Mumbai Bicycle is a new Juhu takeaway that wins us over with its quality fare
It is commendable if despite the incessant pitter-patter courtesy Cyclone Ockhi, a takeaway joint ensures that a delivery boy dressed as immaculately as a bar manager rings your doorbell in half an hour. Of course, if the eatery is just three weeks old, it could be that it's still in that eager-beaver phase where it will go the extra mile to impress patrons. Either way, our fridge on Tuesday night is almost as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard since we missed grocery shopping last weekend. So, our gratitude instantly goes out to Mumbai Bicycle, the takeaway in question, for sorting out our dinner plans on - literally and metaphorically - a rainy day.
Pulled raan pao
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The dinner itself consists of stuffed tandoori aloo starters (Rs.171), pulled raan pao (Rs.162), cheesy potatoes kathi roll (Rs.105), Punjabi kadi (Rs.210) and - just because seeing sushi on a menu makes us feel like a child in a candy shop - prawns tempura maki (Rs.452).
Stuffed tandoori aloo
We take a bite of the stuffed tandoori aloo first and find it to be a desi version of a jacket potato, complete with its skin on. Except, instead of an oven, this dish has been shoved into a tandoor, which renders the skin black. The stuffing is delicately cheesy with little bits of cashew adding an element of crunchiness. Not a bad start, we tell ourselves, before the pulled raan pao pulls us towards it.
Prawns tempura maki
It turns out to be an Indian cousin of a pulled pork burger, what with its layer of curd, onions and green chutney. The mutton is flavoursome without being spicy. Which is just as well, since there are also bits of green chilli in it, but not so many that we have to make an emergency call to the fire brigade after sinking our teeth in. The sushi draws our attention next and the amount of fried batter on it might give Japanese folk a heart attack. Having said that, the recipe is by and large authentic with the right amount of spicy mayo. The packaging needs to change, however. Bento boxes would have been better because when we pick the wasabi out from a little plastic container, we inadvertently take out so much of it that shockwaves momentarily cripple our brain.
That leaves the kathi roll and kadi, and we choose the roll first. It's filled with cheese and potatoes, a match made in culinary heaven. It's also a substantial dish, with the roll cut into four large portions. This means that we have hardly any space left for the kadi. But we nonetheless try it after heating a bit of leftover rice, one of the few things our neglected fridge contains. Now, when we were in school, we had a Marwari friend whose mother would make such a delectably light kadi for lunch that its taste lingers in our consciousness. No kadi we have had since matches up to it and neither does this one, though it's a thicker, Punjabi version. But we don't want that prejudice to colour your perception of Mumbai Bicycle because all said and done, it's a place we are likely to get dinner from again, even when the groceries are done and the fridge is stocked to the brim.
Timing : 12 pm to 3 am
At : Plot no. 70, JM Road, opposite PVR, Juhu.
Call : 8291712330
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