“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.” – Alan D Wolfelt
Simple cooking done with love and passion using fresh, hearty and soulful ingredients is always capable of winning hearts in a way that even the most complex culinary masterpieces sometimes fail to do!
AMBIENCE:
Located by the busy, noisy and crowded street in Oshiwara, Andheri, the Homemade cafe exudes calmness right at the entrance, courtesy the wood panelled glass door and windows, the plush green and dense creepers running above and a dose of positivity chalked out on a small blackboard right at the entrance. The interiors are cutely styled albeit the small area that this cafe occupies, housing just 3-4 tables with good music, adequate lighting, cute twinkly lights along the glass windows, witty captions and art work framed on the walls and a small counter displaying the desserts in the other end right beside the kitchen door.
BEVERAGES:
While the Peach Iced Tea was overly tangy and totally missed out on the sweet and mildly sour notes; the Lemon Iced Tea struck the perfectly soothing balance between sweet and citrusy flavours with a mild zesty kick; and the Fresh Lime Soda was again a refreshing blend of citrusy and sweet notes.
SALADS:
Chicken Caesar Salad
This salad comprised of crunchy and fresh mixed lettuce, dices of crunchy and colourful bell peppers imparting a characteristic mild sweet flavour and crunchy broccoli that had a well toned down bitterness along with crispy and crunchy herbed bread croutons tossed together and dressed thoroughly with ample hard and gritty parmesan shavings that imparted a fruity, nutty and sharp savoury flavour. The various elements let out a wide array of flavours and the salad would have been a hit, had it not been a tad too DRY.
Watermelon Feta Salad
Sweet and juicy watermelon cubes paired with creamy, soft, grainy, salty and faintly tangy crumbled feta cheese having a nutty aroma were tossed with some crunchy and fresh rocket having a peculiar pungent aroma and a distinguished pleasant peppery and mustard-like flavour along with plenty of crumbled walnut chikki, I.e., crumbled caramelized walnuts imparting a chewy texture and a beautifully sweet and nutty flavour; all in a flavorful, citrusy and sweet lemon honey dressing. This one was a delicious assembly of various elements that very well complemented each other.
FOOD:
Garlic Bread With Cheese
These were absolutely soft and light loaves of garlic bread which were neither too greasy nor too dry, with strings of the abundant, creamy, melted cheese marvellously stretching out with every bite. The mind boggling aroma of melted and baked cheese and herbs along with the strong flavour of garlic wafting in the air took this dish to yet another level of awesomeness!
Hooters Style Chicken Wings
These succulent, tender, juicy and moist chicken wings with a crispy, sticky, faintly tangy and sweet crust had an overpowering honey-like sweet aftertaste. These wings were indeed very enticing in it’s uniqueness and clearly a delish treat for anyone having affinity towards sweet flavours and the sour cream served alongside quite well complemented the dish too.
Cajun Chicken
This was a mildly spicy preparation of tender and juicy boneless chicken chunks that led out a wide array of flavours with it’s freshness, moderately spicy, sweet and faint smoky notes with a zesty after taste. The avocado based thick, chunky and coarse dip served alongside was a delish offering but didn’t quite go well with the chicken.
Jalapeno Fondue
The fondue being a combination of gouda, cheddar and gruyere cheeses had a strong aroma and a delicious blend of sharp, sweet, nutty and earthy flavours. It was WAY TOO THICK for the desired fondue consistency though. The herbed bread croutons served alongside were buttery, crispy and crunchy.
Fuseli Pink Sauce
The pink sauce was a deliciously rich, creamy and heavy textured sauce having a wonderfully tangy, mildly spicy and a faint sweet taste with perfectly cooked fuseli pasta which was neither too soft (overcooked) nor too chewy or crunchy (undercooked). The sweet bell peppers and and faintly bitter broccoli added a slight crunch to this creamy pasta along with some mushrooms that I very carefully separated since I’m allergic to them.
Coming to the food that I avoided eating since I’m allergic to mushrooms (Left to right)-Grilled Paneer Salad, Stuffed Mushroom With Bbq Sauce, Spinach Ricotta Ravioli and Stuffed chicken with green mash potato and mushroom pepper jus.
While the rest tasted simply average and are skip-able, the Grilled Paneer Salad was thoroughly enjoyed by all, courtesy it’s uniquely flavourful dressing, hence strongly recommended by my fellow blogger pals.
DESSERTS:
Banofee Pie
This classic dessert comprising of fresh, soft, dense and light whipped cream with some coffee powder dusted on top followed by sweet, thick, gooey and glossy layer of sliced and mashed caramelized bananas resting on a firm base made of well aggregated biscuit crumble was clearly a SUPER HIT!
Mocha Fudge Cake
This was another MARVELLOUS dessert owing to it’s moist, dense and fudgy consistency and a rich chocolate flavour coupled with the robust richness of coffee. A yummilicious treat for a coffee and chocolate lover like me!
Tiramisu
While the tiramisu had the feathery-light, thick and foamy texture and the desired flavour of coffee, the mascarpone cream had a pungent acidic flavour that strongly reflected on the overall taste and altered it UNPLEASANTLY.
Belgian Chocolate Mousse
The mousse was adequately creamy, smooth and light and I could visually appreciate the air bubbles incorporated within BUT it was extremely sweet to taste while I expected a rich bittersweet flavour, hence DISAPPOINTING.
Walnut Oreo mousse
While the consistency was too dense and thick for a mousse, it had a sweet, earthy and nutty flavour of the walnuts resting over a firm base made of sweet, coarse and well bound Oreo crumble. The crumbled caramelized walnuts added to it’s nutty sweetness and also imparted some sweet crunch in every bite.
SERVICE:
The service was absolutely warm and welcoming. Our attendant was well groomed, cheerful, interactive, confident and very patiently answered all our queries and ensured time and again that we were having a good time. Considering the fact that the cafe was functioning at it’s full capacity when we occupied a table, the service was reasonably fast and very efficient.
VERDICT:
Food quality – 4/5
Food quantity – 4/5
Ambience – 4.5/5
Service – 4.5/5
VFM – NA (The meal was complimentary, courtesy an invitation by the restaurant to sample their menu.)
Snehanvg 