New
Foodie Joints on the Block
Every few years the local
landscape changes more so in Matunga than any other place. You can see new
shops popping up , new line of business take shape , new food joints
mushrooming enticing the customers to try something new. Over the years I have
seen whole lot of changes in our area right from the kirana shops giving way to
clothing business , hotels changing management or cuisine all together to
appeal to the changing customer taste.
I still remember a Hotel going
by the name of Coffee House in Matunga
market just opposite the Matunga Railay station. This was the newest joint
during my growing up years that was different from the typical Udpi joints
crowding the space. At this restaurant you could experience a fine dine atmosphere
with proper seating , glass cutlery , table napkins , set of forks spoons &
knives neatly arranged on the table. The menu was exhaustive with starters ,
soups , salads , main course and
desserts. Even the snacks like Sandwiches
, Burgers , Frankie were more appealing to upwardly mobile crowd and not the
typical idli and dosa’s. My dad would take us to this fancy restaurant to
celebrate some special occasion like success in our exams or a special
milestone birthday like 10th or a 13th birthday. We would
sit at the decked up table and order for a Tomato soup. The soup would be
served piping hot in proper soup bowls with dollop of butter on top and bread
crumbs sprinkled on top. The crunchy and tangy taste would sooth your throat
and fill your stomach. Next we would order for some starters followed by main
course. The dinner would end with a scoop of ice cream with chocolate sauce. We
would walk back home with great memories of a wonderful family time.
As I said in Matunga the food
landscape changes every few years. I noticed a new joint near King Circle with
an interesting name and an even interesting décor. “Café 2.0” signifying a version 2 of café, but I don’t remember a
first version of this food joint. Anyways this one’s located near Gomathy
Moorthy Idli –Dosa Atta Centre. It used to be a garage which would be leased
out to fruit sellers during Mango season to store crates / boxes of mangoes.
Now it has turned into this hip open air food joint patronized by the college
crowd from Ruia, Poddar ,Khalsa and VJTI. The interior walls are painted with “Joker” that famous super villain from
Batman with punch line “Why So
Serious”. And that goes for the food that is served here. It’s mostly snack
items like French fries served in a Cone
, then there the Pizza fries or the
Chipotle Fries ( fries served with Chipotle & cheese) , Or try their
Chilly Cheese fries or Cheese Mayo fries which tastes great .For the spicy
taste buds you have the Schezwan Cheese fries or Salsa Cheese fries. You can
also try the same flavours in Wedges which a little thicker in size and softer
than the fries. For a little filling snack try their wraps like Smile Wrap (crispy happy potatoes
tomatoes , onion , lettuce , mayo & chilly sauce) , Popper Wrap (with Cheese poppers) or the little fancy Cheese Corn
Nugget wrap. They also serve the regular burgers , Nachos and nuggets / poppers
. One interesting dish which their specialty is the Twisted Potato , it’s a large potato made into a crispy screw like
shape and fried to perfection. Can be eaten with Salsa or schezwan sause . All
this can be downed by the thick milkshakes that they serve. Try the Belgian
Chocolate shake , chocolaty and sinful. The other favorite are the Oreo
milkshake , Caramel milkshake and the chocolate milkshake. Enjoy the food in
this funky looking
fast food spot with their funky interior designs and blue neon lights that has
opened up in Matunga just a few months back and has quickly grabbed the
attention of everybody.
The just near by you can grab a bite at the Rahul’s Food Court serving fast
food snacks from the erstwhile Aarey Milk booth ,those white and blue wooden
box like booths which distributed milk bottles and pouches early in the
morning. With times changing the owners of these booths were given liberty to
start additional business to add to their income. One such milk booth has now
turned into Rahul’s Food Court. They serve little heavier snacks and not just
fries , wedges and shakes. Here you can get variet of option from dosa to
sandwiches , maggi to pasta , paninni sandwiches to pizza’s. Some of their best
creations are the Paninni’s those
subway type sandwiches with multigrain breads , stuffed with veggies , lettuce
to give a crunch and a volume and loaded with cheese to give it taste. In pizza
besides the regular Cheese , Onion and fresh Veggie you could try some new ones
like the Italian Pizza with maggi &
pasta topping or the Pizza Mongolian with Capsicum , Tomato and Paneer with
some pungent sauce. Also a hit with the young crowd is the Square pizza with
broccoli , red , yellow and green bell peppers and loaded with Mozzerella
Cheese. They also serve pasta – Alfredo
in white sauce or Arabitta in red sauce.
Also to cater to the Jain community all the items are available in Jain variants.
The popularity of his joint can be gauged by the mingling college crowd during
the day and family crowd at night on the open seating that is made available to
them.
Both these small eateries have adopted new age technology to
maximize their reach in the locality by tying up with food delivery specialist “Swiggy” . You can now sit back relax
in your homes and order from these fast food joints and you are sure to get
your Chipotle Fries in the Cone or a Paninni Sandwich still hot in its
container when the Swiggy guy rings your door bell.
Another craze that has erupted in Matunga is the Belgian Waffle Co – A specialist in
those sweet, yummy , crisp piece of heavenly dessert called the waffle. For the
unacquainted a waffle is a dish made from leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to
give a characteristic size, shape and surface impression. There are many
variations based on the type of waffle
iron and recipe used. Waffles are eaten throughout the world,
particularly in Belgium,
which has over a dozen regional varieties. Waffles may be made fresh or simply heated
after having been commercially precooked and frozen
At the Belgian Waffle
Co you get close to a dozen variety to satisfy your sweet tooth. If you are
chocoholic you can order for their Choco Overload stuffed with creamy dark
chocolate or the Dark & White Choco Fantasy with the milk chocolate
filling. Bite into the crisp waffle and savour the gooey chocolate and smack
your lips after each bite. For the regular eaters like you can order the Honey
Butter or the Maple butter – waffles covered with Honey or the Maple syrup.
Giving a sweet –salty taste. For the fruit lovers there the Bluberry Creamcheese , Strawbery Creamcheese
or the Banana Salted Caramel. And
for the Nutella fans they have the Naked
Nutella Waffle stuffed with that crazy and addictive hazelnut cocoa spread
. Little high on calories but delicious and heavenly to the last bite.
Take your pick of these new age food joint at Matunga , as
they say on an airline announcement – Sit back relax and enjoy your foodie
journey……..
Happy Hogging….
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