Mumbai Food: Revamped iconic Santacruz five-star lounge offers offbeat fare

Getting a makeover after a decade, an iconic Santacruz five-star lounge offers cocktails in navari saree-draped glasses and fare inspired by London's Chinatown

Mumbai Food: Revamped iconic Santacruz five-star lounge offers offbeat fare

The LED lights have been spruced up to match the beats of EDM tracks and the refurbished private dining sections, with Chinese mural art, hold chests with liquor bottles and paraphernalia for guests to enjoy themselves without the 'waiter, more ice please' rigour.

Navari. Pics/Falguni Agrawal

A navari high
The space, which will now operate every evening, offers various cocktails inspired by the prohibition era along with signature concoctions. Navari (Rs 1,400), a gin-guava cocktail, is served in a glass draped with the Maharashtrian nine-yard saree. Though gimmicky to the eye, it scores in potency, with fruity flavours masking the alcohol. We enjoy the tangy-spicy notes in the rum- and pineapple-based karate master (Rs 1,400), spiked with chillies and vinegar. It is served in a gunny bag as an ode to a certain karate master, who would hide a rum bottle in such a bag during prohibition.

Wok-fried chicken rice in black pepper

We pair the drinks with Peking duck bao (Rs 380), where light-as-air beige-hued baos (courtesy a dash of duck sauce mixed with the dough) are stuffed with crisp and peppery meat. We also enjoy breaded green peas (Rs 300), where Asian-style dumplings, with a thin skin that gives way to al dente pea mash, hide under a crisp, cheesy tuile.

Peking duck bao

From London's Chinatown
The food menu has been curated by executive chef Jef Foster, who comes armed with 25 years of experience, having helmed five-star kitchens in California and London. So, the oriental fare shares space with global eats, including a silky smooth chicken liver parfait (Rs 475) that we smear over crisp toast and relish with onion jam.

Another highlight is wok-fried chicken rice in black pepper (Rs 500), where egg-laced grains of rice soak in peppery-spicy flavours of the gravy redolent with Chinese herbs and succulent chicken strips. The dish appears in a section called London's China Town specialties. "We serve the dish in a ceramic container that resembles the to-go wok boxes at the Chinese joints in that area." We exit, delighted to have made a short trip around the world on this culinary Orient Express.

Chef Jef Foster