For the love of food

Housed in a quaint villa, there was considerable buzz around this Bandra space for its slow food-approach to fine dining. Is it worth the hype? Would’ve been if it wasn’t for the service

For many years, The Lovefools was one of Bandra’s best-kept secrets. Tucked away in a quiet residential colony, housed in a quaint Portuguese-style villa, the restaurant is the brainchild of chef Sarita Pereira, and offers an array of global flavours translated via local ingredients. That changed a few months ago, when a celebrity cooking show featuring Kareena Kapoor Khan was hosted here. And then there was the pantry, a lockdown innovation, which served up an assortment of gourmet self-care packages.

Cold coffee

Sufficiently inspired, when we learnt that restaurants were open for dining-in on Sunday mornings last week, we decided to visit for lunch. We showed up at 2 pm, as per our reservation, and endured a 45-minute wait. After much confusion and rechecking, we were finally led to our table and waited a good 40 minutes more, only to be served a solitary dish that no one from the party had ordered. And so, we added ourselves to the long list of guests who left the restaurant hungry.

Hoping to not write the restaurant off, we took a chance and headed back to Ranwar Village last Friday. The dining halls look even more spectacular in person than they did on camera. The ornate chandeliers, jewel-toned plush upholstered armchairs, solid teak dining tables, stained glass windows, and assortment of curios add a distinct personality. We chose the grilled emmental sandwich (Rs 650), which came stuffed with caramelised onions and slices of green apple. It was served with a leafy salad drizzled with a balsamic-heavy dressing that works well with the sweetness of the onions and the tartness of the apples. The Mediterranean sunrise (Rs 630), featuring sourdough topped with pesto, grilled chicken and an arugula-walnut salad also did not disappoint, although the chicken was a little dry. We washed these down with cold coffee (Rs 350), which was heavier on the froth than the caffeine, and the affogato (Rs 400), which pairs a robust brew with silky vanilla gelato.

Mediterranean sunrise

We were disappointed with the scones that we had ordered as a base for scrambled eggs (Rs 525), and with clotted cream and blueberry preserve (Rs 360). Both versions resembled shortbread and were too heavy on the palate. The restaurant needs to improve its service — dishes came one by one rather than together. If you’re willing to forego these hitches and a fat bill, make it your Sunday indulgence.

At: 14/C, Boran Rd, Ranwar, Bandra West
Cost: 9820203360

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