While there is no dearth of casual-watering-holes-cum-cafes in the city, there is always a hot favourite amongst all of us. Every café will have a certain set of loyal patrons that resort to that favourite when wanting to dine out casually, over some gossip and a chilled beer.
While the list is long and inclusive of places like Alfredos, Jugheads, Citrus and more, Bindiya Chotrani picks up the much-famed Poptates in Versova and decodes its tactics that it adopts when charming loyalists.
We walk into the dimly lit place during lunch hours. Done up in a vibrant palette of bright red complete with red walls, red cushioned sofas and chairs, the place has happy hours on. We zero down on a pint of Heineken and the regular Garlic Cheese bread and Melwyn fries. While the Garlic Bread was nothing atypical, the Melwyn Fries was a sure winner on the table. Potato fingers deep fried with chopped green chillies and generously sprinkled with red chilli powder and red chilli flakes taste nothing short of heaven.
For the pizzas, we asked to be served with the BBQ paneer pizza – a thin crust base, topped with bite-sized cubes of paneer, bell peppers and cheese. While the pizza toppings screamed fresh, they were scanty and made us guess the kitchen had run out of them. The pizza could have definitely done with a little more of toppings and a lot more of cheese.
We plunged into the main course, ordering a Grilled chicken sizzler with rice and our second round of beer that came free, considering happy hours.
More into junk and less health-conscious that we are, we asked for the veggies to be replaced with French fries. While we could wait for our order to be served, we couldn’t help but notice how slow the service was. The waiter would take a few minutes befre they could come to our table, a few minutes to refill our glasses with water and long before they could serve with our food.
Mashed Potato, French fries and a sauce accompanied the rice topped with grilled chicken steak. Yet again, the rice portion was only enough for a single person, but there wasn’t much we could do. A larger portion of rice could have been the saving grace here.
But, counting the smaller portions of food and the slightly unattentive staff here, if there’s something that helps the place do it’s charm – it’s the quality and the teaste of the food. Also, the decor may not be very pretentious and snooty, it does have an ambiance befitting a casual dining experience.
Walk into the place only if you’re looking at eating the most typical of food. Albeit, the items here taste superlative and are just perfect when all you want to do is sit back and enjoy an inhibited meal over a small chatty session.