The Birdsong Cafe, Bandra.

A quaint little cafe with wide arched windows that open to the narrow lane, is tucked in the bylanes of Bandra that remind you of Goa. The stylishly decorated room with exposed brick walls and doodles takes your heart away the moment you enter. The setting is perfect if you want to get away from the city's hustle bustle. Being an organic cafe, it offers a wide variety of Fresh Juices and healthy breakfast options, off which we picked Lemon Juice with Jeera and Banana Pancake, which were not only delicious but healthy too, especially the Lemon Juice with Jeera. The total bill with this ran up to INR 380/- for two, which was a steal deal.

A MUST visit place, if not for the ambience at least for the food it serves

(It's situated in the lane next to German Bakery, near the entry of Bandstand. Ask the servers for suggestions)

JAMJAR DINER, Aram Nagar. Versova

Jamjar Diner, Aram Nagar. Versova.

This quirky pub/ cafe, is unique for it's homely interiors (they also have a Juke Box) and exteriors. Nestled in the quieter lane towards Versova, this place also serves healthy breakfast and juice options. Since I visited this place when I had already stuffed myself with home food, I gorged on the fresh juices that they had to offer. Served in a Jar Glass, I started off with Watermelon Ice Tea, followed by Apple+Beatroot+Bellpapper Juice and concluded with Watermelon Juice. We also ate the chicken Popcorn which was crisply fried and Filet Mignon + Pepper Jus which juicy and delicious.

There are a couple of interesting things in the menu, including masala soda, chocolate soil, Tex - mex, and the breakfast section is just amazing. They also have a terrace open area where one can relax. The cost for two was approximately INR 1300/-

It's a must visit, especially for breakfast!

MASALA LIBRARY, By Jiggs Kalra - BKC

(This is going to be a LONG one)

So how many times have we walked into a restaurant hoping to eat something ‘different’? I am sure, Always! And how many times you’ve heard your friends say, ‘Oh there’s a new themed restaurant that has opened and we must go...’ and when you’ve gone there, you’ve realised that yes, the restaurant looks very fancy, but the food... hmm... is like what any other place offers!

I walked in to Masala Library thinking, well, how different will the Restaurant will be? By the looks of it, this restaurant looked like any other fine dining restaurants. Ok, so I was still thinking, how ‘different’ will the food be, or will I be able to take an experience back with me, when I finish my meal?

Once seated, I was given the menu and the dishes looked familiar but with a twist. So I scanned through the menu and decided my meal – Tandoori Prawns, Mutton Vindaloo (Well I hadn't heard of this combination before!), Dal Makhni, Herbed Naan and a dessert - Childhood Memories (I’ll come back to its description later). The staff there were prompt and friendly. And always with the right suggestions, while the bar hasn’t opened yet, they offered me a Star Anise mocktail. This was something that I’ve never tasted before. It has a strong but smooth taste, an interesting mocktail, must say.

While I was waiting for my tandoori Prawns to arrive, I was served with a lot of tastings by the young Chef's who've designed the menu, starting with the Speared Yoghurt. What’s interesting about this dish is that a round shaped yoghurt ball served in a baseless - conicle glass, that needs to be gulped. And when this round thing once in your mouth, bursts into a overwhelming taste of dahi chaat! Well that was an interesting start. The next thing that arrives on my table is ‘Bun Maska’ that is stuffed with Cottage Cheese, butter and herbs, looked like it was blended well in the batter – which was too heavy to consume. What comes in next is Pesto Kebab – a round green cutlet shaped kebabs topped with Parmesan cheese. Even though I am a fan of Pesto sauce, this combination didn’t go down well with me. It tasted a little dry and bitter. Finally, what arrives on my table is Tandoori Prawns, expecting it to be like the one served in any other restaurant, this one really blew my mind! It wasn’t red & black, and didn’t have the chat masala sprinkled over it, but instead what it had, was a tinge of coriander, melted cheese and tenderly cooked prawns that just melted in my mouth!

What followed was something incredible! The Prawn Chettinad: This is one of the MUST HAVES! Served in a huge shell, this was the perfect dish, with cold curd rice as the base and warm prawns cooked in curry leaves sprinkled with gun powder and spicy banana chips by the side – this dish is pure orgasm (pardon me for my language, but it definitely deserves a mention). After having relished this awesome presentation, I have been given a kulfi for blind tasting. With a dash of strawberry sauce this was Mishti Doi in the form of kulfi. One word – Delicious. Time for my main course – Mutton Vindaloo, Dal Makhni, Herbed Naan. The marriage of Mutton and vindaloo gravy is unimaginable. Tangy, spicy and tender lamb, slurrrp! And well Jiggs Kalra can never go wrong with the Dal Makhni.

Having stuffed myself with so much food, I dared to order my dessert – Childhood Memories. Wondering what that is? Well, it’s your childhood memories right on your plate. I am sure, most of us have eaten Mud, Chalk, Cerelac and Parle G biscuits during our childhood. This particular dessert is the edible representation of all of these with Chocolate Soil as Mud in a Pot, Mint flavoured edible chalks, cerelac in half moon shaped dessert and Parle G ice cream sandwich. Well that was not the end, there’s yet another dessert that I was supposed to taste and guess – It looks nothing less than the snow covered tree. Well it was the candy floss but the Pan Pasand flavoured!

So to sum up my experience: It was Delicious. Interesting. Incredible. Surprising.

Will I go back there: Ofcourse YES! I want to try the other dishes there too...

How much did I pay: The price is a little steep, but worth every penny to you pay; cost for 2 was: INR 3875/-

I entered the restaurant at 9:30pm and came out at 12:30am, so one can imagine the excellent culinary journey I’ve had here! They sure know how to keep you engaged with Food.

The Pier, Colaba. Mumbai

So it's a place that is tucked away in some corner of Colaba. Right behind the Radio Club. The restaurant looks quite pretty with palettes of Blue and brown being used for the interiors... They have a separate bar menu that has a good list of appetisers, so ask for that one instead of the main menu. The staff is courteous and know the food the serve.

Must haves: Lamb Minced Lollipops, Boston Fry Prawns, Cilantro & Paprika Prawns, Lemon Cilantro Fish tikka

If you request, they serve cocktail pitchers as well. We ordered for LIT pitcher that was presented well.

Pricing: It's no where close to what Zomato suggests. It's slightly on the expensive side... it would be close to 3k per head with Alcohol.

THE WHITE OWL, Lower Parel. Mumbai

I must say, I visited this place a couple of months back, when the restaurant was just 2 days old (1st of June to be precise). Even then, my experience was good. To begin with, it's yet another micro brewery, without the licences... not sure if they have it yet. So at that time, no fresh beers in the house.

The ambience is great, rustic. a lot of mirror and light works, gives the illusion of large space.

Must haves: Pesto Chicken Skewers, Kingfish Chimmichuri Skewers, Assorted Dips with house Lavash (The Dips are to die for!), Lamb Sliders & Tenderloin Steak

You can skip: Beer Battered Fish n Chips &

Highly Recommended: Chorizo Hot Dogs (those who love Chorizo, this particular preparation is highly recommended)

Overall the experience was good, I'd like to visit this place once again...

THE LOCAL, Fort. Mumbai.

The Local

Fort, Mumbai

Concept: An Underground pub (not literally) but yes, this place isn't visible outright, and you need to definitely search for it. No sign boards, no name plate. Nothing at all. You need a password to get in, that changes every week  if you want to visit this place, make sure you have a password or else the electronically locked door wouldn't open even if you recite 'Khul ja sim sim' a thousand times!

Visited this place on two occasions ( again, not literally) - visited it on a weekday and on a Friday night. On a week day this place is not as crowded as on a weekend! So if you are looking at visiting this place for a sit down dinner then weekdays are just perfect. And if you are looking to party then you know when to go.

Food: A decent list of things that they have to offer. You will get all types of meat, and very less options for vegetarians. The flavours will remind you of Goa! What you MUST try: Railway Mutton with Pav, Beef chilly (just like the way they serve on goa!) the beer batter prawn is blah... But Peri peri chicken drumsticks are nice.

Alcohol: The Indian renditions of cocktails are very interesting. One MUST try - kala khatta gola, imli ka nasha, kokum sharbat & masala soda. What's interesting is that they are decently priced and come in two measures - cutting and full glass. Although it sounds like the quantity would be less, but it's quite adequate to get you high!

Ambience: Last but not the least the interiors are grungy with graffiti washed walls. And interestingly used bulbs. The music is nice. Considering that I've been there twice already, I am sure to visit it again and plus it doesn't really burn a hole in my pocket