29 June,2011 07:28 AM IST | | Tanveer Bookwala
With a warm and friendly atmosphere and delicious cocktails to boot, Rainforest in Andheri stirs up quite a few interesting concoctions amidst a quirky equatorial backdrop, gorillas et al
How many times have you got fed up of eating at restaurants that look the same and have a similar vibe? Well, things just got better, thanks to Andheri's latest entrant on the scene ufffd the Rainforest Restobar. Influenced by a variety of themed restaurants from across the globe, The Rainforest Restobar lets you eat in the wilderness of the jungle, complete with stuffed animals and a flowing waterfall. Instantaneously, at the entrance, the darkness subdued forest-by-night lighting hits you. You cross a miniature wooden bridge near a soothing waterfall to get to the main seating area.
Surely, it is an unconventional surrounding and provides an ideal setting for an experience that satisfies the senses ufffd but that's about it. One would expect a themed menu, cocktails that seek inspiration from the wild, and servers in some sort of costume. Soon we realised that other than the ambience, there isn't anything different about this restaurant.
The menu arrives and impresses us. The Rainforest Restobar serves everything from Indian, Chinese and Italian to seafood and even Continental. We begin with the Cheese Chilly Roll (Rs 295). When it arrived, it looked like a kiflice (Serbian Cheese Roll) but tasted like an outdated cheese pakora. The basil in it, didn't do much, and it was more leathery than crisp. The jalape ufffdos (the waiter insisted on pronouncing it with a "J" despite me correcting him) weren't zesty or tangy and did nothing to enhance the bite. Avoid!
Distracting you from the jungle creepers hanging over the faux-rock walls are the Butter Garlic Prawns (Rs 495). Nicely deep-fried and simmered in garlic-flavoured sauce, the butter garlic prawns were perfectly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper and proved to be the winning dish.
The friendly waiters helped me choose from an impressive drinks menu with some very interesting cocktails. The Samurai Dawn (Rs 300) is an interesting combination of white rum, lime juice, khus syrup and mango juice. It turned out to be a heady, enchanting mix.
Another unique concept lets you light knobs on each table to summon the waiters over if you need anything. I light the knob and soon, my Chicken Chilly Sizzler (Rs 345) follows. The combination sounded like a unique dish in concept but proved to be chicken chilly on a steaming wok. It was tasty but was nothing to rave about. One should have stuck to a conventional sizzler.
Lastly, the Chocolate Mousse (Rs 135) came in a tall glass and was easily one of the most terrible mousses I've had. It was like a localised ice cream, bought off a cart on the road. Overpriced. Waste of money.
At Crystal Paradise, opposite Skoda Showroom, off Veera Desai Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai.
Call 9167788035
Rainforest didn't know we were there. THE GUIDE reviews
