Incessant summer rains, traffic woes, terrace top pool property with a sprawling view of the city skyline and India´s first lady of the beverage world hooking you up with a mind blowing martini the moment you walk in. Yes, the city of dreams sometimes makes you live the dream in the most interesting way.
The place I talk about is a 3 months old pool side property on the terrace of Hotel Aureole. Located within walking distance from the Western Express highway, the terrace offers a splendid view of the city landscape and the metro line nearby. The submerged bar is probably the only dive bar in the city where patrons can swim up to the bar for their drinks and the restaurant does encourage its patrons to take a dip in the pool if they fancy. The place is, therefore, a hot favourite for many a corporate do´s.
The 100% vegetarian restaurant tag may put off a few, but with India´s first female celebrated mixologist and dear friend Shatbi Basu at the helm of the bar affairs, the restaurant takes no chances to appeal to the cynics as well.
As if to prove that point, while we are just getting over blowing kisses to each other, Shatbi offers me a Martini that is simply BRILLIANT. The very aromatic, mildly sweet cocktail which they call Planet M, has small spheres of blueberry and peach at the bottom of the drink and is soothing and potent, both at the same time. Similarly the Rosemary and Peach Gin and Tonic served to my partner was spritzy, herbaceous, with the right amount of sweetness too. This was an absolute home run for my partner who is quite an occasional drinker.
As if on cue, the staff was quick to bring us our starters and we started off with our starters comprising of an assorted Lavash and dips platter that contained a Roasted corn and garlic dip, a Zucchini and Cashewnut dip and a Mushroom and Cream cheese dip (Rs.250). While the Lavash and the breads were run of the mill (and soggy due to the rainy weather), the dips were beautiful, creamy and flavoursome. Truly a good start to the meal. Next up were Cornflake crusted vegetable triangles with tartar sauce (Rs.200); cornflakes have an inherent nature of soaking up oil and this showed in the dish too. Though the mixed vegetable filling was good, I couldn’t eat much of this platter due to the heavy oil. The last starter of this lot was the Wild Mushroom Arancini balls (Rs. 210); had it not been for the wild mushrooms, I would have surely written off the dish. The smokey wild mushrooms with cheese is always a happy marriage, and in the form of arancini balls served with port reduction and an orange mayo, it’s a dish that’s been cleverly put together to let each element shine.
Even before I could finish my first drink, Shatbi was quick to order my next which was a Passion fruit and Chilli based cocktail. Tangy, sweet with an intense chilly kick, the drink worked beautifully during the monsoon rains. The Red Harissa Marinated Cottage Cheese (Rs. 210) was served next. I used to thinkthat I was not into Paneer but this platter of paneer in a Red Harissa sauce served on a bed of Quinoa salad, changed my notion. The Harissa lend quite a bit of flavour to the smokey meaty Paneer but the real star of the dish was the Nutty, slightly citrusy quinoa, a bit dry, but packed with good flavours. This, along with the Arancini were my dishes for the evening.
Closing my evening with a Classic Old Fashioned and a Moscow mule was another great decision because the Wood Fire over Pizza, that was served next, though properly conceived and cooked, could not shine due to the high humidity of the atmosphere as the bread got soggy even before we could bite into them. The dessert platter consisted of Waffles topped with chocolates, fruits and nuts, which was quite an unusual dessert to end a dinner, I would usually associate it with breakfast, but nevertheless it was proper.
Patch of Sky has a daring task to position itself as a Vegetarian watering hole, but it has a fabulous view and a wonderful drinks menu to work for it. On the food front, the menu is clever and the chef does seem to have the required vision towards creating some good dishes. I foresee the place appealing to the vegetarian crowd of Mumbai, but whether it would be able to pull in repeat clients, only time will tell!
Ratings out of 5
Food: 3 | Ambiance: 3.5 | Drinks: 4 | Service: 3.5 | Overall: 3.5
Meal for Two without Alcohol: Rs.2000 Approx plus taxes| Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes|
Timing: 3.00 pm to 1 am | Wheelchair access : No
Address: Aureole Hotel, A-1Heights and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., Behind Natraj studio, M.V Road, Bima Nagar, Andheri, East, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400069, India
Telephone : 022 33951659
Disclaimer: This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgement and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.
