Disappointment has an alias....

Place: Sahibaan

Location: Alipur Trust Building, 2nd Pasta Lane, near Colaba Market, Colaba, Mumbai.

Seating: Any where between 20-25 people; maybe more.

Ambience:
Poster Red interiors, with inviting photos of some of the food they serve. Their prices and deals and put up in loud colours and fonts, for corresponding photos. Large tables are partially confined in booths, which also accommodate facing couches(comfortable) along the length of the tables. Reflecting surfaces make up the upper half of the walls here. Tables here have a big bowl with a previously estimated number of pairs of Forks and Spoons. The lighting is otherwise dull. But a good place to sit down for a friendly meeting, a chat, and hopefully a good meal.


Food:This place serves Chinese and Moghlai eatables primarily, and they also do some Sizzlers. I have always eaten Chinese here, since it always is the best/safe bet. I had been here not less than a year back. The food I had had then was genuinely good, if not thoroughly impressive. I remember having a good time enjoying the food in particular. But, my last visit to this place, which happened in the previous week, did turn out to be a shocker. I was accompanied by a friend. Due to money constraints, we ordered what they called a “Chinese Thaali”, per head, and a starter of 'Crispy Thread Chicken'. Till the time our 'Mains' arrived on our table, we were served some complimentary Crispy Fried Noodles, with 'Szechuan' sauce(a combo of which I cannot get enough of). The best aspect of this deal is that you can ask for seconds, and perhaps thirds, but we didn't go that far. Then came the 'Thaali', which basically was medium sized portions of all the courses in a Chinese meal, though we have no option but to go for the simpler dishes, as they have a set menu. You get soup, I got myself the notorious 'Manchow', which seemed to be just another soup, didn't jump out of the bowl to pack a punch, as it should. Rather , this one seems to be a shy member of the family. The rice was a plain Egg Fried Rice, nothing much one can say about it, it is self-explanatory. We had it with some Chicken Chilly, which was, for some ambiguous reason and ordeal to finish. It perhaps lacked taste, and certainly the texture was missing. The Thaali also included three(not even a single more), pieces of fried Won-Tons, which were so floury, that I didn't realise when my Iced Tea had touched the bottom of the glass. Nothing that I tried worked out to counter the dryness. Not to forget, the Won-Tons were more flour and less chicken, so less that you might end up thinking that you had a chicken flavoured Pappodom. I was hoping that the Crispy Thread Chicken would save the day. Sadly, Lady Luck is a senile, schadenfreude witch, who cackles at your littlest misery. The waiters mistook our order of 'Crispy Thread Chicken' with a more expensive, for reasons unknown, 'Crispy Basil Chicken'. It, funnily had a unique taste of a particular two minute noodle tastemaker, whose roughly ground also gave a pretty coarse texture. It was over-seasoned with salt and M.S.G.s, and the basil was nowhere to be found. I wonder if basil “disappears on wilting”. Anyways, the lunch ended with a scoop of chocolate ice-cream, which I can't criticise, as it was obviously out of a box. Over-all, we stepped out sour.

Presentation: The presentation is good enough to make you go for all of it. The looks of the place and the food are appealing. That's that.

Service: The service is a desperate attempt to be prompt, but this pursuit results in discord. Out waiter couldn't get our order right, which we realised after inspecting the bill. Consequently, we had to shell out more than what we had planned for. To add insult to injury, the waiter was not apologetic about his err, forget a refund.


Cost: The damages done were worth around 550-600 bucks.

"Worth" factor: I would treat this particular incident, as one of Sahibaan's blue days, 'Cause, I have had better food here, and at another of its branches, more than once. The service is just alright, the prices have certainly gone up, which will further keep me away from it. The food can be better. I'd recommend a research before a visit. But, otherwise I do not mind it.

Verdict:

Pros:
1.> Good setting, pretty looks, and comfortable; certainly a place where you might lose track of time
2.>My past experience with the food here has been great, so there is hope for the future
3.>Decent crowd and rarely is the place packed. So one can expect to sit comfortably and experience the place at one's leisure


Cons:
1.>I personally hate places that lack consistency in providing quality, and now Sahibaan falls in that category
2.>The food, now, is a bit overpriced
3.>The service is painful, and the waiter can be convincingly daft

-Gaurang(Gabo)