Lume, a vegetarian restaurant housed in the new boutique hotel, Aureole, in Andheri offers a variety of typical and re-jigged Indian food
Spinach wrapped with crisp noodles
Andheri (W) is home to several eateries — hyped, popular, and tiny but great takeaways — though the same cannot be said about its eastern counterpart. Naturally, we were curious when we heard about a new vegetarian restaurant opening in Andheri (E). The restaurant; Lume, is part of a new boutique hotel called Aureole by Nikhil Samani and Dharmesh Karmokar (Silver Beach Cafe, Nom Nom).
Start your meal with Vedic Shots
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A discreet lane will lead you to the hotel, which has different interiors on each floor, though we wondered how the low visibility would affect the property. “While working on this project, we always had to go out of the locality to eat as there are hardly any places around. That’s when we thought of opening the restaurant as we are surrounded by residential areas and corporate offices. Word-of-mouth has helped familiarise local residents with the space, and we have also hosted many corporate events,” says Karmokar. The food we sampled backed Karmokar’s statement about the curiosity generated.
The interiors are simple with a dash of quirk. Pics/Nimesh Dave
It has been named Lume, with an aim to offer healthy and soul food. The vegetarian menu offers a mix of breakfast options, soups, salads, quick bites, tandoor options and sandwiches. They also have a pizza, pasta, risotto and fondue section. What interested us most was the combination offer; think Aloo Tuk with Blue Cheese (Rs 260) or a side of Khichiya Papad topped with mozzarella and Schezuan sauce. You can start your meal with Vedic Shots (Rs 40, they don’t have a liquor licence as yet) that come in various combinations such as amla, cucumber and celery, which are spiked with chilli to open your sinuses. Or else try the Watermelon n Mint (Rs 150) option from their beverages section, a summery fresh concoction of watermelon, cucumber and mint.
The roti platter
Egged on by beautiful sunlight pouring in from their glass walls and the Apple Slush (Rs 150), we indulged in our first starter — Spinach wrapped with crisp noodles (Rs 220). The strand of noodle wrapped around the cutlet provided just the right amount of crunch to our brunch. To whet our appetite further, we savoured a platter of crisp bajra, jowar and garlic rotis served with three dips (black dal, Andhra curry and a yoghurt dip). Though this platter isn’t on the menu yet, we insisted enough for the owners to think about it!
Soup lovers can pick a Carrot Orange Flavoured with Aniseed soup (Rs 150) or Mexican Bean + Leek Chowder with Tortilla (Rs 170) which had a thick shorba/dal consistency. Another hit on the menu was Aloo Chaat with Khicchiya Chudda and Imli (Rs 175) that can give the street favourite, ‘Geela Bhel’ a good fight. Experimentalists can try Baked Chickpea with Cottage Cheese, Khichidi (Rs 300), though we were a tad uncertain about the paneer addition to the dish with rice cooked in coconut milk, with strong Thai flavours. Lume plans to add more dishes to their menu soon, but we suggest don’t wait for it, and go ahead and try their slurpy mocktails, appetisers or fresh, thin crust pizzas for your next eat out in Andheri East.
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