Last month, we drooled over author and culinary consultant Saee Koranne-Khandekar's Maharashtrian food pop-up — rightly named, Lai-Bhaari, at Pot Pourri outlets in Vashi and Chembur — where, on the bar menu, desi sabudana poppers replaced the jalepeno variant and nachos had become mirgunda squares with sprouted moong. Keeping true to the rustic authenticity of the cuisine, the playful representation had pleased our palate.

So, when we hear of a new eatery, Baiko'z, in Oshiwara, we invited Khandekar to break bread with us. "I am usually sceptical when trying Maharashtrian fare at a restaurant because most of them miss out on the nuances and risk becoming copies of each other without any specialisation. Dishes from Konkani Muslim cuisine, for example, see more of coconut milk compared to rest of the Konkan region where fresh grated or ground coconut is more prevalent," she tells us. We begin with sol kadi (R55), packed with the punch of pepper and coriander. But, "The kokum is too sharp and masks the coconut milk," Khandekar, a Mumbaikar with roots in the Konkan as well as the Deccan regions, points out.