Bastian (B/1, New Kamal Building, Opposite National College, Linking Road, Bandra West)

In a nutshell:
A newly opened seafood specialty restaurant in Mumbai that serves excellent seafood in a different avatar than the ‘Gazali’s & ‘Mahesh’s of the World.

small entrance to a large restaurant
small entrance to a large restaurant

Address & other details:  Bastian

Meal for 2: 2000 onwards

Cuisine type :  vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

receipt - proof of payment
receipt – proof of payment

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.

Short description – in case u r in a hurry:

We read about this restaurant in an article in a magazine & decided to drop in. We were surprised that they were already having ‘fully sold out evenings’ in such a short period. Also, they Open only in the evenings.

as we walked in...
as we walked in…

They serve Big portions – very American in approach. Dessert menu had different kinds of Cheesecake only – also very American. This talks a lot about the chef’s American background.

bastian boil
bastian boil
bastian boil
bastian boil

We super enjoyed the multiple chats with the Chef as he was hopping from table to table. He explained how he came up with the seafood boil dish that is commonly eaten in US.

bar area
bar area

Needless to say we cud not eat anything more than this mammoth dish.

seating
seating

Got to know while chatting with our server that almost all ingredients were locally sourced and none is more than 24 hrs old. No wonder everything felt so fresh.

interiors
interiors

The interiors of the .restaurant was pretty nice. It had an open bar area.

interiors
interiors

Service was very good. The guys were very warm and attentive.

menu card
menu card
coaster
coaster
thats how the bill came
thats how the bill came

Food that we had on this occasion was excellent. Look forward to exploring more.

how to eat crab
how to eat crab – tutorials on the table

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to NJOY reading:

We decided to try Bastian boil – real name being Seafood boil. It’s an American dish in which Seafood, sausages and potato are boiled together with eg. Garlic,herbs etc (varies from recipe to recipe).

Bastian boil - this is how it arrived on the table
Bastian boil – this is how it arrived on the table

The sausage was ‘home made’. The meat inside was full of flavor, uneven, juicy and immensely intense and YUMM to taste. It had a thick coarse layer on the outside. Rate the sausage 4.95/5

sausage
sausage

The menu card mentioned 1 kg crab. What we did not realize is that it means 7-8 crabs adding up to a kilo. Since eating a big crab means less work than many small crabs of the same size, there was a point that we were getting bored of de-shelling the crabs. However the moment the wonderful fresh sweet crab meat wud hit the tastebuds, the boredom wud go & the tastebuds wud applaud with joy.

crab
crab

The crab meat was just too good – as good as it cud get. The crab shells had been cracked by the kitchen in such a way that breaking into the shell was easy. Rate the crabs 4.75/5

crab
crab

The prawns were very good as well. They managed to retain their taste and flavor in front of big brother crab. The prawns were soft and very tasty. Rate them 4.5/5

prawns
prawns

Potatoes were very enjoyable as well.

bastian boil
bastian boil

The corns were the only disappointment. These were not the juiciest and the best. They were not bad too. Rate them 3/5.

corn
corn

The most interesting part was the broth – it was the remaining residual broth in which all the above had been boiled. It was full of flavours and great to taste. Loved having it by dipping our breads in. Also loved having it just as it is. Garlic and herbs made their presence felt. Rate the broth 4.5/5

broth
broth

We were served a basket of bread that included a giant sea salt pretzel and a large square bread. These had been baked ‘ Inhouse’ . Loved both and rate them 4.5/5

basket of bread
basket of bread

Virgin Mojito was very good. It had a very good balance of sweet & sour. Surely not too sweet. Rate it 4/5

Virgin Mojito
Virgin Mojito

Coconut orgasm was a thick cocktail with flavors of coconut & rum. It looked like a thick white shake. A candied pineapple slice on top was very interesting to munch on. The drink was potent , memorable & thoroughly enjoyable. Rate it 4.75/5

Coconut orgasm
Coconut orgasm
Coconut orgasm
Coconut orgasm

For dessert we had Elvis slice. The menu card read ‘The King’s favorites, all in one – peanut butter, banana & old monk rum. We are usually not the ones who order cheesecake if anything else is on offer. Usually most cheesecakes  in India have a smooth, gelatinous texture on the top & have a uniform smooth paste like body. Most cheesecakes taste worse than what we make at home.

Elvis slice
Elvis slice

When we looked at dessert menu, we realized that cheesecakes were the only option. So we asked for Chef’s recommendation & this is what he recommended. The cheesecake was firm, had a character to it, had a good balance of sweet & salt, the banana was enjoyable & overall it was excellent. Loved the candied nuts that added a twist to the tale. Rate it 4.5/5

Elvis slice
Elvis slice

Overall rating of food & beverages at Bastain averages out to 4.4/5

Wud surely revisit to try seafood with ‘under the bridge sauce’.

 

Leave a Reply