Ever been super excited for a movie or a book launch after seeing its presence all over and once it's all over, wondered what all the buzz was about?
We have been there too. Repeatedly. Hence, the need to curate this list of a few places in Mumbai that you should definitely give a miss.
1) Sardar -
Ask any Mumbaikar about Pav Bhaji and 8 out of 10 times, the first place they'd recommend to you would be Sardar. However, we didn't quite like the taste. The only reason behind its hype would be the sheer quantity of butter and cheese it is laden with.
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| Image source - www.flickriver.com |
Heart attack? Umm, no thanks.
Brown in colour, as opposed to the red colour, this bhaji did not match up to our expectations. Better alternatives would be Maji Sagar, Amar Juice Centre, Santosh Sagar or Achija.
2) Merwans Cake Shop -
This is one legendary cake shop that's been around since years. It had been on our bucket list since years due to all the praise and reputation is has created. Located amongst the hustle and bustle of Andheri, is this tiny shop, always flooded with customers waiting for their orders or tucked away in corners, enjoying their food.
We tried their chocolate cake, chocolate square, mawa cake and pizza. The only thing we liked out of the lot was the pizza. The mawa cake had far too much cardamom in it, thus killing all the other flavours; the square got stuck to our tongues and refused to go down our throats. The chocolate pastry tasted stale and inedible. With such a horrible experience, we failed to understand how the overfull bakery was yet working so well. A better option would be B Merwan.
3) Grandmama's cafe -
Grandmama's cafe is so pretty; Grandmama's cafe is the place to be at; Grandmama's cafe is so vibrant and lively; the food at Grandmama's cafe is absolutely ravishing. These are just a few of the things we heard about this place. Hence, we couldn't wait to visit it.
However, I would like to strongly disagree with all the hype. Yes, the place is one of the prettiest we've laid our eyes on. Yes, it is vibrant and it just makes you want to sit and admire the beauty of it all. However, it all ends there.
We decided to visit the place for breakfast. It was totally packed and we had to wait for 5 minutes to get ourselves a table. We called for waffles with nutella and whipped cream and french toast.
The waffles were soggy and were torn apart from the middle. One bite into them and we couldn't down them any further. The nutella and whipped cream, we helped ourselves to.
A basic French toast is bread soaked in eggs and then fried or roasted and served with maple syrup/cinnamon/any other topping of your choice. The one at Grandmama's cafe was a complete disaster. Normal bread toasted sprinkled with some castor sugar and butter is not French toast!
Post two horrendous dishes, we decided to continue our breakfast someplace else.
A friend of mine, on another occasion, was served non-vegetarian food instead of the vegetarian she ordered.
4) Di Bella -
The most photographed and talked off waffles in the city! Di Bella, an Australian coffee brand was introduced to the Indian market just last year and their ridiculously photogenic waffles have already carved a niche for themselves.
The waffles are loaded generously with the desired topping and served with 2 bowls - ice cream and whipped cream. However, the waffles are soggy and undercooked and reallly difficult to break into. Better alternatives here.
5) The Fatty Bao -
This Delhi chain, recently opened its doors to Mumbaikars. And since the day it has, it is always filled with over-enthusiasts. After trying for weeks, we managed to finally book a table here to check out what all the buzz was about. The waiter had given away our table without informing us about it, thus making us wait for a good 40 minutes.
The food is really ordinary, staff pretty okay, ambiance nothing great. Can totally give it a miss.
