Many friends and acquaintances recommended this place to us making it one of the top desired Mumbai eateries on our bucket list. Sadly, during last one year, we had to cancel our plans of eating here despite strong inclinations. It was not until a couple of days back when we finally got into the car with the sole resolve of having lunch here, come what may that we could break the jinx.
The long overdue gastronomic date started with a mocktail, Perfect Lady. Rightly called so, this is a concoction of mango juice, ice cream, coconut milk and other ingredients blended beautifully to lend it a unique and refreshing Taste greatly welcoming on a hot, sunny day. Next we had French onion soup.
| French onion soup |
This highly delectable appetizer is slightly on the spicy side. Although soups are supposed to be enjoyed hot, my son makes sure that his parents are kept deprived of this little pleasure. So, after a customary visit to the loo, since all calls by Mother Nature happen precisely at the moment when food is served, we two settled down to devour our serving of soup. Kid Loved it and I loved it because he loved it, notwithstanding the fact that it was indeed very nicely made. In starters we were recommended Jaipuri tikki by the maitre d’. I have to confess that I do not typically trust these people. My middle-class mentality keeps popping its head up the moment I get such recommendations from the hotel staff, trying to warn me against the possibility of that dish either being the costliest item on the menu or something made from yesterday’s leftovers. Thankfully this one did not turn out to be like that in any way.
| Jaipuri Tikki |
A cousin of hara bhara kebab, one of its peculiarities apart from the changes in the recipe, is that, these are rolled in to crushed papadum to give them a new look and taste which is mild without being bland. I would certainly recommend this to all.
Main course saw a clear rift in the present group. My parents not wanting to try anything novel from other cuisines remained loyal to North Indian dishes leaving me to fend for myself while deciding from the neighboring (Chinese and Thai) or distant lands’ (Italian and Mexican) culinary options. We decided to go ahead with Paneer Butter masala with butter roti for the less adventurous ones and cannelloni (pan cake style) for me.
| Cannelloni |
| Paneer Butter Masala |
Everything was absolutely delicious. Paneer was soft and fresh, the gravy was perfect in taste, rotis were soft (as requested and promised) and the cannelloni was lip smacking. It would not be an exaggeration to admit that we were lost in those flavours!
Albeit belonging to the expensive category (we spent close to 2k on a vegetarian meal for 3 adults and one kid) it is worth its salt. Staff is very friendly, portions are large and service is fast. Parking could be a problem here especially on weekend evenings so one might want to avoid taking a four wheeler. Apart from this small concern, Daffodils 23 is a winner on our list. As the famous saying in Hindi goes, “der aaye durust aaye” , we waited for long but the wait was well rewarded!
