Food Review : Sizzler Festival at Bombay Blue, Bandra.

I am the kind of person who is hardly random. I like to plan my days in advance, I am not a huge fan of last moment arrangements. But in certain exceptional cases, I don’t even realize how random I can get. A last minute email was how I landed up at Bombay Blue in Bandra to try out their Sizzler Festival, and after having a previous bad experience with them and hearing not so good things about the place from my friends, I am glad I gave it a second chance.

Firstly, on entering the place it was amazing to see how full and noisy it was. The lady at the door graciously received us and we were promptly seated at a corner table by the glass wall. The Manager, Vaibhav, explained their menu in detail and each and every member of their staff was smiling, helpful, quick with suggestions and attentive without being a nuisance to us while we enjoyed our meal.

Chef Indraneel who heads the Bombay Blue team in Bandra welcomed us and spoke about the menu in more detail. Every July, they change their Sizzler Menu and add something new and different for their customers. This year their theme is to Sizzle as well as Chill so they have devised a set of 6 new flavors of Virgin Mojitos, and in collaboration with Vladivar Vodka, a set of refreshing cocktails too.

I had the Raw Mango Mojito which was refreshing and tangy, but a tad over sweetened.

The Vanilla Mojito on the other hand was surprisingly great tasting. Vanilla+Mint+Lemon+Lots of Ice = Win!

We also got to sample two of their Cocktails, The Vladi Foxy Lady with had Pomegranate Juice, Lemon and Vodka and The Vladi Shock with my new favorite Cucumber and Mint with Lemon, along with the Vodka.

Both Cocktails were pretty much fresh and new combinations with the hit of Vodka.

We started off with the Nachos Grande from their regular menu which the chef insisted that we try. I take my Nachos very seriously and believe me, these were unbelievably crisp, delicate, melt in the mouth with just the right amount of seasoning and the beans were cooked to perfection.

The Guacamole was a tad too creamy for me and the Sour Cream needed to be creamier. Or they could just do away with the Sour Cream altogether there. Great thoughts were put into not finishing that ginormous portion of Nachos for there were sizzlers waiting for us. Even after all that, we ended up with this.

Soon after, arrived our first sizzler, the Italian Crepe sizzler. We opted to go for one Vegetarian and one Non Vegetarian variety so we could have a taste of whats going on in both departments.

The Sizzler comes with  2 stuffed crepes, one with a mixed veg Ragu and the other with Mushrooms and Cheese a bed of Spaghetti Arrabiata and laden with some cheese and chilies on top and baked, with the side of Potato Wedges and Blanched and Sauteed Veg.

The crepes were an absolute delight for even a hardcore meat eater like me. I did not miss my chicken at all. While in the normal course one would be intrigued by the Mushroom and Cheese stuffing, which was absolutely classic, no nonsense and delicious, we were hooked to the Vegetable Ragu stuffed crepe which consisted of dices of Zucchini, Baby Corn, Carrots, Mixed Peppers and the works. All the vegetables in the Ragu were cooked to perfection, crunchy but not raw, and not over-seasoned like the gas station Ragu I am used to having over the years. The Potato Wedges needed some more cooking as well as seasoning and the Blanched Veg actually complimented the dish very well, especially the Spinach.

We also got to sample the Fritterati Sizzler which is a bunch of stuff like Mozzarella Cheese Sticks, Onion Rings, Baby Corn and Potato Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers all coated in Panko Crumbs and fried to perfection.

Very little can actually go wrong with deep fried stuff!

Then arrived the Meat Medley Sizzler, which consisted of a Chicken Steak, a Prawn and Smoked Sausage Cutlet, Minced Lamb Con Carne served over a bed of Rice with the usual accompaniments of Wedges and Veg. They also gave us a lovely Brown Pepper Gravy and Garlic Sauce to go with it.

The Chicken Steak was cooked in an Isabella Marinade and reminded us a lot of the Char Grilled Chicken Sizzler from Red Box. It was cooked to perfection and was absolutely juicy and tender. The Prawn and Smoked Sausage Cutlet was the hero of the dish. Too bad that it was too small and I feel that it deserves more attention on that Sizzler Plate. The Minced Lamb Con Carne was loved by the brother while I thought it was too saucy for my liking. Or maybe it was just an overdose of Beans for me by then. And since I am a Fries+Gravy lover, I finished those Potato Wedges this time with a generous pour of Brown Pepper Gravy over it. The Garlic Sauce reminded me of Roadside Chinese Food and it could be easily done away with.

By now we were full, but hey we can can never say no to dessert!! And especially when dessert is teamed up with theater, it makes us forget all about everything and just go for it with the “come hither” kind of looks.

The Sizzling Brownie at Bombay Blue has always had rave reviews and is their house specialty alongside the Nachos. It was good to see the Giant scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream over the Brownie as opposed to the mini scoop of ice cream over all the other sizzling brownies I have had. The Brownie was Gooey, not overly sweet and everything just came together with the Chocolate Sauce poured over the assembly. Loved it.

Saying cheese with eyes between closed and open.

Would I go back to Bombay Blue? Yes, I am taking the parents sometime next week since they love sizzlers. And the way its priced, I think it is a complete Value for Money. Only if they pay attention to minor details like seasoning and saucing, they would do way better and attract another set of customers for whom it is more about the flavor than the price factor of their food.

The Bombay Blue Sizzler and Mojito Vladivar Vodka Festival is on till the 15th of August, 2012 at all their outlets and I recommend all of you to try it out!

And I end this post by saying that Randomness can also be good sometimes! 🙂

Thanks Melanie for the invite! 🙂