Britannia & Co - Legacy of Parsi Cuisine

Britannia & Co. is one of the last remnants of the once thriving rich Parsi cuisine. Now the Parsi & Irani cuisine is left only in the Parsi households of Cusrow Baug. However this small paradise is in the heart of the busy business end of Mumbai - Ballard Estate area !!!

So how do I even begin ... the place which looks very old school right from the outset is your typical Parsi/Irani place with slightly chipped interiors and the typical old polished furniture. The furniture itself has a unique story behind it and so has the old wall clock at the centre of the huge dining area. The slick white board displays the todays specials and the refrigerators stock up the scrumptious desserts and the cold drinks.

Mr. Boman Kohinoor, the ever young almost 90 year old owner and proprietor of this Parsi heaven is an omnipresent figure and is always a delight when it comes with his one liners or with his huge treasure chests of experiences and stories. If you come to Britannia & Co. and not exchange pleasantries with Mr. Kohinoor then the entire trip is not worth it. Period.

The food is legendary. Be it the Mutton Kheema or the Sali Boti. The Dhansak is fairly reasonable as I have tasted better. The Fish Patra is nice and refreshing especially the chutney part. 

The Biryani takes a back seat as the 'King of the Parsi Paace' arrives. Presenting the Berry Pulav. It comes in all sorts of varieties: Chicken, Mutton, Kheema, Egg and even the Herbivore type. Yours truly went for the Chicken variety and attained the level of gourmet divinity. The goodness just oozes out in the form of those glazed berries, red and pink in color. The pulav is a perfect blend of nice juicy chicken portions accompanied by the rich gravy and high quality cooked rice. Two small cutlets/kebabs make this dish complete. Bon Apetit !!!

The Sali chicken is also very nice and the rich creamy chicken along with sali supplemented by roti or chappatis make a nice start to the meal. The Kheema is also a welcome change but stick to the specialities is my piece of advice.

Along with the main course, you ought to indulge in the fruity beverages on offer. The Fresh Lime Soda is the normal variant but the Raspberry & the Ginger ones in those retro bottles are the ones to die for. I for one slurped and slurped till the very end into raspberry liquid heaven.

Not much to say about the desserts. There is the Mishti Dohi and the Mousse but the one dish which stands out is the Caramel Custard. Its just the adept end to this gastronomic journey down the Parsi memory lane.

This place is just not about food, it is about an experience. Right from Mr. Kohinoor to the interiors, right from the food till the antiques hanging on the walls, and from those soda bottles till the working hours everything has a story which one must experience on its own.

Britannia & Co. is truly iconic in nature and such places must be preserved not just for its gourmet delights but also for the rich heritage it brings along.

However the only sad part is that the place is open only for lunch and its closed on Sundays. Thats the only dampener to an otherwise awesome experience. #Goosebumps

How to get here: Wakefield House, 11, Sprott Road, Ballard Estate, Fort, Mumbai, 400038
                           Walking distance from nearest station i.e. CST 

No Sharmana, Have a Shawarma !!

Shawarma is an Arab meat preparation generally made of lamb or chicken. But that is just the basic and very insipid way of describing it. Shawarma is a blast of various tastes especially of meat & spices in you mouth when you take that first bite. It is beyond explanation and penning it down will be a big injustice.

Shawarma was initially a very rare sight in Mumbai but off late it has been welcomed with open hands, grabibng at every opportunity to satiate those taste buds. As often is the case it takes a bit longer for the Mumbaikars to make a place for foreign foods on their culinary timetable and shawarma is not different.

Just to maintain the sanctity of the blog, I will try to describe the 'Shawarma'. Well when you first see it, it appears to be some kind of a meaty roll with meat tit-bits hanging around. The outer pita bread is the more conventional one and holds all the stuffing together. Meat which is marinated is placed on a spit and may be grilled for as long as a day. Shavings are cut off the block of meat for serving, and the remainder of the block of meat is kept heated on the rotating spit. These shavings are often mixed with potato wedges and are stuffed in that pita along with different choice of veggies. Veggies are of unique range with zucchini & chilli as the main ones. There can be variants of zucchini with beet & cucumber or tomatoes and also onions or bell peppers and yeah olives too !! Everything is topped up with tahini which is a sesame seed paste and hummus which is a chickpea spread.

The cool thing about Mumbai Shawarma is that no two places serve the same tasting shawarma which makes foodies like us try every nook and corner. There are many top & awesome places which serve some of the tastiest shawarmas in town.

Carters Blue near Carter road is one such place which serves wholesome shawarmas for some time now. Freshly made and moderately priced, this joint also has good number of varieties. There are Arabic & Greek varieties and even a Mexican one. There are options for the vegetarians too with Falafel.

Pritam Dhaba at Dadar also serves a wicked shawarma but lacks varieties. The taste is worth though and there is an overload of ingredients.

Maroosh is chain of outlets one of which is at High Street Phoenix has got decent shawarmas and is a strictly ok place. When it started, it was good but now it seems a bit overpriced & down with value kind of thing.

Cafe Biona in Bandra is another place for good shawarmas. They have the olives variant and kind of works well. However off late, not sure as to how its been. Need to check soon !!

There are many others like Tezz & even the Muhammed Ali road one among others. Mumbai has been swiped with this Lebanese tide. Every area has got one now with its own speciality. 

So dont just sit and ponder,  go have one of this Lebanese wonder !! Waah waah !! I leave you with this food quote !! So long !!

Mocambo Se Khush Hua !!!

A carnivore sniffs his food from long and then goes on that trail till he attains solace and tummy full of meat. This was precisely the actions of mine in my adventure to satisfy my meaty taste buds. And then Cafe Mocambo was given a shot and then onwards it has become a regular pitstop on my culinery journey.

Cafe Mocambo situated in Fort serves some of the best and delightful Continental & Italian dishes. Add to that some servings of beer and wine and an amazing array of desserts and you have a Heaven for the Hungry !!!

Denmark Sausages &
Cracker Jack Prawns

Starting with the starters .. ohh thats a cliche, there are some amazing dishes too look out for starting with the  Denmark Sausages which are nice deep fried Chicken sausages served with garlic sauce, Paprika chicken which has awesome pepper & cheddar flavours, Cracker Jack Prawns (again deep fried .. ohh I am loving it ) and a delectably nice Fish n Chips. For the herbivores, there is nice Bruscetta but the dish which beats the rest is the French Fries with overload of Cheese. Foodgasm !!!

There is a variety of soups & salads for the kind but if you are here, please forget the diet at home and just indulge into awesomeness i.e. Food !!! A special mention is the Bacon & Mushroom soup which is creamy and tickles your palate in a nicer way. Salads of what I have heard are worth a try as well. Disclaimer: I am not a salad person.

Con 2 P

The Sandwiches & Whoppers are a must have if you are here for a quick snack. The Piggy Feast takes your normal BLT to a new level with extreme of Ham, Bacon, Salami & Sausage. However I was personally disappointed with the portion. The Fries made up for it though. The Chicago Grill is a club sandwich made in  meat heaven and is a top recommend for the meat lovers.

There is huge range of Pastas and ably named Pasta factory. Salsa one being a creamy delight and Florentina  acting as a nice change as well. The Pizzas are nice too.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

But Cafe Mocambo stands out for the signature continental dishes.The Chicken Cordon Bleu is a Chicken breast stuffed with Ham & Cheese and BBQ sauce. What can one ask for !!! But theres more .. Country style Chicken & Mixed Grill is another of those scrumptious dishes with lots of chicken, bacon, stripped sausages & juicy ham served with mashed potatoes.Con 2 P is another dish to look out for which is grilled Chicken but in a mushroom & white sauce. All in all a gourmet delight !!!

There are more such delights calling out to you but the tummy refuses. I wont even mind if my tummy explodes when I am on this journey to meat heaven.

Country Style Chicken

There are a number of lamb varieties as well to look for and of what I saw as a part of sneak peek onto my neighbouring table, the lamb looked very succulent. Even the beef for that matter is very well prepared, not that chewy. Vegetarians will not find a hard time as the non meat food is good too but I did not even have a glance. Wicked me, but that is what meat makes you do !!

The beer & the wine acts as excellent accompaniment. Not a huge range of wines but nice to satiate those liquor pangs.

Gooey Chocolate Cake

Last but not the least, the Desserts !!! The Gooey Chocolate cake lived upto its reputation. The Walnut Brownie was strictly ok however the Cheese cakes stole the show. The Blueberry one was the standout with the Lemon coming a close second. There are some nice Mousse cakes to try as well. The best dessert of the lot has to be the Irish Bailey which is must have. It truly justifies the movie title 'Gone in 60 Seconds' as that was the exact time period in which it reached my tummy.

All in all a satisfying experience. The service can be a bit better but if there is food on the table who cares.

How to get here:

23/A, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta Road,  Fort , Mumbai

A short walk from the Churchgate station via Flora Fountain