Vinay Pathak reviews Fellas Cafes

Fellas Cafes
14 A Ahimsa Marg, Khar (W),
opposite Mahavir Hospital
Call: 32267678

Rating: ****
Meal for two: Rs 600-Rs 800

Health food is generally not a preferred option for foodies like me but this time on a special recommendation I dared to venture on the other side of the road and was surprised to see how great food and healthy living can be put together so simply.

Tucked inside the bylanes of Khar, Fellas Cafe is a cafe with a healthy twist! With a warm and welcoming ambience, it has a spacious outdoor seating area and a relatively small indoor area. One of the most innovative health cafes in the city, it boasts of dishing out 80 per cent health-oriented food. The menu, that boasts of a range of fresh juices, soups, salads, sandwiches and hot meals, has been drafted keeping the calorie meter in mind by an in-house nutritionist. And what really caught my eye was a separate column for the number of calories each dish contains.

After reading the menu, I could already feel the proteins and vitamins running through my body and I was ready for the first round. It was difficult to pick from the assortment of super healthy juices but fortunately for me, the owner Mr Suvedh Lohia (a very friendly and helpful chap) came to my rescue and asked me to try their spinach-pineapple-apple juice. After a lot of apprehension from my side and coaxing from his, I gave in and was treated to a surprisingly delicious, cool green potion. If you still can’t get around to trying it, you should! Pick another from as many of their 400  permutations and combinations of exotic and healthy flavours which include fresh guavas, strawberries, bananas, musk melon, lemon, parsely,  spirulina and even wheatgrass!

I discovered that they have an in-house bakery that rolls out fresh batches of wholewheat and multigrain bread every morning, the pastas are made of whole wheat and even the sandwich bread is made of nachni, jowar and bajra. For the benefit of skeptics who might question just how “health conscious” the fare at Fellas is, the management has prepared a folder of recipes that documents how they devised the menu. Customers who ask for the folder will also find information on how a particular juice suits a particular blood group.

My meal started with the spinach, baby corn and skimmed milk cottage cheese sandwich that came with a tasty filling and the multi-grain garlic bread with home made Hummus. For the mains, I ordered and absolutely loved the ravioli stuffed with ricotta, spinach and capers dressed in an elegant black olive sauce. Their crepes stuffed with broccoli-mushroom-asparagus with a delicious light cheese sauce on top are also to die for. A very unique and a highly recommended dish would definitely be their paneer steak with black pepper mushrooms, which came along with perfectly grilled veggies and brown rice.

Since the healthy kitchen here does not encourage dessert, sins are not a part of their menu but will be served if you specially order them. After having eaten such a healthy meal I had to commit the sin and ordered for a heavenly Nutella with crepe which was topped with the seasonal favourite of peaches and pears. This particular dish took my healthy levels to the next level. Quite literally!

One more good news that adds up to your experience is that the cafe has board games at the counter, you can simply pick your favourite board game and enjoy your healthy meal while playing it! (I have to come back here with my daughters, just for the games). For the geeky types, there is also a wi-fi zone where you can keep connected to the virtual world while sipping on your power.

To sum it up, everything from the menu is extremely healthy yet delicious at the same time. Extremely well priced and light on the tummy, the brilliance lies in the quality and taste of the food. Definitely worth a try!

Vinay Pathak is an actor and a foodie