Ivy Bar beckons with a wine treat

By Our Food Critic

There have been reams written about India hotting up on the wine map of the world for the quality of its produce and growing consumption, but prohibitive prices have ensured that it’s still out of regular reach of even the upwardly mobile.

Unless of course you go for the extra-sweet port or the inexpensive Vino launched in PET bottles, with screw-on caps (and not corks).

Mumbai, by the way, is said to account for some 40-odd per cent of wine sales and one can be sure that this consumption will leapfrog if companies can get the government and restobars to bring down levies and bizarre mark-ups.

They can of course set up their own wine bars which is what Chateau Indage has done a few times over. Athena in the past, a restaurant-cum-bar on its estate in Narayangaon (on the Pune-Nashik highway) and now Ivy which has come up near Worli Naka.

Aside: It’s a pleasure to visit Narayangaon bar, that’s an hour from Pune. Wood-panelled bar serving wine at ‘factory’ prices accompanied with country chicken.and salads. It’s heartening to see city kids sit along with farmers of the district coming in their traditional attire on mobikes or jeeps for a bottle of Chantilli or Riviera Red.

Ivy at Worli tries to do various things, fashioning itself as a café, wine bar and bistro. And does it make an impact? For the food, not really.  For wines, it’s a must-visit. Where else would you get a glass of Ivy Shiraz at just Rs 140?

Since sampling multiple wines is impossible for an individual, giving me company was a friend who’s pretty discerning about wines as he is about Russian salad and most other things in life.

Other than the Ivy Shiraz (@ Rs.460/bottle, Rs 140/glass), we had the Ivy Chardonnay Semillon (Rs.460/bottle, Rs.140/glass) and the Chantilli Cabernet Sauvignon (Rs.365/bottle, Rs.95/glass). But our bestest drink of the meal was the Ivy White Zinfandel. At Rs.130 a glass (Rs.425/bottle), it’s a steal.

The food as we said is pretty ordinary. The Bruchettas (Rs.50) were very cheesy, the chicken nuggets (Rs.60) are what chicken nuggets always are —- crunchy, deep-fried boneless bits of chicken, cumin seared chicken and pineapple salad (Rs.60) was more lollorosso (curled lettuce) and pineapple and hardly any chicken.

The olive and sundried tomatoes quiche (Rs.75) made one certain that the folks could do some help in the kitchen.

Thankfully, the rest of the lunch was better. Meditteranean Pasta (with olive pesto and tiger prawns, Rs.125) was excellent.

Ditto with the chicken mayo sandwich (Rs.75) and tuna mayo (Rs.80). In fact at that price, they are possibly the most value-for-money breadthings in town.

We gave the desserts a pass (muffins, brownies, cakes etc) and went in for a few glasses of water and some cappuccino (Rs.60) which ensured that we could carry on with the rest of the day at work and on our feet with the head in order.

Ivy is small - seating for barely 36, has a knowledgeable manager but could do with some better trained waiters and systems. Perhaps that way Indage could ensure it doesn’t lose out on monies - we discovered on our return that we weren’t charged for a Chardonnay Semillon and the quiche.

End-point: Visit Ivy for value-for-money, fare, reasonable ambience and super wine. Also visit it if you are looking at wines (at a discount) and gear (glasses, bar sets et al).

PS:  You could also call 6654 7939 for home/office delivery or a pickup as you come down the Poonam Chambers flyover.

Rating * * *

Timing
11am to 11pm
Location
82 Indage House, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 018
Telephone
6654 7939
Valet
Yes
Child-friendly
Want to take a kid to a wine bar?
Swipe quotient
Rs1250 (meal for two, with wine)
Word of warning
No late nights here, shuts at 11pm