This Powai pet-friendly cafe dishes out 'average' food

The entrance to Earth Cafe. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

Four friends and a cat walk into a restaurant, and what follows turns out to be a joke of an experience. Or at least that's how it feels as we exit earth Cafe, a new pet-friendly eatery in Powai, after a meal that's as average as an Adam Sandler film. But let's take it from the top, from when we enter the al fresco eatery with our friends and Kulfee, the cat, who is on the verge of throwing a hissy fit after being brought all the way from Versova enclosed in a basket. Now, after finally being let out, he's been put on a leash, which clearly isn't going down well. So we ask for a fish cake from the "Pets" section of the menu, hoping that it will lift his spirits.

Port wine chicken

For ourselves, we get cajun fries (195), chorizo calamari ('345) and Andhra prawn fry on Malabar parotta ('345) as nibbles, and port wine chicken ('455) and prawns aglio olio ('345) for the mains. Then, we settle down to watch KKR make mincemeat out of Rajasthan Royals in an IPL game that's being screened. And hardly has an over been bowled when the prawns on parotta arrive, followed by the chorizo calamari only a few balls later, making us wonder if the chef is treating every dish like batsmen treat half-volleys when it's the slog overs and the required run rate is rising.

Kulfee displays his disinterest

One bite into both dishes confirms our fears about the food arriving suspiciously quickly. There is a discernable lack of effort in the way the rubbery calamari has been carelessly tossed atop the bland chorizo, an adjective we never thought we'd be using about our favourite type of sausage. And while curry leaves and grated coconut justify the "Andhra" tag for the prawns, the tiny Malabar parottas leave us as uninspired as Noam Chomsky would be after reading a Mills and Boons novel.

But it's the prawn aglio olio that takes the cake when it comes to a dish being insipid. In fact, it almost literally has no flavour. Yes, we understand that aglio oglio recipes are meant to be subtle. But what can you say when the prawns have clearly crossed their serve-by date and even the little bits of chopped garlic in the dish are tasteless? Not much, sadly. The fries are crispy and lightly spiced, though. And the port wine chicken redeems the meal somewhat with its sweet, wholesome gravy. But any real hope we have of leaving a good word about earth Cafe rests on the fish cake ('65) that we had ordered for Kulfee.

It arrives right at the end, and all our eyes turn to the cat to see how he responds to his treat. Kulfee approaches it with typical feline curiosity. He then sniffs at it. And ultimately he turns his face away in utter disdain, deeming the cake unfit for consumption. "But he eats everything!" his owner, our shocked friend, exclaims at this response, coaxing her pet to give the dish a second opportunity. But Kulfee will have none of it. He's had enough of his ordeal. So we finally pay the bill, put him back in the basket, and head back to our individual homes, our friend later telling us that she had to fall back on cat food to ensure that Kulfee didn't go to bed hungry. And that's why his arduous journey to Powai seems like a bit of a cruel joke to play on him, really.

Timings: 12 pm to 11 pm
At: earth Cafe, Central Avenue, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai
Call: 65253535

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