The Ant Blog

Weekends can be exciting for many reasons. For us, one happy thought (apart from sleeping till late) is to plan our lazy brunches with friends somewhere, or cooking up a delicious meal at home. The entire weekend sets rolling with all of this. So on one such rainy weekend, we thought of giving the online site  GourmetItUp   a try for the first time. They had a lovely set meal option at Oh:Cha Restaurant and bar. This place had opened a  few months ago, and we were planning to visit it ever since we had got some raving reviews. Located inside Mathurdas Mills compound, this place is almost hidden from sight. But as you walk in, the place turns around. The decor is understated, with beautiful hanging lamps all over the ceiling. Having reached there I realized that the place is run by an old friend. Tanai Shirali has been in the industry for several years now and I was happy to meet him after ages. I am a sucker for Thai food, and the GourmetItUp set menu was interest...

I recollect this evening with a lot of fondness. The Monsoon season has kicked in , and the showers are typically incessant in Mumbai. On this particular day however the rains were intermittent. We had driven down to South Mumbai to the one end of the city at the  NCPA for an evening performance. The show got over at 9:15 pm and left us with a myriad choices to catch a grub from. After debating for a while, we drove to one of the closest eat-outs The Tea Centre. I had heard of this place a lot, so was happy to pay a visit. The place has an old world charm, and has the look and feel of an era gone by. The name of the place  reciprocates in their menu, where the first few pages are dedicated to various kinds of flavors and blends available. It was late and the diners were all having their dinner. So we thought of trying our ' chai ' at the end of the meal. We ordered for our starters, Chicken with sauteed mushroom and onion , and Chicken Catchatori.       ...

Our cravings for Pizza heightened on a Wednesday night, after a long and tiresome day. I knew I had to try this place out, named Pizzaroma because I had read about it and also because i did not want to hang out in the fast chains. This place is about 10 minutes away from my house, so it couldn't hurt to visit and sample a few dishes from their menu. We reached there to find it empty, which was understandable on a weeknight. Pizzaroma is situated in the corner of a commercial building named Powai Plaza, taking up a very tiny place. Once we sat down with the menu, the names of the pizzas intrigued us. So we wanted to sample quite a few of them. To start off, we ordered for a Mushroom and Chicken Bruschetta. The bruschettas were crispy but were a tad too salty for my palate. We  downed it with an Appy fizz which went quite well.                                 Mushroom and Chicken Bruschetta at Pizzar...

  It had been a while since we had visited TGIfridays .   What with all the new eateries in the city, there is always a new destination to experiment food in. And even the thought of doing so is exciting. However, we have had many a happy memories associated with this place. We reached here  quite late, by when most of the restaurants were closing for lunch. It was relatively empty as the peak hours were over. I ordered a November Seabreeze. For starters we ordered Loaded Potato skins topped with bacon. The dish was at it’s greasy best (but of course it was all fried!) but I let myself enjoy this rude boy lunch. The bacon gave the potatoes a nice salty aftertaste.                                          Loaded Potato Skins topped with Bacon at TGiFridays Although we wanted to try a few more with a side orders, I knew I wouldn’t have space for my m...

It was a Saturday evening, and I was catching up with my BFF after  many weeks (read ages). So I had this place in mind, as I hadn’t been there before and also because of it’s proximity to where we met up that day. At 7:30 pm this place was 80% occupied, playing eighties rock music and had an upbeat vibe.                                                                                           Nachos with tomato salsa at BBC We stepped in, and got ourselves seated. Meeting after long calls for celebration, so it was cocktails all the way! She ordered a Appletini  and I was in mood for a Cosmopolitan   ! Our drinks came in, with a side order of Nachos. This place has a great many kind of beers to offer, and a lively decor. ...

For a weeknight, which was bordering on boring, I found a very simple and inspiring recipe to perk my mood up. I rummaged my freezer, and found legs of Chicken. The dish comes out really well with breasts though, but I gave it a shot with what I had. This dish is inspired by a recipe of the very famous and one of my fav Chefs, Jamie Oliver! So, I slit the flesh, and rubbed the chicken with cloves of garlic, sea salt, black pepper, and thyme. Also squeezed a lemon and rubbed everything together. After heating the griddle, added butter and placed the legs to cook on grill. After a good 15 -20 mins, turn it over. Note here, that since this chicken has bones in it, it will take a longer time to cook. However, chicken breasts would cook faster.                                                                  Chicken legs ...

It had been long since we had eaten at a Goan or Mangalorean restaurant. These coastal cuisines can be a delightful treat. So I was surfing through the internet one day, when I came across this quaint little place in Malad. Now that is really far from where I stay, but I kept a mental note of trying it out when we plan to head that side. And so that day came along a month or so later. We had a little difficulty finding the place, as the restaurant’s signage could not be located from the road while driving. It is a small rooftop eatery. But it has its loyals, even on a late weeknight people had come over to dine there. We were quite hungry by then and we began by ordering a plate of Spicy Squid batter fry, and Pork Chops BBQ. Spicy Squid batter fry at Mangoes The squids were very good, they went well with the dip. Also the Pork chops were delish. Full of spices and cooked to a nice brown hue. The quantity was humongous. We were instantly doubtful, as we had come a long w...

We visited this place over a weekday, just to unwind over a drink and we ended up having a three course meal. The ambiance is very relaxed and vibrant at the same time. I had always heard of this place being a winner with their cocktails, and with what I had tried that night, I think they lived up to it. So to start with, we ordered a set of Non-vegetarian dim-sums and Watermelon martinis to go with it. The drink was very fresh and really well made. Full marks for that! Next the dim-sums, they were good too.                                            Non-vegetarian Dim-sums at Mamagoto Watermelon Martini at Mamagoto                                           The fun/quirky Decor at Mamagoto We really wanted to try their set menu as...