Last night was out of ordinary as we went to try this outlet of Indi Chef in Nerul, opposite SIES college. Generally such a small cafe like restaurants are always suspect for me to venture into but still, I convinced my companion to accompany me here. Out of 7 tables, only 2 were occupied on a Sunday evening at around 8: 20 pm. This is like a way too bad a scene for any eatery, especially if they also have a monitor playing the IPL matches. Anyways, she ordered only a Fresh Lime and Mint - which was served in about 20 minutes, with powdered mint and tap water and 2 cubes of ice. It was a disaster at Rs 110/ GST. Served in a polycarbonate glass and a plastic stirrer and a plastic straw. In today world plastic is not to be served.
I ordered a Mutton Roganjosh and Lachha Paratha( the bread was recommended by the server), but in 3-4 minutes I was told Paratha is out of stock, only Garlic Nan and Butter Roti is available. So I asked for 2 Butter Rotis. The wait was for more than 7 overs long, as I could see the match with ease and he seemed to be in no hurry to get my order or come to the table to say why it’s getting late but I realized that a table of 3 who were seated nearby much before us also were asking time and again for their food. I assumed theirs was a big order so all was getting delayed. When they got their Dum Aloo and Dal Tadka and 6 Butter Roti, I was like.all that wait for this order only. Then they asked for steamed rice which came after nearly 15 minutes. Pathetic wait for them when they are midway into their meal. Then came my order, two chapaties folded in half with some buttery fat layered within and a bowl of mutton roganjosh. Chapaties were listed on the menu as Rs10/- each. This was certainly not roganjosh by any standard. It was partially boiled mutton pieces immersed in a ready to heat powdered masala made into a watery thin gravy and no garnish even. Too salty for comfort and too chemical, if you understand what I mean to say. Absolute murder of a lovely dish, priced at Rs 300/- GST it was very very criminal. I finished whatever I was able to chew on the raw meat and got up to wash my hands and asked the server to get the check.
Another rude shock - the menu pricing was lower than billed amounts so I enquired and a duplicate bill was raised and served for payment. All in all, an absolutely pathetic experience. My companion didn’t finish her drink and also noticed a cockroach on the wall in the beverage pantry under the bright lights where 3 fancy tea kettles were hung. That was also a damaging effect. The server was all alone in the entire restaurant juggling at serving, taking a phone order, packing food, serving tables, taking orders, preparing for serving, cleaning tables, clearing used plates from other tables and serving food also. All without washing his hand even once and neither wearing gloves. And he never even gave me a spoon or fork to have my food, I asked but he was too busy so I tasted that watery gravy with the large service spoon that came in the roganjosh bowl. The chapati was served in the basket without even a paper tissue.
Now for the hard facts, I asked him if the food came from elsewhere, he was caught unaware at the question, so I asked again in Hindi and he mumbled that it came from a central kitchen. So I asked are there more such restaurants, he again fumbled and said there are two or three more in Mumbai.
BEWARE: The mutton was pre-boiled somewhere and frozen, it thawed in a microwave here for very long and that made it very tough and still kept it uncooked. The gravy is a premix of spices which are boiled in water and the meat pieces are just dropped in that and meat being tough cannot take any flavor or gravy to infuse. Chapati is brought pre-cooked in bulk in a frozen form and thawed first and then toasted till crisp, buttered and folded to serve some sort of crisp roti that resembles leftover chapati at home. kadak due to overheating and even butter cannot soften it up. Fresh mint is available only to put a sprig each in the water bottles on the table but not available for a FRESH LIME AND MINT drink. Cautious about what they bill you at end of the meal and if you are not vigilant then they will be charging you higher and later making duplicate bills at a lower price, thereby cheating you of your money and then cheating Govt about the GST payable. It’s listed on Zomato as well and I am afraid why Zomato doesn’t pull it down from their list immediately else it will harm their image as well to quite an extent.