Finally the day arrived to check out what the hype was all about?
Veena told me to pick a place to meet somewhere on her route to the western highway from the eastern highway, Powai suits best in such a case and Mirchi & Mime is right next to JVLR. Though if you take the main entrance of Hiranandani it is difficult to find the place.
Veena and Shantavi were already there when I reached and exactly at 12.30pm they opened shop. We had booked a table so we got a choice and as food bloggers do we chose the one with good day light.
The manager came to tell give us instructions on how to order as this was a restaraunt run by special people so the name Mirchi & Mime. We were welcomed by a server by miming as the manager quickly instructed on how we should order from the menu and that we could call him if we found difficulty. The menu is specially designed and limited to keep it operation friendly for the staff.
After scanning thru the menu we were thrilled to see some originality in the dishes and we decided to try out everything that stood out as unique. We were tired of the regular stuff. So we decided to just settle into our chairs and relish the experience. We chose or drinks first so we could leisure over the selection of the mains. Masala lemonade was really nice with a generous black salt and jal jeera masala. The berry pomegranate granita was lovely leaving a desirable astringent taste on the tongue. Peach and pink peppercorn tasted lovely but I could taste pink guava juice in it instead of peach. We agreed that the natural colored drinks appealed to us instead of the neon colored ones that are paraded in so called cool restaurants.
Before this meet up Veena had come to my home for a Koli yet veg cooking class however I was meeting her sister Shantavi for the first time. As we talked we found out our sensibilities were very similar not just in food but our outlook to life too. We talked about how we weighed honesty above everything. We are women very sure about ourselves and decisions we make. We have the capacity to stand up and face life and look in the eye of all that it throws at us.
The three of us were hungry so we chose Suran sarson pasanda a delicate tava fried tikki that is melt in the mouth. The second starter was Shakarkand ki chaat, nice chat masala spiced smoked sweet potatoes ladled with sweet dahi, green and mithi chutney and shreds of fried sweet potato, charchteristically stringy yet beautifully crunchy.
Moving on to the mains excited by the promise of Paneer methi kofta in a roasted tomato kurma gravy was promptly ordered besides the Nilgiri green curry of makhana cooked with fresh veggies like matar, babycorn and carrot in a cilantro based gravy. Both were outstanding the roasted tomato gravy was smooth and sun-kissed. The paneer koftas just crumbled into the gravy with just a prod.
The curries were wiped off with hot tandoori rotis and Paratha choori which is bits of crisp paratha with generous amounts of black pepper and dash of chat masala. We munched on it.
After such beautiful food the grand finale with the desserts just made us sing! What we devoured, Srilankan jaggery pudding what is popular in its native land as Watalappan. Unanimously voted the best dish!
Srilankan jaggery pudding Watalappan
A subtle sugarfree Sitaphal panacotta
and a Bakewell coconut tart without the crust served with a scoop of icecream
The food is outstanding. Ambience bright with lots of daylight and a happy busy vibe . Yet there is a silence in the service that makes eating there a pleasure. The server uses placards to explain the dish. Effeciently the dishes are served and cleared with every course. Attentive yet non interfering. By the time we are ready to leave we have got a hang of the Mime and though we did try hard to use signs language while ordering saying Thank you was easy!
We would like to rate the food outstanding and service smooth as it should be. You don't feel the hype of Mime in the service and that makes it a dignified restaurant that is run by special people with hearing and speech challenges. It is not a show of their disabilities at all and it should never be. Go there to eat because though a limited menu we loved every dish that we ate and I am sure you will too.
Update: While we enjoyed all the vegetarian food the Non veg food on the table next to ours looked stunning. They were having some kind of a tandoori chicken and a purdah biryani. My husband requested that I mention this, as he is keen to try the Non veg there after I described this to him.
This review is for Veena who pampered me and Shantavi on this day. Thank you for your generosity!
All pics clicked d by Veena
Powai