Le 15 Cafe, Mumbai

Le 15 Cafe, Colaba

This place has been on my list since the day it opened it's doors and honestly, I had wanted to go back then itself. But it being on the other side of the city, made it a tad bit difficult, not that I didn't try. After several failed plans I arrived here actually out of the blue. A lazy Monday morning when me and a friend were tired of staying indoors (As lazy as I am, there is only so much of staying in bed and watchin tv can I take), and so when I suggested Le 15, it was met with a Why Not, and I was here! HURRAH! 

Like I have said earlier, I have been following this place for quite some time, that I know the great designer Masaba Gupta has a little hand in the designing of the place, the cushions, the materials used in the seating around, Masaba Magic. (I was secretly hoping one of the two Chefs - Pablo Naranjo or Pooja Dhingra would have been here, an autograph or even better a selfie would have made my Year, but better luck next time ) Yeah, I am a little star struck. The place is uber chic and I was kind of surprised to find that it is actually pretty spacious, I had always assumed it would be a quaint little cafe. I love the sofa seatings attached to the French type window and that's the place I attacked. Though it would have made more sense if you could seat side ways and see the bustling crowd and not have your back to it. 

I had already made up my mind on what I had wanted to have a year ago. Well, the first thing I would want to try i.e. But unfortunately it wasn't available on this sunny day. I had wanted to try the Savory Parmesan Waffles, but their waffle machine wasn't working (How can you have just one waffle maker, or did all of them stop functioning on the same day? I don't know how this works). Well, gives me reason to come back again. So we instead ordered the Truffle Tagliatelle (I didn't even know Tagliatelle was a type of pasta until informed by the staff, which is a good thing because the staff knew the menu well enough) and a Chicken Burger. The Pasta, if I may say so, is the best I have had in Mumbai till date and I have to put everything else I have had and appreciated second to this. I like my pasta to be cheesy, but not an over dose of it. It shouldn't just be cheese, the other ingredients should also talk to you and how it did here! I was floating in Heaven in my head. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the burger, I mean how creative can you get with a burger. I wasn't prepared to be blown over and blown over I was. I should be talking about the bun used in the burger, what sorcery was it. Why? Because I could probably have the bun by itself sans everything else, with a cup of chai on the side. It was that delicious. Also, I am not always a fan of mustard sauce and it is something I almost never use as a dressing in anything, but it went really well with the burger and the mushrooms here. Also, I am not sure but it seemed like they had served Magic Masala Lays (The blue one) on the side. It definitely tasted like that. I wish they had serv\ed fries or wedges or onion rings or something along those lines instead. It's much more filling and satisfying. I almost can't choose between the two dishes and that's very rare. There is always a clear winner. Here, I just couldn't make up my mind. On the side I had ordered an iced tea and my friend had placed and order for Elder Flower Lemonade. Both were great to beat the heat. 

This place is grand and for that reason I at least would buy their pastries and macaroons on special occasions. One, they can be a little expensive and the size of most of their off the shelf desserts are quite small, if I may say so. So for me it's reserved for special occasions only and I do so. If the size of their cup cakes and desserts were increased a little, you still wouldn't feel the pinch on your wallet. Though, you should make it a point to have them. I have had almost everything over time and there is a reason why I don't mind splurging on them on some days. 

All I can say is GO! GO! GO! I am going to be back for the waffles!! 

WHAT WE HAD - Chicken Burger (Heaven)

                           Truffle Tagliatelle (Heaven)

                            Elder Flower Lemonade (Refreshing)

                            Iced tea (Refreshing)

DAMAGES - Rs 1600/- (Approx)

WHERE -  Le 15 Cafe Colaba., Shop 18, Lansdowne House Building, MB Marg, Near Regal Cinema, Apollo Bunder, Colaba, Mumbai

Gustoso, Mumbai

Gustoso, Lower Parel

Can one ever have enough of Pizzas? No. And now that the Gourmet Pizza trend has caught on in this side of the world, there is even more no stopping us Pizza Lovers. Although my main reason, for visiting this place was the pasta and not the pizza. Though obviously, I would dig into scrumptious pizza as well. So, Win Win!

A catch-up session with 2 dearest friends brought us here and the one thing I like about being in my position i.e. loving food as much as I do, I am always the one deciding on the place. And hence, I fulfill my all places to be list from here. I will make sure, it's a place that is on my bucket list. Though, the bucket list only increases. So one fine day, we landed here much to my delight. I am glad they didn't abuse me for selecting a place so far away from where all of us live. 

The one thing I love about Bombay is the many restaurants in practically every nook and corner of the city and what it has to offer in terms of ambiance. The interiors speak volumes for the places here. This place speaks Italian. From the way the tables are designed to a Vespa placed in the middle of the restaurant, not to forget this cozy corner with a round table and a huge chandelier lighting it up, the bar and most definitely the little garden type out door seating. We decided to take the party outside as we wanted a quieter place, where conversations take over and it was a pleasant day! Nothing quite like it. Bliss. 

The service is warm, the attendants know the menu well. So even if you don't know how to pronounce half the stuff (like me )or understand the ingredients well, the staff will come to your rescue. 

So we started off with the appetizers or antipasti - Arancini & Involtini Di Pollo (Sounds like the name of some sexy brooding painter  The arancini is fried balls consisting of arborio rice, mushrooms and mozerella. In short, a risotto fried into balls. Sounds good right? It is and goes wonderfully with the truffle aioli. I have a thing for aioli. I have a thing for anything that is creamy and cheesy. The involtini is chicken roulade (Why won't you make my life easy and just call it chicken roulade?! ) and is again stuffed with Mozzarella (Long Live the Italian for using cheese and letting us have cheese!). The roulade is swimming in lemon mint sauce, and I almost wonder if you are supposed to be drinking this. I am guessing that would look weird. But it does add an extra edge to the dish. Though I do wish the chicken was just a little more juicier. Then for the pizza, as recommended by the attending staff, we ordered the Stella Pizza which is shaped like a Star. It does look beautiful, the dough bread is the softest I have encountered, to the point where I have to be careful holding it. The tanginess of the tomato sauce is just right and everything is almost perfect but for the ricotta cheese used. I had kind of imagined that it would be either in spread form or melted form or something and not just blocks of ricotta cheese put on the pizza.So that was a tad bit disappointing. 

Then let's talk of the highlight of the meal, my reason for dragging my lovely friends here - Tagliolini Bombay. I don't know what's Bombay about it. So what's so special about this? They makw this in front of you. They take Pasta, flambe it, in a cheese wheel, in actual bowl which is a bowl made of cheese, toss in as much cheese as you desire and serve it to you. Lo and Behold! Do you see my eyes popping out? Watching it is an experience in itself. I would also want to share a little experience. Always, always take charge of capturing such epic moments yourself, do not pass off the responsibility to a friend, no matter how much they mean to you. They will screw it up. Especially if you have my luck. We took the entire video and by the end of it my friend realized she hadn't even clicked on record. You can't even begin to imagine my grief at this moment. I am not instagram crazy. Well, maybe, a little. But this is one of those moments that you do put on Instagram! Why wouldn't you let me have my moment of glory or show off??!!  I got over it, a little grudgingly. After everything said and done, the pasta was cheesilicious and that's what matters. We had a few mocktails as well, Frozen Currant, Into the Blue and Iced tea. Strangely, the Iced tea was not my order this time. I opted for the Frozen Currant, which is like an ice slush of black currant. I like slushes. The other two were refreshing as well. Looked Pretty too. 

WHAT WE HAD - Arancini (Yumness)

                           Involtini Di Pollo (Yumness)

                           Stella Pizza (Yumness Personified)

                           Tagliolini Bombay (Yumness)

                           Frozen Currant (Yum)

                           Peach Iced Tea (Yum)

                           Into the Blue (Yum)

DAMAGES - Rs 3500/- Approx

WHERE - Gustoso., Plot 109, Kwality House, August Kranti Marg, Below Kemps Corner Bridge, Mumbai, Kemps Corner, Mumbai