If you were bird watching at Live from the Console this past Saturday, it would have done you good to train your binoculars across the street as well. Perched on the other side of the road from Mehboob Studio in Bandra, Irani restaurant Good Luck Café has just started serving emu. You’d know this from the huge poster outside, announcing the bird’s health benefits – “high protein, low cholesterol, high iron content and low fat”.

The Australian flightless bird walked in just last week at Good Luck, where it is served as emu kheema (eema?) for Rs 100 per plate. Emu, also red meat, is a healthier alternative to minced mutton. bpb grabbed a plate - well-spiced but a little oily - before the Nikhil D'souza gig.

While we ate our eema-pav and wondered how long Good Luck had been stocking perfumes, we learned that the restaurant will soon be able to sell you the raw meat as well – currently not available at Dolce Vita, Nature’s Basket or Hypercity. But until then, you can source directly from their source. Emumeatindia.com home delivers boneless emu anywhere in Mumbai. They also apparently have a specially trained chef who can cook up a bunch of emu treats for your party (1 kilo minimum order of any dish), including emu tikka biryani, emu Afghani and emu cutlets. Reader be warned, we haven’t tried this catering service and the slaughter house-red website isn’t very easy on the eye.

 Chefs Get Emo…er Emu

“Emu tastes like cardboard,” says JD, executive chef of Indigo, who last ate it as a gravy dish with naan on a Bombay-Pune highway dhaba that has its own bird farm. But if he was forced to cook it, what preparation would he use? “I wouldn’t cook it. Period,” he says. Chef Gacian Dsouza, Group Executive Chef at Café Pico India, is still willing to give the bird a chance. He thinks “smoking the meat (breast in particular) would be the best way to enjoy it.” See technique below.

Heat coal for a few minutes. While it’s still hot, transfer to a bowl. Put a big scoop of butter, some rosemary and a few cloves of garlic. Put a wire mesh on top of the bowl and place the emu breast over it. Cover the entire bowl and let breast get smoked for about 20 minutes. Then, slice the emu breast and have with salad or roasted potatoes.

Listen for the bird call!

Getting there: Good Luck Café, opposite Mehboob Studio, Hill Road, Bandra (W), call 26422250, Rs 100 for emu kheema; for emu delivery visit http://emumeatindia.com, call 9220346560, Rs 340 for 500 gms of boneless emu.