Mumbai: Dining with a difference

The Guppy by Ai pop-up
Dining at pop-ups is as trendy as getting hold of the latest Dior bag. You can now tick mark on this by heading to the Guppy pop-up at Olive Bar and Kitchen, a Mediterranean-themed restaurant at the Mahalaxmi race course. Until last season, the restaurant had Goa's Greek lounge Thalassa and this is their second such stint. As the name suggests, pop-ups are a temporary occurrence that appear for a few days and vanish soon after. The idea is to get your hands on the food and experience within that time frame. Luckily for Mumbaikars, the Japanese eatery from Delhi's posh Lodhi Market is here until the end of the year unlike some pop-ups that last only as long as a day.
What to eat: Guppy is essentially known for its contemporary take on authentic Japanese cuisine. So go for dishes such as vegetables stuffed in crispy phyllo sheets served with yuzu miso sauce. This has a Mediterranean influence. Or the grilled tomato and scarmoza bake for its choice of ingredients, which are very Italian.

Please Don't Tell
If you are a Harry Potter fan, you probably know that to get inside the Ministry of Magic, one has to enter via an abandoned telephone booth. Visiting Please Don't Tell is a similar experience. The restaurant has a gate that opens only if you know the secret code that needs to be pressed on the telephone inside the red booth. The diners get this code either by word-of-mouth or while making a reservation at this Lower Parel-based eatery. Once in, PDT greets you with its worn-out mill interiors, dimly lit bulbs suspended from loose wires and open copper pipes that run across the ceiling. Apart from dining, the restaurant has a secret club called Prohibition that is meant for regulars and gives them access to the changing entry code, discounts and certain ambiguous privileges all for Rs 2,000 per month.
What to eat: More than food, we loved the way PDT's menu is peppered with wordplay. Take for instance dishes such as Masked Madrasi that is risotto spiked with sambhar powder or LOTR – which is nothing but onion rings. If you love bar cuisine, go for Sticky Fingers that are hot wings flavoured with drippy Louisianian hot sauce and Secret Breakfast, a slivered cottage cheese dish, draped in cornflakes crumbs. To our dismay, the restaurant serves no desserts, so you might have to carry your own stash.

Colaba Social
After the success of Church Street Social in Bangalore, Colaba Social is the 'it' place to be seen at in Mumbai. The restaurant that sways from being a full-fledged restaurant/work place in the day transforms into a groovy lounge by night filled with leggy ladies. It's interior is crowded with familiarity (worn-out finish, bare bulbs), but what differentiates it, is that the Social provides boardroom/conference facilities, printer, scanner and Wi-Fi — seldom found at other restaurants. Once they pick pace, they intend to put out a blackboard where patrons can jot down their name, profession and table numbers. This is so you can walk up to anyone and ask for technical help like get a web designer to comment on your website or a writer to help you with an email. Now that's what we call being social.
What to eat: Kept on each table is a rolled sheet of newspaper. That's the Social's rather quirky menu. The dishes that fill it up are unconventional in terms of texture, flavour and presentation. For instance, the Jalapeno Cheese Nads that are tiny nuggets filled with molten cheese served in an aluminum can (seen at bania shops). The dish is served with a sweet-spicy dip, aptly called 'chunda', an Indian version of jam. There is also the Thai thali, which has a neatly plonked heap of rice, green curry, poppadums and salad. In terms of main course, the restaurant provides varied options, such as China Box (a Chinese meal), sizzlers, biryanis, hot dogs, sandwiches, burgers and baos, that diners can choose from.

The Local
Mumbai's first underground pub is The Local. Situated inside an almost pitch-dark street of Fort area (opposite Mumbai University), the bar is accessible only if you know the entry code than needs to be punched outside the door. This code changes every week and can be known only if you can coax regulars/owners to spill it out or if you manage to rush-past the door when it swings open. Once in, the crew adds you to their mailing list, which keeps you posted about the changes. Inside is a bar with Banksy-style paintings plastered on the walls, slender chairs and thumping music. While dining at such a secretive place promises cheap thrills, locating it can be extremely tedious since The Local has no sign board, front lights or facade.
What to eat and drink: The menu at The Local is crisp, short and basic. Vegetarians can opt for nachos, served with cheese sauce and salsa, cottage cheese fingers or fries doused in peri peri sauce. For meat lovers, the same items are available but sprinkled with chicken, prawn or other meats. The Local also has a substantial list of specials, including keema pao, chicken 65, fried idli chilli and other comfort foods. Polish them with glasses of masala soda, kacchi kairi, kokum sherbet or lemon phudina which are hip versions of some typical Indian drinks.

The Drawing Room
Brainchild of the owners of Smoke House Deli, the Drawing Room is an extension of the restaurant's Bandra outpost. A few months ago, the restauranteur himself sent out tiny keys to his favourite people (actors, models, media, fellow restauranteurs), allowing them exclusive access to this eatery. The space resembles a drawing room right out of a posh home with it's comfy couches, colourful cushions and fancy lamps. Apart from eating (all the food comes from Smoke House Deli situated right below), one can hold meetings, host parties and do practically everything you would in your own drawing room. Almost everything.
What to eat: Our staple at this diner is their oak chevre and orange salad. This citrus and goat cheese combination is the best way to beat the city's heat. All the ingredients come doused with a passion fruit emulsion, which provides respite from the usual olive oil drizzle. In terms of mains, the options are aplenty. The best bet is the half soup and sandwich combo – you can go for tuna and celery or smoked chicken served with a hearty broth. The restaurant does succulent meat and fish preparations — smoked lamb burger and chilli crusted John Dory to name two.