Capturing Mumbai in a bowl

BENGALURU: The Bombay Buddha bowls at SodaBottleOpenerWala are every homesick Mumbaikar living in the city’s answer to a home cooked meal. The much-loved Parsi franchise introduced four Buddha Bowls to their menu for a limited time – Sindhi, Gujrati, Maharshtrian and East Indian – and if you haven’t tried them yet, do sample these meals in a bowl by December 17.

We sampled all four bowls (two veg and two non-veg), starting with the Sindhi and Maharshtrian ones, and especially loved the latter. The Maharashtrian bowl comes with red rice, a green salad, a red, tangy and delicious fish curry, prawn modaks and a coconut salad, and was the ideal wholesome and healthy meal. Having eaten traditonal Sindhi food, this bowl also didn’t disappoint, as the famous Sindhi kadhi, aloo tuk, sai bhajji and papad that were part of the bowl, was pure comfort food, reminding us of a Sunday afternoon meal at home with the whole family getting together. Those familiar with Gujrati food know that there are sweet elements to almost every meal, and though the bowl had a very home cooked feel - with the ravioli dhoklis, candied peanuts, salad and a spin on the traditional dal dhokli - it wasn’t a personal favourite.

The last bowl we sampled was the East Indian one, which is said to be inspired by the influence of food from the region in Bandra, and combined all those elements that make for a staple meal. Rice with spicy and tangy pork vindaloo were served along with a crunchy Bombil fry along with fried chicken potato chops, curried vegetables and carrots replacing the green salad the other bowls had. Although we didn’t particularly enjoy the chicken chop, the other dishes in the bowl worked well together. If we had to make the tough decision to pick a favourite, we’d have to go with the Maharshtrian bowl, followed by the Sindhi bowl.

Sweet lovers, do also give some of their new desserts a try. The Readymoney Cheesecake, with a raspberry coulis, tasted like it came out fresh from the oven of your mother’s kitchen. The Apple and Pear Pie with Custard is also another good option.

Cost: Rs 415 onwards.