This restaurant in BKC is making waves for its cardboard interiors

The early bird might get the worm but not the full menu Thats pretty much what happens in our case when we visit Cardboard less than a week after the BKC eatery has opened its doors to the public The waiter hands us a few computerprinted pages and tells us that its the tasting menuThere is still a day left before the entire one is unveiled And our options are thus limited to a mix and match of Indian and continental breakfast items some appetisers and sandwiches and a handful of main dishesScrambled eggsSo be it we tell ourselves and settle for scrambled eggs 190 mdash served with toast roasted potatoes and sundried tomatoes mdash to begin with Why scrambled eggs Because its a surefire way to test a chefs calibre Ask Gordon Ramsay who tells new cooks at his restaurants to make scrambled eggs first and sends them packing if they fall short of perfectionGetting its consistency right is deceptively tough the trick is to keep taking the pan off the hob so that the eggs arent overcooked And the version here has the correct texture alright but the problem mdash if anything mdash is that its undercooked to the extent that Ramsay would have left the chef with egg on his face no pun intendedGnarlyThe other dish we order is the unreal curry bowl 500 and this fares better It consists of Andhra chicken curry rice crispy okra two small appalam papads and mdash surprisingly mdash sauteacuteed spinach and boiled carrotsThe meal is wholesome enough though the Andhra tag for the chicken seems like cultural appropriation Nevertheless we wipe it off and wash it down with an excellent drink called gnarly 200 a thick juice with apples pineapples grated coconut and mint leaves So the question is will we return to sample the full menu at Cardboard once its ready Well despite the consistently good service staff there the only answer we really have is MaybeTime 9 am to 11 pmAt Inspire Building G block BKCCall 9833144459Murals suspended installations psychedelic fixtures vertical gardens There is so much that goes on in the decor of Mumbai restaurants that almost nothing a new entrant flaunts takes us by surprise The recently opened Cardboard in BKC however is a different story Being hailed as Indias first cardboard cafeacute its interiors including furniture light fixtures a curved wall signage as well as the menu card and bill and cutlery boxes are made of corrugated boardA collaboration between siblings Bhavna and Yung Dhanani and Vishal Shetty and Shilpa Tulaskar the restaurant has been designed by architect Nuru Karim Haresh Mehta whose passion for transforming the material into everyday objects mdash from cradle to coffin mdash stems from his business of manufacturing cardboard as packaging material has fabricated the interiorsThere is a continuity in the theme which shows in the lamp shades the simple but functional cardboard menu card bill and cutlery boxes and a small book shelf that greets you at the restaurantWork on the project started in September 2018 About the unusual choice of the material Karim says Weve been doing research on cardboard for a long time It is recyclable renewable and strong and light which a desirable combination We wanted to unbox its potential and see how we could start introducing cardboard into the glass hub called BKCOne Friday morning we pull up a curvy chair mdash a lightweight counterpart to the otherwise bulky wooden or wroughtiron chairs we are used to mdash at the restaurant as we wait for Mehta to join us and tell us the story of how it all came togetherThe first thing you notice as you enter the brownhued space is a massive curved wall done in Karims signature style Facing it is a similar but smaller wall that also extends into a table with no legs for support It is made of 450 individual sheets of corrugated board all carved separately for this flowy vibe It took us a month to put it togetherrdquo Mehta in pic shares PicsAshish RajeHe arrives with a folding cardboard chair This is for the valet parking guy he tells us as he assembles it within minutes In the next 30 minutes he takes us through what a material dismissed as puttha hai nahi chalega can be sculpted into if treated with love and respectNuru KarimCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates