Fancy a plate of kanda bhajia for Rs 50? Or a samosa sandwich that costs Rs 135? That’s what you’ll get at the day-old Chai Coffi started up by Basilico’s Farhan Azmi, a cafe where street food gets a prized place, but not without a price hike. bpb swung by this Versova joint on opening day to see if it’s worth your while. You’re bhel-come!

New Tenant

Chai Coffi replaces the iconic Yaari Road Barista which shut down over a month ago, leaving scores of college students and lovers, actors and casting agents homeless. So is this cafe anything like its predecessor? Not really. If first impressions are anything to go by, Chai Coffi can well be mistaken for another outpost of Cafe Basilico with purple boundary walls and a wooden door. On the inside, under shaded trees we found a pretty al fresco area with white walls, predominantly black and brown furniture and a live pizza counter. It’s here that we spotted a piece of the past: orange table umbrellas just like the ones at Barista. Despite the opportunity to reminisce, we decided to ditch the sun and sit indoors, where the wooden interior is rather unremarkable, saved only by the natural light.

Past Life Regression

Eat Around the Corner - Just Around the Corner’s fresh avatar - opens just before Valentine’s Day with a new philosophy on love: Sever all ties with ex lovers. Hold them responsible for everything that went wrong in your past.

In EATC’s case, the ex lover is you and me, and anyone who hung out at the cafe for hours over a single beverage, occasionally ordering a pizza or sandwich. How did we figure this? From the high keep-out-the-riff-raff wall erected around the cafe, the prominent ‘rights of admission reserved’ board outside and the Rs 250 entry fee (cover charge) per person. The shift in philosophy from free loading to fine dining we understand, and the emphasis on food is great, but surely there is no need for the sarcastic, almost bitter board at the entrance that reproaches anyone who used hang out here over just “coffee and conversation...sometimes really really long ones”.  Yes ladies and gentleman, the new JATC is leaner than before, and definitely meaner.

Tray and Mural

But it’s also prettier, the outside (it no longer houses Costa Coffee and Pizzeria), with Parisian cafe style seating, mosaic mirrors and a black and white wall mural. The inside section is less welcoming, with a severe white, almost clinical landscape and the former self-service food system that comes with new dishes and a whole bunch of rules. “The food better be good,” we thought, holding on to the Rs 500 credit card handed to us at the entrance, with a number 18 behind it. We were to sit only at table number 18 and nowhere else. This was going to be fun!

What: Rent a cotton candy kiosk, call Hanumant on 9892559426, Rs 3,000 for a night.

Why: All set for your party?  Wait, did you remember to floss? Call Hanumant over, and he’ll set up a candy floss machine, sending wispy pink clouds floating through your living room. And just like that, love will be in the air.

When: You want to get mishty eyed.

What: Miro, Svenska Design Hotels, F/73-74, Oberoi Complex, off Link Road, Lokhandwala, Andheri (W), call 44310000, Rs 500 for an entree.

Why: This weekend welcomes Mumbai’s new Spanish restaurant, which will serve up tapas and pinchos, paella and a bunch of grills, all cooked live in an open kitchen. Ola ham-igo!

When: Walk-ins for dinner this weekend. Opens officially next week.

The Chicken Dance

We’ve detected fowl play in this dim and narrow Andheri by-lane before. Juicy parmesan grilled chicken, to be precise.  It’s barely been three months since we devoured the dish at Grillopolis, and the block’s already made room for a new bird - Sriracha chicken chilli served at the recently opened China 1. Also in the vicinity is black bean chicken at Mainland China, roast chicken at Mesa Bistro and oyster sauce chicken at China Gate. So will China 1 be Andheri’s new cock block? We were about to find out.

Code Red

Pretty red lights strung around the entrance hold promise, but lead you to a huge waiting room where predictably, Chinese lanterns hang from the ceiling. Desperately Peking imagination?

But things get better as you progress to the main dining area – a room enveloped in shades of white and grey, a booth with its own personal fountain, and pardonable bamboo shoot motifs on the wall. Away from the buzzing crowd (wait, wasn’t it Monday night?), we sat ourselves in the booth and got ready to order as the sound of pitter patter took over chatter.

Every Sip You Take

Coffee Break, a new street side cafe at Warden Road, doesn’t start out by impressing. First, eyes will be rolled at its generic coffee shop interiors, and equally blah menu. Then, you’ll order, get a table in the small al fresco area, marvel at the amount of foliage, but grumble about the din of traffic and kids creating a racket at the park next door. But five minutes later, a yum paprika chicken quiche will be devoured, and you’ll pay all but Rs 45 for it. Latté bloomer? Appears so.

Sandwich Hunt

While a majority of the snacks at Coffee Break are fresher and more appealing than other coffee house grub in the city, they are after all off the shelf, so don’t harbour great expectations. We tried and liked the spinach-corn (Rs 65) and Caesar smoked chicken sandwich (Rs 75) and abovementioned quiche, but couldn’t get ourselves to taste the dry-looking croissants. The pre-packed Arrabiata pasta looked adventurous enough to try the next time around.

The beverage selection here ranges from tea and coffee to shakes and rainbow-hued sodas clubbed under the unfortunate “chillaxsoda” moniker. We got a chocolate shake (Rs 100), frappe caramel (Rs 120) and Americano (Rs 45). All three fared well - the first, blended with ice cream was just the right amount of thick and surprisingly delish; the second, a rich cold coffee with caramel flavouring and loads of whipped cream is not for the sweet-averse; and the third, managed to jolt us right out of our caramel-induced coma. Most drinks have a ‘regular’ and ‘large’ option.

Since they were all out of the Blueberry Cheesecake, we took home a Chocolate Xcess (Rs 65), which was as we feared, strictly okay. Other cake options - Black Forest, Oreo Cookie - don't look very promising either.

Winsome, Lose Some

So there’s sound and fury at this main road cafe, but there’s also a few good snacks. And delicious chocolate smoothie. Will the milkshake be enough to bring all the boys to the yard? We’ll have to wait and watch.

Getting there: Coffee Break, next to TATA Gardens, Warden Road, call 9323586667, home delivery within 1.5 km radius, Rs 400 for a meal for two.

Start jotting: bpb got KOH’s (InterContinental Marine Drive) recipe for Thai green curry straight from executive chef Paul Kinny! Made not with “pav bhaji vegetables” but with kaffir lime leaves, basil, heart of palm, water chestnuts, a hot pot of this yum curry (and other Thai treats) he recently cooked up for twenty strangers at bpb’s Turning Tables. Chef Kinny, it was rice to meet you!

Vegetarian Green Thai Curry

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

What: Fellas cafe, 14th Road, opposite Mahavir Hospital, Khar (W).

Why: Resembling the front porch of a home, complete with wooden floor, beams and a tied up Rottweiler, Fellas (from the guys behind juice joint J-Kart) is a fun cafe serving European treats and free Wi-fi. At a sneak peek, bpb tried surprisingly yum spinach and lime juice, eggplant Carpaccio (that on our suggestion now comes with spicy salsa) and super chicken samosas. Watch out for the full bpb review!

Note: Also see our review of San Churro, Bandra's newest chocalaterie.

When: You want to feel fella-good. Now open

(Fon)due Date

These can only be the confections of a dangerous mind – chocolate tapas, Aztec cocoa with chilli and cinnamon, Churromisu with mascarpone cheese, berries with swirls of custard and chocolate. Welcome to San Churro, a new Australia-based chocolateria that along with these, devised many other sins to lure Bandra in on opening day yesterday. Can they sell fashionably fat?

The Brain in Spain

With Spanish tiles, dreamy wall illustrations, free wi-fi and predictably, big brown chairs, this chocolate cafe is quite a delicious den. Making it harder to leave is the sprawling first floor seating area with a huge sun light-loving window. It is by this glass that we parked ourselves last evening, waiting for a Sunday mass of sweets to arrive, watching Bandra’s well-toned arms hesitantly dip into bowls of molten chocolate, comforted by the pieces of fruit on the sharing platter.

After a decade of dishing out khao suey and momos to grateful Colaba patrons, Busaba goes midtown, moving into a lofty space across from Blue Frog with plush couches, fiery curries and inexplicably, a Scottish chef. The question is this: does this second sister live up to the original?

A Chib off the Old Block?

Well, she certainly looks different. Unlike the brightly-lit Colaba branch, this new space is sexier, hipper, dimmer (in some instances  too dim – but we’re told they’re working on the lighting). It is also much bigger, with soaring ceilings and exposed ducts, steel grey walls and red accents, minimalist bar lights and terrible views. Suffering from an Industrial complex?

While we were deciding on whether we wanted the updated model or preferred the old one, the bartender sent over long stemmed martini glasses coated in colour, embellished with glistening slices of fruit, smelling of long, intoxicated nights in Phi Phi. These included a frothy lemongrass concoction called Aja and Gateway Sunset, ruby red and thick with pulp. Also try Good Morning Vietnam and King of Hearts, old favourites that reminded us why the cocktails have always been a draw at Busaba.