Star Grazing

It’s like a shower of shooting stars got caught in a fisherman’s net, the undulating wire mesh ceiling at Juhu’s new resto-bar Le Monde, scattered with glowing globular lights. This design of space and spectacle is owner Ankit Anand’s favourite feature at the Mediterranean restaurant and we have to agree.

Starting at the outside section of Le Monde (French for ‘the world’) laid out with wooden tables, the same starry roof continues into the cozy indoor lounge that also houses the bar, and on the night we visited, a couple of television actors. All aboard the Starship Enterprise?

Fruit!

bpb went to dinner on Monday night to find club music inappropriate for a weekday dinner slot, but not unpleasantly loud. As Pitbull egged us on to ask the staff to ‘Give Me Everything Tonight’, we ordered only two glasses of sangria that came highly recommended. The red, superbly scented, is darkened with rum, brightened with fruit and spiked with a happy shot of tequila. The white that served more as a cooler with pieces of apple worked for the weather, but wasn’t as nice as the red. The wine list here is comprehensive and most drinks are pricey with a cocktail costing Rs 450 to Rs 700 and a pint of Budweiser, Rs 300.

The Mediterranean-ish food menu is refreshingly concise, with just four to five carefully selected options under each food classification – soup, salad, pizza, pasta, mains and dessert. We skipped soup and decided to get a pizza with caramelised onion and goat cheese to go with our sangria, but soon found out that the oven wasn’t functioning. The assorted bruschetta seemed like the next best thing. The spicy fig-brie version with loads of chilli and riffs of sweet was our favourite, followed by the flavourful tomato-mozzarella and last, the more blah French bean-pesto. Another good option is the fresh calamari and shrimp tossed in lemon sauce with herbs. 

Ra.Was

For mains you can either do the usual pasta-risotto routine, or pick from their plated meals that includes fish, lamb chops, grilled chicken and vegetables crepes. We got one from each – fusilli and baked rawas. The former was stunning, curls of pasta cooked with sundried tomato and cream cheese, its taste augmented by jalapeno. Despite the cheese, the pasta isn’t overwhelming and leaves you satiated, not stuffed. The fish too is a yum order – a fresh fillet of buttery rawas perched on a bed of creamy, garlic risotto and topped with slightly tangy tomato sauce. A nice trio of taste and texture on your tongue!

Despite how much we'd eaten, room was saved for dessert - white chocolate strawberry cheese cake, a pretty pastry dressed like it was off to a birthday party. First, a layer of chocolate biscuit, next strawberry, then white chocolate and finished off with white chocolate shavings. If it wasn’t for the too-hard biscuit that had to be stabbed several times with a fork, the cake would have been perfect, silky and rich without an overwhelming fruity flavour (though our fellow diner thought it could have been slightly heavier on the strawberry taste).   

Sky's the Limit

While we had close to no complaints with our experience at Le Monde, it’s hard to find one awesome thing that would make us a regular here. Could it be the prices? Not at Rs 2,500 for a meal for two with one sangria each. Could it be the music or the food? Not really. Perhaps the ceiling? Maybe on a smoggy Saturday night in Mumbai when the stars are just not visible.

Getting there: Le Monde, Navratan Apartments, ground floor, AB Nair Road, next to Juhu Post Office, opposite Penne restaurant, sall 26207788 / 9619646394, opens at 7 pm (not open for lunch yet), Rs 2,600 for a meal for two with one drink each.

bpb reviews anonymously and pays for its own meals.