Hail Britannia!

It was a shame, I admit it. I have been living in Mumbai for so many years now and yet I hadn't tried Parsi food. After I saw Kunal Vijaykar eat his way through all the Parsi eateries in the city in his show 'The Foodie' I had added 'Eating Salli Boti/Dhansak' to my list of "1000 things to do before I die". However, there is a huge difference between updating the list and getting around to actually doing one of them. So a couple of days had to pass before I got a chance to go to the Fort area for some personal work. And voila! Before I knew, there I was, standing in front of 'Britannia' on Strott Road, Ballard Estate.

The decor wouldn't come as too much of a surprise for anyone who has walked in the Kayani's or any other Irani restaurant (they are getting rarer!). Though the paint is peeling off on the roof, I knew better than to let that bother me. Sitting inside made me feel as if I have been transported back in time. The menu put up under the glass top of the tables had all the familiar names - such as Dhansak, Salli Boti (chicken and mutton variety) and the Berry Pulao. Soon a very old gentleman came to our table. I remembered him from Vijaykar's show - he is the owner of the restaurant. We ordered Salli Boti and the Berry Pulao. He nodded in agreement and then said

Can I suggest you Fresh Lime Soda Sweet
To beat the Mumbai heat

Though we were sure that the lines were well-rehearsed and delivered daily at all the tables, the vitality with which the frail gentleman said them made us all break into a laughter. He also suggested that we order chapatis - laden with ghee, as he said proudly. Needless to say, we agreed wholeheartedly. We were told that the food will be at our table in 10 minutes but in reality it was served in just 5 minutes!

The Salli Boti was delicious - though I felt the gravy was a bit watery in the end. I remembered reading somewhere that the berries used in the Berry Pulao are imported specially from Iran. They seemed to live up to their reputation. And the chapatis simply melted in the mouth. I was in for a surprise when I took a sip of Fresh Lime Soda Sweet. It tasted so different from the usual drink served up at the other restaurants - maybe they add some special spice to it. Very refreshing indeed! The only disappointment was the caramel custard that we ordered just before we asked for the bill. The portion was too small and the sauce had a bitter after-taste (do they use Whiskey in it?) - not sure if it is supposed to taste it that way.

By the time we were ready to leave, every table was occupied - the foreigners outnumbering the Indians. Guess we were lucky to have walked in early.

So, I have managed to strike one activity off my to-do list and in a very delicious way too :-)