NH1, Andheri East

NH 1 or National Highway is an institution in the Andheri East Area for Non Vegetarian lover. It also has very decent Vegetarian dishes. The location might be an issue - it is next to the Chakala Market which is not the place where you would like to take your wife/ kids for a leisurely afternoon walk. The ambiance might be an issue - definitely not the place I would recommend for your first date. The place looks dark. The decor is slightly awkward with far too large tables strewn to get the maximum seating capacity in with large glass table tops. But the food rocks and it is great value for money! Also, I think the milestone on the door way is a nice touch!

Last time we went to NH 1 or National Highway we sampled the Paneer Butter Masala, Kaali Daal, Chicken Bhuna Highway and Garlic and Butter Naan. As always the food was very tasty and great Value for Money. NH has been a favorite for the office going fraternity in and around Andheri East. A lot of people swear by the Chicken Biriyani and my vegetarian friends swear by the Paratha Meals which they offer - they include two full Parathas of different varieties, curd, a soup and some Chana. I somehow, have found their Chinese Meals to be really great for an office lunch. They serve Chicken Rice or Noodles with gravy choices ranging from Manchurian to Chilli to Hunan, they also serve alongside the meal three pieces of spring rolls as starters. The food is not authentic but it tastes good and the meal costs you Rs 97 inclusive of Tax. It is easily the most Value For Money good tasting Non Vegetarian food you will get in Andheri East. Luckily, they deliver as well - Only thing you need to take care is the way you order. Ideally say - Chinese Meal! Non Veg! Rice/ Noodles with Manchurian Gravy. Try not to be descriptive as otherwise you might land with separate servings of Chinese Fried Rice or Chinese Noodles with a separate gravy and a rather large bill!

A meal for two at NH 1 without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 300/-

How to Get there: NH 1 is situated at the corner of the Chakala Market and the 2nd highway east ward from the Western Express under the Andheri Fly over. It is on Cardinal Gracious Road. If you are driving from Bandra to Kandivali. You need to go under the Andheri flyover and take the 2nd right. Go straight and take the right at the crossing which has a really large Skoda showroom. The restaurant will fall to your right once you take the right at the crossing.

Masalacraft, Bandra

Masalacraft is an out of the way restaurant. The place where is it located implies that it will have traffic from its regular patrons and the only time I went, it was full which is ample proof that the fare is decent.
Masalacraft has tried to give an upmarket feel about its restaurant and has been reasonably successful in the attempt. There is a lot of polished bare wood. Long tables, large rows of wood over head and pretty neat and innovative seating spaces. The light is a bit too dim for my linking but I guess it adds to the slightly upmarket feel about the restaurant. The other really good aspect is that there is load of space around and absolutely no chance of your table conversations being heard.
The food at Masalacraft is decent without being outstanding. I have sampled their Biriyani which is better that the usual variety available at Mumbai. Tasty without too much oil. We also ordered their house special, the lemon chicken. The first time they served the lemon chicken was a touch too burnt. We asked them to change the same which they agreed to do after a good deal of convincing. The second time of serving they got it right and it was good to eat although the initial reluctance to change left a bad taste in the mouth.
A meal for two at Masalacraft without drinks will cost you Rs 450/-
How to get there: Masalacraft is in Reclamation, close to Lilavati hospital. If you are coming towards Lilavati from Bandstand, you have to cross the hospital and take a right towards the Western Express. However immediately on taking a right you will see a left turn which you need to take. The left term leads to a T junction and you will see Masalacraft immediately on taking another left.

Desi Dhaba, Oberoi Mall, Goregaon

I have been eyeing Desi Dhaba for some time now after being greatly impressed by Only Paratha. I was in the mood for some vegetarian food, yes on some rare occasions I do get some blasphemous feelings, and we were at Oberoi mall which does not have an Only Paratha outlet. The situation was just right for sampling Desi Dhaba and I went ahead and ordered myself some Chola Bhature. The Kulchas were very large, enough to be the subject ogle for every sub ten year old passing my table but the compliments unfortunately end there. The Kulchas had far too much oil and the accompanying daal was not really that good at all. It was not the kind you feel like finishing once you are through with the Kulcha. I might have chosen their worst dish to sample but the daal which is a common accompaniment for most dishes in joints like these makes me put Kailash Parbat at a distant second to Only Paratha.

A meal for two, without drinks at Desi Dhaba would cost you approximatley Rs 250/-

How to get there: Desi Dhaba is in Spoon - the food court of Oberoi Mall

Uttam da Dhaba, Marol, Andheri East

Uttam da Dhaba on Marol Maroshi Road in not in a great location. The decor is not great. The atmosphere is not great. So why should you go there? Well I am not saying that the place deserves a mention in the Top 20 restaurants in Mumbai but it offers quality food at a great price. Go there with office colleagues, preferably in a large group and relive in a small way - the enjoyment of eating in a roadside dhaba. Sit on the khatiyas, gossip about office and enjoy well made, tasty and very affordable priced food.
The hotel is very unassuming and difficult to locate. The outside is a red brick wall on which there is a signage in Hindi and a larger one in English which was unfortunately for us hidden by plastic. The get up is the highlight of the place and is done up in a quaint if slightly funny manner. There are a number of khatiyas laid out around tables and each table is labeled after a city from the land of five rivers i.e. Jalandhar, Patiala etc. I think we were sitting in Jalandhar. There is no AC which is a real downer (maybe it adds to the rustic experience ;p), although that is made up somewhat by large standing fans. The food is actually very good even if you do not consider the price. We ordered saag chicken, chicken bharta and kadai paneer. The chicken preparations were decently good but what was really nice was the kadai paneer, really large pieces of paneer cut into squares and a rich onion laden gravy. The same was far better than the multi vegetable laden kadai one gets at most shops. The chicken bharta was a dish I was having after years and brought back memories of Ballygunj Phari Dhaba - but do not get your hopes up as it was not as good. Sigh!
Another downer was the service which was really slow, but we really were not in a hurry. Although the negative points on this post outweigh the positives. I would still recommend a visit as it is a decently adventurous outing with office colleagues, very different from the regular fare that one is usually served up.
A meal for two at Uttam da Dhaba without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 250/-

How to get there: It is difficult to locate and is on Marol Maroshi road. If you are coming from Powai, get into the SEEPZ exit towards Andheri. At the turning for ICICI Bank on the right. Go left, the opposite way from ICICI Bank. You need to go straight down, past the HDFC Bank on your right. Continue over the flyover and turn right at the signal. You need to go straight after that, no turns to be made. The restaurant falls on your right after a decently busy signal. This might sound confusing but it is. You might need to ask around a bit.

Kebab Corner, Andheri East

After many a relocation in the Andheri area, Kebab Corner has relocated to a really nice location in a rather out of the way area. It is located on Mahakali Caves road, at one of the slightly sharp turns that are present on the winding stretch of road. The problem that compounds the location is that the frontage of the shop is half hidden by trees. This makes it so difficult to spot that you will take some time to figure out the location even if you know the exact spot. I will try to tackle that challenge in the "How to get there" section. If you do however you will find a great layout with an outdoor and an indoor option. We sat indoors but I liked the outdoor layout which can give a feeling of eating on a verandah with a large tree as a natural curtain overlooking the traffic.
The food was great and because we went in a largish group, we ended up sampling quite a few dishes. We tried the Amritsari Paneer, Pind-da-Chana, Chicken Reshmi Kebab, Chicken Kalimiri and Garlic Naan. The chicken dishes were good without being exceptional - tasty, value for money food, the Kalimiri was a decently mild version and avoids scalding sensitive tongues and lips. The paneer was sweet and tasty, could be a problem for those who do not like sweet food but not a problem for my palate. The Pind-da-Chana was almost as good as the name of the dish, the preparation was delicious without being accompanied by the excessive oil which usually accompanies Chana dishes in most standard restaurants. The highight of the meal according to me was a tasty, but slightly over the top garlic naan. I either have never ordered Garlic Naan or this was a rather special version, it sort of freaked me out. It was like at least 40 (and i am not exaggerating) pieces of chopped garlic on top of the Naan, not that it tasted bad, according to me garlic always does, but I happily reverted to plain Naan for the next round of order. I would actually order a piece next time from the sheer novelty of the experience but order a regular Naan also alongside.
A meal for 2 at Kebab Corner, Andheri East will cost you approximately Rs 250/-
How to get there: You have to drive down the Mahakali Caves road from Andheri Kural road towards JVLR. Kebab corner will fall on the right. It is right on a sharpish right turn, which serves as a mini round about with a tree bang on the middle of the road and tree on the right and the left as well. That should serve as the landmark. You could alternatively stop at all mini round abouts and ask people who are usually helpful in Mumbai.

Mumbai Mirchi, Andheri East, Mumbai

How one of the most populated and booming office areas in Mumbai continues to lack really out standing lunch time eateries remains a mystery to me and unfortunately still remains so after my visit to Mumbai Mirchi.
Mumbai Mirchi is a Punjabi restaurant with meal and a-la-carte options. The meals selling for Rs 150 is quite a serving - a bit too much for our appetite given that we had to return to work and we chose the a-la-carte option. We ordered rotis and two dishes - the standard Chicken Tikka Masala and the Chicken Mumbai Mirchi. The Mumbai Mirchi is the signature dish of the restaurant and while it is not bad - it is quite possibly the least creative dish ever conceptualized by anyone. The dish is very simply half a plate of Saag Chicken and half a plate of a dry butter chicken served in one platter. The result is a half green and half red dish containing two different preparations of chicken and unless the same is a philosophical play on how Green Muslim and Saffron Hindu combine to give a unique taste of Mumbai (which is highly doubtful :P), I am sure you agree with my comment on the chefs creativity. However the dish does not taste bad at all because one cannot go too much wrong with Saag and Butter Chicken as well. So that was that - a decent office lunch for three people, we ordered naan to accompany the dishes. The price? Reasonable but not value for money.
A meal for two at Mumbai Mirchi would cost you Rs 300/-
How to get there: Mumbai Mirchi is located just off the Western Express highway. If you are travelling from Bandra to Goregaon. Do not get on the Andheri flyover. Take the 3rd right under the flyover towards Ghatkopar. Mumbai Mirchi is on your right 20 metres from the highway.

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.

Khyber, Kala Ghoda

Sometimes its just pre ordained. It is only when the subject of pre-ordination (if such a word exists) is a restaurant that does not need to advertise, even through a decently visible frontage that it is located there, do you know that you are going in for something really special. Dinner on the night of my 4th anniversary was just that - a very very special dinner for two at Khyber, Kala Ghoda.

We left home on the 18th with our minds divided between Cellini at Grand Hyatt Kalina, and Urban Tadka at R City Mall. Unable to choose between the two we just decided to drop both and go for a drive and hit the eastern express highway towards town. After dilly dallying options at Colaba driven more by the thought of dessert at Theobroma, finding out that the revolving restarant at The Ambassador was still under renovation, we finally settled for Khyber (highly recommended by the Mumbai Times Guide) and we drove towards Kala Ghoda. Khyber is actually so non conspicuous that we actually asked the cabs parked right outside the restaurant where it was located - little did we understand then that the quality of food made it a landmark in itself.

Khyber has the complete feel of a swanky South Mumbai restaurant, marble flooring, wooden panels, wall paintings depicting North West frontier scenes. The restaurant has multiple sections and we were given a table for two on the first floor which had a whole host of Anjolie Ela Menon wall frescoes which gave a nice "cave"y ambiance. We went through the menu, and took the waiters advice to we ordered the chicken and lamb kebab platter, a plate of kali daal and roomali rotis.

The kebab platter contained Tangdi Kebab, Chicken Reshmi Kebab, Mutton Sheekh Kebab, Chicken Lasooni Kebab and Mutton Chops. The four kebabs were indeed very good but you get a similar quality at Peshawari and a few other places. What blew me out of my mind were the mutton chops which are marinated overnight and are cooked in a red onion gravy. The gravy is out of this world and is not in the least bit hot. The Khyber mutton chops rate right up there with the best mutton preparations i have ever had in the same league as Boti Kebabs at Kareems, Delhi and Gilawati at Tundays, Lucknow.

We had our fill and barely managed to finish the platter aided definitely by the wondrous taste. We were so full that we gave up any thoughts of dessert and returned with a very satisfying and very tasty anniversary dinner.

How to get there: Khyber is bang on Kala Ghoda. Be prepared to ask a taxi driver where it is and be embarrassed when he points at the door in front of you.

A dinner for 2 at Khyber without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 1500/-

Great Kebab Factory, Powai, Mumbai

Friday, January 22nd would have been Babas 68th birthday. I celebrate his birthday every year and this year was no different. Dripto , my in-laws, Ritwika and myself decided to go to the Great Kebab Factory that has newly opened in Powai. We had already been there once and thought that the place though slightly expensive definitely served the best Galouti Kebabs in Mumbai. Yes better than what you get at Caravan Serai but alas no patch on Tunday in Lucknow. I think Mumbai really has to work on good Nawabi cuisine.

The Great Kebab Factory works on an all - you - can - eat concept. One pays Rs 736 not including taxes. There is quite a bit of tax as you end up spending slightly more than Rs 1000, but the money I would say is worth it for special occasions. The money includes everything apart from drinks. It includes 5 types of Non Veg Kebabs, the Galouti (they say its their signature dish) + 4 other kebabs which keep changing. I saw in the menu card that they had added a Jhinga (for Rs 400 additional). I personally do not like prawns in the tandoor/kebab form (the price is not worth the taste) and we decided against it. The kebabs are unlimited - all you can eat, and the Galouti (the highlight) is delectable - they serve it with the Ulte Tawe ke Parathe and you are supposed to have it with some mint chutney and Onion pieces - a truly sumptuous combination. I usually save appetite for at least 4 kebabs - you are advised to do the same.
The Kebabs are followed by Roti and two types of daal and Chicken Biriyani - again both unlimited and reasonable OK. If you are going for the first time you may try out the same but 2nd time onwards (as i did) you will probably fill up your entire stomach space with Galoutis.
The meal is then capped off with unlimited dessert options from Phirnis to Gulab Jamuns - I am not a sweet buff but my In-Laws and my wife loved it.

The only sour point of the restaurant is the service, the waiters (dressed smartly in blue collar factory clothes) are still to get the act right, although the chef adds a nice touch by enquiring how good the food was towards the end of your meal. So if you miss having kebabs in Mumbai and are looking forward to spending some time in a great ambiance, do go there. I will go there just for the Galoutis.

How to get there: The Great Kebab Factory is in Hirnandani Gardens, Powai and is located on the right if you are driving from Olympia to D - Mart. For those un familiar with Powai. Take the main Pizza Hut entrance to Hiranandani complex and drive straight. You will find a circle, drive straight beyond that. You will find Haiko on your right, 50 m onwards is the Great Kebab Factory besides Chillies. If you miss it you will come to another circle where you will see a D-Mart. Take a U Turn and look to your left, you should find Great Kebab Factory.

Bhuna Chicken - Uday Spice, Andheri East, Mumbai

Taste has to do with more than just the masala and the ingredients. Am just listing 4 additional factors...
1. Hunger - when you are hungry stuff automatically tastes 100 times better.
2. Love - food cooked by your wife/ mum always tastes better
3. Narcissism - i think i am a great cook
4. Expectation - The chicken bharta which is so bloody good at Ballygunj Phari Dhaba would be scorned at, at the ITC Maratha.

This is why the Bhuna Chicken at Uday Spice deserves a mention. Very tasty and value for money, and certainly far better than you would expect from the look of the shop.

Feroz and me discussing details of travelling to Mecca and how they figure out who is a Muslim and who is not apparently you cannot go into the holy area if you are not Muslim and do not hold a green pass...One full plate of Chicken Bhuna and 4 Rotis - a fantastic meal for two...Rs 100 only and fully worth it!!

How to get there: Uday Spice is on Andheri Kurla Road, opposite Apple Heritage building. If you are on the Western Express highway driving towards Kandivali from Bandra, do not take the Andheri flyover, take the 3rd and final right under the flyover. You will hit Andheri Kurla Road. Drive straight on past the MIDC/ Marol exit on the left. Uday Spice will be on the right so you will have to take a U Turn. Parking may be a problem. They do not have valets.