Roasted Beans Cafe, Mumbai

Roasted Beans Cafe, CBD - Belapur

Tell me to get up at 6 am to have breakfast at a restaurant, I will happily do so but tell me to get up at even 9 am for some essential work like collecting your certificates from college and it will take me Two and a Half years to get it done. No kidding here.  So after 2 and a half years when I finally got around to collecting my certificates, it also meant an opportunity to hunt out a new place in a new locality and this seemed reasonably priced and presented an over all good picture for a foodie like me.

A small little cafe which would almost be missed if you were not looking for it or maybe so because I have never been to this locality before. The interiors inspiration seems to be a cross over between a summer in Greece and a modern day cafe in a big city, borrowing a little from both. Though to me it felt, if it had stuck to one one mode of design, would have looked classier. But over all it's pretty decent. 

As far as the service is concerned, it's good in the way they will make sure you are attended to. One amusing thing which my friend had brought to notice was the attendant in our case either understood our taste preferences too well or just didn't like the menu altogether. The first few items that we wished to order, he very directly told us that you probably wouldn't like this that much and he gave his reasoning but we were pretty amused by it. Having said that, I guess, it was because of this guy that we really liked what we ordered. Upon requesting to make a take away of one of the half eaten plates, he even asked if there is something we didn't like about it and hence, were making a take away. How many other restaurants do you know who do that? Sit up and take notice. 

We first ordered for the  Spicy Chicken Sausage smorrebrod, which is in simple language a piece of bread topped with diced sausages stir fried with dry spices and topped with mayo. Can be messy to eat but who is complaining?! Only concern, it was mention that the options were of rye bread/french bread or brown bread. However, it was served on your regular white bread and we weren't even asked for our preference for bread. Why mention it in the menu?! Next we ordered for M'Batten Chicken. This is something that in the truest sense made my heart burst with happiness. It was like meeting the love of your life and asking them where had you been all this time??!! Ground chicken mixed with spices and filled in a potato shell and fried to perfection. Also, they give you a heavy portion of this and unless and until you are more in number you will end up taking a few back home, like I did. This is something I liked so much that I wanted to take it home for my mommy dearest, to share the awesomeness with her. She agreed. (On a side note, my mom could probably participate in Master Chef India and win it even, where I get my foodiness from. I have been exposed to such deliciousness since a very young age and hence I want nothing but the best!) The final order for the day was for Dawood Basha Chicken. This was something I had actually looked forward to but was just slightly disappointed. The gravy had excess of salt, or so both me and my friend felt and the meatballs had none. In fact the meatballs lacked any flavor. Even though the serving size again was good, but when the food itself is not satisfactory, you don't really feel like eating all that much! Work on that please? 

We had also ordered for a chocolate strawberry shake and an apple iced tea. My friend seems to be braver than me, because even though I hadn't stopped him, in my head I was like strawberry and chocolate mixed together??!!  However, he once again, turned out to be right and this was actually pretty good. Different but good. You don't feel like you are having just a strawberry milkshake but you can feel the flavors mixing up well together. Add some whipped cream and you in are you are floating on clouds made up of whipped cream in a strawberry colored sky.The apple iced tea felt more apple lemonade and if it was named apple lemonade, it would have been on point.

Give way for the foodie inside you to get out and indulge in new places like these, rater than sticking around to the same old. If not now, then when??!! Roasted beans cafe should definitely make it to your to visit list. 

WHAT WE HAD - Spicy Chicken Sausage Smorrebrod (Yumness!)

                           M' Batten Chicken (Yumness Personified in heaven)

                           Dawood Basha Chicken (Average)

                           Strawberry chocolate milshake (Yumness)

                           Apple Iced Tea (Refreshing)

DAMAGES - Rs 1300/- Approx (incl. of taxes) 

WHERE -  Roasted Bean Cafe., Shop 26/27, Belle Vista, CHS Plot 46,47,48, Sector 15, Next to DY Patil College, CBD-Belapur, Navi Mumbai

Theobroma, Mumbai

An Evening at Theobroma

Well, some places as you know keep calling you back, no matter what. Theobroma has always been that place for me. I have tried almost 70% of their menu, have a couple of favorites and even if I don't dine here, I will always pick stuff up to go. Before every third place had a Breakfast menu, there was Theobroma catering to your breakfast cravings. A huge fan that I am of the English Breakfast. Years back, it was here that the search had ended and I still keep coming back for more. 

I generally don't write a review for this place because how many times should I? Something however prompts me this time to do it. I had the good luck of getting free from work a little earlier than usual, called up a friend and said let's go to Theobroma! Comfort food. 

I ordered the French Toast, which I have never previously especially if it is served with fruits. I know, you are probably thinking, isn't fruit an add-on? Not for me. I dislike things that are healthy for the body and some day I am going to pay for it. (Hopefully not! I do other things to compensate :D) The french toast comes with a heavy serving of cream, maple syrup and generously served with apples and bananas. I should have told them to give me only bananas. The only other time I have had french toast was at the Lalit. I am not going to compare it to the one there because that was Magic and you can't have magic in everything. For Theobroma the magic lies in their brownies. Back to the topic, the french toast is case on point. Not too sweet otherwise I would not have been able to finish it off. My friend ordered the Beef Tenderloin Sandwich which comes with a side of their famous fries. It is a complete meal in itself. Generous filling in the sandwich that you won't be able to hold it together. I have always loved the fries served here and didn't disappoint once again. We also ordered from their Today's Special - Chili Garlic Sausages. I have always loved sausages, so I am just going to be partial here and say da-yum!

WHAT WE HAD - French Toast (Da-Yum!)

                           Beef Tenderloin Sandwich (Yumness)

                           Chili garlic Sausages (Da-Yum!)

DAMAGES - Rs 700/- (incl. of taxes)

WHERE -  Theobroma Powai., G8, City Park Building, Central Avenue, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai

Chaayos, Mumbai

Chaayos, Powai

Are you a tea or a coffee person? I am a chai person. My mornings don't begin without them. I am a cranky person and without chai I will be even more crankier. However, I never have tea from a restaurant unless and until it is an udipi restaurant or it is complimentary. Not worth my bucks.  However, I do visit them for their snacks and that's what I was here for. 

The place is a little cramped where every inch of space has tables and chairs put it to accommodate as many as they possibly can and it's almost always crowded even at 4 pm on a weekday. I guess everyone working in the vicinity drops in here for a quick meeting/break etc. So unless and until you are ready to share space with others, this might not the place you want to drop in at.

It's self-service where you in place your order and collect it, so there is not much to say or write about the service in that area. However, one interesting thing is that when you are in the queue to place your order, they have a small tab (I am guessing) linked to the billing machine. You are asked to put in your details and you are registered as a customer. This might come across as completely irrelevant, but the thing is you get the customer details which is very crucial to these restaurants (I end up noticing these things now because of the line of work I am in ). So that's a pretty smart move on their end. You may not fill it when you are presented with a tab on your table even, but there you just got to. 

The order we placed was for one kulhad chai, one thandi chai with elainchi (cardamom), one butter chicken wrap and loaded chicken cheese max. The kulhad chai is the chai that you get in the mountain type areas, served in an earthen vessel, the vessel itself adds flavor to the chai. Yum! The thandi chai was a risk as I have never really heard of something like this before. It's not an iced tea. It's the cold coffee version of tea and actually turned out to be good. I just wish like cold coffee they had added a little whipped cream to it. It would have definitely elevated the flavors. The butter chicken wrap was average. I didn't really feel that it was butter chicken at all. It also had sev mixed in which didn't really do much for the butter chicken as such, but was rather disturbing, if that makes sense. I had wanted to go for the keema pav but my friend was hungrier and he said he would prefer the wrap. Should have listened to me.  The loaded chicken cheese max was literally how I had imagined and desired it to be and that in itself is rare. An open bread topped with seekh/ meatball type chicken smothered in just the right amount of gravy that you don't feel you are only having gravy, cheese topped and baked to delight. I am a little glad that it didn't have shredded chicken or cubes of chicken, I think it would have brought down the flavours a notch. This was perfection. I could have had more. The only thing a little disappointing is the price (199+ taxes, I am of the opinion that it's priced a little high than it should be)

Would I step in here again? Hell, Yeah! But only on days when I feel a little rich. Also, when I want to catch up with a friend, I think I have started to prefer tea shops to coffee shops and thank you for that! The reign of tea shops has just begun, please take note. Yahoo!

WHAT WE HAD - Kulhad chai (Yum!)

                           Elainchi Thandi Chai (Yum!)

                                  Butter Chicken Wrap (Average!)

                           Loaded Chicken Cheese Max (More is Less)

DAMAGES - Rs 750/- Approx (Incl. Of Taxes)

WHERE -  Chaayos., Ground Floor, 12, Citi Park Building, Central Avenue, Hirandani Business Park, Powai, Mumbai

Poetry by Love & Cheesecake, Mumbai

Poetry by Love & Cheesecake, Bandra

So the Love & Cheesecake family has to offer more than just cheese cake now. How happy that makes me. Being a regular at their outlets across the city, this place by default made it to my list of places to check out and let me just say it straight away, it doesn't disappoint. 

The place is a little small than I had expected to it, but it still doesn't look cramped and that deserves points to who ever designed the outlet. There is seating even behind their bakery on display. Pastel hues everywhere and wooden elements in other areas is very pleasing and soothing to the eyes, calling out to you as soon as you enter - Sit and take in the aura. It almost feels like I knew this is how it would be. Their Love & Cheese cake outlets itself is designed impeccably. 

This could be because it is newly opened and managers/ owners/ attendants seem a little more attentive in the beginning days but here is hoping they remain as warm and welcome as they were on this day. From making sure you get a table as soon as possible, your attended to and don't have to try to catch some attendant's eye, to recommending what may suit your palette preference. Kudos.

We had landed here after a brief shopping spree and what we ordered was for the Everything Bagel, Chicken & Waffles with an Iced Tea. I am quite surprised at myself and at them. I have never been a big fan of raw veggies, or salads. However, I was pleasantly in love with the bagel which my sister had ordered for. It had nothing but ghaas phoos (no offense, but that's how I refer to it ) - zucchini, bell peppers, lettuce etc. I grudgingly admit to this but it overshadowed my Chicken Waffles as well. I had assumed that the Chicken would come as an add on or something with the Waffles. But it was infused in the waffle interestingly and I find this even more interesting that this savory waffle went quite well with maple syrup. Over all, I am more than happy for what we had. The Iced tea, is another case. I wish, I hadn't ordered it. No where did it feel like an iced tea - the tea was less and the sugar as well too. Bland, almost. Avoid, would be my suggestion. Last but not the least, when at love & cheese cake, have CHEESE CAKE! The brownie cheese cake made it's way to our table and as always nothing short of delight!

Aptly named. Poetry. This is your stop for your breakfast and brunch needs. Also, who needs a set time to have breakfast and brunch? Have it for dinner, but just do. 

WHAT WE HAD - Everything Bagel (Delightful)

                           Chicken & Waffles (Delight)

                           Iced Tea (Avoid)

                           Brownie Cheese cake (A little bit of heaven on your plate)

DAMAGES - Rs 700/- Approx

WHERE -  Poetry by Love and Cheesecake., Pali Darshan, Junction of 16th & 33rd road, Linking Road, Bandra (W)