Tea Villa, Mumbai

Tea Villa, Thane

Another place I keep coming back to. I think I have been doing that a lot lately and and happily so. Well, this time was actually because there aren't too many options that you can explore in Thane and I was looking forward to have a good meal. Hence, wanted to skip the entire location scout. I am never disappointed with this place and it's one of my safe bets.

This outlet actually has an outer area as well and if it was Winter, then it would make for great ambiance, with the winds blowing and all. However, summers in Bombay are nothing short of hell and hence, I chose to be safely seated indoors. The ambiance is a mix of quirky and raw as is the case with all their outlets, tea cups hanging from the roof and little lights hanging from colorful tea kettles (the kind you would find at cutting chai stalls and not royal english inspired. I prefer the former in this setting). The walls are left unfinished with bricks which gives it the raw appeal.

The service here is actually slightly better than my experience at their outlets though. I have always found their service in need of improvement as they seem a little absent and you have to grab their attention. Also, a little forgetful. Though I would say there is an improvement, but it's still not at par. This time the reason was we had asked for whipped cream with their waffles (To be honest, we hadn't even been asked. It was along the lines of would you want whipped cream or ice cream with your waffle, like a choice is being provided to you and when you say whipped cream. They tell you there is an extra charge. It's a sales tactic and hence, I still didn't mind it much). However, they had forgotten to serve it. We pointed it out half way through completing our waffles, "hadn't we ordered whipped cream on the side?". When asked the attendant about it, and since we were half way through we wanted to cancel it. However, the attendant requested us not to as apparently, it would be deducted from his pay. So we didn't. However, it troubled me. Not because I had to pay that extra amount. But if the management is making use of this approach to curb errors, then it's not exactly correct and something to be looked into (And I hope if you are reading this, you do!). This is the part where I found it to be a little questionable. Otherwise, all seemed in place.

For what we had. We first called for two mock tails - Passion Fruit Mojito and Peach Iced Tea. For a change, it was not me who had ordered the Iced tea but my friend. I went for the mojito. Some times change is good. Turned out, change is actually good because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Along with the drinks, we called in for the Villa Special Hummus Platter which comes with three kinds of hummus and assorted goodies like lavash, pita bread, cucumbers and a salad. I still can't differentiate between all the different kind of hummus out there, as in what ingredients go into except the basic ones, but I do know one thing, I LOVE HUMMUS! The one thing I would have preferred it is being served more accompaniments with this, also pickled veggies. We then called in for the goodness called the Shroom Burger. A patty made of nothing but mushroom, cheddar cheese infused and soft cheese. As soon as you take a bite, cheese comes oozing out and there is nothing better than that. I at very rare occasions choose to have a Veg Burger, and this was one of those rare times, when my decision to do so did not fail me. The bun could be improved upon though, didn;t have that traditional burger bun feel to it and seemed a bit oiled. The same I would say for the onion rings served on the side. I am generally not so fond of onion rings and would always prefer fries, and even though I actually took a liking to the onion rings here, it was only after using tissue to soak some of the oil. This was something that should have been taken care of in the kitchen. Finally, we ordered for the Oreo Waffle as dessert for ourselves. I chose Oreo as too much of chocolate is off-putting to me and I get tired after a few bites. Oreos, though are my favorite and I am always eager to have them - shakes, cheesecakes, cakes, deep fried (Yeah, deep fried! This one I can actually share the recipe of). So Oreo waffles seemed ideal to me and that's what we had. Happily so. The waffles were fresh, I loved the mix of white chocolate and milk chocolate drizzled on top and also served on the side (You really don't need to even order the whipped cream on the side, if you have this).

I was elated after this meal. You would be too, if you dropped in here. There are so many outlets across of this place around the city now, so you can choose your pick. 

WHAT WE HAD - Villa Special Hummus Platter (LOOOOVEEE)

                           Mushroom Burger (Yumness Personified)

                           Oreo Waffles (Yumness Personified)

                           Peach Iced Tea (Refreshing)

                           Passion Fruit Mojito (Refreshing)

DAMAGES - Rs 1200/- (Approx)

WHERE - Tea Villa Cafe Thane. ,Shop 1& 2, Y-Building, Flower Valley, Opposite Viviana Mall,Eastern Express Highway, Majiwada, Thane West

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

Tea Villa Cafe, Mumbai

Tea Villa Cafe, Bandra

Not on my list, and I have already been here 4 times in the last 8 months, thrice in Vile Parle & once in Bandra. Even though this review is for the Bandra outlet, one little recommendation would be that they need to refurbish the Vile Parle outlet a bit. I have started to notice little cracks here and there and it is slightly a turn off. 

My major reason for visiting this place was to have their chocolate cake/mousse in a an edible chocolate shaped cup. But we will get to that later.

The trysts of Ramadan. Through out the day all you think of is food, and when you get down to breaking your fast, you eat half of what you generally would. Does this happen to others as well?? I guess not. My sister is a prime example of this. This is where I broke my fast over the weekend. I have learnt to time my shopping sprees and other activities in tune to the sun-setting and reaching the restaurant, being seated, placing orders and the food arriving in the nick of time.

The interiors of their Bandra Outlet, is along the lines of the one in Vile Parle but this one looks slightly more up-beat. Tea cups and coffee mugs laying down the theme and being adorned all across the walls and shelves, even a statute of sorts which is pretty fancy and dressed up in tea-cups. I also appreciate the way they have made use of every little space possible. One interesting thing I witnessed was a small table set up high enough with bar stools facing directly the AC (How did those people manage to sit there with cold air blowing in your face, is something I am left to wonder). We had been seated at bar stool ourselves, but facing the window (If there was a little greenery on the outside and the windows a little higher, and what with the rains refusing to stop, would have been quite the view). 

They have a lot of staff on ground, adding to the already crammed space. Though, I have to say it is a wise decision, since the place is almost always packed and way too many people being seated, I don't think it would be manageable with limited nos. Their service is at par with someone always circling around and asking after you but otherwise leaving you alone.

We had ordered for the Fusilli Pasta in Arabiatta Sauce. This was one heavenly dish. Some times all you need is a little classic recipe to make your day and this pasta did the trick. The garlic bread served along were soft, the garlic and butter both melted on the bread which in turn melts in your mouth. It was so good that I had literally left the last bite of the bread for after my meal was over. We had also ordered one Sizzler in Barbeque Sauce. Well, here I was a little confused. The sizzler was good, just that I didn't really find it to have Barbeque sauce. Barbeque sauce is generally brown in color and has a slight sweet tinge to it. The sauce here felt more a combination of chinese-thai. Also, we were given sauce on the side, which felt more like soup than sauce. A combination of Hot and Sour and Sweet Corn soup. This is why I am a bit confused. Also, the vegetables served were slightly uncooked, at least the carrots. So over all, I felt a bit confused. I liked it, but it isn't what I had ordered as such or what I had expected. We had also ordered a green apple iced tea to share between the two of us, which is a good drink again, on it's own, but I would call it a green apple mock-tail, or a green apple lemonade maybe, not an iced tea from any angle.

Now comes the dessert for which I had made my way till here. The edible chocolate shaped like a mug with whipped cream, hazelnut mousse and chocolate cake being its fillings. Sounds the stuff of dreams right. I know that there is a lot of fancy stuff abroad which we don't get here, edible chocolate mugs being one of them, this is why the fascination I had with them. But now a days I feel like the more I expect out of something, it never really does live up to the expectations. Well honestly, the cup on it is good and is more than good. The problem I found was between the layers of goodness of whipped cream and chocolate cake i.e. the hazelnut. The hazelnut felt off to me, as if someone had mixed a little cough syrup in it. I am not kidding with you when I say that. It feels good when it first makes contact with your tongue then you feel like you are having cough syrup and that's just weird. Something they should work on??!! Everything else was perfection.

Tea Villa, because it's a cool place to hang out with your friend or family!! Also, the place is a pure vegetarian. Who ever says Vegetarian food ain't good enough, should step in here and obviously and the vegetarians? What's stopping you??!!

WHAT WE HAD - Pasta in Arabiatta Sauce (Yumness Personified)

                           Paneer Sizzler in Barbeque Sauce (Yum, but no trace of BBQ)

                           Apple Iced Tea (Good but more like Green Apple Lemonade)

                          Edible Chocolate Mug with Hazelnut mousse (Yumness, except for the hazelnut mousse)

DAMAGES - Rs 1425 Approx (with Taxes)

WHERE - Tea Villa Cafe.,31, Opp. Globus, Hill Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai

Tea Trails, Mumbai

TEA TRAILS, Fort

This was a matter of luck, chance and availability of a place. At the recent Kala Ghoda Art Fest, the entire area is more or less crowded at all hours, even at 2 pm in the afternoon, as every one is looking for a place nearby to grab lunch or a quick bite or just to hang out especially if you pay visit in the scorching heat. This was our case, we went in the early afternoon and even though initially we had decided on checking out another place, everything in the area had a waiting list and we were super hungry and tired to be on our feet. After facing this at 3-4 places, we finally found luck at Tea Trails but were highly doubtful since this would be one of those places which I hadn't looked up (I do a lot of restaurant search in my free time). But the warmth displayed by the owner was a positive reinforcement and we were after all tired. 

The place is done in turquoise and white and it is absolutely soothing to the eyes and when you are as tired as we were on the day with the sun giving you a slight head ache, this is welcoming and refreshing. I might be exaggerating but it is like stepping foot in a beach with clear blue waters. Step in here after having walked for a minimum of one hour with the sun shining above you and you will realize what I am talking about. Also, the decor is inspired from Santorini, Greece. Why? One look at the walls and you wouldn't have to ask why. 

Service? Good. But not the best. There was an up side and there is a down side as well to the service. The person taking our order had sort of messed it up and forgot what we had ordered for, and the particular item was unavailable at the time as well, so we were waiting for nothing in a way. Also, the drinks we ordered were, not exactly what we had ordered. I think it would have helped if he had a note pad to just note what we had ordered. No chance of a mishap happening then. However, the day was saved by the Manager/Owner who stepped in and took over and informed us kindly that the particular item is not available and recommended dishes otherwise. Also, our drinks were exchanged and were not billed for it. He had gone to the extent of saying we could enjoy the extra drink served as well while our original concoction was being brewed. But, one sip of it and we realized we didn't even want to have it. I love cranberry and i love iced teas, so I don't know if it was this place, but the cranberry iced tea just seemed like Cough Syrup. Well, you now know what you definitely should not be ordering - the cranberry iced tea. Who would have thought there would come a day that I would reject an iced tea! Brownie points to he manager/owner for stepping in the way he did and took over service almost completely.

On any other day, if i paid visit to a place that specializes in the different types of tea they offer, I would have tried and tested their chai, being a huge tea-addict myself. However, we were hammered and wanted something cold and refreshing on the day. So in drinks we had the lemon and mint iced tea and the recently made popular "Bubble Tea" in lychee/lichi and mango flavor. I would have difficult choosing the best of the three as all of them were equally good. But as the bubble tea was something I had tried for the first time, I would say I was a little fascinated with the jelly balls at at the bottom. Every time you take a sip, it slides into your mouth and goes pop! Yeah, we felt like kids, trying to make them pop. Highly recommended. In the food, we had the tea pancakes, smoked cottage cheese sandwich and the grilled cottage cheese platter. The pancakes were something was a result of my cravings but I have to say that it wasn't all that I expected it to be. They were pretty ordinary and we make better at home, none of us like the fruit compote served along with it, I am guessing it was pineapple, as I couldn't really make out. In short, I would not really order it again. The smoked cottage cheese sandwich was the star of the meal. I am very particular about the sandwiches I have and I get tired after a point of having them if they are loaded with too much sauce or lack of it even. The balance has to be there between the ingredients, which is why many a times I do not prefer ordering cheese loaded sandwiches, even though I am cheese addict. I would put it this way - I would prefer this over a chicken based sandwich as well any day of the week. Finally the Cottage Cheese Platter or lets just say Paneer. :D Paneer smeared with peri peri sauce and grilled, two huge pieces of it (Thank you for not down-sizing the portion) leaves you satisfied over any Paneer craving you might have had. Served with a side of butter herb rice (I need to learn how to make butter herb rice, i love it everywhere I go), wok tossed veggies like broccoli, carrots and some garlic sauce to enjoy the over all experience. Good. Real Good. I am guessing that people of Portugal (Wiki tells me peri peri originated in Portugal) had small portions of rice or for that matter people in the west as such. Why? I always find that the serving of the chicken/cottage cheese/tofu or the protein is always higher than the serving of the bread/rice which would be your carbohydrates. I guess this might be because of the concept of balanced meal where you need more of protein that carbohydrates. My point? I am an Indian, and I want the rice portion to be a little more. like just a little. At the end of the meal, we were left wanting for a little more of the rice. :P I think all three of my girls would echo the same thought. 

This place is an ideal location to just let out the lazy person in you, sit back, enjoy your cuppa of chai with something on the side or maybe even a lot on the side as is generally the case with mua! :D

WHAT WE HAD - Mango Bubble Tea (Obsessed)

                           Lychee Bubble Tea (Obsessed)

                           Lemon & Mint Iced Tea (Refreshing)

                           Tea Pancakes (Okay!)

                           Smoked Cottage Cheese Sandwich (Might just make me a vegetarian)

                           Grilled Cottage Cheese Platter (Yummy in my Tummy)

DAMAGES - Rs 1400/- (Approx)

WHERE -  Tea Trails India., Shop 6/8, Near Trishna, Kalaghoda, Fort, MUMBAI

Tea Villa, Mumbai

TEA VILLA, Vile Parle

This was a spot decided by me over-night, and the first time that I have actually explored Vile Parle. A friend who had landed from Ahmedabad, and was flying to Singapore the same day on a Leisure Trip (Jealous much!). The hotel he was booked in was located in Vile Parle and hence I was given the task of finding a place in the vicinity. In addition, I am not one of those easy-breezy girls who will be happy being seated in a local coffee shop with a friend, I would want to make the most of it by also making sure I visit a new place if possible. I realize I am probably a little high-maintenance, but I also realize that I do it all by myself and am not mooching off any one. So you don't get to complain except for my friend on this particular day who decided to pick the bill up. (In my defence, I offered to pay!) 

After going through several places and the many different options they presented, I couldn't fathom going anywhere else except for this one. There are several reasons for this, from the extensive menu they have including almost everything you can think of having under one little roof. Then the presentation that you could see of the many dishes from their listing on Zomato, is enough to get your mouth watering, to the ambiance you presume the place to have which gives the cozy enough environment for you to just go on talking leaving your worries behind, letting two friends unwind. Yes, a place can be all that and more, its all in the ambiance and I have to say this place is exactly that. 

If I were to talk to you about the service, I do not know if it was just the day or the timing, or something else, but for some reason I can't tell you that the service was good or bad. This is because the servers though attentive were forgetful. Both the times we placed our orders we had to wait for quite a while and I am sure that they had forgotten that we had placed an order at all, till we asked for whatever happened to it. This is because people coming in after us were being served, while we spent our time catching up on whereabouts. I would not give them negative points for two reasons, I had met a friend after a long time and so we did a lot of talking and time was not of essence. Second, the servers seemed young and naive in that "shucks!I forgot way and you couldn't hold a grudge because of that. Never, the less, I would say pull up your socks. Not every day would be such. On any other occasion, I would have created quiet the ruckus.

Generally, I order at least 3-4 items, but on this particular day I ordered just two, reason being I had plans for the evening as well, and I know very well that if It being almost 12 pm, if I have a very heavy brunch, I will not feel up to eating in the evening, and my plan included to hog in the evening :P. Another reason which I didn't mention before for choosing this place was that my friends is a vegetarian, so I had made it easy by choosing a place that served veg instead of going through the hassles of vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The first dish we ordered on the day was classic cheese fondue. This was something that I had been craving for quite a while, but the one or two other occasions I could have had this, the option available was only in veg and my companions on the day were not keen on having veg fondue. Me? Its cheese. I do-not care if its in veg and non-veg. BECAUSE ITS ALL ABOUT THE CHEESE!! You get the point, and so on this day, I didn't care and just went for it. Every time I have had fondue, I have realized cheese can taste so different in every place. Here it was too, I am not good at defining that this is what it tasted like exactly, I can tell you it had a hint of pepper in it, and that it was delish as it should be, but other than that I can't differentiate, or rather I still have not learn how to put it in words. I had ordered for iced tea while my friend had ordered for a frappe. I had chosen Iced Tea because when you order a frappe or something along similar lines, then it can fill you up. Moreover, generally with meals I prefer having something aerated or anything that falls into this family as it compliments the meal more and satiates your thirst. The iced tea served in the fancy mason jars (Why does every outlet have masor jars now?!! It takes away from the luxury of bring served in one, now that everyone's doing it!) Next we had ordered for Banana Caramel Waffles. I happen to love waffles and I also love Caramel more than chocolate, so this was the ideal choice for me and it did not disappoint! Though it was served in its own sweet time as they had forgotten we had ordered, when served the sweetness of it washed down any grudges that we had beheld till the time and all I could think of was, WOW! WOW! and a little more WOW! :D

I am not done with this place, this place is on my list to re-visit as soon as soon can be, thanks to their extensive menu which is very tempting. What I am probably trying to say here is that - You can't just have one or rather you can't just be here once! :D

WHAT WE HAD - Cheese Fondue (Cheese = Love)

                           Banana Caramel Waffle ( Love at first bite!)

                           Oreo Shake (Never can go wrong with Oreo)

                           Peach Iced Tea (The Classic!)

DAMAGES - Rs 800/- Approx

WHERE - Tea Villa Cafe, Pardhy House, Opp. Jain Temple, Junction of MG Road & Hanuman Road, Vile Parle (e) - MUMBAI

THE TEA CENTRE, MUMBAI

Let me begin by telling you I am a lucky lucky girl! (Touch-wood!). This meet was with a friend who I hadn't seen in some time and he was treating me for a belated birthday of sorts. I have been here before but on my insistence, since I had never really tried the food here, he fulfilled the wishes of the b'day girl. And I am glad for not listening to him for the suggestions he kept giving. Because yes, the teas here are good. Bu I hadn't expected the food to be good to.

On arrival I found my friend waiting for me with a present in tow ( That I didnot expect and overwhelming it always is :) ). I should mention that this place was first introduced to me by this very same person. Coming down to business, which is me talking about this place. This place is very seriously, one of the gems that Churchgate or I should say Mumbai has to offer. They have managed to maintain their standards over the years. This place always reminds me of the Victorian era. I imagine many a times that maybe years ago this place might have been a dance hall for the British where they held their oh-so-sophisticated parties or whatever they were called back then. The high ceilings, the walls, the seating arrangements, the colors, everything reeks of it. Even the servers are dressed so. And the little bell that is kept on each table for when you want to bring attention to the server towards you. (I didn't know this factor, till I picked up the little bell and starter ringing it and my friend made these huge eyes and laughed :P).

The food? Lets talk about the tea first. We tried new teas which is the Irish tea and apple butter-tea. Yes, there is such a thing! The Irish tea feels more like a dessert drink which is warm, milky and creeeammyy. Perfection. The apple butter tea on the other side is good to keep you warm and fuzzy. Reminded me of soup in certain ways, which is not a bad thing let me tell you. We didn't order much because we wanted to go out and have some other stuff too. So we ordered a pasta which was down right delectable and also mushroom toast. Special mention to the mushroom toast. Why you ask. I had seen this photo on zomato of this but didnot know what's the name. So I actually carried a photo and showed it to the server and asked him please tell me what this ( Beware! That's the kind of diner I am. So be prepared to be embarassed! :P)

Visit this place when you want to just spend some relaxed time. Because this place is better than a lot of coffee shops you would have ever been to. But remember to not carry your laptops because this place is to talk and make conversation and strictly not work. I am mentioning this because the first time I had been here was work related and I just hated that I had to discuss work. :P

WHAT WE HAD - Irish Tea (Dessert in a tea, Yum)

                         Apple Butter-cup tea (Warm 'n' Fuzzy, Feel-good)

                         Pasta (Full of cheese, Yum's the word)

                         Mushroom Toast ( cheese n mushroom - Yum yum yum!)

DAMAGES - I seriously have no idea, since I was not allowed to see the bill but my guess would be Rs 800 (Approx)

WHERE- Tea Centre,Resham Bhavan, 78, Veer Nariman Road, Churchgate ( Its very near to churchgate Station)