I have rather fond memories of the Just Around the Corner in Bandra. The experience of loading your salad plate with food and tottering back to gorge on the beef, seafood, chicken, vegetables, and other things shines bright in the culinary memory map.
So on a rather busy Saturday morning when I'd just finished rushing through baking a lot of chocolate sponge cake, I met Harini and Subha, and it was unanimously decided that we should go there to eat our hearts out. Actually the last statement is not applicable to BOTH ultra-intake conscious Subha and Harini.
After we reached (with Harini driving and cribbing about the grams she's gained), we were in for a surprise. The place had changed from an open inviting place to a completely opaque flex wrapped place and is now called Eat Around the Corner.
Interestingly, you can't find the place on Google Maps unless you search for good old Just Around the Corner :P.
We'd almost given up the place for closed when a thick and forbidding door sprung open and we squeezed in like we were getting into some Alice-in-Wonderland-esque forbidden garden.
Once inside we realized that the place has been 'redesigned'. The Costa inside is gone. A metal detector gauges your threat quotient as the redesigned faux waterfall gurgles in the background. Subha noticed a notice that glares at you saying something to the effect that "This is not a cafe... Spend at least Rupees 350 or your are not welcome"!
Very alarming and forbidding!
Nevertheless a once inside, the familiar surroundings have been changed into a sterile and white decor. The counter now flows in the opposite direction to what it was earlier. As soon as once enters, once is corralled into a glass enclosed lane.
You start with salads (small or regular portion sizes only - no unlimited option now). The day we went we could choose from three vegetarian and two non-vegetarian options. The salads range from Rs 150 to around Rs 300 (depending on factors like portion size and veg/non-veg etc).
You cannot help yourself. A salad server will 'toss' your salads for you at his discretion.
Having said this, the salads now look more enticing and more 'exotic' ingredients (for example, I had to choose between Tamarind Chicken, Chorizo, and Salmon). I settled for a small portion of shredded salmon salad, Harini chose a large portion of something that had all sorts of soaked pulses, and Subha chose a large portion of Greek salad with feta cheese.
What really got me happy was the desert spread.
Subha got herself a cinnamon roll and Harini and I shared a simple chocolate pastry. The desert counter in quite expansive and a feast for the eye.
The cinnamon roll was excellent—a little sugar and crunch on the top layer and a cloying little heart of gluten and cinnamon in the middle. Compared to this the rolls at Cinnabon pale very rapidly.
The chocolate pastry was good as well. Simple things like this usually helps benchmark a pastry/confectionery prowess of a place. The gooey dark chocolate passed with flying colours :)
So on a rather busy Saturday morning when I'd just finished rushing through baking a lot of chocolate sponge cake, I met Harini and Subha, and it was unanimously decided that we should go there to eat our hearts out. Actually the last statement is not applicable to BOTH ultra-intake conscious Subha and Harini.
After we reached (with Harini driving and cribbing about the grams she's gained), we were in for a surprise. The place had changed from an open inviting place to a completely opaque flex wrapped place and is now called Eat Around the Corner.
Interestingly, you can't find the place on Google Maps unless you search for good old Just Around the Corner :P.
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We'd almost given up the place for closed when a thick and forbidding door sprung open and we squeezed in like we were getting into some Alice-in-Wonderland-esque forbidden garden.
Once inside we realized that the place has been 'redesigned'. The Costa inside is gone. A metal detector gauges your threat quotient as the redesigned faux waterfall gurgles in the background. Subha noticed a notice that glares at you saying something to the effect that "This is not a cafe... Spend at least Rupees 350 or your are not welcome"!
Very alarming and forbidding!
Nevertheless a once inside, the familiar surroundings have been changed into a sterile and white decor. The counter now flows in the opposite direction to what it was earlier. As soon as once enters, once is corralled into a glass enclosed lane.
You start with salads (small or regular portion sizes only - no unlimited option now). The day we went we could choose from three vegetarian and two non-vegetarian options. The salads range from Rs 150 to around Rs 300 (depending on factors like portion size and veg/non-veg etc).
You cannot help yourself. A salad server will 'toss' your salads for you at his discretion.
Having said this, the salads now look more enticing and more 'exotic' ingredients (for example, I had to choose between Tamarind Chicken, Chorizo, and Salmon). I settled for a small portion of shredded salmon salad, Harini chose a large portion of something that had all sorts of soaked pulses, and Subha chose a large portion of Greek salad with feta cheese.
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| The Lovely Ladies with their Salads |
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| Subha's Greek Salad (and Cinnamon Roll) |
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| Harini's Salad of Soaked Pulses (the bread sticks are NOT gratis.. They cost a bomb!) |
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| Salmon Salad for me... |
What really got me happy was the desert spread.
Subha got herself a cinnamon roll and Harini and I shared a simple chocolate pastry. The desert counter in quite expansive and a feast for the eye.
The cinnamon roll was excellent—a little sugar and crunch on the top layer and a cloying little heart of gluten and cinnamon in the middle. Compared to this the rolls at Cinnabon pale very rapidly.
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| Cinnamon Roll |
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| A closer look at the cinnamon roll |
The chocolate pastry was good as well. Simple things like this usually helps benchmark a pastry/confectionery prowess of a place. The gooey dark chocolate passed with flying colours :)
2 comments:
Rs 150 to 300 for salads ... boy, what is happening to India. Even two years back we had Chello Kebab at Peter Cat for 120.
Those days are long gone... And Peter Cat is as expensive as Mumbai.
However, a few disclaimers/exceptions:
• Beef kati roll @Ripon Street is still Rs 8
• Tandoori roti/naan is still Rs 2 in restaurants in Mahim (where I live) or in Ripon Street (where I lived)
So...
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