South India: Mumbai: Hotel Diplomat/ Cafe Indus

Hotel Diplomat/ Cafe Indus
Colaba, Mumbai

Hotel Diplomat is a no-frills tourist hotel smack-dab in Colaba, where most of the main tourist attractions in Mumbai are. We were famished after checking in, and decided to try their in-house restaurant, Cafe Indus. Cafe Indus looks more like a lounge than a restaurant, so we did not have very high hopes for the food. But, like most of the restaurants we have tried on this trip, the food was pretty good.

Egg biryani. The rice was fluffy and fragrant.

Chicken tikka masala. The tomato sauce was very hearty and the chicken was tender and juicy. It reminded me a lot of mechado. Of course, we also had fresh chapati.

No meal is complete without the garnishes... onion and tomato salad, some chutney, and green sauce.

A buffet breakfast was included with our stay at Hotel Diplomat, so we always had a hearty Western breakfast in the morning. You get eggs (any style), toast, baked beans and fruit.

South India: Mumbai: Royal Palms Hotel/ Fountain Cafe

Royal Palms Hotel/Fountain Cafe

North Mumbai



By this point in the trip, we were seriously craving junk food, so we asked our taxi driver, Nazir, for suggestions. He took us to DMart, a suburban grocery store. We bought some junk food to stock up.

This was our haul. From left: Cheeselings (cheese crackers), two types of Knorr instant ramen (Masala Yo was awesome and the Green Curry flavor was so-so). Childa's tomato balls (tasted like sweet tomato ketchup) and Saffola Zest. We scarfed these goodies down pretty quickly.

What to say about our hotel, Royal Palms. The location is pretty remote, about two hours away from Colaba with all the traffic. It sits smack in Aarey Milk Colony, which is a verdant, mountainous area with milk farms aplenty (though it was not stinky at all). The hotel had a nice pool overlooking the mountainside, although the view wasn't terribly impressive. DJKung and I agreed that staying in a more central location would be better.

We were pleasantly surprised by the fare at Fountain Cafe, their in-house restaurant. We opted for their buffet, which at the expensive end of the places we've tried in Mumbai. Although the restaurant was not bustling, the food was rather good. The misses were mostly the Western items, like the fresh salads and breadsticks. The Indian dishes were yummy.

The following pictures are a refresher on Superfatty's Super Buffet Tips. The key to accommodating the breadth and depth of any buffet is to take small portions on your first few forays.

Superfatty's salad plate. From top, clockwise: red leaf salad (a wee wilty), orange terrine, tomato, pasta, corn salad. This was overall a humdrum selection, so I proceeded to the soup.



Soup, Chinese style.

This was DJKung's plate. I think that item on the left is chicken.

Pasta with red sauce and tiny piece of fish. The sauce had a funky masala blend to it---not your typical Arrabiata.

From top, clockwise: salad with hardboiled eggs, fresh naan, fried baby corn (yum), paneer tikka masala (yum).

Yellow lentil soup.

Two types of cheesecake.

More sweets.

South India: Mumbai: Kahleri Caves

Kahleri Caves

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Mumbai

One good thing about the hotel we initially picked was that it was minutes away from Sanjay Gandhi National Park, where the Kahleri caves are located. The Kahleri caves are a constellation of caves used by Buddhist monks between the 2d and 9th centuries as temples and living quarters.

We were able to rent out a taxi to get to the park, and had to hike uphill about thirty minutes to get to the caves. The terrain was rather dry and dusty, and even the greenery looked very faded (it was still the dry season in Mumbai then).

Of course we got the usual touts who demanded about Rp 800 to give us a guided tour. Our concierge at the airport had warned us that we should be able to haggle it down to Rp300, but no luck that day. Fortunately, there was an official guide at the entrance to the caves, who charged us Rp 250.

There must have been more than a hundred caves on site, but the guide only led us to a handful. He explained that most of the caves are spare and unadorned, and had likely served as living quarters. The fancier caves were used for worship.

Picture of UFC with Nazir, our taxi driver and all-around reference for all things Mumbai. Behind us is a stupa, or sacred Buddhist monument. This cave was long and rectangular, and had perfect acoustics when the guide chanted his prayer.




By the entrance of this cave, there were two Buddhas on either side. One of the Buddhas was smiling, and the other was not.

Pretty dancing girls. I love how sensual and alive they look. The quality of the sculptures at the caves was very impressive, considering the length of time that has passed.

Ahead were some generic caves, akin to little holes in the wall (literally!).

This is my favorite cave of all. I think it is the cave of the one thousand and one Buddhas. All four sides of the room are covered with scenes.


Following our tour of the caves, we decided to spring for the lion and tiger safari. After paying the fee (~ Rp30), we hopped on the Safari Queen. The bus felt very secure, with thick glass and metal bars. The safari part itself was also double-fenced. All the passengers (mostly schoolkids) expected some real tiger action... but with the heat of the day, all the tigers were sleepin' away.

Yellow tiger (look closely). We also saw a white tiger and some cubs.

The Safari Queen

Both the Kahleri Caves and the Safari were a hit! DJKung and I like this better than Elephanta, which was very touristy.

South India: Mumbai: Chetana Restaurant

Chetana Restaurant

Colaba, Mumbai

The last leg of our trip was in Mumbai. I must say that Mumbai has a lot of very nice restaurants with different regional cuisines. We went to Chetana because they advertised a high tea special, which appealed to us since we had skipped lunch.

Chetana is an all-veg place located close to the Taj Hotel. From the high tea menu, we decided on a couple of small bites with our masala chai.

Moong dal bhaji (fried dumplings) and veggie biryani. The dumplings were freshly made and vanished rather quickly.

As we were finishing, we noted that Chetana was starting to prepare for the dinner crowd. Out came the dinner menus, the tiny candles and the cloth tablecloths. From the specials, Chetana looked like it had really good thali, northern-style. I ordered the regular thali and DJKung got the Rajastani thali. Thalis are all-you-can-eat affairs; sadly, our stomachs were unable to do justice to the food.

More fried dumplings for starters. Amazingly, these fried little babies were never too greasy nor too heavy.

Yeaaa! This is Superfatty's plate. You can get fresh naan or chapati (or both), and an assortment of sides. On right, which got cut off, is a nice cold mango puree made from Alphonso mangoes, which were in season,

Fresh naan with butter. In the foreground is a ginger-flavored dumpling.

Needless to say, we were quite stuffed after our high-tea-cum-dinner affair. DJKung felt that with great food like this, anyone can go vegetarian!

South India: Goa: Rio Restaurant

Rio Restaurant
(Around the corner from Panjim Inn)

We were feeling hungry late into our last night in Goa and decided to go to Rio, a "Pure Veg" restaurant. We never ventured here earlier because it always looked empty... our loss, because this place is actually a favorite of taxi drivers in the area. Around 11pm, it was packed. The food here was serious, and included both northern and southern food, as well as chinese food.

Alas, we forgot our cameras at the hotel and did not take pictures. The chapati was fresh with a litte char. DJKung and I shared a paneer tikka masala. It was a generous portion, very savory and filling. We agreed that this was the best restaurant that we had tried here in Panajim.

South India: Goa: Venita Restaurant

Venita Restaurant
Panajim, South Goa

Our taxi driver, who was born and raised in Panajim, recommended this restaurant. We were disappointed that this was another tourist trap, unfortunately. But at least we got to try casheew feni on our last night.

Our drinks for the evening. Aquafina bottled water, King's beer, selzer water, cashew feni. Feni is a local liquor made from cashew fruit. It had a slightly oily texture and a sweet, cloying, almost-decaying aroma that was unmistakably from cashews. We found it very difficult to drink, it was quite strong.

Stuffed crab, one of the specials that evening. The crab was fresh, but had too much sauce in the filling.

Steak, which DJKung pronounced as "awful."

South India: Goa: Viva Panjim

Viva Panjim
Panajim, South Goa

This restaurant is pretty much where the tourists in Panajim go, although we did notice quite a few locals too. Viva Panjim is only a few blocks from Panjim Inn, and the menu looked good. The food was ok and nothing spectacular.

Chicken lollipops. These are deep-fried chicken wings with a masala marinade. DJKung really loved this dish. I'm sure Chibby and Babams would've, too.

Fried papadum.


Chicken chili fry. DJKung felt that it was ok, but not as good as Candlelight's.

Fried prawns. I must say that the prawns we've had throughout the trip were very flavorful, not like the cardboard stuff that you get back home. I'm not sure why, when the local prawns here are all farmed, too.

South India: Goa: Auntie Maria's Coffee Shop

Auntie Maria's Coffee Shop
Panajim, South Goa

After quite a bit of walking, we ducked into this coffee shop for some refreshments and some good ol' ac. Auntie Maria's is in the ground floor of one of the fancy hotels in the center of Panajim.

Goan mutton potato puff. DJKung felt that it tasted quite generic.

Chocolate walnut pie. The filling was nutty and chocolatey, but the crust could use more work.

I do recall that this place made excellent coffee, which was definitely Nescafe in flavor.It was strong and nutty, almost like it was freshly brewed. I wonder how they were able to make it that way.

Across the street from Auntie Maria's was a storefront that specialized in local sweets and snacks. It was quite mobbed. We promised ourselves that we would return the next day and pick out some snacks, but unfortunately, did not make it back.

South India: Goa: Gitalla Restaurant

Gitala Restaurant
Panajim, South Goa


While out exploring Panajim, we started getting hungry. Gitala looked like a local joint that specialized in seafood. DJKung got the fish thali, and I ordered some prawn fried rice.

Fish thali. The portions are much smaller than at SAS. The fish had an off taste to it, so DJKung left it untouched.




Prawn fried rice. This was actually not bad.

We were really disappointed with the fish thali, and did not try anything else on the menu.

South India: Goa: La Plage

La Plage


Ashvem, North Goa





The guests at Siolim House raved about this place, a French fusion joint that has the reputation of being the best restaurant in the whole of Goa. UFC is a bit leery of fusion food in general, but we gave it a shot. La Plage lived up to the hype.





To get there, you need to either get on your scooter or grab a cab ride, because it is quite removed from the town center of Ashvem. Supposedly, the beaches at Ashvem are quieter and low-key, but we found quite a few more tourists here than at Arambol. With the tourists, of course, you also get the sarong sellers, the massage offers, and the like. The beach has clean white sand and strong surf.

Plenty of beach huts about. This one is right outside La Plage.

More beach huts.

La Plage was bigger and livelier than we expected. Our first visit was on a Sunday, and the place was packed. The decor is very cool-casual, with tents, lamps and beach chairs and festive beach music. We snagged a low table with a view of the beach and ordered some beer and apps.

Sardine fillets with pickled ginger, wasabi chantilly and white radish salad. Wow. It reminded us quite a bit of pickled herring. The radish salad had apples, cucumber and lemongass. It had some bite. The chantilly was light, fluffy and was spicy-cool. Very interesting group of textures.



Calamari salad was fresh, tender, and a bit salty. It went well with King's beer. Fresh uncooked green salads are rarely seen in the traditional Indian meal, so I was happy to see a lot of greens in this dish.

So far, we were very impressed.

Grilled fillet of beef with pepper sauce, sauteed potatoes and braised carrots. DJKung loved this dish, having gone without beef in the last few days. It was prepared French-style, with no frills. The meat was not too gamy and cooked perfectly. The potatoes were very flavorful, and tasted like they were fried in the beef drippings.

Grilled red snapper fillet with basil butter sauce, sauteed zucchini and basmati rice. The fish was superfresh, nicely seared on the outside and tender inside. These guys are serious with their barbecue.

On a second trip, we decided to just linger there and order as we felt.

Veggie tempura. Also great with beer.

Mussels in coconut curry sauce. The sauce was harsh and rather disappointing, because the curry tasted like it came from a bottle, instead of being freshly made. It did not go too well with the mussels, which were fresh, small and sweet.

Stuffed manicotti with baby asparagus. Very refreshing.

This is the local fur that lounged with us at Ashvem. It was fun watching the doggies take a dip in the water whenever it got too warm.

Whoa, that's one superfatty belly!!! That's La Plage's entrance at the background.

I want more beef!

La Plage is simply great food with an unbeatable location and a chill vibe. We highly recommend this restaurant. If you go, do not miss their barbecues.