Eating Calcutta

Bijoli Grill

Burrp page: http://mumbai.burrp.com/listing/bijoli-grill_powai_mumbai_restaurants/1425709267
Mumbaikar page: Yet to list

Place: Hakone, Hiranandani, Powai

Food:  - 8/10

Menu variety:  - 8/10

Service:  - 5/10

Ambiance:  - 4/10

VFM:  - 7/10

First of all, the title of this post is dedicated to Momo. For the time we spent in New York! Cheers!
Second of all, tried this place out with my parents so that they could help me review with their advanced knowledge of Bengali food!


Food
Undoubtedly, the food is awesome. Is it truly authentic? I'm not sure. My dad had some issues with stuff not tasting like it should. We called for a beverage first - Aam poda juice, where a raw mango is first burnt on fire and then the pulp is removed to make juice. Dad said it didn't taste as burnt as it should have and brought up the possibility of regular aam panna (raw mango juice) being used as a mixture in the beverage.

We started with Mutton Kabiraji, minced mutton marinated with spices, mixed with onions, layered with beaten egg and fried. Mmmmm. That was followed by Chingdi Mochar Chop, prawns mixed with finely cut mocha, held together with bread crumbs and fried. What is mocha (pronounced moe-cha, not like the coffee mocha is pronounced moe-ka) you ask? Banana flowers! Read more about it on this site. I am not usually a fan of mocha but I loved this dish!

This was followed by a paratha (like a laccha or layered paratha) with Chicken cooked in mustard (can't remember the name) paste which was totally interesting for me, because all my life I've only tasted mustard paste (the traditional shorshe bata) in fish preparations. And mustard being a very strong taste, it plays with your head overshadowing the chicken taste. I swear it tasted like fish to me - my brain could not take this shift in paradigm. Oh and by the way, the paratha was awesome! Has made me wanna try my hand at making parathas. And I shall learn soon! Anyway, then came Kankra jhaal, crab curry in Bengali style, with plain steamed rice. Mouth smacking delicious!

For desserts, we had Gokul pithe, which is made of flour with a khoya filling, fried and dipped in sugar syrup. Again, I really liked it, but dad said he was expecting something different. He didn't think it was fried enough :D

Menu variety
All you can possibly imagine in Bengali cuisine is here. The only problem is that only 60-70% of the menu is actually available. Which is stupid. And why isn't there any alcohol in Bengali restaurants? Considering that almost all Bengalis drink!


Service
Nice people, but bad service. Training is in order. Nobody refills your water. Waiters don't know much about the dishes. Some of them can't even communicate properly. Our table for three was set up like this:

Now consider the fact that there are still 4 chairs on the table. Am I supposed to sit between 2 chairs? Like they say, common sense isn't so common.

Ambiance
Nothing to write home about. It's situated in Hakone which is a children's park and if you sit in the outdoor section, you are right in front of an amusement ride and will also see toy trains with children riding on them. Not the best place to want to eat. Inside is minimal design, but very small. No bengali feel except for the slow bengali music being played (I'm not a fan).

Value for money
Dinner for three at 1200 bucks. Thumbs up! Up the service a little, and the ratings will skyrocket here!

Location
Not in the best place possible. They should have chosen a more visible location. But I guess word of mouth gets them their clientele.

And in conclusion...
I'll want to eat their food again. But not very soon....after all, there's enough Bengali food at home!