Place: Bagdadi
Location: Colaba(Mumbai), near Regal Talkies, next to "Bade Miyan", opp. "Gokul bar"
Seating: Accommodates 75 people at a time with ease.
Ambience: The place, by the looks of it has nothing to offer. If one has been to a kebab/bhuna/kheema joint anywhere in the ghetto areas, then this place is pretty much it, with perhaps larger seating area. Certainly, it is not a place that directly draws you towards it. But it is miles ahead of its much hyped neighbor when it comes to the matter of hygiene, and seating. otherwise its strictly a minimalistic joint. One thing that people will notice is the number of "Burrp!!" certificates that are hung on their walls, which are in a way testimonies for many things that u can anticipate.
Food: We started off with the chicken soup, which turned out to be the stock in which all the chicken Bagdadi gets is cooked in. to my surprise, it was a delightful broth, and it got my belly ready for whatever they had to offer .I had always craved a traditionally done mughlai beef preparations. Since most restaurants in Mumbai don't serve beef, it was a pleasant surprise to see a one-too-many beef preparations. We called for the "Beef Chilly Fry", of which I was initially skeptical, for I didn't want to eat its south-indian namesake at a self-proclaimed authentic "mughlai" restaurant. Along with that we called for the Butter Chicken, on a friend's suggestion, who had once mentioned to me that it was "the best butter chicken ever!". Along with that we asked the guy to get two roti's for each of us, to which he kindly replied,"ek hi khaao, bahut bada aata hai"(just have one, its very big). So considering his advice, we asked for a roti each. The guy not only forgot the chicken, he got us two plates of the beef, which after tasting, I really didn't mind. it was delightfully succulent and moist, not overly chewy, it still had a little gristle to it which added to the taste. These guys know how to choose their meat. Now, the waiter was right about the rotis, they re freakishly huge, which got a big smile on my face.The combination of the really well done "garam masala" and fried onions infused beef with the roti was superb. we asked for our butter chicken, which he promptly got in no time. To my surprise, it was not the run-of-the-mill butter chicken, with the masala overdone and the sparse quantity of the chicken. It was quite the contrary, simply to describe it in relation to anything is like describing a good pasta, where the sauce is just about perfect, so as to coat the chicken and not something that will supercede the quantity of the chicken. Only difference between the pasta and the chicken, apart from their respective sauces, was that the chicken was not al dente, it was perfect! the sauce too was not heavy, with the cashew/melon seed paste, it was surprisingly subtle, which how I think it should be. I was beaming after the main course. We ended up calling for the Caramel Custard. This was going to put the perfect end to a delightful meal. The caramel prepared till it gets a toffee-like flavor, and the Custard perfectly set so that it literally disintegrates on your palate.
Over-all the experience was sublime and immaculate.
Presentation: The presentation was nothing great, every dish was just served directly off the skillet, without any garnish or anything that would perhaps make it look any more appealing. Everything is served in the Orange-ish plastic plates that we must have seen all across Mumbai, if not Maharashtra at local Chinese food stalls.
Accompaniments: The chicken and the beef dishes were provided with a helping of sliced onions and lime wedges, the standard fare.
Service: The service was quick for certain, and that perhaps lent to clumsiness, which led to us getting a extra plate of beef chilly fry, which I honestly do not regret.
Cost: 2 bowls of chicken soup, 2 plates of the beef, 1 Butter chicken, 2 butter rotis, 1 plain roti, 3 servings of the caramel custard, and 2 soft drinks came to a grand total of 320 rupees.
"Worth" factor: For the amount eaten, the quality of the food eaten, and the grand total of the money spent, I think this place is definitely worth more than a few visits. I won't be surprised if certain people call it one of their favourites after their first visit itself.
Verdict:
Pros:
1.> The most important part of being in the food business is to deliver great food, and Bagdadi does the exact.
2.> It's not just the Quality but also the Quantity that is excellent here.
3.> You are assured a full stomach within 150 bucks. People interested in rice items can select from a variety of them. They also have daily specials, so watch out for those too.
Cons:
1.> A big part of the negative things that I can think of are mostly personal. People who have issues with "shady" looking places, mediocre(or worse) plating and crockery, might not appreciate this place so much, but then again, the million dollar question is: "do you like the food and service at it's much regal(in stature) neighbor?"
2.> Another thing that might bother you(for it did bother me just a little bit), that the caramel custard is for 25 bucks, which i felt that in comparison to the other dishes, and for a dish that vanishes so soon, is a tad bit too much.
3.> I really don't know how authentic is the food here, but I think that we should stick to how it tastes than analyzing what it is.
P.S.: Try the Beef Bhuna over there, I had had it on another occasion, and was delighted for it seemed like a tailor made dish for me, with good deal of chillies and tomatoes, and that brilliant roasted texture it got from prolonged exposure to the hot skillet. That sealed the deal for me.
-Gaurang(Gabo)
=======================================================
Place: Bagdadi
Location: Colaba, right opposite Gokul's bar
Seating: Can easily seat upto 50 people at a time
Ambiance - Not much in the way of ambiance. If anything, it feels like your typical irani place where the owner doesn't care about renovations. The walls are crowded with all the commendations from various websites which review such joints such a burrp. And deservedly so.
Food - As far as food goes, this place doesn't have much competition. Although i haven't tried all the dishes this place has to offer, whatever i've had has been simply awesome. The butter chicken is probably the best butter chicken i've had. The beef bhuna was really good. The roti was a big win. You pay 10 rupees for 1 roti which is equal to paying a lot more for 3. Its that big. While placing our order, we called for 2 rotis. But the waiter told us to call for just 1 and then decide whether we want to order more. We ended up having more than 1 roti, but then we do have a huge appetite. But for someone who eats moderately, one would suffice. So the waiter doubting our capacity to eat was justified. We also had soup which was basically just normal chicken stock. One word i would like to highlight here is simplicity. The soup was your basic soup which your mother would serve you when she makes chicken. But it tasted awesome. Even the butter chicken and beef bhuna were nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to preparation. But as they say,"keep it simple but do it right". And this was reflected in each and every dish we had. To top all this we had caramel custard for dessert. To put it simply, the best caramel custard i've had. Again, nothing too extravagant, but yet so good.
Presentation: Nothing great. But then you wouldn't expect anything great when it comes to places like these. Its just the food that matters.
Service: The service was pretty decent. The waiters were pretty helpful, which is accentuated by the fact that the waiter warned us about the size of the roti when we ordered for 2 of those. Also the dishes didn't take much time to arrive.
Cost: Taking into consideration the prices for a similar quantity for food at other places, this felt like one awesome bargain.
"Worth" factor: One of the most under-appreciated places in the city. A must for any food lover.
Verdict
Pros:
-Great food
-Decent service
-Not heavy on the wallet at all. If anything you'll come away feeling as if you've spent your breakfast money on lunch and dinner combined.
Cons:
-Not much in the way of ambiance
-Presentation goes a long way to curb some competition. And with all the undeserved hype that its neighbor gets, this place needs to up the ante as far as ambiance and presentation are concerned.
-I really don't have a problem if a place is shady, which in this case is irrelevant, specially after considering the prices they're charging. But it can be a bother for some.
-Rahul(Mambo)
No comments:
Post a Comment