Band, Baajaa, Baraat

Review – Wedding Café & Lounge

 

Located on Andheri's very much buzzing, traffic choked and crowded Link Road, above the Mercedes and Apple showroom; Wedding Café's is the newest addition to the burbs. With an exterior brightly lit like a house where someone is to wed, the interiors were quite a contrast, soothingly lit in mellow lighting. The place isn't much of a café, more like a lounge; it has an impressive bar area, sofa's for the lougy feel, the dining tables and private dining areas. Earlier they had a designer store by Umair Zafar which is now being converted into another private dining area. The wedding café brings into India the new trend of themed restaurants that have already been popular abroad. The Café is positioned to be a one stop shop for wedding planning – with the owners, the Lucknowalla's wedding planning consultancy called Vivaah, and tie-ups that offersolutions from the mehendi, outfits to jewellery. Novel concept but popularity? we still need to wait and see.

Coming back to the place, everything at the café was white in a very western way. Whoever designed this place took the concept of the 'white wedding' too seriously. From the table covers, a frosty white lace to the walls, eggy white to the annoying lampshade in the middle of the table again white. Frankly I was sort of disappointed to see a lack of the whole Indian shaadi touch to the place. I'd expected to see bright coloured dupattas for white curtains, diyas instead of electric lamps, genda phool instead of roses. Yeah am a sucker for Indian traditional wedding, s Chopra style, those that start with mere haathon mein 9 -9 chudiyaan hai and end with Shahrukh Khan devouring his phirni. But I am not complaining the the dim lighting, rose pink brass cutlery and not to forget nice techno music made for pleasant ambience.

Coming down to the food! Oh wait did I mention the menu looks like a wedding album? Oh yes a long horizontal wedding album which lists down the menu along with perspective honeymoon places! So ladies whenever you want to make the hint take the guy there :P. Also the menu boasted of Italian, Spanish, French, American and Japanese cuisine. Every dish also had a wine written below indicating the 'Perfect Match'. Impressive

Finally coming down to the food, we started with the soups. The first one a Cream of Asparagus, which was light, creamy, mildly flavoured in short quite nice but the killer was the Cream of Chicken Soup – lighly flavoured and creamy with chicken juliennes the broth should be truly embodies what is called chicken soup for the soul. The soups were served with toasted garlic bread which just added to the delight.

Moving on to the appetizers we ordered for Vegetarian Tapas. Tapas is a Spanish word for snacks, usually served with drinks (See More in World Café Section). The presentation of this dish was brilliant, but taste wise it was quite a disappointment. The tofu, deepfried and crusted in a bland black cover, the veg balls tasted like koftas gone bad, the sautéed mushrooms were very okay, the Mozrella sticks were palatable and the stir fried vegetables were insipid. The next dish was the Shrimps on Skewers – which tasted delectable with butter garlic sauce painted on it. However the shrimps tasted a bit stale, not fresh succulent.

Moving on to the main course, we ordered for the Fettucini with Basil and Grape tomatoes – the flat pasta cooked in scarlet red tomato and basil sauce was fiery and flavourful. The Chicken Marsalla – chicken grilled to golden brown perfection stuffed with mushrooms topped over saffron flavoured risotto (there is a choice between mashed potato and saffron risotto, choose the risotto) was brilliant from the well cooked chicken steak to the flavoured mushrooms and mild saffron milky flavor of the risotto, the dish was a delight. The next dish – the Costa Rican Stuffed Tortilla with Pumpkin Sauce - a sort of rajma wrapped in tortilla was too dry and lacked any kind of flavor. And pumpkin sauce? Is that even edible?

In dessert we ordered for the Love Boat – with again looked really impressive on presentation but tasted nothing better than a Mongenise pastry. Not the goeey melt in the mouth kind

On the whole, the place had some really good moments and some not so good ones. The vegetarian food needs some serious working on. Priced on the richer side of the world, a meal for 2 would cost anything between 750 – Rs 1000 w/o alcohol

Verdict

Food: Mixed bag

Staff: Hospitable

Ambience: Good

QuickTip: 'To be Weds' come here with the folks, yours and the laws, for a nice continental ambience and meal. Or ditch the folks and come celebrate your last few days of singledom with your single friends, who are turning green out of jealousy and those that are married, who will tell you about the 'grass' that may be greener but is also catching fire on the other side. Whoever you come with try and order as much as non veg.

 

The Co-ordinates

Wedding Café & Lounge,

B-104-106, Kotia Nirman,

Above Mercedes Showroom,

New Link Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai

022 61558999 

Timings: 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM, 7:30 PM to 12:30 AM

Food Type: Continental

Payment Methods: Visa, Master, Cash

 

 

Is China 1 The One? ......

Ch1na Restaurant

When we reached Infinity Mall in Andheri West and took a right from the signal, a decrepit road lead us to the precarious Morya Estate. A garbage dump greated us at the entrance, we took another right to enter the building where China 1, the latest addition to Andheri’s Chinese eateries, is located. 

As I enter the premise of Ch1na, I can’t help but be caught on by the contrast of the locality and this place. The spacious outer area of the restaurant is done up in a chic and elegant manner with lounge like seating areas and palm trees. The interior of the place was swanky as well. The décor of the restaurant seemed to be highly influenced by Michael Jackson’s famous number Black or White since the entire restaurant was adorned by either colour or both. From the murals on the walls to the cutlery to the upholstery all of it. Couldn’t help but imagine how a zebra would feel so much at home here!

The place was quite occupied even on a Wednesday, mostly by mademoiselles celebrating their few hours of freedom from domesticity with each other. Chatting up on everything from the upswing in the prices of onions to the latest Loius Vuitton patchwork bag. I feel quite fashionably as well as domestically enlightened after my luncheon thanks to my neighbours. Don’t get me wrong I don’t eavesdrop, they were a tad bit sonorous emphasizing a lot on the Hermes, Guccis and Jimmy Choos.

Getting down to the food, we opted for the buffet. Priced at Rs 470 (inclusive of taxes) with one drink a beer/ice tea/ freshlime soda, it was quite an attractive offer. We started with the soups – the Clear Chicken Soup with vegetables was a ‘knorr’ kind of thick broth which tasted sweet. Quite a letdown in the first go. However the thick spicy Corn Soup, a spicier cousin of the sweet corn was tasty.

In the appetizers, the spread for vegetarian was as good as the non-vegetarian. China 1 would earn a point for that since many of my vegetarian friends complain of being discriminated against and not having much choice. First there was the Spinach & Corn Fried Wantons. A fusion dish I presume, since it had cheese, nevertheless it was quite a savoury. I gobbled up plenty. Then was the Crispy Vegetables, batterfried vegetables tossed in soy sauce which also was an equal delight. The next were the Chinese Greens were brilliant with crunchy deliciously steamed vegetables tossed in soy sauce. In the non-vegetarian appetizers there was Chicken with Cahewnuts which was delectable. The juicy chicken woken fried with peppers cashews, spices and sesame oil was sapid. On the other hand the Fried Fish in Hot Bean was rubbery and didn’t seem fresh to me. The Crab in a sought of garlic red sauce although looked scrumptious was a letdown. It tasted stale.

The Chicken Dimsum was beautiful. Minced chicken and vegetables enveloped in translucent rice wraps. Succulent. The Prawn Dimsum and Vegetarian Dimsum were passable but no match to the chicken one. On the whole while the poultry and vegetarian dishes were palatable the sea food was unsavory and tasteless.

For the main dishes there Chicken in black bean sauce – mildly flavoured with garlic and peppers it went well with the corn fried rice. One thing I noticed however was that the quality of rice was not that great. The Hakka Noodles were Plain Jane nothing outstanding about it.

When it came to the desserts, there was an enormous spread from blueberry cheese cakes to chocolate soufflés, to chocolates fountains and brownies. However all except the fresh fruits were a humongous disappointment. The chocolate sauce from the Chocolate Fountain was syrupy and not thick. It tasted like cement with sugar (not that I have tasted cement but you get my point), the Choco Sticks to be had with the sauce was limp and stale. The Chocolate Brownies, I think were  for people suffering from diabetes with no trace  of sugar or any other taste. The fresh fruit spread was nice with kiwis, strawberries, melons, papayas and grapes but however couldn’t compensate much for overall dessert disappointment.

Verdict: The Food is a Mixbag, Hospitable Service, Good ambiance

So getting back to my question, Is China 1 the one? The one Chinese restaurant that appeases both the gourmand and the miser in you? The miser maybe but not the gourmand. Although the spread is value for money, my suggestion would be to skip it or go only for the vegetarian and poultry dishes. Don’t bother to tryout the sea food or the desserts. I see a huge compromise in quality on that front.

QuickTip: Take those uninvited relatives who you hate but have to entertain. After all its value for money!

The Co-ordinates:

Ch1na, G-05, Morya Landmark 1, Plot B-25, Off Link Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai

Landmark: Opp. Infinity Mall

Phone: 42723333