This one will stand out in my series of posts, so far. It’s not about a restaurant or a bistro but a wedding reception! I must say that it impressed me so much that I decided to write a post about it.
A colleague of mine was celebrating his wedding which was held about a week ago. The invite for the reception stated the venue as ‘Sagarmatha’ – Opp. The Afghan Church, Colaba. Aha! A South Mumbai do. Hmm. Interesting. Wouldn’t it be fun getting a taste of that part of Mumbai, I wondered.
A couple of friends and I set out for the reception well past nine in a cab, briefly stopping for a moment to pick up a bouquet from a Pedder Road florist. About 10 more minutes into the ride we realized that the venue was not in the usual Colaba area but in Navy Nagar – a place which made me feel that I was in an entirely new city altogether. Clean roads, neat dividers and footpaths and a high frequency of white vehicles with red and orange beacons.
We found the venue without much difficulty and braced ourselves for what we thought would be a crowded and raucous affair. As soon as we entered what greeted us was this large expanse of green, decorative lights (not too much, not too little) and the Arabian Sea beyond. What a sight that was. It wasn’t too crowded either.
On the left, the buffet had been arranged alongside the starters counter. The evening belonged to the starters, really. Breadsticks and Fondue, Smoked Chicken Caesar Salad, and Green Caesar Salad with gourmet tomatoes led the spread. These were closely followed by bite-sized pieces of Crepes with a choice of Mushroom or Mixed Vegetable white sauce. However the dish that imprinted itself in my mind was the esoteric Baked Potatoes and Blue Cheese! You cannot get more ‘South Mumbai’ than that!! They were delicious, though.
The Indian appetizers at the ‘chaat counter’ received some well deserved attention from me. Although I really was not in the mood to eat these snack items at that hour – it was past ten at night. All varieties of chaats were available along with a whole section dedicated to ‘Golgappas’. Now I must make a note here that I’m not very fond of Golgappas or Puchkas (the name for golgappas in Kolkata). P jumped at the chance and R joined her in relishing the sweet and sour liquid scooped up in little brittle puris stuffed with lentils and potatoes. I gave into the temptation and tried out one, expecting to recoil in alarm as soon as I had tasted it. But nothing of that sort happened. What followed was a mad frenzy to gulp down as many of those tasty little things as possible.
After downing a couple of glasses of apple juice to cool down the effect of the spices I had just devoured, we moved onto the main course area. There were only a couple of non-vegetarian dishes. One of them, Hyderabadi Mutton Raan (spicy mutton dish with large meaty chunks of mutton in red sauce), looked quite appetizing to me. The vegetarian section was well stocked with Malai Mutter, Veg Kolhapuri, Dal Tadka, Veg Pulao (brilliant!), Stuffed Bitter Gourd and Crisp Fried Okra. The Malai Mutter and the okra dish were my pick among all the other dishes at the reception.
A colleague of mine was celebrating his wedding which was held about a week ago. The invite for the reception stated the venue as ‘Sagarmatha’ – Opp. The Afghan Church, Colaba. Aha! A South Mumbai do. Hmm. Interesting. Wouldn’t it be fun getting a taste of that part of Mumbai, I wondered.
A couple of friends and I set out for the reception well past nine in a cab, briefly stopping for a moment to pick up a bouquet from a Pedder Road florist. About 10 more minutes into the ride we realized that the venue was not in the usual Colaba area but in Navy Nagar – a place which made me feel that I was in an entirely new city altogether. Clean roads, neat dividers and footpaths and a high frequency of white vehicles with red and orange beacons.
We found the venue without much difficulty and braced ourselves for what we thought would be a crowded and raucous affair. As soon as we entered what greeted us was this large expanse of green, decorative lights (not too much, not too little) and the Arabian Sea beyond. What a sight that was. It wasn’t too crowded either.
On the left, the buffet had been arranged alongside the starters counter. The evening belonged to the starters, really. Breadsticks and Fondue, Smoked Chicken Caesar Salad, and Green Caesar Salad with gourmet tomatoes led the spread. These were closely followed by bite-sized pieces of Crepes with a choice of Mushroom or Mixed Vegetable white sauce. However the dish that imprinted itself in my mind was the esoteric Baked Potatoes and Blue Cheese! You cannot get more ‘South Mumbai’ than that!! They were delicious, though.
The Indian appetizers at the ‘chaat counter’ received some well deserved attention from me. Although I really was not in the mood to eat these snack items at that hour – it was past ten at night. All varieties of chaats were available along with a whole section dedicated to ‘Golgappas’. Now I must make a note here that I’m not very fond of Golgappas or Puchkas (the name for golgappas in Kolkata). P jumped at the chance and R joined her in relishing the sweet and sour liquid scooped up in little brittle puris stuffed with lentils and potatoes. I gave into the temptation and tried out one, expecting to recoil in alarm as soon as I had tasted it. But nothing of that sort happened. What followed was a mad frenzy to gulp down as many of those tasty little things as possible.
After downing a couple of glasses of apple juice to cool down the effect of the spices I had just devoured, we moved onto the main course area. There were only a couple of non-vegetarian dishes. One of them, Hyderabadi Mutton Raan (spicy mutton dish with large meaty chunks of mutton in red sauce), looked quite appetizing to me. The vegetarian section was well stocked with Malai Mutter, Veg Kolhapuri, Dal Tadka, Veg Pulao (brilliant!), Stuffed Bitter Gourd and Crisp Fried Okra. The Malai Mutter and the okra dish were my pick among all the other dishes at the reception.
Overall, a fine reception. Two thumbs up for the venue and food.
5 comments:
Awesome stuff man! Love the idea of taking something u like and turning it into something others might be interested in.
Write in more often, and write in more bindaas-ly!!! (read - informally).
Also, how abt a post reviewing K's canteen food??? Hahahaha.
Thanks bali !!
Re: K's canteen food - do I need to actually waste precious Blog space :)
i could write an entire blog post on the raan alone!!!! it was outstanding. Any serious lover of food would have heaped his plate with it, and sat quietly in a corner, devouring it to the gills. Learn to focus on the essentials in life my friend.
Rayo
Lol! Rayo ! I stood there staring at the Raan !! It was Lent dude, I was helpless :)
hey...I've had a similar reaction to yours, after attending a wedding reception at sagarmatha...do u think ud have any contact details of the venue by any chance??
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