Café Brio. Review on Cafe Coffee Day, Juhu, Mumbai

There was a time when I thought I would scream if I saw the inside of another Barista! And I've never liked Café Coffee Day. That's when I found Brio, a café with a difference. Brio has mouthwatering coffees, sandwiches, pastas, and even its own bakery. This ensures the finest ingredients and the freshest bakes. An ideal place to grab a quick bite and coffee, this place has lots to offer if you want to have an entire meal there as well. From fresh croissants and puffs, to salads, pastas, pizzas, and huge sandwiches, this café has something to offer everyone, no matter what the time of day. And all the Brios are located pretty conveniently: the one in Juhu is surrounded by Shopper's Stop, PVR cinema, and Crossword. The one in Bandrais on the second floor of Shopper's Stop, right next to their tiny Crossword. And the one in Malad is located at the entrance of Hypercity, there's a Gelato Gelato counter right next to it, which adds to the desert options :) I'm not sure if there are other outlets too, but these are the only ones I've been to.

Their coffees are perhaps their specialty, the quality surpassing the coffees at Barista, and definitely CCD. What I loved was that, instead of the usual hazelnut flavored coffees, Brio offers a Macadamia Nut Coffee (in both cold and hot options) which is reasonably priced (about 80 bucks for the cold, and 50 for hot). I haven't found this flavor in any of the usual coffee shops in Bombay, other than at five stars, where the price kind of takes away from the flavor :) Even the plain cold coffee is creamy and delicious.The other beverages deserve a mention too. The peach and lemon iced teas are yummy, but I would steer clear of their strawberry iced tea which has a really artificial, synthetic taste. The iced teas are served in really, really tall glasses, and it's a feat for one person to finish it all. The shakes are huge and filling, like the Oreo Cookie shake and the Cheesecake shake,and come at about Rs 90. The hot chocolate is rich, delicious, and absolutely sinful.

If you're there for a meal, the pastasare pretty good, the Arabiatta just spicy enough, it doesn't blow your taste buds away or your wallet, since the pastas are priced between Rs 150-200 (for vegetarian ones). The thin-crust pizzas are delicious, with generous toppings and cheese, don't remember the price, but I do remember it's basically in the Pizza Hut range. Even the sandwiches are huge and pretty filling, the oven-roasted veg Focaccio sandwich is delicious, but my favorite is the Italian Melt. This is a huge grilled brown-bread sandwich, with melting cheese, bell peppers, and subtle spices between the slices. The Mumbai Masala sandwich is pretty good too, with garden fresh vegetables and Indian spices. If you don't like white bread, you can ask them to give you your choice of sandwich in brown bread, and they'll cheerfully oblige. The sandwiches will set you back by Rs 60 to 100 for vegetarian and a bit more for non-veg.

If you're there just for a snack, you can choose to grab a quick sandwich or pizza(share it, if you're not that hungry). They also have a variety of croissants and puffs which are pretty delicious. These are priced really reasonably, at about Rs 30-40. The garlic and cheese puff is really good, as is the cottage cheese croissant. Friends tell me that the chicken croissants and puffs are delicious too, as are the non-veg pizzas and sandwiches. You can choose a delicious, fresh salad, which goes well as a side order with your meal or as a healthy nibble on its own. They also have crepes,but I've never gotten around to trying them here.

And what's a meal, or even a quick bite, without desert? My favorite desert there is the blueberry cheesecake(Rs 75). It has the most amazing graham cracker base, and the softest, creamiest cheese, topped with juicy blueberries. Their brownies with ice cream are delicious too. The tiramisuis just the right blend of sweet with bitter, and has a pretty good consistency. The other pastries are pretty good too, and all fresh which enhances the taste. They have a pretty wide choice of egg and egg-less pastries, so no one needs to feel left out. The muffins are delicious, the blueberry and chocolate chip muffins deserve special mention :)

Across the menu, the pricing is pretty reasonable, averaging at the Barista or Pizza Hut range. Just don't be surprised when it's time to pay, because they add a 12.5% tax. Lunch or dinner for two, with a beverage and desert, will set you back by about Rs 600-700. Also, Brio (in Juhu) is a bit small, with about seven booths that can seat four people each, and a few stools near the entrance. It's not the kind of coffee shop where you can just relax with a book or your laptop, leisurely sipping a cuppa. They also have seating outside, but that's not a comfortable option in the sultry summer months or the wet monsoon. The Brio is Bandra is even tinier, and it's usually a long wait to be seated in the evening. The one in Hypercity, Malad is generally not so crowded, except on weekends. So, you might have to wait a while to be seated, but usually the wait is worth it. But if you don't have that kind of time, you can always pick up their healthy loaves and delicious pastries on your way out. Or even have them box up a few muffins or slices of cheesecake for you to take away. Either way, a taste of Brio is something to put on your to-do list for sure :)