What: Moon cakes from Chin’s Oriental Gourmet, call Lawrence on 9869200486 / 26461358, home delivery in Bandra and Khar, start at Rs 30 per piece, minimum order of a dozen required before Sep 12.

Why: For one month every year, Bandra’s Chin family bakes fanciful moon cakes to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival (September 22). These gaze-worthy pastries are nice and crusty on the outside and filled with delicate red bean paste, coconut or dry fruit.  Sigh-light!

When: You want to spoon the moon.

What: Mumbai Restaurant Week (see Facebook group here or visit www.restaurantweekindia.com, Rs 1,000 per head); and Art Conspiracy (visit Facebook group here, mail your entries to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Why: Mumbai restaurants get a whole lot more fun this month with Restaurant Week, which allows you to dine at the hottest tables (Stella, Indigo, KOH, India Jones, Tote on the Turf) on the cheap. Plus, the Art Conspiracy gives Bandra eateries a make-over,  populating them with works by budding artists – including you!

When: Restaurant Week runs from September 6 -13; submission deadline for Art Conspiracy is September 25.

Smart Formal

Biblically, Balthazar was one of the three Wise Men who came to baby Jesus bearing many gifts; In New York, it’s an equally smart French bistro that serves fab foie gras; and in Mumbai, it’s an upscale Chinese restaurant and bar that popped up in Juhu over the weekend. We were there, IQ-ueuing up outside with a sneak peek pass in hand.

California Pizza Kitchen can’t boast of the best pies in most cities, but what makes this place so popular worldwide is its consistency. You go here when you’re looking for the comfort of cheese and sauce and black beans, of a space that’s well-appointed and familiar, of dishes that you know will always, always taste the same.

Clone Ranger

Would this hold true for Mumbai? It is with some trepidation that we walked into the yet unopened outpost at BKC, countless miles away from the restaurant we had known and loved in New York. On the surface at least, it looked the same: cheery yellow colour scheme offset by dark wood, comfy booths, pizza boxes painted with cloves of garlic and cauliflower stems on the wall. Maybe there was hope.

Mia Cucina, we’re big fans. No really, we’re not just saying it. We talk up your Margherita pizza all the time, and love your lasagna. In fact, we’ve drunk dialled you with the munchies on several occasions, and even scratched your name on another’s wood fire oven once. So naturally, when we heard about your newly launched weekend brunch, all impending Sunday plans were cancelled – naps, nookie and other noon-day niceties. With friends roped in and restraining order ignored, we came over right away, hearts aflutter and stars in our eyes.

Of Diets and Deities

Unfortunately, the pedestal we’d constructed so carefully came crashing down. Sunday brunch at this otherwise fabulous Italian bistro in Bandra comprises of a disappointingly restricted list taped to the front page of the menu with an unremarkable selection of food and wine cocktails.

We began with a round of mimosas to brighten up the table along with other sunny spots including the fruit and feta salad and egg frittatas. A mix of rocket leaves, cheese and baked apple, the salad was a sacred union of fruit and cheese. The frittatas – eggy quiches with gorgonzola and mushrooms or chicken sausages – were delish, but way too expensive at Rs 350 each. Give us the yum Rs 85 masala omelette at Basilico next door any day. If you still insist on getting these, trade in the accompanying dry buns for Cucina’s regular bread, and ask for a side of salsa.

What: Aruna’s home-made ginger chutney, call Anoop Patnaik at 9819915112 or visit the Facebook page here, Rs 180 for 250 gms.

Why: Because this traditional condiment from Andhra Pradesh – Allam Pachchadi – has sweet and spice and all things nice. It can be paired with everything from a BLT sandwich to a dosa, but we like it best with plain dal and rice. Also in the works is a prawn version, and one made from the gungura sour leaf. Take your pick(le)!

When: You’re striving for a sour-glass figure.

Giving Us the Bird?

Why would a quick-and-dirty takeout station use a regal eagle (you’ll find it lit up and perched high above the roof) as its logo? Perhaps to catch the chicken that crossed the street? A feeble attempt to end an age-old question, yes, but a good explanation for why Khar’s new miniature eatery Hybrid features so much poultry on its menu and insists on using an incongruous symbol. Don’t even get us started on the moniker and its strange “Simply Munching” tag line.

They Have Dogs Too

Situated right by gastronomy giant Olive Bar and Kitchen, a bird’s eye view of Hybrid reveals a clean, open cooking area where a limited line up of pizza, shwarma and hotdogs are freshly rolled out. The abovementioned fowl play is detected in almost every dish save for three ham / bacon pizza options, vegetarian pies and a cottage cheese shwarma. Soya versions of hot dogs (seven chicken options available) are coming soon.

A visit to the two-day old station on Sunday showed no signs of weekend rush. Our order of chicken shwarma, New York Dog, and Margherita, Piccante Fungi and bacon pizzas could either be picked up or home delivered in 15 minutes, informed the staff. We went for the former option.

Come Undone

A big sack of food offloaded on the dinner table, we unwrapped the parcels as we would gifts – starting with the prettiest package, the New York dog. Surprisingly light despite the cheddar cheese and crunchy slaw, this American staple is good as is, and can be better with a little more mustard.

Next in line, pizza: the Margherita appeared to be shabbily put together, slathered with cheese and haphazardly placed tomato slices, but tasted much better than it looked. And at Rs 95 for an 8 inch pie, it’s a cheap treat. The Piccante, garnished with spicy goodies like jalapeno, peppers and mushroom is passable, but we prefer the Spicy Senorita over at Garcia’s. The mozzarella, onion and bacon version was strictly okay, with a slightly undercooked base.

The tin foil wrapped shwarma was undone last – pita pillar stuffed with slices of chicken marinated in Lebanese spices, tahina, garlic and optional Lebanese Harissa hot sauce. Unknowingly, we had saved the best for last.

What Goes Around

Will Hybrid join the line of fleeting Bandra eateries that appear in a flash and disappear double quick? Not if they make their pizza crispier and maintain its base price; continue to sell hotdogs which no one in the vicinity is doing (for now); and add a few more imaginative options to the menu. Maybe they could even cross breed some of their existing snacks to create hot hybrids. Lebanese dog, anyone?

Getting there: Hybrid takeout station, next to Olive Bar and Kitchen, Union Park, Khar (W), call 26050001 / 07 or visit www.hybrid.net.in, home delivery in Bandra and Khar, Rs 450 for a full meal for two.

At Brown Paper Bag we review restaurants anonymously and pay for our own meals.

All slick surfaces and plush leather, KOH at the InterContinental Marine Drive is a sexy restaurant, made sexier by the fact that it is helmed by Ian Kittichai, a celebrity chef with successful projects in New York, Barcelona and Bangkok. Like his other outposts, this one too displays signature orchids at the gate and Thai cuisine on the menu, served up with “an international twist”.

From New York, Go South

Once inside, you’ll feel like you’re at a tony lounge in the Meat Packing District, complete with neon pink lights, metallic ceilings and a curved bar. Thankfully, this New York aesthetic comes with a Southern sense of hospitality – we went on a pre-opening night (the restaurant will open to guests starting next week) and the staff was extremely attentive, the manager, Ved, genuinely interested in feedback on our meal.

With a bar situated just across the entrance, it’s only right that you start your night with a house Bloody Mary or pleasantly sweet Dragonfly martini before moving into the main dining room. When you’re ready to eat, you’ll find that the staff will guide you towards certain items on the menu – we suggest you let them.

Starter Fluids & More

If you go into Fort Bizzare looking for a weird, and well, bizarre experience, you’re going to be disappointed – the restaurant is as banal as they come, menu (Indian), music (Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder) mood (quasi-rural) and all. But if you have a hankering for some good, down-to-earth naan and paneer before running back to the office, this is the place for you.

New Restaurant, Old Chandeliers

Comparisons with Willy Wonka’s legendary Factory are inevitable, but what A Chocolate Affair, the sweet new spot at Pali Naka really resembles is Max Brenner, an international tourist-fuelled chain of chocolate-centric meals, beverages and of course, dessert.

Maxed Out

If Willy Wonka had his way, the menu here would feature weird and wonderful gems like Fizzy Lifting Drinks and Everlasting Gobstoppers, dinner chewing gum and golden eggs. As it is, A Chocolate Affair has only a river of chocolate running through it, in the form of desserts that seem like they’ve been lifted directly from Max Brenner: donuts and brownies, fondue and fondant, and even a chocolate pizza.

Similarities don’t end there. The walls at both places are framed with pipes that look like they’re pumping chocolate, and are painted a velvety brown; both serve (excellent) hot chocolate in “hug mugs” that diners can cup comfortingly between their palms; both have similar mascots – Max Brenner’s signage advertises the face of a fictitious bald candy man, the Mumbai version imaginatively uses a woman’s features instead. 

Jewels in the Brown