Chowpatty

Rest : Govinda
Meal : Dinner
Date : 28/12/2006
Location :ISKON Temple, Babulnath
Company : Gautam, Dr.Bones, UTK, UTS

Experience- This is a pretty small place with seating for no more than 35 people and it gets crowded. The staff is mostly hare krishnas and the place does not serve any alcohol, meat, onion or garlic

Drink :Water

Food : We started out with a round of starters the chili paneer (75) which was ok, the schezuan balls (75) which were a little burnt and crispy but i like it like that and the dry manchurian (75). The starters and soups arent the strong point of this place. \
We moved on to the main course pretty quick which was The Veg Makhanwala (95) excellent stuff this, the paneer kadai (95) not bad, good taste, it isnt as good as the makhanwala but on the money. The Dal Makhani (75) was pretty weak. We got an assortment of Nan and Rotis the bread selection is pretty limited.
It was topped off with a bunch of fried papads along with a biryani which was too sticky for my taste and a veggie raita which was slightly on the salty side.
All in all the meal was good but short of great, however if one avoids the starters and gets a safer rice option the meal is bordering on a must have.
The only downside is the lack of punch due to no onion or garlic. but hey, you cant have everything.

Rating : Food 8.5/10, Service 8/10

Damage : 780 ($17)

I can never forget the bowl of “green chilli ice cream” I relished one winter evening on Marine Drive and the zestful taste still lingers on my tongue. Never before had I enjoyed eating ice cream so much. It was indeed a unique gustatory experience. Let me tell you about it.

I love ice cream. One morning a friend of mine told me that there is a place opposite the Mumbai Chowpatty Sea Face that serves “green chilli” ice cream. I didn’t believe him. I have savored myriad flavours of ice cream but “green chilli ice cream” seemed a bit far fetched. On questioning, my friend confessed that he had only heard about it, not eaten it himself.

The very concept of green chilli ice cream whetted my curiosity so much that at sunset I was standing in front of Bachelorr’s (that’s the spelling on the menu card) Ice Cream and Juice Stall, my appetite fully stimulated by a long brisk walk.

It was there on the menu card – Green Chilli Ice Cream. I ordered it and walked with the bowl to a lonely bench nearby to enjoy the eating experience in glorious solitude.

The ice cream looks a creamy pink (not chilli green as I had expected it to be). I close my eyes and smell the ice cream – a nice sweet milky fragrance, a bit fruity; certainly no trace of the piquant penetrating sting of chillies. I spoon a bit on my tongue. My taste buds are smothered by a sweet mellifluous sensation as the cold creamy ice cream starts melting on my tongue. I am disappointed, feel conned – it seems it was just hype. This is run of the mill stuff. Or is it? Wait a moment. As the ice cream melts away I suddenly feel a sharp piercing fiery taste that sizzles my tongue, stings through my nose and penetrates my brain. My tongue is on fire and, like instant firefighting, I instinctively spoon a blob of ice cream onto my tongue. The cool ice cream quenches my burning tongue with its almost ambrosial taste but the moment it melts away I am zipped like a rocket with the sharp punch of the green chillies.

So that was the art of eating green chilli ice cream. Hot and cold. Burn and quench. Sting and soothe. Contrasting sensations. Like alternating current. Sharp tangy kicks burning through the cool syrupy sweetness till your system is fully perked up. And a trace of the biting flavour of the green chilli remains within me for a long long time as I walk away.

Green chilli ice cream doesn’t satiate – it excites, gives you a “kick”, zests you up. Try it. And let me know if you liked it.

VIKRAM KARVE

vikramkarve@sify.com

http://vikramkarve.sify.com

Soam is a vegetarian restaurant near Chowpatty in Mumbai opposite Babul Nath Mandir.

It serves a few vegetarian dishes from Maharashtrian, Gujarati, Rajasthani and Punjabi cuisines so that overall you get a good choice if you want to mix and match things and experiment. You don't have a comprehensive coverage of any cuisine but that's not the aim.

 

We started with Batata Wada and Sabudana Wada. They were very nice and made excellent starters.

The one thing which would probably come to mind is that similar stuff may be available at about 1/5th the price in small restaurants and may taste better too. As long as you have that in your head you can't really enjoy this place. The USP of this place is really to give you a taste of a lot of vegetarian cuisines and snacks all under one roof.

You're also paying to eat in an AC restaurant where you get served on shiny metal plates and a leaf.

For the main course we had

1.) Masale Bhat which was very average
2.) Gatte ki Sabzi with Lacchedar Paratha which was decent.

At the end we were still hungry and ordered a Farsan Platter. We thought it would be like conventional Farsan Mart snacks but they had tried some innovative ways of making dhokla, samosa etc which we didn't really like.

Conclusion: Excellent snacks but don't get the Farsan Platter. Average to decent main course dishes.