Mumbai Visit - Day 2
Day 1 ended with the decision to have our Saturday lunch at the Barbeque Nation restaurant in Thane. The suggestion was given by Roshni and after much delibration and discussion, I called the restaurant at 8pm on Friday and made a booking at 1pm, the next day for 15 people.
The Shanbhag brothers' were to depart from Ghatkopar. The Parabs' and Mehtas' were to be picked up from Mulund, while the Bhatt brothers' and Tanvi were being dropped by Mihir mama to Mulund. We had arranged for two cars to be driven from Ghatkopar, but Vasant kaka managed to arrange for a Sumo which could accomodate us all.
At around 12pm, we decided to leave from Ghatkopar. Vasant kaka told us that the Sumo could only take 10 -12 and asked us to take a car which could accomodate all. However, Nitin and me cleverly insisted that we would manage everything. I guess both of us must get used to use our brilliant heads and amazing ideas, less often.....cause as it turned out.....not all of us could fit in the Sumo and hence, Roshni, Maneesh and Abhishek had to take the auto from Mulund to Thane. :(
Since Roshni was the only one to know the exact destination, there was a buzz in the Sumo regarding us getting there correctly. Reshma had a rough idea where it was, but it looked like no one trusted her judgement. :)
The only other person who knew the geography of the place was 'ME'. I had a rough idea of where the place was and after asking one guy, we managed to reach the restaurant by 1:15pm.
I've dined at Barbeque Nation in Bengaluru twice before and was looking forward to a similar royal treat this time around as well. There were two tables reserved for us. On one, sat the pure-nonvegetarians (Parag, Abhi, Raunak, Akhil, Tanvi, Roshni and myself) while on the other table sat the pure-vegetarians and the in-betweens (Sumita, Bimal, Nitin, Maneesh, Reshma, Rohan and Gauri). Saachi was asleep when we started and after waking up, she was running all around the place.
As soon as we were seated, the captain came upto us and informed us that they were offering us one complimentary drink each. So a few beers and mocktails were ordered as the barbeque got into place and the meat and the veggies started arriving. Initially, it was all veg - arbi aaloo, paneer, capcicum, mushroom which was slowly followed by the non-veg - chicken something, mutton pattice, fish amritsari, and golden brown prawns. Food quantity was unlimited that day and the sticks just kept coming in as all of us got busy in some sort of discussion.
I went and helped myself to a few salads from the buffet menu as the second round of beers were ordered. The chit chat continued for a while before some of the veggies got up and headed for the main course. The menu for the main course read something like this -
Soup (veg/nonveg), one gravy each of chicken, mutton, crab and fish, two gravies of vegetables, veg and mutton biryani and some 15 salads to go with this!!
(sorry....I can't remember the exact names of the dishes)
There were some 7 types of deserts which included Vanilla ice-cream with a sauce of your choice (choclate, kiwi fruit, strawberry), maple cake, phirni, pineapple cake and gulab jamun. Again, I must have missed a few ,and for the exhaustive list you may have to contact Tanvi, who moved onto the deserts' immediately after the barbeque and later realized..."ohh wait, I havn't had the main course"
Tanvi treated herself to a main course which consisted only of crabs which I taught her how to break and eat with her own hands. I must say here that I am not a very good teacher, becuase when I asked her to first bite on the 'daunko' I conviniently forgot to tell her how much force to apply and she bit so hard that she almost hurt herself!!
Her second bite was perfect and I just hoped she enjoyed the crab...
While that all was going on, Abhishek and Roshni helped themselves to their third and eventually fourth beer. Even though Roshni wasn't drunk, we made fun of her based on the following accounts -
1. Speaking to Parag in Hindi.
2. Mistaking Abhisheks' soup bowl for a finger bowl
3. Finding pieces of bread on the Menu, that no one else had found!!
At the end of it, when I called for the bill, I was told that it was already taken care off.....and later I realized that it was paid off by Bimal. Thanks Bimal and Sumita tai for this amazing treat....We owe you one for this!!
It was overall an amazing experience.......everyone enjoyed the food and the ambience and all our tummies were full as we made our way out of the restaurant at 3:30pm!!
We dropped the rest back to Mulund and headed back to Ghatkopar. Maneesh and Parag would remember the journey back as they saw Nitin and me bribe two cops who had stopped us for carrying two passengers in the front seat. I guess it was a different expereince all-together for them.
As we headed back.....we were all set for the wedding the next day........which we would find out in 24hrs, was a real fun-filled and amazing ceremony coupled with the best food I have ever eaten at a konkani wedding.
Hats off to Nitin and Vasant kaka for their beautiful organizing. I don't think I will blog about all that happened at the wedding..(cause it was so full of activity)....All I would say is, and I am sure many will agree, "This was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life"!!
The Shanbhag brothers' were to depart from Ghatkopar. The Parabs' and Mehtas' were to be picked up from Mulund, while the Bhatt brothers' and Tanvi were being dropped by Mihir mama to Mulund. We had arranged for two cars to be driven from Ghatkopar, but Vasant kaka managed to arrange for a Sumo which could accomodate us all.
At around 12pm, we decided to leave from Ghatkopar. Vasant kaka told us that the Sumo could only take 10 -12 and asked us to take a car which could accomodate all. However, Nitin and me cleverly insisted that we would manage everything. I guess both of us must get used to use our brilliant heads and amazing ideas, less often.....cause as it turned out.....not all of us could fit in the Sumo and hence, Roshni, Maneesh and Abhishek had to take the auto from Mulund to Thane. :(
Since Roshni was the only one to know the exact destination, there was a buzz in the Sumo regarding us getting there correctly. Reshma had a rough idea where it was, but it looked like no one trusted her judgement. :)
The only other person who knew the geography of the place was 'ME'. I had a rough idea of where the place was and after asking one guy, we managed to reach the restaurant by 1:15pm.
I've dined at Barbeque Nation in Bengaluru twice before and was looking forward to a similar royal treat this time around as well. There were two tables reserved for us. On one, sat the pure-nonvegetarians (Parag, Abhi, Raunak, Akhil, Tanvi, Roshni and myself) while on the other table sat the pure-vegetarians and the in-betweens (Sumita, Bimal, Nitin, Maneesh, Reshma, Rohan and Gauri). Saachi was asleep when we started and after waking up, she was running all around the place.
As soon as we were seated, the captain came upto us and informed us that they were offering us one complimentary drink each. So a few beers and mocktails were ordered as the barbeque got into place and the meat and the veggies started arriving. Initially, it was all veg - arbi aaloo, paneer, capcicum, mushroom which was slowly followed by the non-veg - chicken something, mutton pattice, fish amritsari, and golden brown prawns. Food quantity was unlimited that day and the sticks just kept coming in as all of us got busy in some sort of discussion.
I went and helped myself to a few salads from the buffet menu as the second round of beers were ordered. The chit chat continued for a while before some of the veggies got up and headed for the main course. The menu for the main course read something like this -
Soup (veg/nonveg), one gravy each of chicken, mutton, crab and fish, two gravies of vegetables, veg and mutton biryani and some 15 salads to go with this!!
(sorry....I can't remember the exact names of the dishes)
There were some 7 types of deserts which included Vanilla ice-cream with a sauce of your choice (choclate, kiwi fruit, strawberry), maple cake, phirni, pineapple cake and gulab jamun. Again, I must have missed a few ,and for the exhaustive list you may have to contact Tanvi, who moved onto the deserts' immediately after the barbeque and later realized..."ohh wait, I havn't had the main course"
Tanvi treated herself to a main course which consisted only of crabs which I taught her how to break and eat with her own hands. I must say here that I am not a very good teacher, becuase when I asked her to first bite on the 'daunko' I conviniently forgot to tell her how much force to apply and she bit so hard that she almost hurt herself!!
Her second bite was perfect and I just hoped she enjoyed the crab...
While that all was going on, Abhishek and Roshni helped themselves to their third and eventually fourth beer. Even though Roshni wasn't drunk, we made fun of her based on the following accounts -
1. Speaking to Parag in Hindi.
2. Mistaking Abhisheks' soup bowl for a finger bowl
3. Finding pieces of bread on the Menu, that no one else had found!!
At the end of it, when I called for the bill, I was told that it was already taken care off.....and later I realized that it was paid off by Bimal. Thanks Bimal and Sumita tai for this amazing treat....We owe you one for this!!
It was overall an amazing experience.......everyone enjoyed the food and the ambience and all our tummies were full as we made our way out of the restaurant at 3:30pm!!
We dropped the rest back to Mulund and headed back to Ghatkopar. Maneesh and Parag would remember the journey back as they saw Nitin and me bribe two cops who had stopped us for carrying two passengers in the front seat. I guess it was a different expereince all-together for them.
As we headed back.....we were all set for the wedding the next day........which we would find out in 24hrs, was a real fun-filled and amazing ceremony coupled with the best food I have ever eaten at a konkani wedding.
Hats off to Nitin and Vasant kaka for their beautiful organizing. I don't think I will blog about all that happened at the wedding..(cause it was so full of activity)....All I would say is, and I am sure many will agree, "This was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life"!!
Comments
Great description of the party.The food must have been truly scrumptious.