How could I forget it! It’s a coupla minutes away from my place and I and the lady have been there often enough to qualify for a bulk discount. Serious! First thing; whenever we go, we go heavy on the snacks, slow on the booze and take a rain-check on the food. I dunno how we got into that habit but it’s stuck.
The drinks are stiff and strong. The initial service is sloppy. Slow in allocating seats. Slow in placing the water, folding the napkin etc. but catch the eye of a good captain and then you’re set to take off. I snagged a comitted looking guy who my lady handled(She’s the diplomatic one. Me? I’ve got all the finesse of a bull in a china shop!) Our favourite is Coastal Fish tikka(Rawas). HUGE blocks of rawas fried in some kinda masala and goes extremely well with Old Monk or Buds. After that we had some kinda fish fingers but made from pompfret. It was great. The captain suggested(rather concocted) yet another dish; lobster in green sauce served as a starter. It sounded nice. his past advise was good so we agreed to it.
No problem as such. But for 2 people on their 3rd starter and me on my 3rd stiff one it was way too much! Soft meat, deep fried and then treated with a palak kinda sauce. Needless to say I had to finish off the bulk of it and she just gave up after 1 and 1/2 piece.
Service is slow. Yes, the staff is always running about giving you the feeling that "please hurry! We have a train to catch" but what perplexes me is that inspite of all the running around the water glass does not get filled and the dishes come late. So exactly where are the guys going?
Price wise, I’ve found it to be on the steep side.
Acoustics bad. Noisy. Dessert extremely limited. It’s either gulab jamun or kulfi, mostly. One more thng I’ve noticed: my bro-in-law who is the food connoiseur knows exactly what to order. And when I surrender the menu to him we end up with the finest dining experience(atleast as far as the dishes are concerned). This has led me to the belief that no matter what kinda place you go to, knowing what to order is what makes the difference.
I’ve tried to learn from him and have succeeded to a certain extent. At Mahesh(Thane) while I rely on the Captains suggestions, I make my own choices when at the Churchgate outlet. I don’t experiment there. But at the Thane outlet(the chef is trained at the C’gate outlet) I experiment. Most of the time the fish is fresh. And that’s something I confirm b4 placing my order.asking the captain pointedly about it and also specifying that I will return the dish if I have doubts about the fish.(You see, the local fish market is nearby and 1 of the fishmongers confided in me that the fish that he does not give to his regular customers he passes on to the "nearby" restaurant! Serious!) So be careful abt that. I generally avoid eating prawns outside since one can’t be sure about how well they have been cleant. But overall the experience has been good at the Thane Mahesh outlet.