(This article first appeared online on 30th August 2023 in Mint Lounge, India https://lifestyle.livemint.com/food/discover/mumbai-ranwar-village-bandra-cafes-restaurants-111693320146083.html)
Showing posts with label CAFE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CAFE. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
5 of London's Most Interesting Coffee Shops
https://lifestyle.livemint.com/food/discover/where-to-find-the-best-coffee-in-london-111683027447448.html)
Friday, April 9, 2021
Good G.O.D.
Purporting to serve healthy, satvik and guilt-free food and beverages made using A2 milk from Gir cows, this new, midtown milk cafe gets it right.
By Raul Dias
Being highly 'lactose tolerant' (read: obsessed!), our love for all things dairy is an unbridled one. Even on a particularly brutal day, we’d pick a milk bar in a jiffy over a conventional, alcohol-dispensing one. So, imagine our delight when we recently chanced upon this new dairy products-based cafe literally a hop, skip and a jump away from where we live in the Dadar-Shivaji Park vicinity.
G.O.D. (short for Goodness Of Dairy) Cafe claims to be India’s first A2 milk cafe, serving healthy, satvik and guilt-free food and beverages made using fresh A2 milk and other dairy products like butter, ghee, paneer and yogurt brought in daily from the cafe’s parent company Harrit Farms that’s located in nearby Khardi.
With an open, bar-style kitchen that’s housed rather unusually at the very entrance of this twin-levelled cafe, the food and drinks are all prepared freshly on order. And all are based on the Ayurvedic philosophy of 'food is rasa (essence)'. Think masala chais, herbal teas, milkshakes and all-vegetarian snacks, desserts and breakfast items like poha, upma and dhokla among others.
Due to the new dine-in restaurant restrictions, we chose to pick up our order from the cafe ourselves. Though the thought of lounging about the mezzanine level's main dining space—all done up with low tables, cane stools and traditional Kutchi Lippan mirror work art—was a very appealing one.
Made using the naturally sweet and calcium-fortified A2 milk that’s produced by the long-eared Gir breed of cow, our yashtimadhu chai (Rs.150) was a full-bodied treat served in an earthen kullad. Enriched with fennel seeds and spicy chai masala, the creamy tea had a distinct chocolate taste and was sparingly sweetened with palm jaggery.
Speaking of which, the cafe has a 'no white' policy. But hang on! It’s not what you might think. At G.O.D. Cafe there is no usage of white sugar, maida or white salt.
The same jaggery-induced caramel taste is packed into the rare-to-find-in-Mumbai traditional Gujarati sweet called sukhdi (Rs.320). Made on the spot, this dulce de leche-like barfi that’s also known as 'gur papdi' is made with whole wheat atta and loaded with A2 ghee and the aforementioned palm jaggery.
Craving a bit of savoury, we tucked into our order of a generously portioned A2 ghee khichdi (Rs.320) that was enough for three people. Anointed with a generous drizzle of ghee, this rice, moong dal and mixed vegetable (carrots, French beans, cauliflower florets and green peas) comfort food hit the spot. Taking the slight chilly heat off our palates was the thick, plain raita that was served alongside the khichdi.
Still channelling those holi vibes, we couldn’t resist the lure of a tall glass of the spicy thandai (Rs.320). The saffron-fennel seed fragrance of the milky drink took us straight back to our last trip to Varanasi. Where imbibing in a kullad of thandai at one of the holy city’s many dugdhalayas was an almost daily ritual for us.
We ended our lactose-enhanced innings with an order of a one litre glass bottle of pure, unpasteurised, raw A2 milk (Rs.150). This we later generously splashed onto our quotidian midnight muesli bowl, sans any sugar or other sweeteners that we generally crave. Its thick, creamy consistency and naturally sweet taste were more than enough compensation.
AT: Sanskruti building, Shop no. 1, opp. Sena Bhavan, Dadar West.
DELIVERY: Swiggy and Zomato
TIME: 9 am to 11 pm
CALL: 9820084100
(An edited version of this review appeared in the 9th April 2021 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 17 https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai-guide/mumbai-food/article/dairy-good-idea--23167631)
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Bun Times!
We drop in for a revisit to an international café chain where their signature buns are just as yum, but prices a tad higher than before
By Raul Dias
Revisiting an eatery we’ve reviewed in the past always throws up a whole lot of pertinent questions. Chief among them being—did we do justice to it the first time round? Eleven months after we visited Pappa Roti when it first opened in February 2018, we drop in for our very own ‘2.0 assessment’ of the café and all it has to offer us. And we’re happy to report that our earlier review couldn’t have been more on the ball.
We’re at the hip-n-trendy Lower Parel branch of the international café chain that first introduced the world to its signature brand of oxymoronically airy, yet crusty-topped butter buns in Malaysia in 2003. Comfortably ensconced in a corner booth, surrounded by potted plants and stacks of board games, we call for the signature bun (Rs 185, all buns contain egg) slathered with the Nutella-doppelganger Lotus biscuit spread add on, that sets us back by another Rs 70. The gooey, buttery core of the bun works in perfect textural harmony with the coffee-crusted exterior. We team this with the tart and refreshing strawberry-basil ice tea (Rs 210) and a well-made, hot Pappa milk tea (Rs 225) that unfortunately comes pre-sweetened.
One glance at the menu and we’re acutely made aware of the fact that almost everything on it has been marked up by at least 10 per cent of the launch price. But then, there are also a few delicious new savoury entrants like the multigrain, smoked BBQ chicken sandwich (Rs 275) with a subtle hint of sweet bell peppers and mayonnaise. The assertive hit of cinnamon in the generously-stuffed mutton kheema roll (Rs 295) is just right. Sitting atop a crisp base, the exotic chargrilled vegetable 10-inch pizza (Rs 425) not just looks good, but tastes equally scrumptious, though we’d have liked a little more tomato-garlic sauce smeared on the base.
Unable to resist the lure of the buns—that we can now smell as they come freshly baked off the oven—we decide to indulge in one last specimen in lieu of dessert. This time we gourmandise the dark chocolate anointed bun (Rs 185 + Rs 70 for the topping) and banish all thoughts of the crisp almond Nutella bun with Oreo (Rs 185 + Rs 90) for another equally crisp Sunday afternoon!
TIME: 11am to 1am
AT: Gate 4, Ground Floor, Trade View, Oasis Reality, Lower Parel.
CALL: 8919067796
(An edited version of this review appeared in the 19th December 2018 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 24 https://m.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-food-lower-parel-cafe-know-to-show-all-a-bun-time/402363)
By Raul Dias
Revisiting an eatery we’ve reviewed in the past always throws up a whole lot of pertinent questions. Chief among them being—did we do justice to it the first time round? Eleven months after we visited Pappa Roti when it first opened in February 2018, we drop in for our very own ‘2.0 assessment’ of the café and all it has to offer us. And we’re happy to report that our earlier review couldn’t have been more on the ball.
We’re at the hip-n-trendy Lower Parel branch of the international café chain that first introduced the world to its signature brand of oxymoronically airy, yet crusty-topped butter buns in Malaysia in 2003. Comfortably ensconced in a corner booth, surrounded by potted plants and stacks of board games, we call for the signature bun (Rs 185, all buns contain egg) slathered with the Nutella-doppelganger Lotus biscuit spread add on, that sets us back by another Rs 70. The gooey, buttery core of the bun works in perfect textural harmony with the coffee-crusted exterior. We team this with the tart and refreshing strawberry-basil ice tea (Rs 210) and a well-made, hot Pappa milk tea (Rs 225) that unfortunately comes pre-sweetened.
One glance at the menu and we’re acutely made aware of the fact that almost everything on it has been marked up by at least 10 per cent of the launch price. But then, there are also a few delicious new savoury entrants like the multigrain, smoked BBQ chicken sandwich (Rs 275) with a subtle hint of sweet bell peppers and mayonnaise. The assertive hit of cinnamon in the generously-stuffed mutton kheema roll (Rs 295) is just right. Sitting atop a crisp base, the exotic chargrilled vegetable 10-inch pizza (Rs 425) not just looks good, but tastes equally scrumptious, though we’d have liked a little more tomato-garlic sauce smeared on the base.
Unable to resist the lure of the buns—that we can now smell as they come freshly baked off the oven—we decide to indulge in one last specimen in lieu of dessert. This time we gourmandise the dark chocolate anointed bun (Rs 185 + Rs 70 for the topping) and banish all thoughts of the crisp almond Nutella bun with Oreo (Rs 185 + Rs 90) for another equally crisp Sunday afternoon!
TIME: 11am to 1am
AT: Gate 4, Ground Floor, Trade View, Oasis Reality, Lower Parel.
CALL: 8919067796
(An edited version of this review appeared in the 19th December 2018 issue of the Mid-Day newspaper, India on page 24 https://m.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-food-lower-parel-cafe-know-to-show-all-a-bun-time/402363)
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