Jeff’s at Bandra’s Bazar Road is literally a hole in the wall take away joint. This shop in a tiny, dusty, congested lane has some of the tastiest Muslim food in Bombay. I went there recently to pick up lunch on Eid and was happy to see that their food was as good as ever.
They have these tiny mutton cocktail kebabs which are round, mince, kebabs which taste very good. The cost around Rs 100 or 2 USD for a kilo. You can even buy a 100 g and much on 7,8 kebabs for 50 cents or 10 Rs or so. They are good to take home if you are throwing a party. In fact the first time we had it was at Kainaz’s friend, James’ house at a party. He loves food and is from Calcutta… likely to make the right choice when it comes to food.
I am fond if their ‘pepper chicken’ which is a lightly marinated grilled chicken. You can chose a breast or a leg piece. I go for the leg. The trick is to chose a smaller one so that the meat is tender. The marinade is slightly salty and a bit creamy and grainy. I used to live on them at a time when I was on a ‘no carbs at night’ misguided frenzy years back. A leg (drumstick and thigh) costs Rs 40 or less than one USD.
Kainaz is more fond of the kebabs while I love the pepper chicken.
I have grown quite fond of their biryani too. The rice is nice, fragrant and firm. The meat, especially the mutton one, is very succulent. It has a masala unlike the Calcutta version but the masala is dry and adds to the taste. It has the odd potato too. I prefer it to the biriyani at Lucky. It costs just about Rs 50 or one dollar.
It is not like the biriyani at Calcutta though. To get that in Bombay you need to get yourself invited to the house of Kirti, chief foodie of www.feastguru.com who makes fantastic Calcutta-like biriyani and phirni amongst other things!
There is a shop called Lucky Star beside Jeffs. It serves the same stuff, is bigger, but isn’t half as good.
Update: 25/8/2010 Chicken biriyani is Rs 75 (1.5 USD), Kebabs about Rs 240 (5 USD) a kilo. Taste: Vintage
