WTF! is high on new age decor and flavour

If you’re looking for a friendly, reasonably priced, interesting and quirky place to watch the World Cup, you could do yourself a favour by trying out WTF! Tucked away on a side road off Khar station is this delightful little pub. The name should be self-explanatory (what the f---, if you didn’t get it) and suits it very well.

It’s small, but big enough, there’s a courtyard seating area as well the regular room inside with trendy distressed paint wood furniture, which has a dinky little bar and a little party lounge.

Huge DJ console too, though music was played only during half-time and presumably between matches — I was not there that long. That Ronaldo person looks cute but not enough to persuade me to spend hours watching him kick a ball.

In spite of my advancing years, I was quite grateful that they did not play classic rock — though they had some wonderful old posters — but contemporary stuff instead. Makes a change, you know?

WTF! has a small food menu and a reasonably sized bar menu and the big surprise (pleasant) are the prices. OMG, VFM, LOL — that kind of thing. An Old Monk (30ml) for Rs80 is a good thing when you consider what most Mumbai eateries which have air-conditioners, waiters and music charge for bottled water.

We ordered a WTF! prawns, which was a plate filled with batter fried, spice-coated prawns — hot, crisp and very more-ish. Coriander and chilli appeared to be the main flavour points. Then we saw ‘Coriander chilli prawns’ on the menu as well and wondered if we’d got it wrong, argued with the waiter and so ordered that as well. That turned out to be completely different. Fresh prawns on toothpicks smothered with coriander, chilli and garlic. Oh, us of little faith.

Next was Jesse’s Kerala Beef — bite-sized pieces of meat cooked with tiny slivers of coconut and redolent with curry leaves.
To test the other side of the menu, we ordered the ‘spicy chilli cheese croquettes’ which quite turned out to be the star of the evening, with rock chick and me politely trying not to eat them all and attempting to share. Neatly fried, soft, cheesy and spicy within and crisp outside, went down very well with the monk.

WTF! was a real pleasure — old posters and signboards from the past inside and outside, innovative furniture, pleasant, friendly staff, quick service and no frightening bill at the end of it. With luck, this one’s a keeper.