A veggie good meal

Exotic Flavors offers one more vegetarian Continental option for the global food-loving Mulund resident

Exotic Flavors offers one more vegetarian Continental option for the global food-loving Mulund resident

The average Mulund family prefers to give their kitchen a weekly break to grace one of the many restaurants that now dot the suburb. Exotic Flavors' vegetarian-only tag gives it an obvious advantage in the Gujarati-Jain dominated suburb.

Paneer Oriental.u00a0Pic/Datta Kumbhar

The restaurant is housed in a residential area of Mulund, and was empty on the Saturday we dropped in. Blame it on early days, or World Cup fever, or dearth of signage to draw guests to this off-the-main-road eatery.
Lunch isn't the best time to opt for an al-fresco meal; try it after sundown, though. They have a low seating lounge on the first level, ideal for groups of up to 12.

As we settled down and soaked in the ambience ufffd sky blue and silver upholstery, big-screen TV and functional bar (no alcohol, only mocktails), it looked like more of a luncheon place masquerading as a lounge. To begin with, it was Paneer Oriental (Rs 160), a Virgin Pinacolada and a Kiss on the Beach (Rs 110 each). As if on cue, the starter and drinks arrived when India was put into bat by Bangladesh. Here, every table inside gets a ringside view of the action. Smart ergonomics.

The cottage cheese cubes were coated in a mix of South Asian spices, and devoured in quick time. A light starter, the flavours steer clear of overpowering the freshness of the paneer. The Pinacolada emerged the winner; the Kiss on the Beach despite being a refreshing afternoon cooler, was too sweet.u00a0

Deciding to spread our tastes to other corners of the world, we ordered the Vegetable Red Thai Curry (Rs 280) and Spaghetti Aglio E Peperoncino (Rs 250). The World Cup opener wasn't helping our case for a quick lunch. After 30 minutes of waiting, the Continental spread arrived. The Red Thai Curry, a runaway hit, was served with steamed rice. Without an obvious flaming red appearance, it included assorted vegetables cooked with galangal (blue ginger), lemon grass, kaffir lime, Thai seasoning and coconut milk.

Sehwag was on fire. Just like our palate, seconds after we tackled the spaghetti tossed with olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and pepper ufffd lots of it.u00a0 The red pepper overkill overpowered all other ingredients in the dish. To make amends for the fiery debacle, the management served us a complementary Litchi and Saffron Cheesecake. Pleasantly polite.

At Shop # 2, D Wing, Saidham, near Pooja Blood Bank, PK Road, Mulund (W); Call 65808028/ 7738485999; Open 11 am to 11 pm, seven days of the week Exotic Flavors didn't know we were there. The Guideu00a0reviews anonymously and pays for meals