Must try: Pomo basil martini, Honey Paloma, Eggs Florentine, Blue Cheese Gnocci, Nutella Crème Brulee
Intro
The sleek white interiors betray a classical modern touch, straight out of an art gallery or European bistro. On entering, the chequered black and white flooring, complementing the rest of the furniture exudes an air of sophistication, an aura of royalty amidst simplicity.
A bar on one side of the 45-seater 10th Street Café showcases an attractive display of alcobev, while the rest of the little place is a lesson in effective space management, with ample distance between tables and yet a subtle proximity to each other. Soft pop music perfectly complements the modernistic avatar, while the wait staff are well-trained, efficient and dressed immaculately, as well.
Inspired by the modern European street café concept, 10th Street Café opened its doors to public from its first branch in Bandra West on August 3rd and soon after opened a second outlet at Juhu, as well. For those looking to let their hair down, the restaurant also has live music on Tuesdays and Thursdays and stand-up gigs, occasionally.
F&B
While the menu spreads across European cuisine, it is mostly vegetarian, with the exception of a few egg-based dishes as part of its breakfast menu. We visited the restaurant recently on a warm weekday evening, to try a few of the signature specialities. Our table was served by Zimik, a sprightly, knowledgeable, effervescent young man, who was very obliging and had good dinner recommendations as well.
We started off with four signature cocktails - Pomo basil martini (vodka-based martini infused with basil, pomegranate and passion fruit – a must try for immediate relief from the squelching humidity), Honey Paloma (fruity-based tequila cocktail with a drizzle of honey), European Sour (whisky sour topped with house wine) and Vino LIIT (long island iced tea topped with house wine - another must-try).
Being hardcore carnivores, we decided to start off on a safe note with some known classics - Eggs Florentine (the restaurant’s version of Eggs Benedict with open toasted buns topped with poached eggs, sautéed spinach instead of the parma ham or smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce). This dish was superbly executed with the yolks coming apart perfectly at a slight nudge of the knife, and the hollandaise also done perfectly.
Next we tried the Turkish Eggs (poached eggs immersed in garlic yoghurt, topped with chilli oil, spring onion and served with fried onion, burnt garlic and grilled pita). This was yet another winner, with the complexities of flavours intact and yet complimenting each other while perfectly standing out on their own.
The 7-layer egg wrap (tortilla wrapped with masala omelette, homemade hot sauce, loloroso, red onions, tomatoes and fresh cilantro) was slightly disappointing though, as it tasted not much more than an egg roll with various lashings that could probably be done away with.
From the vegetarian section, we started off with the Signature Mezze Platter (Mediterranean style platter comprising of falafel bullets, four types of hummus, three types of dips, pickled salad and zaatar pita). It was suddenly at this point that we realised that most of the dishes at the restaurant had less salt, which became pronounced in the mezze platter. While the dips and hummus were done alright, the babaghanoush had a bit too much garlic and no real taste of brinjal, the base ingredient.
Again, the Twice Baked Potatoes with spicy rosemary sauce (baked scooped baby potatoes stuffed with creamed mushroom and topped with a spicy rosemary sauce) was similar to the jacket potatoes or stuffed potato skins available at most fast food restaurants today and was nothing really worth writing home about, despite being the perfect mix of a crunchy exterior and creamy interior.
Luckily for us, the next few dishes leading up to mains turned out to be well beyond our expectations.
The Mandarin Goat Cheese Salad (featuring tender romaine and loloroso leaves, mixed with mandarin orange dressing and topped with goat cheese and candied walnuts) was a great palate cleanser before the main course and helped renew our faith in salads again, what with its tropical mix of sweet, tangy and umami flavours, and this one we were more than happy to polish off.
The Quattro Formaggi pizza (comprising a thin crust pizza base topped with fresh tomato sauce, ricotta, parmesan, gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese) left us hungry for more, and the Blue Cheese Gnocci tossed in creamy gorgonzola cheese sauce and parmesan came to the rescue right in time, fulfilling our cheese cravings with its succulent handmade pasta in a velvety cheesy sauce that we just couldn’t get enough of.
About this time, we realised that ordering the Penne vodka (penne pasta tossed in a combination of roma tomatoes, fresh cream and parmesan) was a mistake and finishing it an exercise in futility, because despite its superiority in terms of al dente pasta, and a sauce that had a consistency just creamy enough to lightly coat the penne, without being overwhelming, turned out to be way to heavy on the cream and cheese quotient, and considering the two cheesy dishes on our table preceding this one, we had to give up on it with a heavy heart, a few spoons into the dish.
Of course, being over satiated and almost in a state of food coma is no excuse to skip dessert and so we bravely put ourselves up to the challenge of experimenting with the Almond Praline Cookie (signature dessert comprising layers of biscuit crumble and Belgian chocolate), Fig Caramel Pudding (baked pudding made of preserved figs served warm along with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream), Nutella Crème Brulee (Nutella-flavoured custard topped with caramel) and Tiramisu (Italian layered coffee and cream cake with ladyfinger biscuits and mascarpone cheese).
While it was more of a task picking a winner from these four than polishing them off, we jointly agreed that the Almond Praline Cookie and the Nutella Crème Brulee deserved a standing ovation and definitely is worth a first, second and third try. Personally, I would also recommend the Fig Caramel Pudding because I am partial to figs and this one is good for the diet-conscious ones, too.
Verdict
Ambience, service and prices that are worth shelling out for the top quality food, make 10th Street Café a definite must-visit if you happen to be in the area. For those who would rather order-in, the restaurant also delivers to Bandra West, Khar West and Santacruz West. And if you don’t happen to reside within this radius, fear not, for 10th Street Café already has expansion plans in place.
F&B: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Pricing: 4/5
VFM: 4/5
Shabbir Bhanpurawala | Epicureans
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