“After a good meal one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations. -Oscar Wilde The Lake View Cafe at The Westin Mumbai Powai Lake has, over the years, become a favourite place for many. It is far removed from Mumbai’s noise, with its continuous cries and stage whispers. Peace reigns, a serene expanse of water laps nearby and across the lake you see hazy buildings and blue skies. There are large pools and green spots within the hotel premises too, relaxing to the eye on a hot, dry day. Recently we ate their weekday buffet: there was everything anyone could think of and lots more. Chef Mukesh Sharma had prepared wonderful food, excellent in variety and quality including dals, noodles and hot breads to Chinese vegetables and good salads and dressings. Followed by far too many desserts… The long ride there makes you hungry as visions of fresh salads and noodles dance in your head. Coming from Colaba, we thought of the new things Chef Mukesh might have conjured. A superb cook who treats food lovingly, like a parent caring for a child, he made fresh pizza with great crusts: crisp on the bottom and covered with melted cheese. As some truthful person admitted: “The key to my heart looks a whole lot like a slice of good pizza.” This was followed by an array of mezze: hummus, beetroot in yogurt, labneh with sumac flakes, walnut and red pepper muhammara and other Arabic delights. Like all simple foods, hummus is hard to make well: the right graininess, topped with sliced olives, a touch of harissa and a small puddle of tacky green olive oil. Hope they soon make dolmas, pickled labneh and the dainty, rose-flavoured mahalabia, (usually made to welcome a new baby), giving us more reasons to go back. The food is excellent: fresh Indian dals, biryanis, vegetables, plenty of Chinese greens and continental entrees and Japanese soba noodles cooked with bits of green onion stems and a few mushrooms: delightfully yang and healthy. Always amusing to see someone eat some sophisticated dish and then at the last minute, just before leaving, sigh and turn back to get … one sev or pani puri! We love what we love! Our Bengali food expert claimed the prawns were the best ever. Now that is high praise from a Bong, especially for fish served outside hallowed Bengal.
-
The Lake View Cafe at The Westin Mumbai Powai Lake has become a favourite place for many
