JOEY’S PIZZA , MALAD WEST.

Coming across various positive reviews from friends, family and zomato, we finally decided to try the pizza at Joey’s finally and were pretty confused regarding our feelings post the meal and also during.

We reached Joey’s at around 12.30 in the noon at the malad outlet and were immediately offered a table and a menu. Looking around and seeing the hustle-bustle we were pretty excited while placing the order and were eagerly waiting for the food to arrive. We ordered a Super Cheese Garlic Bread for starter, a Chicken Mania Pizza and a Chef’s Favorite Veg Pizza. Apparently the order was pretty simple and not something which would have taken a good 1 hour to appear. But we soon realized that all this delay was being caused because the staff was busy preparing and packing food for the BPO centers nearby!!! To add to this we were the only ones whose order was taking so long to arrive so after 50 minutes we decided to go check the status and had to literally fight  with the manger to get our food.

After all this chaos regarding our order we got the food in the next 10 minutes but were horrified with what we saw and tasted. The garlic bread was barely toasted with the cheese half melted and almost raw bell peppers which looked as if it was just assembled in haste and warmed in the oven for 5 minutes barely before being served to us. The chicken pizza was okay-ish and gave a stomach ache 3 hours later which lasted for about 2 days. And there is no starting to the veg pizza…..the base was half-cooked, the cheese tasted stale and the veggies were the only good part about it !!!

Chicken Mania Pizza

Super Cheese Garlic Bread

Chef's Favorite Veg Pizza

So all in all we had an experience very close to a nightmare and were in a dilemma as to was it only us who had such a terrible experience? Was it the malad branch that was bad? Or was it that people were posting reviews that were misleading??

We still are taking this on a positive note and will definitely be trying the Andheri branch soon to make sure we aren’t missing out on good pizzas because of the fault of Malad Branch of Joey’s and hopefully Andheri will make it up to us!!!

Ambience : 2/5

Service : 0.5/5 (I would have given a negative if that was possible)

Food: 1.5/5

Cost : Reasonable provided that give you good food or else a BIG FAT NAY!!

Back with a Bang? OH yes we are!! Missing from the scene from quite some time…..Fatang foods is back with a new addition to the blog…..recipes straight from our kitchens…..some known some unknown…..some new and some old!!!! Starting this time we are bringing to you a recipe from the gujrati kitchens of Kathiawar….Chhaas nu Shak.

CHHAAS NU SHAAK (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

Leftover Chappattis – 3

Buttermilk – 3 glasses

Oil – 1 ½ tbsp

Garlic paste – 2 tbsp

Curry leaves – 8 to 10

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Chilli powder – 1 to 2 tsp

Asafoetida – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

8-10 sprigs of coriander.

Method:

1.   Roughly cut the chappatis into small squares of 2x2.

2.    Mix the garlic paste into the buttermilk with a hand blender.

3.    In a deep pan, heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves and let them splutter for about half a minute.

4.    Once the mustard and cumin seeds start giving a slight aroma add in the asafoetida and buttermilk. (This adding always has to give a whhooossshhhh sound.)

5.    Add the turmeric, chilli powder and salt and let it simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.

6.    Finally add the chappati squares and simmer for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally.

7.    Once you get a thick gravy like consistency, take it off the flame, add freshly chopped coriander and serve immediately.

Chhaas Nu Shaak

BISTRO GRILL, KANDIVALI EAST.

Kandivali east is fast becoming a hub of food joints serving a wide range of cuisines – both Indian and Western. Bistro Grill is the new member of this food hub and is worth a mention. A non-veg lunch and a veg dinner was what it took to review this place and the food is pretty impressing.

The lunch consisted of Chicken Shawarma – a dish which deserves a special mention because of this new concept slowly becoming known among the college kids. The dish was okay-ish and you can taste better shawarmas at reasonable prices elsewhere. We also ordered a Veg Mix Sauce Pasta which was really really good. It was so good the taste was lingering in our mouth for a long time. From the grills we ordered BBQ Chicken which actually was expected to be very good but was disappointing. It looked more like chicken coated with masala kept on the fire just to make it appear grilled.

Chicken Shawarma 

Chicken Shawarma (insides)

Veg Mix Sauce Pasta

BBQ Chicken

JANI KHAMAN AND LOCHO HOUSE, BORIVALI WEST.

Gujaratis have their own way of correcting their mistakes and making them work in their favor as well as converting it into a full-fledged business ( I myself am a gujarati and I speak the truth) and one such example is Jani Khaman and Locho House in Borivali west. Before going ahead with the menu it is necessary to see what exactly does “locho” mean….the word has a small story behind it!! The story goes as follows:

Locho means ‘something fishy’ in gujarati. Once a chef made the mistake of adding a little more water to the khaman dhokla batter than necessary which made it turn a bit more softer and mushy than the regular batter. Realizing his mistake he screamed “ Aa toh locho thai gayo” and then to hide his mistake he served it to the customer garnishing it with butter and garlic and it was an instant hit with his customers. So this is how LOCHO was born and is now a very dear food of all the gujaratis.

So we started our mini meal with Khaman Dhokla, a specialty from surat locally known as ‘vati dal nu khaman’. The next on the list was Schezwan Locho, deliciously buttery with a spicy touch of scehwan chutney. Garlic Sev Khamani was another awesome dish with the right touch of garlic to the awesome taste of dismantled dhokla. Also worth trying are their Butter and Butter Garlic Locho – both of them their basic dishes with a beautiful taste without any addition. We also did try their Idada which is White Dhokla locally and it was decent enough but nowhere close to locho. And an absolute must try is their Manchurian Locho and Sandwich Locho which is available only on Sundays. And the Chutney they use is something you haven’t tasted before in Mumbai.

The only issue is this is more of a take away joint with just a rack sort of a thing to keep the plates and eat. So there is no such thing as ambience here. We would suggest taking a parcel and enjoying it at your comfort at home.

Service: 2.5/5

Food: 3.5/5

Cost: Pocket-Friendly

Khaman Dhokla

Schezwan Locho

Garlic Sev Khamani

Butter Locho

Garlic Butter Locho

Idada

KANSAR KATHIYAWADI THALI RESTAURANT, GHODBUNDER.

A part of the Express Inn hotel on the Thane-Ghodbunder road, Kansar welcomes visitors for lunch and dinner throughout the day and is hardly empty. This place offers a mix of Gujarati-Rajasthani cuisine and is very well-known thali restaurant in Mumbai.

At a very reasonable price, you get an unlimited thali with 4 Subzis, Chappati, Bajra Rotla, Salad, Papad, 2 varieties of Farsan, 2 varieties of Sweets, Dal, Rice, Kadhi, Khichdi and Chaas. Along with the Chutney and Achaar which is already on the table. The food here never disappoints and always has mouth-watering fare on the menu. It perfectly suits the foodies of Mumbai who love eating but are also health-conscious. No matter you visit on a regular day or a festival, the standard of food they serve always remains the same. The food is neither too sweet ( gujju and rajasthani food being sweet is just an over-hyped myth…..they love eating sweets not sweet food) nor too spicy and definitely not very bland. Moreover they use good quality Ghee and Oil and the food is not even all that oily. The ambience is also of soothing and of rajwadi style with a calming effect once you are seated. And the staff is so very attentive, it is difficult to come across such staff everyday.

We suggest you try out this restaurant atleast once whenever you are passing by that side and experience an amazing blend of the Rajasthani and Gujarati cuisine. I have not mentioned what was on the menu when we went here because their menu keeps on changing every day. But this place is definitely worth trying especially if you are a Thali person.

Ambience: 3.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Food: 3.5/5

Cost: Pocket – friendly.

Thali - a mix of Rajasthani and Gujarati food!!

KYANI & CO. , MARINE LINES.

Brought to Mumbai by the Persian immigrants in the 19^th century, Irani Cafes were once the life of Mumbai with as many as 350 cafes spread all over the city. But with growing competition from fast food chains, they are fast shutting down with only about 25 of them remaining. And one such famous café since decades is the Kyani & Co. in Marine Lines.

As soon as you enter this place, you enter the old world charm of “Bombay” and the setting of the place hardly fails to make you realize that you are in an Irani café. The old parsi uncle on the counter, the wooden furniture, the vintage wall clock and the smell of freshly prepared omelette. On a special brunch here we ate to our heart’s content and couldn’t be more happy. We started with a Parsee Omlette, a delicious omelette with tomatoes, onion and coriander. We then ordered Pulao with Chicken Dhansak -  again a speciality from the parsee kitchen. The chicken was very very fresh and so was the pulao. The next on the list was Cheese Bhurjee – cheesy, tasty, yummy!!! And the last on the list was Kheema Ghotala – again a perfect blend of mutton and egg and yummy and yes a specialty which could be found on almost all the tables. We also tried their special Raspberry Soda, again a must have here. For deserts we ordered the famous Caramel Custard and Kulfi with Falooda and Jelly. The custard requires no description of course and the second desert requires a special mention. The kulfi, jelly and rose syrup - all three were housemade.....there was a very evident difference in the taste!

This meal was quite an experience and we personally recommend this to everyone atleast once and that too at the soonest before these places start shutting down and vanishing from the streets altogether. No doubt the staff is a little haughty, but what’s an Irani joint without any hassles?

Ambience: 3.5/5

Service: 3/5

Food: 4/5

Cost: Count in Pennies!!  

Parsee Omlette

Pulao with Chicken Dhansak

Raspberry Soda

Cheese Bhurjee

Kheema Ghotala

Caramel Custard

Kulfi with Falooda and Jelly

SUKH SAGAR SNACKS, CHOWPATTY.

Mention Pav Bhaji near Chowpatty and Sukh Sagar is the place people will direct you to! Said to be one of the oldest places serving pav bhaji and south indian food, it is famous among almost all the Mumbaikars – the old, the young, the business class, the working class, the marathon runners, the foodies -  almost everyone!

We frequently visit this place and every single time our first order is of their famous Idli Chutney. This is the best idli chutney you will ever eat and it is so good that you do not even need sambhar to accompany this plate. The next order is of Pav Bhaji. And their specialty is that no matter what day or time you visit, it tastes exactly the same every single time! The right amount of butter in the bhaji and on the pav, the perfect blend of vegetables and perfectly chopped onions for accompaniment! We also ordered their Masala Pav this time and were pretty impressed if not spellbound! It did taste delicious, the only drawback being the onions were present in a big quantity and tasted strongly of butter. But other than that, the food was finger-licking good. We also ordered Lassi after the meal for a complete meal and that too was simply one of the best lassi’s  I have ever tried!

This place definitely needs a place in the bucket list of every mumbaikar! And it is very near to our Queen’s Necklace so you have no reason to skip this place!

Ambience: 2.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Food: 3.5/5

Cost: Pocket Friendly.

Idli Chutney

Pav Bhaji

Masala Pav

Lassi

UNCLE’S KITCHEN, MALAD WEST.

One of the most famous Chinese joints since decades, Uncle’s Kitchen is a favorite with all the non-vegetarians in the western suburbs. Said to be serving food since 80’s from a tiny stall this place is now a full-fledged restaurant with an elaborate sitting arrangement, still serving and satisfying its customers like it did when it was first established. The ambience of the restaurant is simple enough although the hygiene part needs a bit of work. But when it comes to food, they make sure you have no complains. (this applies only if you are a non-vegetarian……I would strictly prohibit the vegetarians from visiting this place).

So yes, a Chinese lunch craving brought us here and we started by ordering the Chicken Manchow Soup which had a beautiful aroma and a wonderful taste. The vegetables used were finely chopped and the chicken soup did have am ample amount of chicken present. For the mains we ordered Chicken Fried Rice and a Veg Shezwan Chow Mein (a dish to try how their veg food tastes). The chicken fried rice was lip-smacking good and the chicken used was fresh. But the veg dish was a big disappointment!!! Although it was veg, you could smell and taste chicken in it which suggests they use Chicken broth even in their veg food.

Overall, it is a place only for the non-vegetarians, for the vegetarians it is a straight no-no because everything including the water smells weird. Also if they could start working on their hygiene I guess it can be a better place! 

Ambience: 2.5/5

Service: 3/5

Food: 3.5/5

Cost: Reasonable.

Chicken Manchow Soup

Chicken Fried Rice

with ample amount of chicken!

Schezwan Chowmein

On the plate!