I happened to visit this cute little place in Bandra @ Pali hill. If u live in mumbai ud know about a club called Hawaiin shack…this place is bang opposite to it! It’s small but as they say great things come in small packages; same way this is a hidden gem. The appearance of the place from outside will get u excited. With all the color play going on inside the café and their custom made furniture and their little garden on the wall to ur left when u enter will all catch ur attention. Yes garden on the wall- they grow some of their herbs their for their Frocktails and drinks for the fresh taste.
The interiors is beautiful with bright coloured furniture all around. Quirky quotes and food pics and lovely seating with collapsible chairs and benches. Even the tables are a piece of art.
They have a book shelf with some comics and novels and chicken soup for the soul for people to read. They also got games like monopoly and chess to spend fun time with friends here.
There was this cute little truck at the food counter which i really loved. Their original thot was to start a food truck but then started a café instead, so that miniature truck is now just a showpiece of that first idea of this place.
As I entered I was greeted by the co-owner himself called Venkatesh aka Venky the second partner being Sourabh who was unavailable. Venky got me seated and then took me thru their entire menu. They have an amazing variety of cold teas, latte, Fratte, Frocktails, Fratte bowls, gelato, Fratte overload and in food they hv healthy eats and bunny chows and baos.
We first decided to go with tasting their cold teas. The whole concept is not to boil the tea which leads to release of tannin and caffeine which are not so good for health. So they infuse tea leaves in water n put in fridge for 14 hours…that gives a mildly infused taste without such harmful things released also there is no bitterness when it’s not heated. Their whole concept is around fruits. So when u order cold tea they ask u which fruit u want…v called for raspberry and passion fruit 2 flavours…so v were given our cold teas mixed with their pulp (their pulp is imported from outside so as to give the real taste of fruit and best quality) and it was more like a slush. I’m not a tea person but I absolutely loved both the flavours…they were very refreshing.
I loved the writings on their tray too
Next we tried their desi love…which is Indian taste drinks with a twist.
We tried guava masala and Jeera masala. They were too yum. The masala gave it a hit of flavour that was perfect.
Next we decided to cleanse the palate with something savoury before trying more drinks. We called for some lavash with peri peri hummus which was perfect after all these drinks. Hummus was a bit spicy so v really enjoyed it with 2 servings of lavash.
Next i tried their famous Frocktails or frozen mocktails. We called for tropical tango which was a combo or peach passionfruit and mint leaves with tiny pieces of peach inside the drink which I loved the most. We also tried green goblet which is a combo of kiwi, cucumber and mint. It was absolutely yummy.
After this I went for some Greek salad while our baos were getting ready. The Greek salad was refreshingly tasty. It had a generous amount of feta just the way I like it. It was freshly chopped in front of us and had a perfectly balanced dressing.
Then we were served our baos. Baos are Asian Street food. They are Chinese breads stuffed with veges or meats as per your taste. I called for a Mexican bao…after all I love mixing flavours so Asian Street food Mexican style ???? and my hubby called for chicken. I absolutely loved mine. Bread was soft and the stuffing spicy, tasty and generously filled.
If u like baos u must try these.
Next we had bunny chow. We just called for one between the 2 of us. Bunny chows are South African Street snack with ur choice of veggies or meat curry stuffed in a hollowed out bread loaf. It was huge, super filling and super tasty….it was my first try at these and I loved it. The stuffing was spicy and it was served with a beautifully dressed fresh salad on the side. Quite filling.
Last but not the least we kept some space for their most famous Fratte overload. It’s 5 layers of heaven. Bottom layer being cookie crumble, next whipped cream, then a layer of Strawberry fratte which is frozen latte mixed with strawberry pulp. Topped with 2 scoops of their freshly made cheesecake gelato and topped with strawberry sprinkles and white chocolate chips ???????????? drooling right??
It was an orgasmic end to the night ????????. This is the best thing on their menu though I loved everything honestly. I’m surely going back for more of these.
Thruout our tasting we had Venky talking to us about their concept, how they started. Also they hv a seperate menu kept which tells people what alcohol to mix with what juices if u like ur drinks spiked. They don’t serve alcohol themselves. But u r allowed to get their drinks parcelled home and make your own cocktails. These guys do cater to events and parties of minimum 80 ppl or more. It’s an amazing place with amazingly friendly ppl running it. A must visit i’d say!! Best part it’s pretty light on your pockets even after being located in a prime location.