Bombay Chronicles: Breakfast at Cafe Mondegar

Address: Metro House, 5A, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Colaba, Mumbai

I went to Cafe Mondegar quite a few times, and I really loved it. Situated right at the beginning of Colaba Causeway, next to Regal Cinema, it was the most convenient place to grab a beer, good food and plan everything I wanted to do in that insane city. I took pictures only on the day we did Mondegar breakfast, so here they are:

 

(above) Mondy's Special - 2 eggs ordered as an Omelette, with bacon. Served with buttered toast, fries and juice.

(Sorry, we had already taken a bite before I could take the picture :P)

(above) Mondy's Special - 2 eggs, ordered scrambled, with pork sausages. Served with buttered toast, fries and juice.

The eggs were scrambled in the conventional English way, with milk, butter and kept fluffy, just the way I love it (I don't know how to make them this way and our hostel egg-wala won't understand.)

I loved it! If you're looking for a good breakfast option that doesn't break your bank (most brunches start at 1500), Mondy's is an excellent option. Breakfast is served till 11.30 am-12.00 noon, so you can sleep in and still make it in time. And unlike me, go ahead and order a beer with breakfast, and you'll have a kickass day :D

Bombay Chronicles: Leopold Cafe

Okay so this place is famous.

Address: Colaba Causeway, Bhagat Singh Road, Next to Regal Cinema, Colaba, Bombay

I went twice with friends.. Wasn't very impressed. I liked Mondegar better (post coming soon).

(above) Spaghetti Bolonese served with Minced Beef

Really REALLY bad. Please, NEVER order any kind of pasta at Leopold. The pasta quality and the quality of the minced beef is sub-standard, and it just seems like a health risk to eat this kind of food.

(above) Grilled Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce

Fillets of grilled chicken, arranged around mashed potatoes, with a creamy mustard sauce on top. This was excellent - I definitely recommend this to anybody who gets confused with the extensive menu. :)

(above and below) Polowala Grilled Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

Chicken grilled to perfection, arranged around potatoes and nicely seasoned vegetables, with mushroom sauce. Very nice - my friend ordered this both times we were there. The images above and below show the plate from opposite sides.

(below) And, of course, a tower of beer, every time. :D

We also ordered beef burgers, which were excellent, but I couldn't get pictures before my hungry friends attacked them. My recommendations for food at Leo's? The Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce, and beef burgers. With lots and lots of beer. 

Bombay Chronicles: Fountain Sizzler

Fountain Sizzlers is right on Flora Fountain, and I sneaked an hour long lunch break from work one day to have lunch here with a friend. We ordered:

(above) Chicken Steak Supreme

This was quite nice, but very normal.

(above) Black Pepper Prawns in Aglio Olio Sauce

Dislike! The pepper was overpowering, the prawns were dry, and most of all, the pasta was of very obvious inferior quality, and it was dry, sticky and chewy. I don't understand why upscale restaurants cannot afford to buy good quality pasta. I would strongly discourage anybody to order any pasta at this restaurant. Also at Leopold Cafe - post about that coming up soon.

(above) Peach and Apricot Iced Tea

This was probably the best thing we had that day. Food was disappointing, iced tea was thankfully very normal.

Address: 57 MG Road, Opposite HSBC, Fort, Mumbai

Right at Flora Fountain

Bombay Chronicles: Cheese Fondue at Relish

We walked over to Relish opposite Churchgate for lunch, from office, one day. A 5 minute walk for cheese fondue? Who would dream of saying no to that! 

Address: Relish International Veg Cuisine, Prem Court, J. Tata Road, Churchgate, Mumbai

 I loved the menus there. Especially these quotes scattered around: 

Bombay Chronicles: Best Juice Guy

Best juice guy EVER. Better than Haji Ali Juice Center (BELIEVE ME).

This is right across the office where I was interning, this this was breakfast for me pretty much every day. Incredible fruits, incredible juices.

Address: Homi Mody Street, Near Horniman Circle, bang opposite the big SBI building and corner-wala ICICI bank branch, Fort, Bombay

I recommend: Peach, Peach-Plum, Musk Melon, Watermelon, Sitafal-Anjeer, Mango, Dragonfruit with Peach. 

Ask for ALL of them without sugar. Sugar just kills the juices.

 This is Peach and Dragonfruit. So pretty na :D

Dahi Machha - The Oriya Connection

This is the first time I tried cooking fish on my own! I love Oriya fish preparations, and Dahi Machha is one of my favourites. This may not be the most authentic way to make it, but I had limited resources. So this is it! My version of Dahi Machha:

What I used:

  Rohu fish pieces, cut and cleaned

1 Large Onion, chopped

1/2 Tomato, chopped

2 Small Green Chillies, chopped

5 cloves of Garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece of Ginger, minced

2 tsp Garam Masala powder

1 tsp Cumin (Jeera) Powder

2 cups Curd

2 cups Water

Mustard oil to cook

Salt

Turmeric

What I did:

Wash and dry the fish thoroughly. Rub salt and turmeric into the fish and leave aside for half an hour.

Shallow fry the fish in mustard oil, till done. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add a little more mustard oil, and fry the onions and green chillies together for about 2 minutes. Add the minced garlic and ginger (paste can be used instead), then the tomatoes, and finally garam masala powder and cumin powder. Cook everything together gently.

Stir together curd and water, add to the pan. Let it cook for about a minute, then place the pieces of fried fish in it. Cover the pan, let it simmer till everything is cooked through, together.

Serve with white rice. And, in proper Oriya fashion, with lemon, salt and green chillies on the side :)

Garlic Herb Chicken

Guest post by Dr. Sukumar Misra :D

My cousin cooks the most amazing things at home, and takes beautiful pictures, so I asked him to send me the recipes so that I could convert his successes into guest posts. This can keep this page going even when I don't have the time/resources to cook!

Recipe: (serves 2)

2 Chicken Breasts

2 tbsp Finely Chopped Garlic

1 pinch Rosemary flakes

3 tbsp Butter

10 Black Pitted Olives

1 Capsicum (Green Pepper)

2 tsp Olive Oil

Wash and dry chicken breasts, season with salt and pepper and let stand for 1 hour.

Cover a baking dish with aluminium foil and grease with oil.

Preheat oven to 165 Celsius.

Place chicken breasts on the baking dish and sprinkle the chopped garlic and rosemary flakes on them.

Place a dollop of butter on them and bake at 165 C for 20-30 minutes or until done.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.


See how he has garnished with sliced green peppers, olives and almonds on the side? So pretty! And extremely healthy :)

So gorgeous and so simple! <3