Desi Chinese in a smoke chamber

The teeny hole-in-a-wall Mitha's Cafe whips up decent desi Chinese fare. But be prepared to combat its smoke-filled interiors

After some amount of tripping around in the backlanes of Mahim, where we assumed Mitha's Cafe was, it turned out our destination was on the main Lady Jamshedji Road. Silly us, but hunger had clearly played truant with our sense of direction.


Smoked Chicken Salad. Pics/ Bipin Kokate

Mitha's Cafe is a teeny joint with three tables that can accommodate ten people. A smiling waiter greeted us with the menu. Being huge fans of the Margarita Pizza, we didn't waste time in plumbing for it. Couple this with a cheese burst base and a promising-sounding Mitha's Brownie Shake (cold coffee + brownie + vanilla ice cream + hot chocolate sauce + whipped cream) and our hunt for the place would have been well worth it. The dampener: due to a 'technical fault', they weren't serving pizzas, shakes or frankies, leaving us to choose from the Chinese section on the menu.

Desi deal
We picked Paneer Crispy (Rs 80) which had soft chunks of paneer with a spicy coating and Veg Schezwan Fingers (Rs 65) that was too dry and nothing to write home about. Our non-vegetarian companion relished her Smoked Chicken Salad (Rs 90) that came served with fresh veggies and was topped with crisscross lines of mayonnaise -- enough to tempt the hardcore vegetarians at the table.

The winners were the beverages -- Peach Iced Tea (Rs 60), it's a cool sipper for muggy summer afternoon; the Passion Fruit Iced Tea (Rs 60) was a little too syrupy and sweet but passed the muster while the Blackcurrant Slush (Rs 60) was more sour that sweet, but refreshing nevertheless. The mains -- Veg Triple Manchurian Schezwan Rice was as he we had anticipated -- desi, street side Chinese fare that was far from authentic.

Cough, splutter
We had begun to relish our food and drinks when smoke from the kitchen engulfed the eatery, making us berak into a cough bout -- it was so suffocating that we contemplated abandoning our desi meal midway. Turns out the exhaust fan is set up 'outside' the restaurant since the building owners complained of too much smoke on the inside. When we recovered from the coughing, to check with the owners about this smoky cauldron-like situation, they mentioned a faulty ventilation system that was a temporary hitch. We were told that the pizzas and shakes would be back on the menu, soon. Our suggestion: order in or take out. The food is good, the place isn't.

At Shop no 5, Rizvi Mansion, Lady Jamshedji Road, opposite Apna Bazar, Mahim (W). Call 24442003 / 24442005 Mitha's Cafe didn't know we were there.u00a0The Guideu00a0reviews anonymously and pays for its meals.