Waterstones Bar + Grill, Andheri East
Waterstones Hotel, Off International Airport Approach Road, Sahar Road, Andheri East, Mumbai Phone No : 022 4090 6644
1300 hours, 9th Novemeber 2014, Sunday:
Welcome to the world of sleek minimalism, beauty in simplicity and culinary experimentation. Welcome to Waterstones Bar + Grill.
Waterstones Hotel is situated on the Airport Road, Andheri, is a property owned and run by the Mars Hospitality group of the young entrepreneur Sanjay Narang.
Welcome to the world of sleek minimalism, beauty in simplicity and culinary experimentation. Welcome to Waterstones Bar + Grill.
Waterstones Hotel is situated on the Airport Road, Andheri, is a property owned and run by the Mars Hospitality group of the young entrepreneur Sanjay Narang.
We are there courtesy their young and effervescent PR agent, Prekshaa Sharma. We enter the restaurant at the precise hour and we are greeted in warmly.
A first glance at the ambiance wows us. Black and white is the theme at the reception, be it the floor, the ceiling, the cushioned large chairs or the pillars. Mirror cased elevators. A winding piano keys staircase taking you still higher. Bright yellow sunflowers, scores of them, propped up in a sandbox. Radiant natural light filtering through glass facades all around. The inside of the restaurant has potted plants hanging upside down from the ceiling (???). Distressed wooden tables and chairs. The buffet counter adorned with glazed tiles of bright hues. The restaurant itself looking out in a mini garden area with faux cascading waterfall. Spiffy. Swanky. Up town.
Soon it was time to order. A four course meal in veg and non veg options.
The wife called for a Vine leaf wrapped French Brie with onion jam. I called for a smoked salmon cupcake with sour cream and caper chutney.
The Brie cheese itself possesses a unique flavor, the grilled, molten cheese gained a different texture altogether. Vine leaf on the other hand, had a very subtle flavor, I guess you need a very distinguished palate to savor it. The caramelised onion jam worked as a balancing factor, the strong cheese going with something sweet worked well.
The Smoked salmon cupcake was a rocker of a treat, the soft, pink salmon slab lying atop a cupcake which had sour cream and onion and caper chutney within. A spin on a classic way the salmon is served (with melba toast), you get amazed at how the same stuff, the same ingredients metamorphose into a visual and gastronomic delight.
Next was the salad - watermelon diced cubes with thin ginger slivers and a dash of mint - with equally small cubes of Feta cheese. This was a wonderful combination, the marriage of ginger and watermelon to be had with bits of Feta gave an ethereal feeling. The only rue was that Feta could have been crumbled and sprinkled atop instead of being served as cubes alongside.
We were also served cold drinks of our choice, we selected a Peach iced tea and a Fresh Lime Soda. Served chilled in long glasses.
Next in line was Broccoli and cheddar soup, served with smoked bread. A simple creation served in style - the smoked bread was supposed to be dipped in the soup rather than had it on its own. A la croutons with tomato soup, but a healthier version as this was smoked and grilled, not fried. The soup itself was thickened with a puree, no flour was used.The cheddar, though it was not an aged cheddar, carried a sufficient kick to it.
The Mains were in two parts - a chicken biryani and a grilled Bhetki.
The first was served in three different components, the chicken, the biryani and the raita. While the chicken was grilled perfectly, it was a tad dry and a wee bit difficult to dig into. The biryani was perfect, rightly spicy with rich long grains. The innovation lied in the raita - it was made into a sorbet, giving it a different kind of crunch.
Then came the Bhetki. This was a large chunk of extremely tender fish served in Beetroot escabeche, cooked with sesame beans and sprinkled with kaffir juice. The broth was like a tangy Tom Yum soup, the spicy bouillon with beetroot providing a balanced contrast to it. Decent.
Finally the turn of the desserts.Two items, the first was Baked Yogurt. Baked yogurt??? I did a double take. On the lines of a mishti doi, but baked though. It tasted a little foreign in the first bite, than gradually settled down on the palate. It was served with walnut biscoti - again a fine jugglery of balancing - the bitter walnutty taste rather cutting the sweetness of the yogurt.
The final item was Warm Madras Filter coffee scented chocolate lava cake. Whoa!! They are two different desserts actually, the coffee cake was served with chikki kulfi. The bitterness of the coffee percolated down the lava cake to make it not too sweet, and you had crunchy chikki pieces in the not too cold kulfi. Talk about innovations.
It would have been a blasphemy if I had left this place without meeting the architect of this elaborate menu. I waited, and soon enough Chef Zubin came along. A simpleton, a laughing smiling person with a distinct allure around him. We settled down in a close tete a tete and I learnt that cooking is only all about individual philosophy.
Zubin informed us about the Robata Flame Grill used in the kitchen - which employs a unique three tier heating system - for instant searing and the burnt colour, then slow cooking for retention of moisture and flavor, and finally resting. That takes the food that much away from the heat, thus retaining its nutritional properties.
"I like simple food. I might present it differently, but simplicity is always the essence. None of the food that we do is too complicated. Lot of contemporary chefs have very brilliant menus, very nice combinations - they search the world for unique flavors and textures. But for me particularly, its kind of scary. Sometimes the food looks so good, you don't feel like biting into it, you feel like you are destroying a work of art. I would rather search for beauty in simplicity."
Reflecting back, I realise that Zubin's art swells like the tides throughout, ebbing, rising, flowing and speaking a separate sonic language. His life pirouettes on one big dream, to leave his patrons happy and sated. And he executes this mission very very dependably.
The ratings, they go like this:
The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4.5 / 5, Food Choices 4 / 5, Food Portion ---, Food Presentation : 4.5 / 5
The Other Determinants : Location 3 / 5, Cleanliness 4.5 / 5, Service 4.5 / 5
The Hygiene Factors : Ambiance 5 / 5, Space quotient 3.5 / 5, Delivery time 4 / 5
The Conclusives : Food Price ---, Honesty ---, Overall Experience 4.5 / 5, Will I call again 4 / 5
PS: Bouquets / brickbats on the review can be addressed to [email protected] or mentioned below.
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