Jul 22, 2003 06:29 PM
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(Updated Jul 22, 2003 06:29 PM)
Had been visiting Bombay Blues (love that place because of some of the food and the servers and the manager there) so often and never bothered to go into the adjoining Noodle Bar ever. Dont know why...but yesterday did go in there for lunch, just to try it out, though the place has been around for more than a year now in Bandra. As most of you would know, Noodle Bar belongs to the same chain as Bombay Blues and thus at least one thing I would be assured of...that is my stomach would not get hit after eating here.
Went in there a little before 2pm and would have expected a crowd there, which wasn't there. There were two groups of women on two sets of tables, and that was it. I prefer an eatery to be not very crowded when I visit it, but prefer it to be crowded otherwise, since that ensures that the food is usually fresh.
The decor of this place hints towards the Japanese minimalistic with straight lines and pastel type shades. the place has an appearance of being very clean, that I will admit. the seating is on natural color wooden wide benches. Not very sure, I like that much. only some of the seats have a backrest, that too because of the wall behind them. in bar, I would expect, backless stools perhaps...
the servers are all dressed in black in some kind of Chinese type dress. we were attended to promptly, and handed the menus. I must say that the servers are a little slow, and I am not indicating the speed of their service. Crude of me, but well. the menu has some amount of pasta as well and also nachos. what the heck are nachos, hummus and pita doing on a noodle restaurant menu? but what the heck, its an overlap with Bombay Blues I guess.
Anyways, we ordered for a chicken fried rice, a Thai chicken red curry, and a chicken in black bean hot garlic sauce. the penang came with a small bowl of rice. the grvies were served in one of those containers with a flame below it to keep it warm. dont really get to see that in restaurants unless one orders the miso or similar other soups.
the portions are small. the red curry was sort of indifferent, not too Thai, if you ask me. the other chicken was like, whatever. the amount of chicken in the three things that we ordered left much to be desired. the Pepsi however comes in a tall beer glass and goes with free refills, though we didnt need any.
they have a few sizzlers that they serve, which comes in all smoking with chillies, and got everyone in the restaurant coughing away to glory, while the restaurant staff seemed to be quite amused. I actually got up and opened the glass door to get fresh air in. A bit callous of the restaurant I think.
Overall, a forgettable experience. The food was nothing to write about, the portions small and for what the two of us ate, we ended up paying more than Rs 600. Can you imagine? I ain't goin' back there none.
