When I had put up my last post on Mumbai Spices with some criticism, I hadn't expected the chef himself to get in touch with me to see if he can change my mind about it. It's quite a privilege (for me)and it speaks wonders of the management and service style when a restaurant (or for that any matter any business) personally reaches out to a single customer to turn around your experience. It shows they want to change things and what better way than customer feedback.
I got my friend along with me who we refer to as our human trash-can. 
He knows it's out of love. I finally admit to growing old and unable to eat as much as I did 5 years back! Two amateurs acting as if we were the judges on Master Chef Australia - rating the food out of 10 made for good camaraderie and lots of laugh as well.
Dahi Puri - The best Dahi Puri on this small Island City. This is what had won my heart the first time round and with the Chef's close attention to detail it shined through. Like my friend said and I would like to steal his line - I would give it an 8 8 out of 10. Why not more? Jab tak thele pe khade hokar haath gande na karo na tab tak woh baat nahi banti. (Until You stand at a street hawker's cart and savor these something still feels missing. It sounds so sophisticated in English but emotion saddi hindi mein hai 
)
Cheese Barbecue Puri - This the chef informed us is his own little innovation and for that alone we were impressed. I have always been curious about this whenever I have browsed through their pages but slightly unsure of how this would turn out to be. This is a fusion I approve of and I think everyone else would too. Puri filled with vegetables mixed with some barbecue sauce topped with cheese and sev! Everything came together so very well, no over powering of flavors nor there seemed to be a mish mash that you don't understand what you are eating. There is just the slightest hint of pani puri wala pani in it and that to me was a game changer.
Misal Pav - I had made much ado about the Misal pav on the previous visit but it was all about nothing. And in a good way. In my own words that chaska that was missing the previous time, seemed to have reappeared and made it's presence felt in every spoonful. The gravy was a little more soupy, a little more spicy and worked well with the pav. Unlike the misal pavs that I have been fed, this was served with buttered pav. Though we found it a tad bit odd, we were more than overjoyed because buttered pav is some of the simplest luxuries in life. The farsan served on the side could have been plenty. The misal to farsan ratio is almost equal in most cases.
Galouti Kebab - If you don't know the legend behind how Galouti kebab came to be, then you probably don't love food as much as you think you do. I happen to love stories around food and these galouti kebabs did transport me for a while to the by-lanes of Lucknow itself. Some day I hope to be blessed enough to have them from the gullys of Lucknow but till then this is what I envision the perfect galouti kebabs to be. Meat filling almost like a paste, so delectable, you don't need your teeth! 
Parsi Biryani - I had asked the chef if this was their take on the Berry Pulavs of the Parsi Community. He answered yes and took our feedback in the right spirit when we said that this isn't anything like a Berry Pulav and while you can have your take on it, the essence has to be retained. This was Biryani rice with Chicken Kebab on top. What I did feel was that the Chicken Kebab which I was later informed was Jari Mari Kebab, a chef specialty on it's own held a lot of merit. I would suggest that if the rice retained the flavors of this Kebab or complimented it, it could be new dish and a fab one at that. I would order these kebabs next time for sure.
Shahi Tukda - We hadn't ordered dessert and wasn't really expecting it either, and when this was brought to our table, I was probably the happiest person in the room. It is in the name. This is the royal in desserts and something I don't easily spot on menus and when I do, I don't pay heed to it. Not because I don't think much of it but because I think EVERYTHING of it! This dessert has my childhood attached to it. It reminds me of summer vacations, of my mom and my aunts frying pieces of bread, soaked in ghee and the stirring of the pots of rabri. (Milk cooked on slow heat for hours and flavors from nuts etc). The numbered times I have tried it at restaurants it hasn't been the same and this was what they mean when they say foodgasm.
I would want to give a short introduction to the Chef - Mr. Haribilasha, hailing from Orissa (I have never tried Oriya dishes - but would love to see and suggest him bringing something on the menu for the likes of me! )who has joined the Mumbai Spices team a mere 7 months prior and I can already see the results of that. This wasn't the first few times I had visited Mumbai Spices but it was the first few times it compelled me to write. The good, the bad and the Ugly. But here mostly Good. Almost great. He is also a keen listener and takes every bit of feedback seriously. I am awaiting to see what other wonders will he create in his kitchen and I sincerely hope that it trickles down to his support kitchen staff so there is no one sour experience. It's never a one-man army and you are only as strong as your team is.
DAMAGES - Between BHD 1 to BHD 3 per dish.
