Discover an uncommon appetizer

Purple cherry is in danger of becoming our neighbouring everyday meal restaurant, thanks to their simple-yet-unique fare, including the roomali masala papad

Discover an uncommon appetizer

Purple cherry is in danger of becoming our neighbouring everyday meal restaurant, thanks to their simple-yet-unique fare, including the roomali masala papadu00a0

Yet another neighbourhood vegetarian restaurant had us balking. Only this time it was in a least expected neighbourhoodu00a0-- not a residential hub but a commercial wholesale market area. Market Yard is full of life and colour through the day but as dusk approaches, this area on Satara Road brims over into darkness and isolation. That's when bright spots such as Purple Cherry and another institution across the road, illuminate the void. When we entered at 11.30 pm, rushing for fear that the restaurant would be shut, the sprawling Purple Cherry was so full we had to wait a while for a table. We wondered where all these families had descended from. The two-tier restaurant was done up with bright chandeliers, purple lights, food motifs on glass and hardy but elegant furniture that will stand the test of rough usage for a few years.

Purple Cherry
Food: regular
Service: work in progress
Ambience: bling

Pics / Digvijay Sabne

The menu, many pages long, encompassed Indian, Chinese and threw in bakes, nachos, garlic breads, pastas and pizzas for good measure. It's all something you have eaten before with a few novelties thrown in. So, we tried to zero in on what could be distinct from the fare we ate every alternate day. The journey began with a Roomali Masala Papad (Rs 55). To our pleasant surprise, it arrived looking like a huge bowl garnished with reds, greens and whites. The roomali roti was done to a crisp on an upside down tawa and then sprinkled with chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander and herbs. It was a fun start.

We were intrigued by the pasta and nachos but we decided to be adventurous and opted for a bake. The Baked Corn and Cheese (Rs 120) was a bowlful of sweetened cornflower gravy with burst-in-your-mouth corn kernels, topped with a layer of grated cheese and popped into the oven to bake.u00a0 After the escapade, we settled for the Indian fare. Our Dum Aloo Bhojpuri (Rs 110) arrived. It was a brown gravy with chunks of potatoes and could have been your regular vegetarian masala pot. It's the kind that you can gobble up with your butter rotis and feel satiated after.

So, we opted for a Kofta Di Biryani (Rs 120) and it arrived well-cooked, coated with masala and with a few kebabs. These were not koftas by a stretch but even the little tikkis were so dry that the biryani failed to impress. The Dal Hariyali (Rs 80), a green-coloured bowl of lentils, acted as a saviour to the rice.

Finally, as we were ready to wrap up, we ordered a Cadbury Crescendo (Rs 95). We had images of hot chocolate and chunks of brownies and mousse. Instead a tall glass topped with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate shavings arrived. The dessert would have worked perfectly if it were named a sundae but calling it Cadbury Crescendo, raised our expectations too high and failed to live up to it. Purple Cherry is the kind of restaurant where you go for a vegetarian meal in pretty surroundings.