Crowning the burger king in Mumbai

The best burger that I have ever had in Mumbai was in the house of a dear friend, Rishi Arora. There would be much anticipation in the room before Rishi, a former hotelier, would step out of the kitchen with two plates in hand; bearing burgers that had quite literally been measured to perfection. Six to seven inches in height, juicy patties that would melt in your mouth, never on your shirt, and salads that would not infringe on the lasting taste, but were only there to give you a peripheral crunch. Rishi left the city at the end of last year for work in the capital, but with him, he took away the address I’d reach when the pang for the perfect burger grew excessive.

Early last week I decided that it was time for a quest, not so much for the Holy Grail, but the Holy Grill. I needed to find a substitute for Rishi’s home-whipped goodness and had sworn to scour Mumbai’s eateries in my hunt. I called Rishi for help. “The trouble with burgers in Mumbai,” said Rishi with the characteristic discretion of a seasoned chef, “is that they are often overcooked, unhealthy, fried and laced with needless amounts of mayonnaise.” This was not a good start. My quest seemed doomed before it had started. “But if you had to start somewhere, I’d say Indigo Deli’s Pulled Pork Burger is the place you should.”

At the high table
As the smiling waiter left the plate for me at the table, it took me a while to get used the size of Indigo’s accompanying potato wedges. They almost covered half my plate. The salad that sat next to the pulled pork seemed oxymoronic at first, but made for a fine balance later. The texture of the stripped pork was a rarity and it only took one bite for the barbeque sauce to ooze into my mouth, mingle with the cheese, and add a punch to the already tasteful meat. I gave up the pretence of cutlery for my hands, undoubtedly making Jaydeep Mukherjee, executive chef of the Indigo Delis and Cafes, a happy man. He says, “Sometimes you do get annoyed when you see someone try and eat a pulled pork burger with a knife and a fork. It’s the kind of food for which you roll your sleeves up, tuck your tie in and get your hands messy. There is no other way.” Chef Mukherjee goes on to tell me that the meat in my burger has been marinated in beer, mustard and apple juice for almost a day. By now, there is now a fondness to my bites, and perhaps it is the clear tone of submission in my voice that makes the chef say, “It’s not about fine dining or gourmet, you know. This is just unpretentious, straightforward, comfort food.”

Chef Alex Sanchez of The Table is led by a similar philosophy. An American himself, “I haven’t been back in sixteen months. You can say that the Table Burger is on the menu is because it gives me a sense of home.” At first glance, a burger perhaps sits uneasily between the restaurant’s other fine-dining options such as Lamb Ragout and Grouper Roasted in Japanese Aromatics, but the sheer quality of tenderloin, its rich texture and taste, options of an added layer of Maasdam Cheese and sautéed mushrooms, make The Table Burger worth its gourmet price tag. Chef Sanchez, who admits that Table’s burger is a greater financial commitment, says, “The point is never that this is fine or rustic dining. The only point is to bring people pleasure.”

It was the pleasure principle that guided me further down the streets of Colaba, to the little Woodside Inn, which seems to double up perfectly as a British pub and cafe. There was an odd sense of comfort to be asking for a burger in a room that seemed an ideal setting for the shenanigans of a modern day Robin Hood. Pankil Shah, partner at Neighbourhood Hospitality, the company that runs Woodside, says, “The burger, I feel, is the most non-threatening dish you could have on a menu. It is a reminder that the space you’re in is more casual than formal.”

Rishi had told me that the one burger he’d ever eaten in Mumbai which came close to being perfect was here. My expectations were high when the shift manager came to inform me that the establishment took its burgers very seriously. Every year, from July 15 to August 1, Woodside Inn organises a beer and burger festival. Mint Chutney burgers are served with Indian lager, for a Japanese flavour a burger with teriyaki sauce is served with Asahi and the Double Cheese Beef burger is placed alongside Brooklyn lager. We settled for the American Double Cheese that was popular enough to still be on the regular menu. Though my friend protested that there was too much cheese involved, I had to inform her that there could never be anything like ‘too much cheese’ and especially never in this world of delectable burgers.

Back to the future
It would be a real disservice to make a foray into the world of burgers and not return to the basics. A trip to McDonalds promised to be nostalgic and easy on the pocket. Unfortunately, however, it was just plain disappointing. The fries were soggy and the now popular McSpicy tasted a little like a pakora trapped in the middle of a bun. Rakesh Damani, who has plans of setting up his own eatery in the near future, seemed rather amused by my foolish endeavour. He said with a tone of sardonic warning, “You don’t go to McDonalds for the burgers. You go there for the wraps, the coffee, the ice-cream, or when your seven-year-old forces you there. If you want a burger, I suggest that you should maybe go and have a vada pav.”

Thankfully, Mumbai now has far more options than the vada pav vendor. Burgs, a new dining option in Bandra that resembles a cafeteria of the Star Trek enterprise, is dedicated only to burgers. The menu gives you a choice of fifteen burgers that range from Nawabi Lamb and Prawn Kracker to Tofu Crunch and Notorious P.I.G. While the pork did not prove to be notorious enough for our palates, we kept going back to the Prawn Kracker for second crunches. And the entrepreneurs are convinced that there are several others returning like us. Sanat Patel, Vice President of Foodplus Private Limited, the company running Burgs, says that the sheer quantity of sales since the store opened on the March 23 has given him faith that they will soon be able to roll out a total of eight outlets. With an average price of Rs200-250 for a burger, Patel concludes, “We don’t want to be a Mc Donalds or something expensively gourmet. We’d like to position ourselves somewhere in between.” Patel’s confidence is music to my ears. With many a burger base being covered, I don’t hate Rishi as keenly for leaving me in the lurch. I’m glad that the city now has enough meat in to go in between the waiting buns of my hungry lips.