giving the place a definitely Punjabi touch and feel.
Daal were fine. The food was decent without being really great, and "passable" would be the most apt adjective.
