This first appeared on @thefinelychopped on Instagram on 14/2/25
What am I doing alone in a pretty cafe in Bandra on Valentine’s Day?
K & I have been a couple for 24 years and 7 months. At the risk of sounding like a crusty old curmudgeon, we no longer need a particular day in the year to go on a date!
The apartment above ours has new owners. They are getting a lot of work done. This involves some heavy drilling. Today was the most intense. I sprung back, shaking like Kramer each time I went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
I finally gave up and thought of going to a cafe seeking refuge, but I wasn’t sure where to go. Our usual, Boojee, is not conducive to killing time as it’s too crowded and tables are at a premium.
K suggested Vanilla Miel, a new place in Bandra’s Pali Village. I’d heard about it through an Instagram page I follow, but whose name I can’t recollect. I saw it on my friend Niloy Das’s Facebook feed; he’d gone there with his wife and so on. K had heard about it on my friend Sahil @headbangereats feed. People who organise restaurant awards get into ‘mine is bigger than yours’ brawls but the truth is that restaurant choices are more likely to be made based on the feeds of content creators one trusts or word of mouth, than these awards. And that’s how I landed up at Vanilla Miel.
It is a two storied place set in a pretty refurbished Pali Village house, which is the new trend.
It has a warm cafe like vibe, distinguished by the views of Pali Village cottages that one can see from the upper floor. Downstairs is the coffee bar and pastry display, has a few tables and is a better choice if you are alone. They have an outdoor section. I sat upstairs.
The menu says, ‘here desserts are the protagonist, the mainstay, intentionally, the savouries are crafted in petite portions. They are the foil, that accentuate the intricacies of the dessert experience.’
I realised what they meant when I had a bite of the banana cake with 70 per cent dark single origin chocolate. A sensuous swoosh which made me go weak in my knees. As did the quiche lorraine tart. It has a crisp tart base and is not soft, loving and cheesy like a traditional quiche. But the cuddly bacon and ham in it, with their seductive mouth feel and little bits of fat, made one forget all technicalities. I also had a prawn roll. Juicy prawns in a velvety, creamy chilli garlic dressing.
Have you heard of the term ‘foster fail’? It means someone who takes in a pet to foster, but falls in love with it and doesn’t give it up.
I have coined the phrase ‘critic fail’ for me. A food critic who intends to have a nibble but ends up having the whole dish. I had a macchiato. The foam was fully white and that worried me. It was really good though.
In case you were wondering, there weren’t any Valentine Day couples here as far as my ‘Bandra Uncle (that’s what K calls me) eyes could detect. Just folks working alone in corners, others having work meetings, mini kitty party-like group of friends discussing the merits of not eating carbs after sunset while downing luscious French toasts and sipping on indulgent coffees and ‘just good friends.’ A couple of young ladies came later, one of whom had a police escort. They sat in a corner without making a fuss but the policeman stood in the middle and kept guard. A bit of a dampener if one actually was on a Valentine’s date.
I picked up a sugar free dark chocolate carre for K as a V day gift. See, one can get mushy when one wants to! She liked it quite a bit. It was a ganache and she said it felt like a chocolate. The base had crushed almonds and a hint of coconut. We don’t like coconut in our dessert, but its presence was too negligible to be an irritant.
The service was understated and warm. I got into an interesting debate with my young server, Ansh, on the merits of flat lay versus angular food pics. And about why I didn’t look into the camera when he took my pic. ‘Looking lovingly at the food is my signature. It’s about the food and not me.’ Another young man, Mohit, told me about his bike ride from Mumbai to Kanya Kumari and back. The back of my tee shirt said ‘Coffee and Croissant for breakfast’ and that reminded him of a cafe in Pune that he stopped at during the trip. This discussion started when he and his colleagues came up to me, giggled and asked me where my tee shirt was from. K had bought it off Instagram. I showed them the tee-shirt label (The Marsupial Store).
The staff told me that Vanilla Miel is owned by two ladies named Mansi and Isha Shetty. I will try to interview them for my Foodocracy For Her podcast and get you their story.
Vanilla Miel Address
18A, 16th Rd, Pali Village, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050
ps: K and I went there a couple of days later. This time we sat on the ground floor which felt more cosy. This time the foam in my machiato had a dash of brown and tasted great. I had the Lebanese hummus toast which I really liked. K had the avocado toast which she found to be under seasoned. I found it to be all right though it would been nice if the avo wasn’t served chilled. She loved her cappuccino and the overall vibe of the place and the banana tea cake.
As we walked back, I wondered if this was the beginning of the gentrification of Pali Village. Malaika Arora’s Scarlett House came up first and now Vanilla Miel. Time will say.
