Exuding an easy, laid-back vibe with a menu featuring a few simple, yet delicious offerings, this tiny new Juhu café has a lot going for it.
By Raul Dias
We’ve always been firm believers that serendipitous discoveries are the best of their kind. And My Cafe, Juhu with its non-descript façade—further exacerbated by bare minimal signage—is just that kind of place. With no proper address or location available online, all we had to guide us to this brand-new café was a couple of pics taken by a colleague who’d chanced upon this charming, if a tad tiny, space a few days ago.
Cosily perched atop a dance studio and sitting cheek-by-jowl to a beauty salon in a bylane dominated by the iconic Prithvi Theatre and its equally famous and eponymous café, there’s a lot about this diminutive, three-table first-floor space that made us smile. Surrounded by potted plants and fairy lights, with comfortable bench-style seating, the almost-by-the-sea café is perfect for grabbing a late afternoon tea and snack.
Speaking of which, the menu here is a modest-sized one featuring a variety of short eats and mini meals along with a number of hot and cold beverages, including a range of teas and tisanes. Though they take a good half-an-hour post ordering to make an appearance at our table, our iced mocha (Rs 220) and fresh watermelon blossom mocktail (Rs 250) hit that sweet spot. While the former is imbued with the aroma and taste of freshly ground Arabica coffee beans with a swirl of chocolate sauce giving it some additional heft, the watermelon drink has a hint of tart cranberry that cuts through the melon’s sweetness perfectly.
Served with a small bowl of fried potato salli sticks, the duo of tomato-basil crostini (Rs 150) is generously portioned with meaty chunks of tomato and torn basil leaves. They taste scrumptious with the unexpected schmear of cream cheese applied to the toasted sourdough base in lieu of olive oil. Another open-faced preparation, i.e. the BBQ chicken subway sandwich (Rs 200) is the perfect blend of juicy morsels of roast chicken and onions, all enrobed in a tangy barbeque sauce sitting atop a huge focaccia bread slab.
Still peckish and craving something more substantial, we call for the recommended warm chicken burrito bowl (Rs 350). This turns out to be one of the best iterations of the Tex-Mex staple we’ve tried out in a very long time. With a toothsome base of plump red rice which is topped with loads of chicken, perfectly al dente kidney beans, yellow corn kernels and sweet bell peppers, all drizzled with a creamy cheese sauce, we know this one’s a winner with our very first bite.
Sadly, the over-spiced herbed baby potatoes with a yogurt dip (Rs 180) disappoint with the punishing, almost searing heat of fresh red chillies dominating every mouthful. Even the cooling hung curd dip does very little to calm things down. With just a single dessert of an outsourced (our server herself volunteered this information) chocolate brownie on the menu, coupled with the fact that it wasn’t even available that day, we decide to end things here a wee bit differently…with a spot of tea!
While we wish that we’d been served the milk on the side instead of it being premixed into the hot beverage, our final order of the fragrant and soothing lemongrass chai (Rs 120) is the perfect curtain call to an afternoon (and money!) well-spent.
AT: My Cafe, Jankidas House, 1st floor Janki Kutir, near Prithvi Theatre, Juhu.
TIME: 12 pm to 9 pm
CALL: 66756622/23
(An edited version of this review appeared in the 17th December 2019 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 22 https://m.mid-day.com/articles/short-and-sweet/22281162)
By Raul Dias
We’ve always been firm believers that serendipitous discoveries are the best of their kind. And My Cafe, Juhu with its non-descript façade—further exacerbated by bare minimal signage—is just that kind of place. With no proper address or location available online, all we had to guide us to this brand-new café was a couple of pics taken by a colleague who’d chanced upon this charming, if a tad tiny, space a few days ago.
Cosily perched atop a dance studio and sitting cheek-by-jowl to a beauty salon in a bylane dominated by the iconic Prithvi Theatre and its equally famous and eponymous café, there’s a lot about this diminutive, three-table first-floor space that made us smile. Surrounded by potted plants and fairy lights, with comfortable bench-style seating, the almost-by-the-sea café is perfect for grabbing a late afternoon tea and snack.
Speaking of which, the menu here is a modest-sized one featuring a variety of short eats and mini meals along with a number of hot and cold beverages, including a range of teas and tisanes. Though they take a good half-an-hour post ordering to make an appearance at our table, our iced mocha (Rs 220) and fresh watermelon blossom mocktail (Rs 250) hit that sweet spot. While the former is imbued with the aroma and taste of freshly ground Arabica coffee beans with a swirl of chocolate sauce giving it some additional heft, the watermelon drink has a hint of tart cranberry that cuts through the melon’s sweetness perfectly.
Served with a small bowl of fried potato salli sticks, the duo of tomato-basil crostini (Rs 150) is generously portioned with meaty chunks of tomato and torn basil leaves. They taste scrumptious with the unexpected schmear of cream cheese applied to the toasted sourdough base in lieu of olive oil. Another open-faced preparation, i.e. the BBQ chicken subway sandwich (Rs 200) is the perfect blend of juicy morsels of roast chicken and onions, all enrobed in a tangy barbeque sauce sitting atop a huge focaccia bread slab.
Still peckish and craving something more substantial, we call for the recommended warm chicken burrito bowl (Rs 350). This turns out to be one of the best iterations of the Tex-Mex staple we’ve tried out in a very long time. With a toothsome base of plump red rice which is topped with loads of chicken, perfectly al dente kidney beans, yellow corn kernels and sweet bell peppers, all drizzled with a creamy cheese sauce, we know this one’s a winner with our very first bite.
Sadly, the over-spiced herbed baby potatoes with a yogurt dip (Rs 180) disappoint with the punishing, almost searing heat of fresh red chillies dominating every mouthful. Even the cooling hung curd dip does very little to calm things down. With just a single dessert of an outsourced (our server herself volunteered this information) chocolate brownie on the menu, coupled with the fact that it wasn’t even available that day, we decide to end things here a wee bit differently…with a spot of tea!
While we wish that we’d been served the milk on the side instead of it being premixed into the hot beverage, our final order of the fragrant and soothing lemongrass chai (Rs 120) is the perfect curtain call to an afternoon (and money!) well-spent.
AT: My Cafe, Jankidas House, 1st floor Janki Kutir, near Prithvi Theatre, Juhu.
TIME: 12 pm to 9 pm
CALL: 66756622/23
(An edited version of this review appeared in the 17th December 2019 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 22 https://m.mid-day.com/articles/short-and-sweet/22281162)
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