While it may not be anything to look at with its uninspired décor and simple appearance, this cozy new Bandra café offers up a menu with some simple fast food staples done right
By Raul Dias
In a dynamic ‘culinaryscape’ like that of Mumbai’s—one that’s constantly being populated by shiny new cafés, each trying to outdo the other in terms of spiffy décor and all exuding a cool, hipster-chic vibe—we very rarely come across those that go against the grain. Speaking of grain, La Farina (which means ‘wheat grain flour’ in Italian) is one such brand new café that reinforces the adage of “never judge a book by its cover” with all its might.
Occupying the same space along Bandra West’s meandering Waroda Road in Ranwar Village that once housed a branch of the very popular Kakori House, this tiny, rather bland-looking café proves that it truly is (and should be!) all about the food. Ignoring the only other ‘company’ we have that afternoon that take the form of a swarm of pesky flies, we settle down at one the al fresco café’s tomato red tables and call for a range of fast food perennials from the rather small and concise menu.
Tough it does take a while to prepare, the La Farina special (Rs 385 for a 12 inch) is a well-priced, delicious pizza. We go for the thin crust regular flour one that comes heaped with a trio of chicken sausage, shrimp and juicy roasted chicken morsels—all enrobed by a light tomato sauce and topped with gooey mozzarella cheese.
The mild mozzarella once again shows up in the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich (Rs 195) that’s served with fries that are sadly of the frozen, store-bought variety and not homemade as we’d have liked. But this does not take away from the fresh burst of flavour the tomato slices and basil leaves lend to the sandwich that is in reality a fresh Caprese salad between two grilled slices of bread.
Served with an interesting range of Middle Eastern torshi-style of pickle made from radish, bell peppers and carrots, the generously stuffed chicken salami sandwich (Rs 205) is worth its weight in gold. A yummy sum of its crisp lettuce, crusty garlic croutons and grilled chicken parts, the Caesar salad with chicken (Rs 225) is another winner.
We wash it all down with a dense vegan shake (Rs 120) made with the nutty-tasting soy milk, with a slight hint of coffee flavour peeking through at the end of each sip. Perfectly straightforward, our cappuccino (Rs 100) comes to the table with a thick foamy top and does its job of perking up our lazy Sunday afternoon well.
While we were first told that their blender was out of order, and hence no blended frozen drinks were available that day, our attentive server made sure to quickly inform us when the kitchen snafu was finally sorted out, that he was ready to serve us our first choice of the crunchy frappe (Rs 130). A tall glass of just-the-right-sweet chocolate milk blended with ice and Oreo biscuits and topped with a whipped cream crown, our frappe is worth the initial stress of uncertainty.
We bookend our afternoon fast food session with another one of La Farina’s thin crust pizzas—the al funghi (Rs 320 for a 12 inch). However, this one disappoints as we miss the generosity in both the sparsely scattered mushroom slices and the barely-there sprinkling of mozzarella cheese we had earlier enjoyed heaps of in the pizza’s non-vegetarian counterpart.
But with a whole lot more hits than misses, our preference scales are clearly tipped in favour of this tiny café that’s big on promise.
AT: La Farina Cafe, 5 Dunhill Apartments, A-Wing, 26 Waroda Road, Bandra West.
TIME: 11 am to 11 pm
CALL: 8070661144, 8070661155
(An edited version of this review appeared in the 20th November 2019 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 21 https://www.mid-day.com/articles/flour-power/22119188)
By Raul Dias
In a dynamic ‘culinaryscape’ like that of Mumbai’s—one that’s constantly being populated by shiny new cafés, each trying to outdo the other in terms of spiffy décor and all exuding a cool, hipster-chic vibe—we very rarely come across those that go against the grain. Speaking of grain, La Farina (which means ‘wheat grain flour’ in Italian) is one such brand new café that reinforces the adage of “never judge a book by its cover” with all its might.
Occupying the same space along Bandra West’s meandering Waroda Road in Ranwar Village that once housed a branch of the very popular Kakori House, this tiny, rather bland-looking café proves that it truly is (and should be!) all about the food. Ignoring the only other ‘company’ we have that afternoon that take the form of a swarm of pesky flies, we settle down at one the al fresco café’s tomato red tables and call for a range of fast food perennials from the rather small and concise menu.
Tough it does take a while to prepare, the La Farina special (Rs 385 for a 12 inch) is a well-priced, delicious pizza. We go for the thin crust regular flour one that comes heaped with a trio of chicken sausage, shrimp and juicy roasted chicken morsels—all enrobed by a light tomato sauce and topped with gooey mozzarella cheese.
The mild mozzarella once again shows up in the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich (Rs 195) that’s served with fries that are sadly of the frozen, store-bought variety and not homemade as we’d have liked. But this does not take away from the fresh burst of flavour the tomato slices and basil leaves lend to the sandwich that is in reality a fresh Caprese salad between two grilled slices of bread.
Served with an interesting range of Middle Eastern torshi-style of pickle made from radish, bell peppers and carrots, the generously stuffed chicken salami sandwich (Rs 205) is worth its weight in gold. A yummy sum of its crisp lettuce, crusty garlic croutons and grilled chicken parts, the Caesar salad with chicken (Rs 225) is another winner.
We wash it all down with a dense vegan shake (Rs 120) made with the nutty-tasting soy milk, with a slight hint of coffee flavour peeking through at the end of each sip. Perfectly straightforward, our cappuccino (Rs 100) comes to the table with a thick foamy top and does its job of perking up our lazy Sunday afternoon well.
While we were first told that their blender was out of order, and hence no blended frozen drinks were available that day, our attentive server made sure to quickly inform us when the kitchen snafu was finally sorted out, that he was ready to serve us our first choice of the crunchy frappe (Rs 130). A tall glass of just-the-right-sweet chocolate milk blended with ice and Oreo biscuits and topped with a whipped cream crown, our frappe is worth the initial stress of uncertainty.
We bookend our afternoon fast food session with another one of La Farina’s thin crust pizzas—the al funghi (Rs 320 for a 12 inch). However, this one disappoints as we miss the generosity in both the sparsely scattered mushroom slices and the barely-there sprinkling of mozzarella cheese we had earlier enjoyed heaps of in the pizza’s non-vegetarian counterpart.
But with a whole lot more hits than misses, our preference scales are clearly tipped in favour of this tiny café that’s big on promise.
AT: La Farina Cafe, 5 Dunhill Apartments, A-Wing, 26 Waroda Road, Bandra West.
TIME: 11 am to 11 pm
CALL: 8070661144, 8070661155
(An edited version of this review appeared in the 20th November 2019 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 21 https://www.mid-day.com/articles/flour-power/22119188)
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