Cafe Cabana is the only hangout on a stretch that's choc-a-bloc with shady auto garages, but it needs to get out of the wannabe-Mocha mode to get really popular

With things rapidly changing in this suburb that appears keen to take on a more 'hip' avatar, it's clear that Cafe Cabana is cashing in on the fact that there are few places for youngsters to hang out.

For now, though, the cafe looks like a poorer cousin of Mocha.

It appears almost by design that the cafe is located in an isolated part of the suburb, so young patrons can smoke hookah and play pool without having to worry about being disturbed by nosy elders.



The sprawling cafe accommodates an exclusive section with pool tables, which was crowded even late at night.

The main seating area is spacious and great for large groups to sit down and share flavoured hookahs.

There are four kinds of hookahs on the menu Regular Flavour (Rs 270 for single pipe, Rs 310 for double), Special Flavour: combination of any two flavours (Rs 300 and Rs 340), Supreme Hookah that gives you the option of an energy drink, whisky or vodka in the base (Rs 450 and Rs 500) and Super Flavour, which gives you an option between flavoured milk, juice, oil or iced tea in the base (Rs 360 and Rs 400).

The room was already so smoky when we got in that we did not really care to add to the smog, so we skipped the hookahs.

Diving straight into the food menu, which looked pretty impressive, we ordered Cabana Special Chicken (Rs 180) and Tangy Paneer (Rs 160), along with Melon with Guava Cooler (Rs 95) and Kit-Kat Shake (Rs 130). Unfortunately for us, the only good thing about the menu was that it looked good.

The Cabana Special was nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, it reminded us of the kind of Chinese fare made at a roadside tapri.

The Tangy Paneer was relatively better, but the cottage cheese was stale and chewy. The cooler too seemed stale and left a terrible after-taste.

Saying that the Kit-Kat Shake was stale too does sound repetitive, but we've never seen such thickly set whipped cream over a milkshake.

Disheartened, but with growling stomachs, we dared to order the Italian Pizza (Rs 149) and Crispy Chicken Sizzler (Rs 199) on the waiter's recommendation. For some reason, the chicken in the sizzler was fresher than that in the Cabana Special.
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But a sizzler is more than a combination of greasy rice, stale (again!) French Fries and chicken gravy. When the pizza arrived with tomato ketchup and not chilli flakes or oregano, we'd just given up. If we weren't so hungry, that tasteless pizza would've gone straight back to the kitchen.

Drop by at this place if you're really big on smoking a hookah. As for us, we still prefer coffees and conversations at another place.

At: Opposite Fortis Hospital (previously known as Wockhardt Hospital), next to Sweet Home Furniture, Mulund-Goregaon Link Road, Mulund (W). Call: 25624999 Timing: 11 am to 1 am
Cafe Cabana didn't know we were there. THE GUIDE reviews anonymously and pays for meals.