No Recipes

Reading over my blog introduction the other day, I realised that I had written that this blog would be more that just a collection of my cooking endeavours. So the past couple of weeks I have been making a conscientious effort to document foods I try, places I go and things I do. 

Sundance Café
This cafe has been in Bombay for decades, and shut down a while ago for renovation. It recently reopened and has been big news all over the city. My dad remembers it from his stay in Bombay in his twenties, and it's now a slick, bright, bustling and modern cafe.
The ambience is sunny and evidently very high-society. The pastries look absolutely delicious, and the menu is a definite highlight: designed like an old newspaper, it features witty descriptions, good photography and an extremely well-rounded menu. It's mainly western food, but the choice is baffling. The food is served creatively, but the service was very slow. (Read about our trip to the cafe).
We waited more than an hour, while a group of people nearby got their food before us, even though they ordered much later than we did. On top of that, they brought my mum the wrong burger.
Despite the mess-ups, we were all happy with our dishes: a melty mushroom sandwich, veggie burgers, macaroni and cheese (which wasn't the usual processed-cheese-glop, but had a stronger and more sophisticated flavour). 
There's plenty more I want to try there, but I need to set aside quite a bit of time. 

Chocolate Fudge Cappuccino
It's winter holidays! Finally...
My friends and I always go and do something on the last day of school, so on Friday a few of us went to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. For non-Mumbaikars, this place is like Starbucks (but most of my friends think Coffee Bean makes better coffee).
I've never actually sat down there for a long period of time, so this time I noticed why it's so popular among teenagers, mums and businesspeople alike: it's energetic, it has a good range of well-made food and the drinks are delicious. To get myself somewhat into the 'holiday spirit' I ordered a Chocolate Fudge Cappuccino (I have a newfound love of cappuccino)-- a limited-time Christmas drink.
It was heavenly... to be honest, it tasted like hot chocolate made with foamy milk, but I wasn't complaining. My validation for having so much chocolate (on top of all the brownies and cake our teachers brought in for our class that day) was that the coffee in the drink was good for me...

The Pantry
My mum's friend told her about a new pizza place in Kala Ghoda, so we set out to find it last night. It turned out not to be a pizza place, but an absolutely adorable new boulangerie-patisserie-brunch place-dinner place. The decor is clean yet exciting, the ingredients intelligently sourced, the menu seasonal and the service insanely fast. The place could be in Paris, with creative minds sipping a smoothie or a coffee and munching on scrumptious fresh food while churning out new, world-changing ideas.
But it's in Mumbai. An ever-evolving, diversifying, special city. 
I enjoyed a leek, spinach and sweet lime soup, and my family had a winter vegetable tart; a spinach and ricotta tart; a tofu salad; banana-fig smoothie; chocolate chip cookie and a vanilla bread and butter pudding... all of which were big successes.
The menu is tempting me back, so we have to go there sometime soon-- preferably breakfast, to try out the Oatmeal Brulée :O 
I took a lot of inspiration from their fun interior design and the subtle yet pervading Christmas decorations-- If I want a beautiful café, I'll have to start brainstorming now ;)

P.S. Merry Christmas! We had an 'Express Christmas' today, since we'll be out of town on the 25th... Modern Family lovers will get the concept. Non-Modern Family lovers: 1. Shame on you. 2. Just watch that episode.