Woodside Inn, Colaba, Mumbai

Very cozy small restaurant  in Colaba, great food and ambiance. That just about sums up my experience at this restaurant. Have been visiting this place since quite some time and have never been disappointed. They have a good bar as well. They serve continental food and their burgers and pizzas are excellent.

Those on a diet can try their salads – I would recommend the whole burrata cheese salad with roasted almonds, rocket leaves and tomatoes.

The roast lamb was also delicious – served with a lamb jus, tossed potatoes and greens. The meat is soft and the jus is well incorporated in the meat.

Service is good – perhaps a wee bit laid back but that goes well with the general ambiance. Super place.

Le Cantine, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi

Met up with a friend in this pretty restaurant in Promenade Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

Chilli and garlic butter prawns – Amazing prawns. I just loved the sauce made of orange zest, chilli, garlic and basil.

Torched Burrata salad – Must admit that I am a fan of Burrata cheese. This salad came with glazed beets, fig vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes and arugula.

Spaghetti Aglio Olio Pepperoncino – Pasta with mushrooms and truffle oil.

Lovestruck Ginny – Very nice cocktail. A must try.

Pizza by the Bay, Churchgate, Mumbai

Strolled in last Sunday evening – weather was lovely and the restaurant is at its best during this time of the year. Ideal spot to look out of the windows at the sea (of water and of people!). Location makes all the difference to this restaurant. Try and grab a window seat!

So here is what we had:

• Falafel with hummus – Excellent and crisp falafel. Good hummus dip. Recommended.

• Butter Garlic Prawns – Highly recommended. Really fresh prawns. And the salad was crisp too. Usually I avoid the salad because it is hardly ever fresh. But this was good. A must have.

• Vegetable Lasagna – Good dish again. Not overbearing with the cheese. Lots of vegetables. Recommended.

• Chicken Skewers – The only dish that was not good. Bland and boring. Dip was also just okay.

• Quattro Formaggi pizza – Excellent pizza. Crisp base. Proportion of cheese is just right.

• Tiramisu – Good dessert. We finished it up in no time 🙂

• Death by chocolate – Very attractive looking dish. Great for kids. Taste was okay – would not really recommend for adults.

• Juice – We had a fresh orange juice, without any added sugar. Was good.

Service is prompt and food is served on time.

Prices are on the higher side but portions are really good. Works great in a group.

Have been to this restaurant many times earlier but found the food much better this time. Try this place out for breakfast – very pleasant and lovely way to start a Sunday.

Indigo Deli, Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla, Mumbai

Indigo Deli is a fail safe option for good food and I am happy to see that an outlet has opened up in Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla. Hope it does well as the mall does not have great options for food. Lots of restaurants but most of them are pretty average.

The restaurant has opened in place of another and no changes have been made to the interiors (not even a fresh coat of paint I feel), which I think was required. I didn’t really like the big partitions between the tables though it does provide more privacy. A deli should be more warm and comforting, with more light and with a buzz about it.

Food thankfully, remains similar to the other Indigo Deli outlets. We tried a Spanish ham, charred pineapple and cheddar cheese, bacon jam pizza as well as a BBQ chicken and cheddar pizza. Love the base, it is thin and not at all soggy, crisp and non-oily. Would recommend the Spanish ham over the BBQ chicken (though the chicken was good as well).

There is a good display of desserts and one can choose from the counter.

Had a minor quibble with the bottled water – we asked for regular water but were given bottled water and charged Rs.160/- for it despite us pointing out their mistake.

Smoke House Deli, Pali Hill, Mumbai

Had taken guests to Smoke House Deli, Pali Hill, for dinner. Place looks cute, have always liked the décor of SHD’s restaurants. Very different and really good. The Pali Hill outlet is a little cramped but a lot of effort has been taken to make it look welcoming.

What we ate:

• Assorted Bruschetta : The brie and spiced figs bruschetta was very sour while the other two (tomato and feta, spinach and artichoke) were okay. The bread was not fresh. Not a good appetizer
• Smoked chicken and Baby Fennel soup – Good, comforting chicken soup. Have had this at SHD’s other outlets too. Recommended.

• Greek Salad – Good salad. They gave a different dressing as we didn’t want a vinaigrette. Nice, fresh vegetables. Portion of feta was a little less considering the portion of the salad vegetables.
• Grilled vegetables – a good healthy option for vegetarians.

• Basil Pesto Penne pasta – Good dish (pic right on top). Creamy but not overpowering. Recommend.
• Aglio Olio Pepperoncino spaghetti with prawns – Pretty good. Portion was good as well. Recommend.
• Strawberry and white chocolate mille feuille – Decent dessert though not fantastic. The white chocolate cream tasted good with the strawberries. The puff pastry could have been a little more crisp.

• Hazelnut mousse flan – bad dessert. Too sweet, thick. Totally not recommended.
• Beetroot carrot orange – Good drink
• Fresh lime soda – Not very sweet, quite a good drink.

Some hits and some misses where the food is concerned.

Service was poor. Our guests were vegetarian and we asked the server for vegetarian recommendations. He seemed to be floundering after mentioning “pasta”, as if the restaurant didn’t have any other vegetarian options. Probably not a good place to go if you are vegetarian. For dessert, we had wanted a Tirumisu but the server said that it would take 7-8 minutes. As we didn’t want to wait, we ordered a strawberry and white chocolate mille feuille. It took about 15 minutes, that too after prompting. They gave us a complimentary hazelnut mousse flan to make up for the delay.