Waah Ustad!

Review: Masalchi Ustad

Agla station Bandra, next station baaaandra gets a new takeaway joint.  Masalchi Ustaad claims to be an 'indian QSR'.  Now thats an oxymoron! The complication involved in preparation with its myriad of ingredients and long drawn cooking process' makes it very hard for any Indian dish to be quick! And not to forget it would always be incomplete without being paired with with the accompaniments like chutney pickle etc.

The Kebab Platter

Nevertheless, Masalchi Ustad boasts of some indian fusion dishes - Naan Turnover, Basa Fish with Orange Malta sauce, basil chicken tikka as well as the regular mogul fair - Nalli Nihari, Kebabs & butter chicken.

Culinary Muse decided to give this 'so called' QSR a shot.

The Naan Turnover are hot  stuffed naan pockets with butter chicken like gravy and hints of molten cheese on the edges. Quite a sumptuous meal in itself. Although i found the filling is a bit sweet though

Naan turnover

As part of the kebab platter we had:

The Seekh kebab was succulent and beautiful

Billayati Murg Tikka

The billayati murg tikka was beautiful and silky

The Murg Sunheri kebab was also delectable 

Aftabi fish tikka

The Aftabi Fish Tikka - fish kebabs coated with green coriander masala was juicy and delicious

Nalli Nihari

The Nalli Nihari was flavorful but really rich. Those watching their calories must truly avoid

Dal Makhani

The Dal Makhani was wholesome and beautifully flavored. A must try


On the whole Masalchi Ustad is worth a try. Ample quantity and wholesome make it a good option when one has guests over or a party to host. Sadly they only deliver in and around Bandra as yet

MuseTip: The kebabs are sure shot winner!


The Co-ordinates
Masalchi Ustad
Address:Masalchi Ustad, Sherly Rajan Road, Khar, Mumbai
Telephone: 09029077516, 09029077517, 09029077518, 09029077519
Type: Only takeaway

Food for Nawabs

Review: Golconda Bowl

The word Golkonda derives itself from Golla konda literally meaning shepherd's hill. It is a ruined city of south-central India and capital of ancient Kingdom of Golkonda  somewhere in the 16 century about is situated 11 km west of Hyderabad.

The time you enter Golconda Bowl its hard to not take the cognizance of the walls painted scarlet, matching wooden tables and chairs of chestnut hues. Brass cutlery laid out well, that add to the earthy ambience of the place.

It’s taken me a couple of phone calls and tweets to book a place here. They do not do bookings on weekends due to past experiences of customers not turning up. But post my tweet the owner himself `sweet enough to call and book a table for me.

So here I am with my family on for our Sunday brunch ritual, my dad a bit cribby for making him travel all the way to Bandra (in the Bandra fair traffic). I do a quick prayer that this meal is worth it.

A look at the menu and the contents are as Hyderabadi as the name would suggests. We proceed to order with much consultation from our courteous steward.

Pathar Gosht

The Pathar Gosht – succulent pieces of meat, minced to very fine consistency, Our stewadrd later described that that dish derived its name because pounded meat is roasted on a fiery granite stone. Beautiful, melt in the mouth! A must have dish in my opinion.

We then order for a Nalli Nihari, which sadly is not available. 

How the Pathar Gosht cooked

The next dish – Haleem – again very finely pound mutton cooked with barley & lentils till it’s a thick meat stew. Have it with Roomali Roti and that will be the most immaculate moment of your life. The sweetness of the caramelized onions on top combined with slight hint of lemon juice and the spicy flavor of the condiments makes for a ephemeral combination.

Haleem

The Kache-Gosht-Ki-Biryani here comes with Raita and a curry sort of a thing. Not to mention it is topped with boiled egg to maintain an authencity. The meat well marinated tasted succulent with the long grain basmati. Although I’d expect some more of the masala/gravy to coat the meat inorder for it to entice me more.

 Kache-Gosht-Ki-Biryani

Golconda Bowl is truly gives you that regal – Food For the Nawabs kind of feel. I could see it with me family, even my father seem to be satisfied with our feast.

A meal at Goconda Bowl w/o alcohol would cost anywhere between Rs 400-600 per head

Verdict:

Food: Excellent

Ambience:  Good

Service: Very Helpful

Quick Tip: In the mood for some really exotic Indian food, go get yourself food for the Nawabs at Golconda Bowl

The Co-ordinates:

The Golconda Bowl,

Where: Hotel Metro Palace, Hill Road,  Bandra West , Mumbai

Tring Tring: 26431234

Timings: 12:00 PM to 3:30 PM, 7:30 PM to 11:30 PM

Food Type: Indian, Hyderabadi, Mughlai

Payment Methods: Visa, Master, Cash

The Big Fat Indian Buffet

Review – Jewel Of India

It’s a beautiful pleasant Sunday afternoon, and ma famille and moi head to this typical family restaurant to celebrate my favourite uncles Birthday!

Jewel India, located in Mumbai’s posh locality Worli, which is home to the serene Haji Ali, beautiful and breezy sea face and big wigs like Nehru Science Centre, Atria Mall and our very ex Aviations Minister’s Ceejay House and now the Famous Sea Link.

The restaurant, Jewel of India is located within the confines on Nehru Centre and is humongous. At the entrance we are greeted by ethnic paintings of women of Rajasthan. The entire restaurant infact gives you a very traditional Indian feel with its high ceilings of intricate wood carvings and chandeliers, white walls combined with wooden furniture and paintings that tell tales of folklore.

The restaurant is packed when we enter with quite a few people mostly families waiting outside. Thankfully we have done are bookings.

After greeting my relatives, I hover to the buffet to check the spread. The spread is very limited. Now that isn’t necessarily a bad thing - the usual ones that are never ending get you all confused and then you tend to over eat to make most of it. However at the first glance, I am quite disappointed with the arrangement of the dishes. While chaat and dessert counters  are separate the main buffet table starts with Scrambled Eggs (yeah I don’t know what is that doing in an Indian Buffet) followed by Mashed Potato (now am convinced that this isn’t purely Indian), Sausages, Fish Chilly after which the buffet directly moves on to Paya (goat trotters), Chicken gravy and again coming to a Chicken Kebab. There didn’t seem to be any order to the food arrangement. Even after the Chicken Kebab there were assorted breads and Corn Flakes! Wonder what they were thinking!

Anyhow, I picked up my plate and scurried around to get some food in it to quench the rodents in my stomach! I started with the Pasta Salad – farfalle pasta tossed in some vineggerette, garlic, olive oil and bell peppers. I liked the flavor but the pasta seemed hard not cooked a la dente! On the vegetarian side there was Kothambir Vade – quite a horror story! I am sure if some devout Maharashtrian was present they would want to puke at the 90% besan mixture!

The Veg. White sauce Pasta (wait is this Jewel of INDIA again) – penne with corn and white sauce was a relief however a very amateur Indianised version of the dish. But still a relief! Moving on to the Non veg starters the the Sausages were edible however lacked any distinguishing flavours. The Fish Chilly – crumbed fried fish tossed in chilly garlic was the next life saving dish. Crispy chunks that melt in your mouth. The Murg Shikari Kebab – succulent pieces of chicken marinated in the usual yet delicious kebab marinade was beginning to restore my faith in this luncheon. Before this I was beginning to pity my uncle, whose birthday we were celebrating. I was beginning to feel guilty of letting him celebrate his last few years before he turns senior citizen in a place like this. He too liked the Chicken Kebab. A sigh of relief!

Murg Hara Dhaniya

Rasily Paya

In the main course there was a good variety amongst the Vegetarian Dishes with Chole Bature and Paneer Makhni but I stuck to Non Veg. The Murg Hara Dhaniya looked like it was made from melting The Hulk and tasted just as insipid. The Rasily Paya was not juicy at all, as the name suggested rather it was bland. Guess I know what chalk tastes like now. The Kachi Yakhni Biryani was good however could be had has dessert if it was any more cold.

Kachi Yakhni Biryani

In the desserts the Fig & Chocolate Crumble – I know what it is to eat chalk now with this I have learnt what it is like to eat brick and cement. The Tiramasu on the other hand was yum and so was the Chocolate Cake and Jalebis. Chalo all that didn’t start well atleast ended well.

On the whole except for a few things here and there the buffet failed to live up to its name atleast in the food department!

The per head cost for the buffet was Rs 800 which included unlimited draft beer or wine

Verdict

Food: I rather not reminisce

Ambience: Good but could get noisy on weekends

Service: Courteous & Prompt

Quicktip: There is a dearth of good Indian Food in Mumbai especially buffets, however keep this as your last option. If you have no option stick to eating selected stuff.

The Co-ordinates

Jewel of India, Nehru Centre, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli , Mumbai

Phone: 24949217, 24949214, 24949435, 24949204, 24949219

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

Food Type: Confusion errrr North Indian

Serves Alcohol: Yes

Payment Methods: Credit cards accepted