The chicken liver mezze at Rue Du Liban was one of the two memorable dishes of our trip. The other being the buff on soba at Miss T which we had the previous night |
This is post is on the second half of our recent south Mumbai restaurant explorations and I do hope that you have read the first part. The stories are from last month when we booked ourselves into a two night staycation at the Trident at Nariman Point. We used the hotel as a base and went to restaurants in south Mumbai that I had not been to before or have not been to recently. In the first instalment, I told you about going to the Table for lunch (no newbie of course) and Miss T for dinner, both at Colaba, on K’s birthday. On day 2, we went to two restaurants at Fort and on the last day we had lunch at one at Churchgate before we headed back home to Bandra.
This post is about Plenty and Rue Du Liban in Fort, Foo Town at Churchgate and then has a little bonus on Canara Juices at Fort.
Fort enchanted
Next to George is Plenty and I liked the way the decors of these restaurant flowed seamlessly with that of its historic surroundings |
This post though, as I told you earlier, is not about those restaurants.
Plenty Mumbai, Fort
Kapil Sanghi sees off some of his regulars |
In keeping with the casual and communal dining spirit of the Fort of the days gone be, a young gentleman from the table next to us leaned out towards us, pointed to his mutton burger and shouted out, “I strongly recommend the burger here.”
There was one very ‘non old-Fort‘ thing about Plenty and that needs to be praised. The toilet. It was fairly chic and brilliantly clean even though I stepped in after lunch hours when it would have been used quite a bit. The owners smiled happily when I complimented them on this.
Buff steak. Plenty, Mumbai |
We had an avocado toast and they gave us slices of pleasantly ripe avocado (as per our request as we prefer it to a mash) on a bed of a zestful guacamole on a rather crisply done toast.
Avocado toast. Plenty, Mumbai |
We liked the layer of mashed potato that they had added the to the fried eggs and green chillies in the eggs Kejriwal. I am sure that our late Jamshed uncle, who had first introduced us to the dish at the RBYC would have enjoyed the mash too as he loved both potatoes and eggs. Noting our concern about the excessive crispness of the toast in the avocado, the maitre d ensured that this was not repeated with the Kejriwal.
Egg Kejriwal, Plenty, Mumbai |
We had decided not to be too adventurous with our orders after we saw the menu and found the food that we ordered to be quite satisfying at the end. Not the sort of avant garde fare that we had eaten the previous day at the Table or Miss T, or would eat later that night at Rue du Liban. The prices are a lot cheaper at Plenty of course than the three I just mentioned. This positions Plenty as a sort of a bistro/ deli/cafe where you can look to de-stress over some happy food. In other words, a typical Fort place. Or, as Kainaz and I agreed, a bit of a modern day Cafe Churchill, Colaba. Albeit with a toilet, more space and less pressure to hurry up.
Memories of Churchill at Plenty |
Rue Du Liban, Fort
Mumbai meet Montmartre at night |
When we got off from our cab at the Rue Du Liban stretch at Fort at night, I felt as if we were back in Montmartre in Paris where K and I had spent a bit more than a week a couple of years back. The lane has a few other restaurants and is surrounded with buildings reflecting a very classic architecture. This, along with the signages and lights, gave a very Parisienne feel to lane to me. As did the interiors of Rue Du Liban when we walked in. The lights were dim, the design occidental, the crowds buzzing. It reminded us of the century old cafes that we used to frequent at Montmartre. The designers, as I learnt later, have tried to replicate a Beirut-like feel with the design and well, Beirut was called the Paris of the east in the 1960s.
Rue Du Liban is a fine dining place and the pricing of the food would be in the ball park area of that that at the Table and Miss T, though we got a 25 pc discount as we had booked the table here with Eazydiner Prime. The mood inside was fairly relaxed and not stuffy at all. The crowds seemed to be made up of corporate colleagues, family groups, couples (hardly any kids), all having a good time. There are a number of vegetarian dishes on the menu apart from the meats and that helps to drive business in Mumbai. The service was prompt and on the ball. The waiters knew their stuff.
Their chef, Chadi Bayram, is from Beirut. I saw him pop out from the kitchen occasionally and walk around the restaurant with an attentive and studious look. “Great food”, I gestured to him with a thumbs up, when our eyes met. A bit later I found him standing beside K and me, ‘photo bombing’ us when we had requested the waiter to take a picture of us. “I joined you as you liked the food,” he said with a disarming smile.
With chef Chadi Bayram |
Chicken liver mezze with pita at Rue Du liban |
Another high point of the night was the endless supply of freshly made pita that would keep coming to ones table. These puffed up delights looked as happy and giggly as kid having a sundae on a Sunday. I am sure that they have spoilt me for all other pita breads to follow in my life.
Shanklish at Rue Du Liban |
A cold mezze that we tried at Rue Du Libam was the shanklish. Dried and aged goat cheese coated in dried thyme and served with cherry tomatoes and, onion, parsley and olive oil. I had this with the pita and must admit that I was not as impressed initially as the price of Rs 800 would have warranted. We did not finish this and packed the rest for home and that is where the magic happened. I had it a day later with a croissant and that is when the flavours of the cheese really came out.
Perhaps the cheese needed to ‘mature’ a bit in the Mumbai heat and wanted to see Bandra too!
Samaka Tajen |
Another dish that we tried from the cold mezze and one which was very interesting was the samaka tajen. Confit grouper served on a tahini sauce with birista-like caramelised onions and pine nuts. I was wowed by the depth and subtlety of the flavour of the sauce and the slight nuttiness which came from the sesame seeds in it. The way it combined with the tender and juicy fish was symphonic.
If the samaka tajin was about poetry, then the lahme meshwi was about ruggedness. Buff sheekhs with a bite which reminded me of the chello kebabs that my mother had learnt to make when we lived in Iran and of the kebabs that K and I had eaten when we went Istanbul. The kebabs were intricately spiced and they went well with the flat bread that they were served with. There were two blobs of fat that we split and which were of course the highlight of the dish, but then when is ever fat not so?
Lamhe meshwi |
Foo Town, Churchgate
Here lay Kamling |
The plan was to have lunch at our favourite Ling’s Pavilion the day we checked out from our hotel and before we headed back to Bandra. Then we changed out plans and decided to check out one more new place here in keeping with the spirit of the trip. We went to Foo Town at Churchgate which many had recommended to me during the trip.
From what I gather, Foo Town is run by Keenan Tham. His grandfather had opened Kamling in 1968 after having moved into India from China in the 1940s. I have been to the old Kamling a few times and the place was a throwback to the Chinese restaurants of Kolkata that I had been to as a kid. The sort of restaurants that all of us growing up in the 80s in big cities across India loved. Foo Town is the new avatar of it and they have an outlet called Foo at Lower Parel too. I have not been to the latter though I have seen many social media posts on it and both places seem to be quite in vogue at the moment.
Foo Town Churchgate. The section inside is nicer |
Foo Town Churchgate calls itself an Asian tapas place. They did mention that they do not serve alcohol when I called them to book a table. It was quite packed even at 2 pm on a Sunday afternoon. Full of family groups and the diners who represented all age groups. The look and feel of the place was modern and bright and rather different from the more sombre design of the Chinese restaurants of yore. It was more like the Asia Woks and Noodle bars that had come up in the mid 2000s and which had signalled the first change in the city’s Chinese eating out meter. Yet the mood of those dining here spoke of the same joy that I remembered from the ghosts of Chinese restaurants past.
Duck Dumpling Foo Town, Churchgate |
From the dishes that we tried here, the duck dumpling was impressive. The casing though sticky, was not too thick. The pulled duck inside delightfully flavourful.
A dimsum that did not work too well for me was the charcoal hargao where the minced stuffing was too dried out and the charcoal casing was rather slimy. We tried the salmon carpaccio where the crispy quinoa added a nice crunch to the dish though the salmon was not really the hero of the dish and I would not advise it if you are a salmon devotee.
The pink peppercorn prawns that we ordered the small plate section clamoured for ones attention with its forbidden and rather naughty deep fried bites. I liked the fact that the prawns, though deep fried, were not overcooked. The bursts of whole peppercorns added drama to the dish as did the minced garlic 5 spice base to it. The dish was rather different from Ling’s pavilion slat and pepper prawns. At Ling’s, the dish is more restrained salt and pepper prawns is just about that…prawns, salt and pepper. That’s more up our street to be honest.
Pink peppercorn prawns, egg fried rice, Hakka pork |
They have retained a few dishes from the old Kamling menu I was told, such as the chilli chicken. I was not too keen to have chicken so we ordered another which is not on the menu but which is apparently from the heritage repertoire, the hakka pork belly. It consisted of neatly sliced roast pork. The meat was tender though rather lean than what one expects from a pork belly dish. You could make out its old school creds from the fact that unlike the prawns that I mentioned earlier, this came with no trappings. Just pork, seasoned well and cooked well. My sort of food!
Roast Hakka pork, Kamling |
I had this with some egg fried rice which was a nice dose of comfort to end out 48 hour food discovery trip with. It made the bheto (rice loving) Bangali in me smileThe portion size was quite excessive and I packed some to have at home later.
The meal sent me home with my stomach feeling slightly ponderous and heavy, the way one does after an Indian Chinese meal. Just as I had after a dinner at the House of Mandarin recently too.
I knew at the end that the next time I wanted Chinese in town, I would be back at Ling’s Pavilion. Call me old fashioned if you want.
Yes, I did feel a bit bloated when I entered home but I was happy too. I had set off on a mission and we had accomplished it well. I must say that I had really enjoyed going to these restaurants, trying out dishes I had not before. Choosing dishes from the menu that looked appealing to us. With no excessive attention or guidance which would happen in a hosted restaurant review. I became even more convinced that this is the best way for me to get a feel of a new restaurant. I did have a couple of PR hosted new restaurant meals after that, where the food was rather desultory, but life is too short to dwell on that.
I was really excited to see some of the good work that is coming up in the city’s restaurant scene, at the end of the staycation, and was keen to tell you about it. I hope you find this post useful.
If you have had some great meals in the city then do share your experiences in the comment section. We will all gain from that and will be most indebted to you.
The bheto Bangali with his fried rice at Foo Town |
Footnotes:
And the Fort love continues: Canara Juices
Wait, no breakfast at Fort?
Eggs Benedict at The Trident Nariman Point, Lounge. One could get used to this life! |
Liked what you read? Here’s the link to part 1 of this series which covers the Table and Miss T
Appendix:
The original Finely Chopped #FortEnchanted list in case you were looking for suggestions. More on that in my book, The Travelling Belly
Parsi: Ideal Corner, Military Cafe, Jimmy Boy, Yazdani Bakery
South Indian
Udupi veg: Swagat, Mangalorean: Apoorva, Harish Lunch Home, Modern Lunch Home, Keralite: Deluxe, Taste of Kerala,
Gomantak: Pradeep, Prakash
Punjabi veg: Moti Halwai
UP: Puncham Puriwala
Street Food: Lane parallel to Strand Book Store
Finely Chopped Fort Food Walk by day:
Finely Chopped Fort Food Walk by night for Sodexo:
Finely Chopped Fort Food Walk for the Foodie, Kunal Vijayakar
From the blog and referred to here:
Kamling in 2009
Paris Montmartre experience
Churchill, Colaba
Istanbul, 2008
Link to buy my book, The Travelling Belly, for more stories on Fort
References:
Mid Day on Foo Town
Daily Pao on Plenty
Hindu on Rue Du Liban