Last weekend we dined at The Table, Colaba, an elegant, upmarket restaurant nestled inside an old trust building in South Mumbai.  The Table is one of best restaurants in Mumbai, perhaps all of India, and offers European food. It has won numerous awards since it opened in 2011.

The original menu was created by Chef Alex Sanchez, who has worked at renowned Michelin Star restaurants, Eleven Madison Park in New York and at The French Laundry and he puts together here food inspired from all corners of the world. So while the menu is not massive, there’s a variety of dishes to suit everyone’s palate, including a lot of small plates. The menu is refreshed daily, depending upon availability of the produce.

We arrived at the restaurant around 8 pm. Not my first time here, and I’ve always loved the chic décor of this place. The black and white striped flooring, fresh flowers in vases, high ceiling and the stylish ceiling lights. The long community table and a mezzanine floor give this place a warm and an informal feel. Luckily, there is no music, which makes it easier to have a conversation. We walked up the stairs and seated ourselves on the mezzanine floor.

Our server after setting us on our table handed us the menu. It’s all black and white and nothing fancy to look at but the alcohol and beverage menu was comprehensive. I ordered a glass of Vallonee Rose, a recent favourite of mine that is produced from the vineyards in our neighbouring Nashik. Ajay and the others ordered for the non-alcoholic Cucumber Mint Cooler, which was fresh cucumber juice and fresh mint topped with soda.

The bread basket was served gratis and tasted nice with homemade butter. In contrast to the drinks menu which was four pages, the food menu here is just two pages. There are small plates and large plates to choose from which are equivalent of starters and mains. And we could pick snacks and sides to accompany the main dishes.

We started off with the always ordered and can’t be missed, Truffle Fries. These were thin-hand cut potato chips, crisped up in truffle oil and served with homemade tomato jam and delicious cajun mayo. We then ordered a few small plates to share. The mini burgers had a juicy lamb patty sitting on a fire-roasted tomato tucked inside a brioche bun. The crunchy onion rings on top were heavenly.

The Pan Roasted King Prawns were juicy and joyful, and the roasted cauliflower and grapes added the nice earthy sweet touch to the dish. There was cauliflower puree as well on the side, and if I hadn’t read it on the menu, I would have been sure of eating mayonnaise.

The Chicken Wings were nothing like the chicken wings I’ve eaten until now. Instead, they were small cubes of boneless chicken, compressed, cooked served on a bed of honey, ginger glaze. It was a mouthful of flavour.  Although I couldn’t figure out why it was named that. It didn’t look like a chicken wing, and the only similarity with the barbeque sauce was the sweetness of the glaze. It could have been barbequed chicken or soy chicken or anything chicken.

For mains, we ordered the Norwegian Salmon, Chicken Under A Brick, Grilled Tenderloin and Sesame -Ginger Chicken Salad. The not so good looking plate of Salmon was just incredible, and the herbs on the plate enhanced the flavour. I’ve never tried Pork and Salmon together on a plate and can I say that I will be back for more.

Chicken Under The Brick, one of their bestsellers, was crisp outside, tender inside and came with a ragout of mushrooms and peas.

While I didn’t taste the Grilled Tenderloin, I heard that it was cooked as requested, medium rare.  It was topped with a crunchy bone marrow bite, that felt quite nice.

We picked the salad from the small plate, though the portion size was right for a main. In fact, it was an enormous plate of food on the table that got wiped out first.  After an array of starters, mains and tete-a-tete we had no place left for dessert.

Service was a hit and miss. One of our friends had dietary restrictions, and once we advised our server, he would promptly tell her the ingredients of every dish that was brought to the table. He also got the chef to adapt the salad to her liking which was nice. But at other times, just to get the check or refill the waters, they’d nowhere to be found.

For me, I always like restaurants that advocate and practice the farm to table concept. The Table sources a lot of its fresh ingredients from its own farm in Alibaug. I loved that the mocktails did not have plastic straws and had sleek steel straws, which I first mistook for a stirrer.

A meal for four that included drinks, starters, and mains cost us a shade less than INR 9000/ USD 140. Overall, this is a sociable place to catch up with friends and family or just enjoy a nice dinner.

The Pros

+ Charming decor
+ Focus on local sourcing and practices farm-to-table
+ Great food

The Cons

- Can get busy often

Rating