Salaam Bombay

I reached bombay with mixed feelings, my grandad had passed away a week before I arrived. I had been looking forward to this visit for months but I now felt unsure of what I should feel. All of that disappeared on reaching home, one look at my mum made me realise things were ok. We wept and went through all of apuppas last moments but somehow it was comforting to be able to talk about it, to let it out.

So much has changed in my city, so much construction everywhere, so much unruly crazy traffic, so much new wealth, so much potential. All this intense construction but not a thought has been given to the infrastructure needed to cope with this increase in population, especially in south Bombay. I don't want to moan about my first love so I will concentrate on the fun bits during my vacation.

No visit to Bombay is complete without a pilgrimage to Mondy's, that was done thanks to friends who called us just as we were about to hit the sack and blackmailed us into getting our arses there. It was worth it, it was a fun chilled night and I didn't get to go back to mondys again after that night. The joint has gentrified! It used to be the place to go to for a pitcher of Kingfisher on a hot afternoon, you sit on those old wooden tables with checkered table cloth with a noisy fan above you and play your favourite numbers on the jukebox while being served by an irritated waiter in non- descript clothes. Now you get wine along with your pitcher, there's air conditioning and the waiters are all dressed in similar uniforms lacking personality. Somethings stay the same though, the jukebox still eats your coins and skips your numbers and the murals on the wall by mario miranda always make me smile.

My favourite place during this trip was the Dome at the intercontinental on marine drive. The terrace bar is a location worth visiting. You get a birds eye view of the queens necklace and the entire lenght of marine drive from NCPA upto walkeshwar at the other end. Its stunning location and Mediterranean white decor creates the perfect mood for an early evening drink or late dinner. We met friends there for drinks on a friday night but I was advised the food menu is nothing to write home about so we made dinner reservations at Joss. The kebab corner housed within the intercontinental is a better option for a meal. I know I will return to the dome just to soak into that breath taking view. The other nice thing I noticed was that most of the patrons were not just hitting puberty unlike a lot of other lounge bars in Bombay. I think a 4000 rupee steep bill for drinks only, may be whats keeping the teeny bopper brigade dressed in strings away and hallelujah to that.

Joss set in Kala ghoda is the brainchild of Farrookh Khambata and describes itself as a modern far eastern restaurant. They have an interesting sushi menu and the big favourite is the miso encrusted chilean sea bass. For dessert I stuck to the joss hot kalhua souffle which is their signature dessert, you need to place the order 30 mins prior to consumption. My friend decided to experiment with a really interesting dessert called a strawberry chocolate sushi made with chocolate maki rolls served with kiwi wasabi and a blueberry shoyu dipping sauce. It was such a beautiful delicious dish and the Kiwi puree had just a dash of wasabi.



The food scene in Bombay is alive vibrant and growing with each passing day. There is so much potential to experiment and there is money and interest in food in the city for this industry to flourish albeit a little slowly now that the recession has set in there too.

Warm chocolate Mud pie and Blueberry cheesecake at Moshe's

I was good during my recent visit I didn't splurge on unnecessary shoes and bags, I shopped with prudence and my only splurge was a zardosi embroidered clutch. A girls allowed a few luxuries in life. My favourite quick shopping joint is Bombay stores.



So much has not changed in bombay, my building still puts up christmas lights and decorates the gardens. The old timers in the building still expect you to visit them for chai and biscuits. The house is still very noisy each morning as every walla in the city comes visiting, from the doodhwalla ( milkman), kachrawalli ( garbage collector) dhobiwalla ( laundry man) sabji walla ( grocer) the list is endless. Bombay stores still stiches my school uniforms. Celejor still makes the best ever almond chocolate pastry and Camy makes malai sandwiches that make my heart sing. Its still a nightmare to drive to the suburbs it took us 2 and half hours to bandra from colaba I am sure a local train is a more sensible mode of transport. Formal evening trousers are still called ladies fancy pants and my watchman still calls me be baby at the ripe old age of 30.




This vacation was every thing a trip back home should be, we were pampered well fed and spoilt rotten by both sets of parents. Friends and family showered us with attention and the food and weather was all good. You can't ask for much more can you?