Review: Nico Bombay
We were strolling rather innocently in Fort, when we stumbled upon
Nico Bombay. Our legs drew us towards it, very conscious of the fact that we
already had a reservation at this other place. We’d passed by Nico Bombay several
times before, always noticing the white wooden tables on wooden floor, but, at night, the
light emanating through the glass chandeliers coated the wooden furniture with
an irresistible elegance. We couldn’t help ourselves from checking the menu
hung outside, right in the middle of two windowpanes that betrayed the
perfectly alluring décor. We felt like we were window-shopping for food.
“The menu looks delicious, but I’m afraid it’d put a dent in
my wallet”. We decided then that dinners shouldn’t be heavy. We cancelled our reservation.
The 12-step slow walk to our table, 6 of which were
alongside the cement-tiled bar, was filled with admiration for the interiors. The
lights were adequately dim—they permitted us to easily read the menu. The light
from the tea-candle shimmered off the textured glass it was placed inside; this
and with several tables-for-two, Nico Bombay would serve well for a dinner
date.
“Could you get
us three glasses of filtered water?”
“Sorry sir,
we only serve Mulshi spring water.”
We looked at each other. Sigh. “All
right. Room temperature, please.”
Every item
on the handmade paper-based menu impressed us. The dishes seemed to be an
impressive combination of meat, sauces and greens.
“I’ll choose
a pizza.”
“Is there
pizza in this menu?”
“‘Neapolitan
Flat Bread’. That’s pizza.”
While I was
confused between chipotle-spiced mackerel and smoked sardines for “mezze”, a
slate-black slab appeared on the table with three pieces of choux pastry with cream filling. Our moans must have been more audible than we realized because
in ten minutes, another such slab appeared and with a sly smile plastered on
the waiter’s countenance.
We got our
orders within reasonable time. Veal tenderloin with tuna tonato sprinkled with
arugula was a treat. Each bite was as delicious as the previous one; we
finished the dish within minutes.
Which “flatbread”,
Enzo or Beirut? The former, in particular, featured pumpkin flowers. The waiter
came to my rescue, “Sir, Enzo isn’t available because we do not have the
burrata cheese.” Soon after, Beirut and Gorus were placed on the table. Beirut
didn’t lack tomato sauce, it just didn’t need it. Pine nuts and dill-cream
cheese complementing the goat meat pieces sprinkled all over the pizza treated
our taste buds to some unusual, but beautiful, combination of Mediterranean
flavours. Gorus, drizzled with bitter honey, also stimulated taste buds in a
combination never before experienced. None of us left the crusts at the end;
even the dough was that delicious.
Because we
did not want a “heavy dinner”, we had to skip desserts. However, the coffee
machine on the bar was tempting, even though it was 10:30 pm.
I shouldn’t
have. It had chicory.
Nevertheless,
with the overall experience leaning towards extremely positive, we walked out of the
food heaven, back into the reality of the night.
Meal for two: Approximately
Rs. 2000
LOCATION:
Kala Ghoda
Kala Ghoda
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