Gourmet Mondays: Restaurant Review # 1

 Happy to present a new series at this blog - Gourmet Mondays. The first Monday of the month will see me post reviews on all things I do with food : eat,drink,review of books,restaurants, street food delights,new food products,food event snapshots,speciality food stores and also include snippets of information on where to buy food & baking supplies in and around Mumbai - my current hometown. These are not paid reviews, and is based on my own personal experience. If you wish to read about something more at this space, do drop me a line. Starting today, I wish to make this a monthly event, and time permitting a fortnightly one. I begin this series with a restaurant review at Vashi - Navaratna, where I recently sampled Missal Pav. Missal Pav - to all those residing outside Maharashtra(India)- is a staple breakfast / snack dish comprising two parts : a medium/soft bread (called Pav) and a tangy spicy gravy called Missal, which is usually made of dried and cooked white peas or chickpeas and is topped with a farsan (or sev / Indian Noodles) and finely cut onions and lime wedges. For most people in and around Mumbai, this is one way to get most of the dietary requirements in one go - fats, carbs, proteins. Now a debate whether this is healthy to eat everyday is beyond the scope of this review. But gorging on this once in a while didnt seem like a bad idea. And one of my sojourns took me to Hotel Navratna @ Sector 17, Vashi (New Mumbai) where I sampled this recently. Now off to the review:

One of the best Misal Pav I have eaten till date is at Hotel Saroj - Opp Joy Hospital, Chembur. Having done that, this one at Navratna was quite a dampener. Mind you, they warm the pav ONLY if you ask for it - else its generally cold as the gravy is slightly hot to the touch. The secret to this dish lies in a unique clove-induced masala powder : which lends itself to a fiery hot combo when mixed with the cooked lentils. But the clove seemed to be overpowering the taste of the Missal itself. All I could do was to gulp down this rather hot spicy with the very cold pav with water. I have had Pav bhaji and Masala dosa at this restaurant earlier, and for a Mumbai-based Udupi quality restaurant, they hadn't disappointed me. However, this day the Missal was quite a let down - both in terms of quality and texture. And the pav - forget it. I wish I just had the missal alone. All in all, it needs to pull up its socks. The restaurant itself is large (by Mumbai standards) and has split level seating (with the A/C section on top). Service is usually quick here, as its in the midst of a busy shopping complex, opp the Vashi bus depot. On a service level, the waiters are quick, but I do wish they paid more attention to the quality of food too.
Rating : (On a scale of 5)

• Overall cleanliness : 4
• Service (Quickness & Efficiency) : 3.5
• Quality of meal : 2.5
• Value for Money : 3