Mumbai Food: BKC takeway offers delicious meals at Rs 99 and less

Alfredo Pasta. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

It was bound to happen. Once upon a time, there were dollar stores selling goods for 99 cents and below. Now, a new delivery service will serve you pizzas, pastas, salads and Indian meals for '99 and under.

Hello, cheap food.

The 99 Kitchen, a BTP Hospitality venture that opened a week ago in BKC, wishes to serve great food at great prices. They certainly tick the great prices box. Every dish costs '99, with additions and side dishes charged extra. Even then, after choosing all the extras, their most expensive dish costs '177.

Biryani

On a busy work day, we placed an order for an assortment of dishes, choosing one from every category - pastas, salads, pizzas, soups, biryani, paratha meals, drinks and desserts. Our meal arrived in 45 minutes, under the promised one-hour slot.

Samosa Chaat

The food, including the condiments, came packed neatly in plastic boxes without any spillage. The Pesto Pasta ('118 with chicken) had soft chicken pieces and well-cooked pasta but was low on spice and salt. It was dry and needed more sauce. We added a half portion of Classic Caesar Salad ('59) to the order, which had lettuce, cherry tomatoes and croutons but barely any dressing.

The food was packed in plastic boxes

The Alfredo Pasta ('148 with potato croquettes) was redder in colour than the mentioned pink, creamy and had a heavy taste of olive. The Croquettes were delicious, with a light crust and soft potato and veggie mash inside.

The Italian Pesto Pizza ('128 with grilled chicken) had a thick crust and was topped with chicken and capsicum; the pesto was absent here too. The Tibetan Noodle Soup (Thukpa) was our least favourite dish - it tasted like an Indian Chinese soup hybrid, greasy and with boiled pieces of chicken.

The delivery service does well in its Indian section and meals. Their Samosa Chaat ('49) was a spicy mixture of chana and peas. The Chicken Dum Biryani was fragrant and had a tender piece of chicken leg. The pick of the lot was the Aloo Tikki Chole ('49), a thick masaledar gravy that was sweet and spicy, both.

Both desserts were hits too. The Mawa Jalebi ('39) was crunchy and sweet and the Mawa Gulab Jamun ('39) was spongy and oozed sweet syrup. The Lassi ('29) was value for money - thick and creamy, it had the taste and texture of shrikhand without the accompanying overpowering sweetness.

We didn't order the Indian and Paratha meals; a computer error meant they didn't show up as options. Our colleagues, who ordered from there after us, informed us the Butter Chicken Meal was delicious.

The 99 Kitchen is good value for money. Our suggestion: stick to the Indian dishes.

At: The 99 Kitchen, BKC.
Call: 8080410000
Log on to: www.the99kitchen.com