Italian

The hoardings tempt you. "GRASS"... the name sounds like a vegetarian paradise.. it was a flop show.

Dare not use their washroom/loo-s, especially after eating. The horror of the place might make you lose your lunch/supper.

Nice place, interiors.. Grrreat potential.. these guys (who are running it) are just RUINING it.. :-(

We (spouse & self) were the only 2 people eating there at 10 pm on a Thursday nite.. That pretty much sums up things.

Some lousy movie was on the wall projection cable TV. We requested the waiter to change it to any Eng News channel, the reply came back, All Eng News channel are paid channels and we have not renewed our payments !!

They have pizza in their menu. When we enquired the waiter about it, he said it was a nine inch 'pijja'. Thank you very much !

The prices are very expensive for what they serve. They slap a VAT of 12.5% but it is not mentioned anywhere on the menu. Further there is no Mah. ST/ CST Regn. no. on the bill. God knows where the VAT goes.. (to fund their VAT-69s.. I guess)

Six tiny pieces of mushrooms with two tb-spoonfuls of a gaudy red sauce - The starter - was INR130.. a big flop

I suspect they dump the sauces/ketchups used by the road-side sandwich-wallas inti their gravies.. you get tha unmistakeable (dis)taste in your mouth.

That sums up the experience of "Eggplant-in-Hot-Garlic-Sauce" (INR115). It would have helped if the dish had even traces of garlic.

The steam rice (INR50 per small bowl) was woefully under-cooked.

The tragedy that followed was the Green Thai curry (INR130). It tasted like paint. The texture of the curry was terrible.
The basil leaves were burnt (literally). The curry was loaded with just small pieces of cauliflower and carrots (aaaaarrghh !!)

However hard we tried, pushing the stuff down the throat was becoming a task that was getting more painful by the minute.

(Packing that and giving it away to the needy on the streets would have brought us their curses; not blessings!)

Couple of tables away, the waiting staff were sitting with legs on the chairs, slurping some drinks and noisily gossiping. Every three minutes a staffer comes to your table to ask whether he could remove the plates, even while you were eating !!!

The hotel management is JUST NOT SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS. It is amply clear.

Considering that we were the ONLY diners in that hall, they took an AWFULLY long time to serve the food !!!

INRs-525 spent on a flop dinner show.

Maybe my review is based on only their Oriental cuisine. Its a case of first impressio is always the best (here - worst) impression !!

As a rule, We are great supporters of pure veg restaurants; but this one was abominable.

Stay CLEAR of GRASS.

Like the great Ivan Lendl once remarked "Grass is for cows"

The restaurant is a solid attempt at authentic italian cuisine, doesnt try to indianize its offerings

We were 6 of us, and did order a fair spread.

The soup (minestrone) was average.

The pizza on the next table looked good. We ordered a chicken/mushroom topping one, and it was inherently bland, but nice. The thin crust was very nice for those who hate the big thick crusts that most chains have on offer.

The fish ravioli was BAD. it tasted typically of fish that had been cooked and stuffed a while back. I am not being nasty here, we had 2-3 pieces and let go of the rest.

We also had a prawn starter. It was a mustard based sauce, but that disappointed as well. The flavours hadn't gelled well, and you could tell that the shrimp was defrosted and the sauces separately. You can go to da vinci's close by for an incredibly good concoction of the same inputs.

We either ordered some fettucine or it came as a side with one of the dishes. Was a red sauce, but nothing to write home about.

And the final problem was this, except for the pizza, everything had above average salt, the soup, the pasta and the ravioli sauce.

The restaurant is nice and small, and promising. hopefully will improve soon.

and yes, they didnt have a wine licence until a month back, but that may have changed by now.

foooooood!

Wonderful place.

OUTSTANDING FOOD. We are talking veg here.

The mushroom starter was scintillating. Probably one of the best funghi you will get to eat.

These guys know how to make magic with Pasta. The spaghetti was cooked to perfection. The white sauce was magical. I personally summoned the chef to shake hands with him.

Their pizza was incredible. The pizza chef from trattoria should take lessons from these guys.

The waiting staff are pleasant and go about doing their work with a smile.

They have an amazing range of continental desserts. Do try the veg brownie.

Didnt try their drinks. But I am told that their drinks offerings is a formidable list.

Lacking points:

We went on a weekday at 11 pm. There was zero crowd. That does not spell good for a place like this. Hope these guys dont shut down the place.

Do not go to Da Vinci wearing knee-length shorts (like I did) The mosquitoes feast on your calf muscles and ankles.

The Ambience is tooo dimly lit to the point of making you feel insecure.

Ratings:
===============
Food - 10/10
Ambience - 5/10
Service - 8/10
VFM quotient - 7/10.

Will visit this place again and again (provided they dont shut shop soon) and strongly recommend this place for conti veg food.

These guys take the food business very seriusly and it shows in the final product that lands on the table.

One of the finest pasta I 've ever eaten. Every strand of the spaghetti in white sauce reminds me of heaven. Sheer magic.

Do try their Charcoal grilled stuffed mushrooms.

the honey mint ice tea was a royal way to wash these delicacies down your throat.

Watch out for that waiter 'Devendiran'. He is really good. Knows his stuff and honest.

Planning to go there again to try something new vegetarian.

Been here few times...but for some reason writing the review only now. I went there today and i got a feeling that they are getting jaded. All their items in the menu seems to be a concoction of veggies, olive oil and different types of cheeses. So you need to be careful about what you want if you dont want your food to be killed with overdose of Cheese. By the way they also have some mexican on the menu.

We had a Crostini Platter and Avocado salad for starters. The platter was good and the salad could do with less tomato on it.

Wife decided to skip the main course and i ordered myself a Risotto with some Porcini mushrooms. I asked the steward to customize the dish but without checking with the Chef he said no and started explaining why the dish cannot be cooked like what i wanted. After i insisted he went and checked and the Chef was more than ready to do that.

One thing that i noted is lot of people around us had the look on their face that said "the dish doesnt look like what i had visualized based on what i read". May be the waiters can start becoming knowledgeable about the dishes and explain to the customers. If i want to rank the Italian restaurants in the city.. i would rank it 3rd behind Italia, Fiorano (in the order). But the place is quite popular. They have 3 sections...1) Enclosed non - smoking area 2) Lounge - smoking 3) Al Fresco

Wallet Factor : Approx 800 to 900 bucks per person including drinks for a 3 course meal.

As a pizza lover, I have eaten pizza at almost every place in Mumbai.. (psst.. I dont rate the stuff dished out in the countless UDIPI-s in the name of 'pizza', cheese 'pijja'.. stay clear of them)

Till recently, the tragedy of eating pizzas at places like smokin joes, dominos and the other chains was that their pizzas were invariably 2 cm.s plus thick bread-y base (aaargh !).. rendering pizza eating a punishment rather than an enjoyment.

This is precisely the reason we (spouse and I) hopped on five-star restaurant to another.. in search of the perfect pizza, really really thin crust, with gourmet cheese/toppings...

Of course, we did come across some good ones price around Rs 350-500 for a standard 12-incher.. thin-thin crust ():

- Oberoi Hilton Nariman Pt
- Taj Lands End Bandra
- Hyatt Vakola
- JW Marriott Juhu

non 5-star
- Don Giovanni Juhu
- I-forgot-the-name-of-restaurant in the Pantaloons shopping complex in Lower Parel
- Penne Juhu (yes.. their pizza is indeed good !)

Recently,

- Dominos (try their thin crust pizza)- I have become their latest fan
- Garcia's (try their whole-grain healthy thin crust.. its amazing)

But pls pls AVOID the following places for PIZZA. Once bitten, forever shy !! They made me think if these guys knew anything about pizza at all !!

- Le Meridian Sahar
- Trattoria (yes..Unpleasant surprise..I was shocked beyond belief !)
- Leela Sahar
- Hyatt Sahar
- ITC Sheraton Sahar
- ITC Sheraton Parel
- Intercontinental Sahar

non 5-star

- smokin joes (god !! they do not understand the concept of thin crust.. hope they do sooner.. for their toppings are pretty good.)

- the various udipi eat-outs in mumbai (their standard 5 inch 'pizza' or 'pijja' is about piling up some grated cheese, capsicum, onions over a readymade 1-inch thick disc of maida)

If anyone has come across really good thin crust pizza-s other than the above, pls let me know. Happy navratri.

The New & Hip venture of the one at Irla, also has a couple of banquet halls & hotel.

Well spaced out tables, similar menu, lots of parking outside (one of the reasons of giving irla a miss)constantly improving service & willingness to help you with off the menu trials.

The vegetarian edges out the non vegetarian by a wee bit; probably because of some new dishes, whereas the non veg does not seem different.

Afternoons are quiet & evenings till 9 are ok before it starts getting crowded.

This is part of the chain of restaurants by BJN Group (Samarkhand, Hypnos, Sahib Sind Sultan etc).

First the ambience

- The lighting is too bright for my taste
- Music is too loud
- Too many staff hovering around. On top it they have open kitchens.. so the staff inside the kitchen add to the crowd.
- Staff has a very funny green colored uniform

Now coming to food

- I had a cocktail made out of Vodka. I hate white sugar in cocktails. The best is cane sugar.
- Ordered Jalapeno bites... too hard & the Jalapeno tasted like Capsicum.
- I ordered Pasta in tomato sauce. Too much Garlic & on the salty side. These days i am very low on salt and prefer to get the natural taste of the food. Pizza hut's Pasta tastes better.
- Wife ordered Pudina roti (Where was the Pudina???) and Veg Jalfreizi. Strictly Ok.

Overall was disappointed as i had started having high expectations of any BJN group venture as their restaurants are always of high quality when it comes to food. I gave the feedback & the manager was sincere in telling me that they are looking for feedbacks to improve. They are new.. so my sincere hope is that they improve.

Till then i would advocate this place only if you have a crowd with mixed preferences to eat. If you are focussed on a particular type of cuisine then there are speciality & better options out there in the city.

cheers
Anand

If you're looking for a nice place to unwind in the evening and of course - if you have much cash to spare, Bennigan's is the place to go to.

The first time I went there, it was because I had never been to a 'Tavern' and the name fascinated me. Great ambience, very prompt service and good portions of food...

If you're there, do try their Daqueries and Martinis (the Death by Chocolate Martini was what brought me back to Bennigan's thrice) The crisp chicken wings are very tasty and so is the chicken platter - grilled to a tangy perfection... I also enjoyed the fetuccini alfredo which was quite delicately laced with a taste of garlic and mushrooms. Quite nice I tell you.

You might come out feeling a big dent in your pocket though... but if it's a once in a while affair... it's worth it!

Rest : Indigo
Meal : Dinner
Date : 14/2/2007
Location :Colaba, next to Cotton World behind the Taj
Company : Ze Wife

Experience- Indigo is set in an old bungalow and it has its own charm. The place is cosy, comfy, dimly lit and crowded. We walked in were seated right away and we saw Rahul Akerkar at the bar, which means he was cooking. Good Stuff!

Drink :Water, Virgin Mary, Grover Shiraz

Food : We started with the potato porcini soup which we shared. The soup was good but slightly bland, but once we added some black pepper it hit the sweet spot. Light, interesting taste.

The first course was the asparagus and fennel salad which was a valentine day special, very weak, the taste was bland but saved by the cheese. The mushroom and feta salad was on the money, great taste, the textures of the mushrooms complemented by the sourish feta.

Second course was Black bean tortellini in shiraz wine sauce, excellent, tasty, different and then you bite into a black bean which is another taste, sweetish but def on the money. Another valentine day special pasta was their ravioli, which not as good as the black bean was def on the tasty side. Both entrees were creamy which made the meal heavy

They serve a good selection of bread, but their house onion bread is a bit too oily for my taste.

The drinks were fabulous, they didn't have the sula Shiraz so i went for the grover Shiraz which is just as good (about 95% similar to the sula Shiraz)

Also, for those that recall my post looking for the best bloody mary in the world. my friends, head down to the indigo and feast yourself on their nugget. its a bit on the spicier side, but man its so full of taste.

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to have the dessert (the creme brulee i was wanting) as we were quite full. Next time surely

The service was some of the best ive had a whole three generations ahead of their bastard sibling Indigo deli.

Food 9.0 Service 9.3