Nirvana

Name: Nirvana
Location: Thakur Village, Kindivali(E), Mumbai, India.

Sorry people, I haven't been able to map this one :-( If anyone one of you have, then please let me know.

Don't confuse this place with the Rock group, or the literal meaning even though you may get away by doing so. Yes, this is place is absolute bliss for food lovers like me. It's got this freshness and appeal which not many others I've been to have had.
Being located in a well planned locality helps since that gives it the openness around it that other places located in congested places lack. Nirvana has got both inside and outside sitting arrangements. The former being air-conditioned, and the latter one being out in the open. If you visit this place in the late evenings, when the sun has gone down, it can be quite a nice experience to have your food outside like we did.

We ordered:

1. Pankhi Chutney: This is a dish not very widely available in restaurants across town. It is a rice and daal preparation made by just cooking it in a pair of banana tree leaves, and it is very light to the touch, and quite flimsy too. It is to be had with the green chutney that is served along with it. Ummmm.... Delicious.... This is a must have if you visit this place. Personally, I haven't had better pankhi chutney in any other place I've been to.


2. Tava sabzi: This is a Nirvana speciality, and is collection of vegetables cooked, and served.


3. Khidchi


4. Shezwan Rice


5. Roti


6. Gulab Jamun

We were 6 of us gone to have dinner, and we ordered multiples of some of the above dishes(3 places of Pankhi Chutney, and 6 servings of Gulab Jamun). Yes, that was quite a mealful. The bill came to about Rs. 850/- which comesout to be about Rs. 141/- per head, which in my opinion is very well worth it for this place. I've been here 4 times already in the last 1 year, and would highly recommend you frequent this place too.... But not too much -- in case they don't have place for me any more :P

Cafe Bharat

Name: Cafe Bharat
Location: Opp. Churchgate Station, Mumbai, India.

Google Maps Link
Cafe Bharat just next to Resham Bhavan on the map.

We haven't had anything at this place, but the entry here exists to show that a place as small as this can have a decent Wash Basin to wash hands, whereas places like Cafe Churchill and Mervans(Andheri) refuse to do so. I ask -- why this refusal to have a wash basin, when it is probably the most hygienic thing to be doing????

Cafe Madras

Name: Cafe Madras
Location: Kings' Circle, Mumbai, India

Google Maps Link

Cafe madras is about 30sec walking distance from Cafe Mysore; even at a snail's pace. If you call the waiter, you'll probably get someone from Cafe Mysore :P. One thing that I must mention about this place is that it shuts down at 2:30pm for cleaning, etc, and opens up again a few hours later, so if you want to enjoy a good meal, make sure you are there before 2pm, because they turn off their dosa stoves at about 2:45.

We ordered:

1. Ragi Masala Dosa: This is a dosa made of ragi. It was greyish in colour when we had it.


2. Pongal Avial: This is a rice dish which is basically (pongal)rice and mung daal along with cooked (avial)vegetables. We had some coconut chutney along with this, and it tasted quite nice.


3. Urad dosa: The name says it all.


4. Filter coffee(copi): This is again a South Indian speciality, and tasted as good as the one we had at Cafe Mysore.

The bill to just Rs. 88/- for all of that. Now, isn't that dirt cheap? All in all, a really nice place. Good food, pleasant waiters, and very affordable. My verdict: Visit again :-)

Cafe Churchill

Name: Cafe Churchill
Location: Colaba Causeway, Mumbai, India.

Google Maps Link

Cafe Churchill was recommended to me by one of my friends/office colleague/former foodie who is desperately trying to reduce the circumference of his mid-tires. I sincerely wish him all the best for that ;-)
This place is quite small compared to other places we've been to, and can house just about 34 people(full capacity), but it would make the place not very favourable/enjoyable, so the enjoyable capacity would be something like 15 people, which is what you want a nice setting to feel like. On entering, it seemed pretty good, and had a nice variety of dishes to choose from -- even for the valedictorian vegetarian. However, we did notice 3 cockroaches on the walls(and I killed 2) -- one seem to get away but I wouldn't know where.... Anyways, you should know that I absolutely hate cockroaches -- so much so that I've set up a blog, and am willing to give away free advice on how to get rid of these resilient pests. Not the best way to start off a meal, but I try to look for the positives.

We ordered:

1. Legume Al Ferno: (please don't blame me if I've gotten the name wrong cause my friend is the one who told me it. Here's a link to her blog. Leave a malicious comment there if you please :P) This is a lasagna type of dish with a not-so-cheesy base and come baby corn, sweet corn, and mixed boiled vegetables added and topped off with 2 sweet pieces of pineapple -- makes for a filling and tasty dish. I decided to order garlic bread because this this dish along seemed just to plain. Interestingly, they didn't have have garlic bread, or maybe this is the kind of garlic bread they serve here, but it wasn't the traditional crispy garlic bread, but was the Indian pav cut into 2 pieces fried in butter/cheese and topped off with some spring onions. I must say that it was a refreshing change from the norm....


2. Club sandwich - Veggie Delight: This was again a thoda hat ke dish, which was prepared in a slightly different way that I'm used to. It had all the normal ingredients you'd expect to find in a club sandwich, plus 2 thin slices of pineapple. That gave it a slightly sweet taste, but it worked for the better.

The upside was that the food was pretty good -- I mean tasty and filling, and not too steep. It was just expensive enough to not make you go there again for a while.
There were quite a few down sides though. The cockroaches. The absence of a wash-basin -- something you'd expect to find in any decent eating place. In fact, quite a few on-the-road places I've been to have a wash-basin. The cooling wasn't too good and there were times we noticed the temperature -- not something you want to notice when you want to enjoy your meal. Oh! yes, and preferential treatment. There was a group of foreigners who came after us, and were served before.... I'd like to attribute it to "your dishes take much longer to make than theirs", but I'd never know for sure.

The bill came to 300 for 2 which as I mentioned is not very steep, but not something that you'd want to repeat in the near future given the other environmental variables that I've mentioned.

Snow Lops

Name: Snow Lops Ice-Cream Parlour
Location: Vile Parle(E), Mumbai, India.

Google Maps Link

Snow Lops is an ice-cream parlour situated pretty close to the railway station in Vile Parle(East). It offers quite a few flavours of ice-cream along with softy, and other milky delicacies.

We ordered:

1. The Choco-dip: Which comes in a tasty waffle cone. It is basically an ice-cream/softy base with chocolate sauce, and loads of chocolate chips thrown in. Makes for good desert for 2. Cost: Rs. 65/- -- pretty affordable huh ;-)

I'd like to try this place more often to be able to comment on it.

Khasiyat

Name: Khasiyat
Location: S.V. Road, Vile Parle(W), Mumbai, India.

Google Maps Link

Khasiyat is a place famous primarily for it's delicious parathas. However, they do serve a host of other items, which are quite good. This restaurant has 2 sections. The lower one, and the upper one which is air-conditioned. When we went there, the lower section was empty, but we were the last ones in the upper section. This is one of the very few places where students get a discount(10%) if they show their school/college identity cards at the cash counter.

We ordered:

1. Panch kuti paratha: This was very tasty, and came with raita, chhole, and very well made black daal with a sparing amount of rajma in it.


2. Pav-Bhaji dossa: It looked pretty innocuous from the outside, and I initially thought I'd have to order more, but I felt quit full towards the end. I may attribute this to my lack of appetite, were it not for the second opinion which concurred with mine :-)

The bill came to Rs 120/- for 2 with Rs. 10/- thrown in for the tip, so it's pretty economical too if you want to go here more than occasionally.

Cafe Universal

Name: Cafe Universal
Location: Fort Market, Mumbai, India.

Google Maps Link
Please note that Cafe Universal has been wrongly plotted on Google Maps. It is located on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road.

Cafe Universal is one of those nice Iranian/Zoroastrian places which has a nice air about itself, and lends itself quite well to a nice and well stretched out lunch. The menu may seem slightly over-priced, but in my opinion, it is quite worth it for an occasional meal. Besides, the location(next to Ballard Estate) and setup of the place kind of justify the mildly higher rates.

We ordered:

1. Fresh fruit juices: A cocktail costs just as much as a single fruit juice, so we decided to go ahead and order a Water Melon and Sweet Lime(Mosambi) mix and a Pineapple and Mosambi mix. Both turned out to be very refreshing. Even though the price may seem a bit high at Rs 50/- per serving, they serve a lot more juice as compared to standard juice serving around the city.


2. Veg. Sizzler with Mushrooms and Baked Beans: This wasn't on the menu, but the chef was kind enough to prepare it for us :-) I must confess though that this sizzler contained a lot less veggies than it could have, and a bit more fries than it should have. Also, the mushrooms weren't as good as I've had in other places. However, on the whole, it was a satisfying meal.

All in all, a pretty chilled out place if you want some privacy and want to just chill out, cause this place doesn't have any of those snazzy jukebox thingies(which is a good thing). I would visit again, but probably not for a while and not for a meal. I'd prefer to spend that extra and have those juices again.