Casa Mia, R-City, Ghatkopar

There is a lot to like about Casa Mia, the Italian restaurant in R-City mall in Ghatkopar. The decor is very friendly and exudes a very casual cafe-ish feel differing from the usual high and mighty ambiance at most Italian restaurants in the city. The place is however authentically Italian with an Italian owner and manager, and has a whole host of photos from the country on one of the walls. The restaurant tries to be slightly different and cool and largely succeeds through a number of special touches. The kitchen is semi open with chefs visibly posted at separate stations and whipping up salads, antipasti and main course. The restaurant has something special happening on all week days, we had gone on a Friday and there was a live band playing. We saw that each day had some special offer such as 50% off for Indian wines etc. The coolest part that I liked about the restaurant was the piece of paper on the table which substitutes as a table mat. All the mats had interesting Italian quotes spelt in English which were to do with food and Italians. A nice touch, and enables you to say something in Italian before digging in to the food.
The last time I was at Casa Mia I ordered the Lasagna Toscana (a chicken lasagna) as the main course and tasted a bit of the (funghi di bosco) a mushroom risotto, and a vegetarian thin crust pizza (pizza verdure). We also ordered two interesting dessert preparations, the salame al cioccolato which roughly translates into chocolate salami, a very interesting preparation of dark chocolate cake made in the shape of small salami strips and served with some cream on the side. Great taste but I felt that the Salami strips were a bit on the hard side. We also ordered a Tortino which was supposed to be a chocolate cake with an interior of gooey chocolate sauce which was there but not in adequate quantity. The proportion of cake was on the higher side. Overall a more than decent dining option, all the dishes were very tasty but I would not rate any of the preparations as truly outstanding. Overall a good meal and definitely a recommended dining option if you are already at R-City but I would not recommend you to go all the way to R-City Mall just to sample Casa Mia cuisine. Oh! one last word, on the day we went the surprise in the form of a live band turned out to be an unpleasant one. The band was really bad and I am sure that John Lennon and George Harrison turned over in their graves at a few of their renditions. Hope the live band is changed asap.
A meal for two at Casa Mia without drinks would cost you approximately Rs 1200/-
How to get there: Casa Mia is on the top floor of R-City Mall. The Mall itself is located on LBS Marg and is impossible to miss.

Kabab Lucknow Wale, R-City, Ghatkopar

The first time I had food from Kabab Lucknow Wale I had gone there with great expectations. I had recently read somewhere that Lucknow's great Tundey Kebabs were expanding to other centers and certain office colleagues of mine had told me that Kabab Lucknow wale was the place. I had immediately planned and gone. I had come away disappointed. Kabab Lucknow wale was no match for Tundey Kebabs. But hey neither is Michael Slater a match for Sachin Tendulkar - that does not mean he isn't a good batsman and isn't fun to watch.
However the experience had made me strike off Kabab Lucknow wale with a big red mark and not even consider it as an option in the R-City food court. It happened by accident when my younger brother ordered a plate that an offering landed on my table. I tasted and found that it was actually pretty good. Whether the serving was actually as tasty as it seemed or whether it was the effect of low expectations and hence surpassing of expectations we will know when I go there next. But the basic level of achievement has definitely been achieved. Kabab Lucknow Wale is where I will be having food from on my next visit to the R-City food court.
A meal for two at Kabab Lucknow wale will cost you approximately Rs 350/-
How to get there: Kabab Lucknow wale is on the R-City Mall food court in Ghatkopar.

Only Paratha, R-City Mall, Ghatkopar

Only Paratha is probably the second entry of a pure vegetarian restaurant in this blog, that fact complimented by my going there more than once and my intent to do so again as testament to the quality of the fare served up by the outlet. If you are vegetarian and even if you are not you must go there pretty soon and its my word that you will not be disappointed.

Only Paratha serves its Parathas with two servings of Daal, some onions and some Boondi Raita. This time luckily for me they gave me the option of taking some Rajma instead of the yellow daal. There is no guarantee that they will do this for you too, but go ahead and ask... If there is any milk at all to be had... it will go to the baby that cries! I am not very adventurous at ordering veg food and therefore stuck to a Aloo and Gobi Parathas. Only Paratha serves more than 50 varieties so all you veggies can really freak out. You will not be disappointed, more than the Parathas I think what they really do well is the combination they serve. The rajma and the kaali daal were both very very good. Must do when in the mood for some really good vegetarian Punjabi food.

A meal for two at Only Paratha will cost you approximately Rs 300/-

How to get there: Only Paratha is in the food court in R-City Mall

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.