With a confusing menu, lacklustre food and drink and far-from-attentive service, the only saving grace of this new 14th story Goregaon restobar is the view on offer…
By Raul Dias
Paying homage to the city of Bombay in more ways than one, least of all with its pun-ridden name, the two-month-old Bomb’ar’s greatest—and perhaps, only—ace up its sleeve is its rather atmospheric location. Perched on the 14th floor of a high-rise in Goregaon West, overlooking the commercial superhub that is the Inorbit Mall and offering an eye full of the lush, green hills of Filmcity in the east, this restobar rides high. With plenty of natural light streaming in, the out-of-place-during-the-day strobe lights seem woefully redundant. The less said about the indigestion-causing thumping beats amplified from the DJ booth at 1pm the better.
A large black and white portrait of Marilyn Monroe with a kitten stares down at you as you make yourself comfortable at a table that’s surrounded by cobalt blue chairs and matching, tufted couches. Both the food and drinks’ menu are further peppered with plenty of ‘Bombay’ puns. Take for instance the cocktail that we call for. Worli’s sea breeze (Rs 450) comes to the table replete with high drama in a glass beaker shrouded in a dry ice-induced haze. But sadly, that is the only thing good about this weak, watery drink that leaves us seriously doubting the presence of the alleged gin and white rum pours to its lemon thyme and honey parts.
Again, the glorious view assuages our low spirits (pun intended!). And while the thick, double-glazed glass window panels manage to filter out the din from the traffic below, a murder of crows seem super-curious with what’s going on at our table, as they incessantly peck at the glass from outside. Well, at least someone seems interested in us! That’s much more than we can say for the lethargic, uninformed wait staff. Water tumblers beg to be topped off, while orders are bungled up royally.
Even a simple request for an explanation of a dish like the conversation starter platter (Rs 355) foxes them enough for the manager to come to our rescue. Well, in case you were wondering, the platter is made up of a trio of starters like soggy paani puris served with a shot of tasteless mint water, paapdi chaat with boiled potato cubes doused in sour, beaten yogurt that seems to have gone bad and a serving of an innovative sounding, but badly executed, over-spiced lamb shammi kebab ‘dahi bhalla’ again slathered with that same stale dahi.
Hoping our mains fare better, we anxiously await our order of yellow prawn curry served with basil fried rice (Rs 525). Though generously portioned with 5-6 plump specimens, the prawn curry is a sickly sweet, gloopy mess that we have to will down our throats with all our might. The rice is a little ray of hope with its fluffy mouthfeel and peppery basil hit. Our other main, the chicken steak in devilled sauce (Rs 495), though stinting on its promise of miso-terragon butter sees two juicy, well-grilled breast fillets swimming in a sauce that tastes deceptively of ketchup. And not in a good way.
Disappointment rears its ugly head once again when it’s time for dessert. The apple and pear crumble tart (Rs 175) is the sum of a gritty, over sweetened apple sauce sitting atop a raw, under-baked shortcrust pastry shell and served with four blobs of artificial, non-dairy (we asked!) whipped cream. The side of ‘cinnamon’ ice cream has none of that comforting warmth that the fragrant spice imparts and tastes like any other pedestrian vanilla scoop.
Now, if only the view could have filled our bellies like it did our hearts…
TIME: 11am to 1am
AT: 14th Floor, 1st Avenue, Off Goregaon-Malad Link Road, Goregaon West.
CALL: 9136080052/53
(A shorter, edited version of this review appeared in the 12th October 2018 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 30 https://m.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-food-bombar-will-leave-you-bombed-out/19884154)
By Raul Dias
Paying homage to the city of Bombay in more ways than one, least of all with its pun-ridden name, the two-month-old Bomb’ar’s greatest—and perhaps, only—ace up its sleeve is its rather atmospheric location. Perched on the 14th floor of a high-rise in Goregaon West, overlooking the commercial superhub that is the Inorbit Mall and offering an eye full of the lush, green hills of Filmcity in the east, this restobar rides high. With plenty of natural light streaming in, the out-of-place-during-the-day strobe lights seem woefully redundant. The less said about the indigestion-causing thumping beats amplified from the DJ booth at 1pm the better.
A large black and white portrait of Marilyn Monroe with a kitten stares down at you as you make yourself comfortable at a table that’s surrounded by cobalt blue chairs and matching, tufted couches. Both the food and drinks’ menu are further peppered with plenty of ‘Bombay’ puns. Take for instance the cocktail that we call for. Worli’s sea breeze (Rs 450) comes to the table replete with high drama in a glass beaker shrouded in a dry ice-induced haze. But sadly, that is the only thing good about this weak, watery drink that leaves us seriously doubting the presence of the alleged gin and white rum pours to its lemon thyme and honey parts.
Again, the glorious view assuages our low spirits (pun intended!). And while the thick, double-glazed glass window panels manage to filter out the din from the traffic below, a murder of crows seem super-curious with what’s going on at our table, as they incessantly peck at the glass from outside. Well, at least someone seems interested in us! That’s much more than we can say for the lethargic, uninformed wait staff. Water tumblers beg to be topped off, while orders are bungled up royally.
Even a simple request for an explanation of a dish like the conversation starter platter (Rs 355) foxes them enough for the manager to come to our rescue. Well, in case you were wondering, the platter is made up of a trio of starters like soggy paani puris served with a shot of tasteless mint water, paapdi chaat with boiled potato cubes doused in sour, beaten yogurt that seems to have gone bad and a serving of an innovative sounding, but badly executed, over-spiced lamb shammi kebab ‘dahi bhalla’ again slathered with that same stale dahi.
Hoping our mains fare better, we anxiously await our order of yellow prawn curry served with basil fried rice (Rs 525). Though generously portioned with 5-6 plump specimens, the prawn curry is a sickly sweet, gloopy mess that we have to will down our throats with all our might. The rice is a little ray of hope with its fluffy mouthfeel and peppery basil hit. Our other main, the chicken steak in devilled sauce (Rs 495), though stinting on its promise of miso-terragon butter sees two juicy, well-grilled breast fillets swimming in a sauce that tastes deceptively of ketchup. And not in a good way.
Disappointment rears its ugly head once again when it’s time for dessert. The apple and pear crumble tart (Rs 175) is the sum of a gritty, over sweetened apple sauce sitting atop a raw, under-baked shortcrust pastry shell and served with four blobs of artificial, non-dairy (we asked!) whipped cream. The side of ‘cinnamon’ ice cream has none of that comforting warmth that the fragrant spice imparts and tastes like any other pedestrian vanilla scoop.
Now, if only the view could have filled our bellies like it did our hearts…
TIME: 11am to 1am
AT: 14th Floor, 1st Avenue, Off Goregaon-Malad Link Road, Goregaon West.
CALL: 9136080052/53
(A shorter, edited version of this review appeared in the 12th October 2018 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 30 https://m.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-food-bombar-will-leave-you-bombed-out/19884154)
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