Cafe Samovar @ Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai

Cafe Samovar is the tidily tucked in cafe of Jehangir Art Gallery. It is one of my favorite luncheon places in the colaba/fort/kala ghoda area. The main reason for that not being the great food nor the quick service either. This small 'sliver' of a cafe is a place where the moment u enter, you r far away from the maddenin crowd. Or for that matter the honking of cars, pollution or the hustle n bustle all around you. Nd all that in the heart of the financial centre 0f the city makes it so special. Of course, you can almost 'feel' the rich heritage of the place as soon as u enter. I fell in love with Samovar as soon as i entered the first time and have been going there repeatedly.

The die hard fans of Samovar-i'm sure there are many many of them-will tell you how this place has seen many a creative minds come in and spend hours over here pondering over creative issues. U'll get loads of interesting info if you google Samovar e.g. how amitabh bachchan took Jaya out on a first date rite here cos at that time tat was all he cud afford. :)

There's this unkempt piece of land on one side of Cafe Samovar which invariably draws my attention cos its so peaceful and quiet. And sometimes small, beautiful birds come and sit on the trees outside. I caught this li'l birdie on my cellfone cam.

Of course these are petty things wen u have to rush back to offc for work, but they have a soothing effect on otherwise over-stressed nerves.

Now , coming to the food (finally) , Samovar has lots on the menu. I particularly like the mutton biriyani. Also the Mutton chops in black pepper sauce is really good. In fact all the dishes i've had are authentic and good. You can chill on a pint of beer if u like, but if you r the non-alcoholic types, there's always iced tea and mint tea . I think i shud mention the Russian Chicken Salad as well. Well, the list goes on and on.

The damages are not much, considering the ambience and the quality of food. Biriyani will set you back by Rs.100 and best part is that there's nothing on the menu exceeding Rs.125. Pint of beer is Rs.76 ( 25% VAT extra). So according to me, its a great place to have a good lunch and unwind. Its also a very nice place for a lunch date, where although there'll be lotsa ppl around, you can have you conversations in your own world. :)





SO much from a new patron. I hope I could churn up some interest in whosoever is reading this and in that case do visit Cafe Samovar for sure. You'll love it :)