Lazing at the Lazy Dog - Mumbai

My ‘back-up’ plan, Arti (I love you darling!) are creatures of habit! This makes us go back to the same food joint over and over again. We’ve decided to put a stop to this! So there we were out to explore a new joint. Deep (the dorling husband) had been frequenting Lazy Dog in Fort with his office colleagues and so we decided to check the place out.

I must say, we were very very surprised to see the place. Pleasantly thankfully J. We went in expecting the regular pub ambiance, low lighting, loud music, the regular. Lazy dog’s nothing like that at all. If anything it looks very English. What distinguishes the ambiance is that it is minimalistic, very brightly lit and very very neat. Most of the ground floor is a super stocked rectangular bar. It’s that perfect ‘after work’ place where one can happily hang out.

What makes this place different is also the ‘Patronage’ that it attracts. One must buy his/ her patronage at 3000 that is valid for a whole year. For patrons the drinks are charged at less than half it list price. What’s more, a patron can pay not only for himself/ herself but also for all the guests that he or she takes along. A superb concept I must say and a great monetary relief for some! For people working in and around the Fort area this place is an absolute steal deal!

The only ‘area for improvement’ for lazy dog is it very limited repertoire. They don’t serve any Indian Wine, which is strange because they do serve other Indian alcohol.

The food here is very tasty and truly ‘homemade’ but one has only a few things to choose from.

What one must look out for is:

Alu Chaat – made with fried potatoes
Shammi
Chicken Chaat – Yes you’ve read this right! A very tasty and interesting mix. I liked this one so much that I wanted to take some home for the husband but was disappointed to hear that they don’t parcel food :( Lazy Dog, if you’re reading this, can you change this policy pleaaaseeeee? I’d love to dig into some of this chicken chaat as a mid-night snack!

FOOD SCORE
7/10

PARAPHERNALIA SCORE
7/10 Must add that the service was super quick and very polite. 

Will I go back there? Of course I will! After a long tired day at work when the body ‘needs’ a drink and a generous helping of the Chicken Chaat!

HAKKASAN - Mumbai

We were looking forward to a brilliant Sunday lunch with a lovely couple (Medha and Joe...we adore you guys! )at the very well renowned Michelin star restaurant in Bandra. We’ve individually dined at Hakkasan before and loved the experience. This Sunday Hakkasan had an irresistible deal of unlimited Dimsums for 1500/-, inclusive of taxes (now when was the last time I heard the word Inclusive alongside taxes???) per ‘stomach’, the booking made in advance we were all set to devour some delectable plates of food.

So as soon as we entered we were ushered to a table which was a ‘lonely table’ away from the main restaurant area and behold...right outside the kitchen. Me thinks they placed that table there by chance and surely not by design. We were told that it was the only available table for 4. Now we made a reservation a day in advance, from a Michelin star restaurant, you expect to be given a decent table or at least informed in advance! The optimistic husband said it was blessing, we’d get our food real quick! Feeling better about the arrangement we waited for someone to attend to us ... we waited... and we waited and finally someone did attend to us. And the first thing he said was that if you are opting for the Dimsum deal, the food would take a long time as the kitchen was way too busy!!! Really??? A rather miffed, but very well composed Joe reasoned with him and said we were okay to wait about 15 mins! Well done Joe, I’d have lost my cool...

I have to admit though the dimsums came mush sooner than expected and all was forgotten. They were absolutely yumcious, so much so that we forgot all about the unfortunate service.

The Dim Sums to look out for:

Duck Rolls – extremely well cook duck

Chicken wonton in bar-b-que sauce – The sauce was tangy and to die for!

Edamame and Truffle dumpling – well this says truffles, need I say more?

Crystal dumpling – a very delicate parcel with mushrooms and carrots

Prawn and corm dumpling – a great combination

Pumpkin Dimsum – these looked absolutely beautiful!

What was also commendable that they brought in a generous number of each dimsum, a rare sight in at a fine dining restaurant.

We’d also order something to drink. Deep and Medha ordered a Ketel Vodka with fresh watermelon juice each. The drinks came much after the food and after we’d asked for them a couple of times. The watermelon juice they gave was too little for two drinks so we asked for some more. A good 20 mins later we had the guy come and say that they were out of watermelon juice! What got me was that he was unapologetic and offered no solution. He said he would not even change the drink! What were we expected to do??? Of course an argument followed and we finally got the drink changed! Well they had to!!!

You go to a  Michelin star restaurant expecting Michelin star food and Michelin star paraphernalia. We got great food but terrible paraphernalia. That doesn’t make me a happy customer Hakkasan.

FOOD SCORE

8/10

PARAPHERNALIA SCORE

4/10 (The food sis come in quickly)

Will I go back there? Well, yes I will! But only on a weeknight when the restaurant is not busy cause clearly they cannot handle a packed house!