Mumbai ka magic, Lalbaug mein

Gourmands may shake their heas in dismay, but Lalbaug's latest eatery, Mumbai Magic, offers a mish mash of affordable vegetarian khaana, notwithstanding a liberal mix of desi ingredients to your average Chinese spread

Walk along the congested lanes of Lalbaug and it's tough to miss a bright lime green nameplate with the words Mumbai Magic splashed on what appears like a replica of the very familiar signboards that distinguish every suburban railway station.

Shahjahani Pulav. Pics/ Prathik Panchamia

To prove that they take their name seriously, the restaurant has a mural depicting some of Mumbai's popular sights and sounds including the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the BSE as well as the dabbawalas.

Mumbai Magic's menu boasts of Punjabi, South Indian and Chinese food apart from sandwiches, pizzas and soups. For starters, we opted for the Paneer Salt and Pepper (Rs 140), au00a0 Punjabi and Chinese hybrid made from tiny cubes of paneer, coated with salt and pepper and fried with spring onions. It made for a perfect starter and tasted delicious without being too oily.

For the main course, we chose the Mumbai Magic Special Fried Rice (Rs 170), which included three varieties of rice (salted, regular and spicy Manchurian) with a palak-based gravy. The regular rice was sweet and the salted one resembled the Indian preparation of lemon rice, which was a tad bland.

The moderately spicy Manchurian portions with mushrooms and the intensely green gravy with carrots and other vegetables were the saving grace.

We opted for the Shahjahani Pulav (Rs 85) thanks to its royal title, but it turned out to be too sweet for our liking. If you like dry fruits, make a go for it. The Sabzi Shatranj (Rs 105) was made from paneer and a few vegetables but tasted quite average.

The Mumbai Magic Special Falooda (Rs 85) and the Pinacolada (Rs 70) were refreshing but unremarkable in every other way. The Two Scoops Hot Fudge (Rs 80) was delicious probably because it's impossible to go wrong with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. It helped us end our meal on a sweet and happy note.u00a0

While we were at Mumbai Magic, the attendants were prompt and enthusiastic about serving us inconspicuously every now and then but seemed very confused about the menu and the ingredients. But we'll let that pass since it served up paisa vasool khana.

At Mumbai Magic, Good Hope Chambers, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Lalbaug, Byculla (W). Call 24703040
Mumbai Magic didn't know we were there.u00a0The Guideu00a0reviews anonymously and pays for meals.

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