02 August,2010 07:09 AM IST | | Aditi Sharma
Sankalp promises patrons authentic South Indian cuisine in a great ambience but we'd suggest a trip through the bylanes of Matunga for the real thing
It was bound to happen. Every foodie fears the day when one has already tasted the best of a cuisine and after that everything appears mediocre.
The Foodie's Curse struck when we dropped in at the newly opened Sankalp restaurant at Mulund.
While the restaurant tries really hard to pass off as a place that serves authentic South Indian cuisine, and succeeds with most people, we were unconvinced.
Before dropping by at Sankalp, we were informed that the place serves everything from Malabari Parottas to Cocktail Rice Cakes and Nilgiri Kurma.
Add to that the fact that Sankalp holds a Guinness Record for the Longest Dosa they prepared a 32.5 ft long dosa in less than 40 minutes in 2009, breaking their earlier record of making a 30 ft 5 inches long dosa in 2006.
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Expectations were certainly high, as we settled in.
The restaurant serves a dwarfed version of the record-holding dosa. Their 4ft dosa is a speciality, but we skipped taking on the arduous task of trying to finish a meal as giant as that.
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Instead, we picked the Kanchipuram Achari Rava Dosa (Rs 115), which came with an assortment of five chutneys and a bowl full of sambhar.
The pickled onion filling went well with the crispy dosa and is best for those who want to experiment with their meal.
For the main course we ordered the Kaikari Biryani (Rs 145) and Chettinad Kurma (Rs 149) on the waiter's recommendation.
We insisted on trying the Malabari Parotta (Rs 30) simply because so few places get it right and if Sankalp got this item on it's menu right we'd be hooked on to the place forever.u00a0Unfortunately, the main course did not impress much.
The biryani had way too much garam masala and the kurma wasn't exceptional either. The worst was the parotta.
Here's an earnest suggestion don't form an opinion of the parotta based on what you have at Sankalp it's not supposed to be oily and crispy.
Instead make an effort to find Deluxe Restaurant, which specialises in Malayali cuisine, in one of the by lanes around Fort and have the super soft, fluffy and piping hot parottas there.
The spacious and well laid out tables make the ambience of the restaurant quite inviting. The service is also prompt and attentive.
Plus, so few restaurants go beyond the regular idli-upma-dosa-uthappa menu. So we really wanted to give Sankalp a chance.
As a last ditch effort we called for Mysore Filter Kaapi (Rs 45). How wrong can a South Indian restaurant go with filter coffee, right? Very wrong, is our verdict.
The coffee was frothy but weak and milky. For someone who has cut her teeth with tagda "Metre Kaapi" (as the annas in Matunga call it), this was the last nail in the coffin.
At: First floor, Nirmal Lifestyle, LBS Marg, Mulund (W).
Call: 9323304442
Timing: 11 am to 11 pm
Sankalp Restaurant didn't know we were there. THE GUIDE reviews anonymously and pays for meals.
