When I first visited Mumbai before actually moving here - around this time last year, Mr Jules took me to the relatively newly opened 'The Table' restaurant in Colaba. He said that the Brussels Sprouts 'were to do die for' there. This claim did not exactly sell it to me, but Mr Jules does love a good Brussels Sprout so I was happy to go with it. And I do have to admit, that the Brussels Sprout dish (stir fried with water chestnuts) was actually really rather good. I can't really remember what else we ate.
Then this weekend, a year later, Mr Jules thought he would treat me out to Saturday Lunch. How nice! He also mentioned something about wanting to have Brussels Sprouts again. Hmmm. So we went back to The Table. (For any Indian readers, you need to understand that in the UK, us Brits either hate Brussels Sprouts or we love them. Kids usually absolutely hate them. I tend to fall into the latter camp but as you can tell, Mr Jules loves them. Oh, and we tend to mostly eat them at Christmas time when they can be quite nice served up with crispy bacon).
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| View from the mezzanine seating area. I love the interior of The Table |
When we got seated in The Table - a very elegantly designed restaurant, we were immediately handed the lunch menu which is divided into 'small plates', 'large plates', snacks and sides. Mr Jules - who is usually a laid-back kinda guy - was pretty insistent on ordering several 'small plates'. Sort of tapas style eating, instead of going for the whole three course shebang. I thought he was being cheap....call this a treat?! So he proceeded to pick out some of the 'small plates': beetroot salad (my choice); crispy chicken wings (we're not at KFC now you know!); pork belly 'sliders' (how very NYC); meatballs ("you lookin' at me??"); and of course the Brussels Sprouts. Actually the waiter tried to stop him once he had ordered the fourth small plate but we got in another for good measure. Especially as the fifth dish was of course the Brussels Sprouts.
It took no time at all before the beetroot salad and the chicken wings arrived, as well as the feted Brussels Sprouts. The small rounds of beetroot were served with juicy pieces of orange and creamy goats cheese. Lovely and refreshing. And the chicken wings were an absolute revelation. You can forget about any mention of KFC because these were boneless morsels of chicken that had somehow been moulded into neat squares and topped with its own crispy skin. Very clever! And they wouldn't mess up my lipstick! As for the Brussels Sprouts? - well I thought they were a little on the bitter side and not as good as they were this time last year. But not a bad effort and thankfully they did not bring back any of those childhood memories of being force-fed sprouts at Christmas. Mr Jules was pleased that I let him finish off the rest of the plate.
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| Beetroot salad |
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| These are crispy chicken wings like you've never seen before! |
Lastly came the pork belly sliders and the meatballs. I have a real penchant for pork belly - and the crispier the crackling, the better. This particular slider was made up of a slice of pork belly (no crackling to speak of) in between two halves of a small fluffy bread roll with a drizzle of mustard dressing. I was a bit gutted about the dressing as I didn't think it complimented the pork and it was far too tart. So I pulled the pork out of the bun, scraped off the dressing and ate it plain. Nice. The meatballs were delicious. Coated in a thick tomato sauce and topped off with parmessany matchstick potatoes. However, by this point I was too full to eat my half of the portion. The waiter was right - four small plates are really enough for two people.
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| Pork Belly Sliders topped off with onion rings |
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| Meatballs with the parmessany matchstick potato garnish. Yum |
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and I want to go back and try out all the other dishes (over time). Mr Jules thinks The Table is the best western style restaurant in Mumbai and I would tend to agree with him. They've sort of got it right. The interior is lovely, the staff are impeccable, the ingredients are excellent quality, the presentation of the food is top-notch and so is the cooking. I will forgive them for the tart mustard sauce on the pork belly.
And remember, Brussels Sprouts Are Not Just For Christmas!
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| Those controversial Brussels Sprouts |
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| Swanky bar area of The Table |
The above dishes, two bottles of sparkling water, two coffees, service and tax came to Rs 3,850 (GBP 45 or $68)
The Table
Kalash Peshi Building,
Near Hotel Suba Palace,
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Marg, Apollo Bandar,
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400005
Phone:022 2282 5000
The Birthday venue??
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