The Bombay canteen
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.
We booked thru an app and paid in advance. Only alcoholic drinks were charged as per menu card.
YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.
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
I subscribe to the insta page of the Bombay canteen to keep looking out for interesting pop ups that keep happening. When I saw this event pop up on my insta feed 2 weeks back, I left everything and started booking 2 seats to this pre paid event. I was in Ahmedabad that day and after 7 failed attempts (very disturbing app for booking) requested my partner to help close the booking.
A day or two before the event i started talking to my fiends about it but no one showed much courage. So we showed up.
The arrangement was a Sit down community style dining – sit acround a table with strangers, pick your food from a common plate and eat and thereafter in some time break Into a conversation.
The menu was cleverly created to balance the overdose of meat. Chef zac came to all the tables for explaining the concept in the beginning and to explain the dishes subsequently (every time).
The guys serving us were wearing kind of Nawabi darbar attire, with the head gear.
Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:
Chota
Goat Tongue pepper fry taco (Kerala) had a base layer of lovely thin laccha paratha masquerading as tacos. On top of the taco was A layer of onions, red cabbage, thin slices of coconut etc, topped with goat tongue.
A bite into it was a memorable experience filled with intrigue, expectation and sense of adventure, which soon turned into a feeling of joy for the taste buds.
The pepper fry was directionally similar to the meat pepper fry that is there on the Bombay canteen menu. Loved the tongue with the taco and then just as it is …. like my friend obsessivore mentioned, it actually tasted better than tenderloin!!!
Rate it 4.75/5
Smoked Boti samosa with green pea salad (bohri). The outer layer of the samosa was super thin yet amazingly crisp and khasta. The meat inside was super duper intense, full of flavours of spices and meat, was outstanding to taste. The outer layer of the samosa was good to pick up a fight for!!!! The green pea paste (called salad) was a great cooler / acted as a balancing agent. Rate it 4.75/5
Paya Masala puri (bangalore) was the weakest link of the evening. The Paya flavours were very minimal. I could only feel it when the softened cartilage wud go to the mouth. The green peas were a bit harder than optimum in my understanding. I do not know the original bengaluru version but this one was far from the chatpata ism that one finds in many chaats of india. The dish was a bit too mellow and was a tad suboptimal in terms of salt too. Overall rate it 2.75/5
When Kapoora fugia (East Indian) came we had no idea what it was till the chef said ‘its a ball made out of balls’!!!! Yes, you read it right – it was made from testicles of goat!!! In case u fainted I hope someone sprays water and gets u back to the chair soon….
Fugia is an East Indian dish. For the uninitiated, East Indian are not people from say Bengal , Bihar or Assam. Indian is a community of Roman Catholics who stay in and around mumbai and in other areas of north Konkan. They converted to Christianity during Portuguese era and before, long b4 the British missionaries started mass conversions. The food of this community is Distinct from both Marathi local cuisine and Goan food but there r similarities as well e.g. East Indians have vindaloo and sorpotel which Goan cuisine is famous for. While the names are common the texture and taste are different.
Traditional Fugia is a deep fried cereal that is eaten on occasions by the East Indians.
Chef zac put kapoora in the center and fried his fugias. The fugia part was exactly the same. The kapoora has a super strong flavour and a distinct taste. The texture of kapoora was soft. First time experience. Once again, loved it after the initial shock was over!!! Rate it 4.5/5
Shikampuri gurda kabab (hyderabad) was a rockstar. For the uninitiated, gurda is the kidney of the goat. The uniqueness of the kabab is that it is a mince meat patty with chopped kidney in the center. The meat flavours and spices complimented themselves beautifully. The dish was hotter (chilly) than the other dishes, the origin being hyderabad. Loved every bit of it. Was longing for a few more. Rate it 4.95/5
Mutton thali
After the starters came a pre set thali.
In the center was Haddi yakhni pulao (Lucknow). It was just outstanding – made with thick short grain rice from Kashmir, this rice was cooked in bone marrow broth. wow is the only word to express the feeling. It left us speechless. Unreal flavours and feel. Rate it 4.95/5
Tripe daal (mangalorean) with goat stomach lining was a very good daal preparation that had strips of goat stomach in it. The daal retained the daal flavours and the texture of the pulses. The stomach lining looked like flat pasta. It Tasted good and added a twist to the texture. Rate it 4/5
Khiri lonche pickle (a Kolhapuri dish) was made of goat khiri (udder). This is widely served in beef serving restaurants in Kolkata. My memory says khiri is super soft. The khiri of a smaller animal at the Bombay canteen was much led softer. It was of course served in a pickle version with lots of spices. Loved the taste. Expected a lot better texture. Rate it 3/5.
Kaleji (goat liver) raitha (from malwa region) was something totally new. I do not remember eating a raita with any meat / other non vegetarian item. Reminded us of a western cold salad with yoghurt dressing. Excellent. Apt for the dinner – completely stood out as a coolant / balancing factor and also somewhat as a palate cleanser. Loved it. Rate it 4.5/5
Gosht junglee maas (rajasthani) was quite different from the version we have had before at apas promenade at ITC grand Bharat. That version had only 5 ingredients – meat, ghee, salt, dry red chilly and garlic!!! We loved it so much that we started making that at home on sundays.
The version at the Bombay canteen was very different but outstanding. The meat was as soft as a mango!!! Yet the pieces retained their shape and texture perfectly. The taste was unbelievably good. So was the texture and flavours. Slow cooking showed its effect. Rate it 4.95/5
Patiala
Gardan rogan josh (Kashmiri pandit) was totally different from any roganjosh I have ever had. The Kashmiri pandit style goat roganjosh is made with no onion no garlic but saunf to flavour. The full gardan (neck) of the animal was cooked at a go, brought to the table in Kadhai , served to us in individual eating plates.
The word Roganjosh otherwise is one of the most bastardised terms to describe just any north Indian mutton curry not just across india but I would say across the world. The Kashmiri original roganjosh is cooked in 2 different ways – the pandit (Hindu) way and the Muslim way. The fiery red Color usually comes from the red chillies and cockscomb flower. The Muslim version is made with onions and garlic like most other North Indian meat curries but it still tastes distinct. The pandit version does not have onion and garlic and has strong saunf flavour. Powdered saunf also makes the gravy a bit daanedaar. The concept is similar to Niramish mangsho of Bengalis which literally translates to vegetarian mutton – coz that mutton curry (used for bhog, during puja) does not have onions and garlic!!!!
The best Kashmiri pandit roganjosh version I have ever had is at Matamaal, gurgaon. The gravy at the Bombay canteen was as good. Rate the gravy 4.95/5
The meat in a roganjosh is the usual piece of meat on the bone. Here, chef zac had cooked the entire gardan (neck) at a go. Result – super soft, melt in the mouth meat. Disadvantage – the meat that was more than 2 cm away from outer layer did not get the effect of the gravy and tasted bland. It had to be dipped into the gravy for every bite. Rate the meat 3/5. Overall rating of roganjosh averages out to 4/5.
Sweet dish
Saffron and citrus malpua with goat cheese ice cream (Mohammed ali road, mumbai) crisp, not over sweet, too good Malpua Muhammad ali road style with ‘goat cheese’ ice cream on top – simply wow. Goat cheese ice cream to end a goat menu – good sense of humour and great execution thereafter ….. Memorable. Rate it 4.95/5
Overall rating of food at the festival averages out to 4.4/5
Look forward to more such pop ups