From a nice selection of wok fried noodles to loopy pens and spiral tops of sauce jars, you’ll be coiled for choice at The Tasty Tangles, Bandra’s newest Pan-Asian restaurant, the Mumbai outpost of Dubai-based Noodle House. bpb went on opening afternoon to find a clean level one space curving around an open kitchen, sun-streaming glass walls and bright smiles. Could the light scare those personal thunder clouds we’d been carrying around?

Veg Fund

Most seats here offer a colourful top angle shot of veggie vendors across the street, a scene that makes you crave wok-tossed crispy peppers and pakchoy. Table of contents also includes cool tissue box with secret sauce recipes; individually packed chopsticks; disposable anti-slurp aprons (optional); and “order pads” that let you tick mark the dishes you want, tear out the leaf and hand over to the waiter. Cool, but imagine the carbon footprint.

You Crazy Wanton, You!

City restaurants are getting all gizmo-ed up, hoping that technology will lure in new diners. Will you byte the bait?

Stock Your Bar

It’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Coming up shortly, Eros resto-bar Valhalla will launch their alcohol stock exchange, a fun concept where you can buy shares of your preferred drink at the bar and watch your Stoli stocks rise and crash on NASDAQ-inspired display screens. The more popular a drink gets that night, the more expensive it becomes, so the real winners here will be those with minority tastes. Vote for something unusual, and you could pay as low as 80 percent less than the menu price.

Getting there: Valhalla, First floor, East Wing, Eros Theatre Building, Churchgate, call 67353535.

I Touch, You See
   
You want take a bite out of this Apple: Koh, InterContinental has just launched iKoh, a slick iPad app that allows diners to scroll through the restaurant’s food (each dish comes with a picture) and drink menu on a digital interface. Extras include a bio of celebrity chef Ian Kittichai and an online feedback form. While you still have to call a server to place your order, the 2.0 version ( in planning stages) will facilitate direct ordering and social networking, and come with an iPhone app on which you can decide your order (and more importantly, calculate your tab), even before you get to the restaurant. Fits our bill!

Getting there: KOH, InterContinental Marine Drive, call 39879999.

Smelling Tactics

Can we interest you in some perfume for your pasta? It’s Italian and aromatic and comes in a pretty crystal bottle with an old-school atomizer. Yes, we’re perfectly serious.

Talk about vintage technology. The chefs over at Botticino, Trident BKC’s Italian restaurant, insist that spraying grappa vapours on everything from calamari to coffee enhances the flavours of the dish, claiming that the aromas from this brandy add “a new dimension”. Fact or fiction? We didn’t notice much difference in the taste, but this spray is much prettier than freshly ground pepper, and a little extra alcohol never hurt anyone.

Getting there: Botticino, Trident, T C-56, G Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, call 66727020 for reservations.

(B)Utter Your Words

Brush up on the difference between carne and Carpaccio, because eating out in Mumbai is (finally) getting more adventurous. And if you don’t feel like studying for your supper, we suggest you at least get your hands on a cheat sheet: the Global Eater Food Dictionary, is a handy iPhone app that lists names and descriptions of over a 1,000 exotic dishes from across a bunch of different cuisines including Mexican, Spanish and French. Full marks!

Also check out the Amul cartoon app, which toasts an extensive archive of the butter’s iconic campaign, to add a side of humour to your morning breakfast.

Getting there: To download the Amul Cartoon Ads click here; find the Global Eater Food Dictionary here.

Don’t Turn off the Lights    
The Diwali glow may be dimming but the fire still burns bright at Grillopolis, a week-old establishment that barbeques, grills and slow cooks all kinds of treats, turning them into a mighty feast. Forgetting the debauched week we’d just had, appetites were overestimated and the offerings at Grillopolis, grossly underestimated.

Kingdom of Food
At the entrance itself, you’ll know where this Andheri restaurant takes its name  from -  a seemingly tiny gate sandwiched between two concrete columns, a snapshot reminiscent of the Empire of Persepolis. The door leads to an impressive dining space with arched ceilings and criss-cross wooden panelling, fashioned to “look like the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul.”  While a buffet table stands authoritatively at the centre of the ground floor dining level, private booths with brown leather couches (and seriously mismatched green upholstery) and pretty multi coloured glass lamps gather around.  On level two, you’ll find a lounge (of course you will!), a more contemporary setting with black and white seating and an enticingly lit bar.

What: Gostana’s new home at 8, Fatima Villa, 29th Road, Pali Naka, next door to Da Vinci, Bandra (W), call 64533359, Rs 120 for a chicken steak burger.

Why: The new Gostana is bigger (inside and al-fresco sections seat 35), better (yum new herb sandwich, more board games, music concert screenings) and stronger (they now serve alcohol)! Plus, a new 1 am deadline means there’s more time to play.

When: Outside section opens this weekend; bpb subscribers get a blueberry “cuffin” free with home delivery until November 11.

Defence Colony

In our heads, the prospect of reviewing Red Ant seemed far more exciting than it should have, namely because its moniker instantly reminded us of Cheeni Chor – a feisty little ant driven to rebellion after discovering a fridge full of raspberry jam and rosogollas (see Ranjit Lal’s The Caterpillar Who Went On a Diet and Other Stories.) Imaginative entomology aside, the new Bandra bar comes from a lineage of eateries (Global Fusion and China Gate) that don’t disappoint; there’s no reason Red Ant should. 

Uptown culinary delight, French-style delicatessen or desi street-style – Mumbai's sandwich shops are coming into their own.

Street food sandwich: Strictly for vegetarians
Bursting at the seams with beetroot, tomato, cucumbers, potato and onion, slathered with butter and coriander-mint chutney, the Veggie Sandwich ( at Swastik Sandwizza) is wildly popular amongst local students and tourists alike. But you'll have to elbow your way through the snacking swarm outside this tiny sandwich stall to be rewarded with this under fifty rupee Mumbai culinary legend. No exaggeration. The signature spicy Sandwich Masala of theirs now sells in labeled bottles. For a street stall that's a tall achievement.

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

It appears that the team behind Chez Vous, the most wildly anticipated restaurant set to open in Mumbai this month, is a little absinthe-minded. Head chef Cedric Combe, especially. It is under his influence that the Green Fairy (as absinthe is fondly known) plays such a big part in the development of this French bistro, set to replace Sundance Cafe at Churchgate – splashes of green in the decor, vintage posters featuring the spirit on the walls, absinthe fountains on the table.

And how do we know this? Because it’s always been bpb’s job to zero in on the most important aspect of a buzz-worthy hotspot: the booze.

What: bpb’s Turning Tables with Chef Peter Ho from The Great Wall,  Leela Kempinski Hotel, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for your spot, Rs 1,200 this month, wine sponsored by Sula.

Why: Noodle your way into bpb’s fun underground kitchen where The Great Wall’s head chef will cook Chinese treats at a subscriber’s home, Sula will ensure unlimited wine and 20 strangers will pig out over interesting conversation. Wah Jong!

When: November 16 at 8.30 pm – China’s one person policy strictly enforced here, so please attend alone.

Hymn and heir, hit and myths, prawns and peacocks at Palladium's brand new Indian restaurant.

Jig Veda

Jigs Kalra and his gang over at Punjab Grill have a new invader on their turf, and this promises to be a tough battle. Located at the Palladium and handsomely armoured in garnet and gold, leather and velvet, Veda is namesake and offspring of the renowned Delhi restaurant, serving up the same “New Indian” cuisine and plush décor.

Hymn and Heir

Walk in and you feel like you’ve stumbled across an exotic garden in the gloaming, dim, deep, and decadent with peacocks shimmering over turquoise walls, majestically plumed chandeliers and a long bar draped with gold leaves (they don’t serve alcohol yet, but plan to start in the next couple of weeks). Despite the hyper-Indian motifs, the interiors feel urbane and trendy, with every detail mapped out carefully – this could very well be a swish restaurant in New York’s Meat Packing District.

Veda’s pitch-perfect design sensibility comes as no surprise when you consider that the restaurant is couturier Rohit Bal’s baby, who may very well have extended the embroidery on his favorite zari sari onto the walls and upholstered the cushions with brocade from a sherwani.

Hit or Myth?

Tasty Tangles, a Pan Asian restaurant opens next week with (n)oodles of promise.

What: The Tasty Tangles, 1st floor, Pinnacle Towers, junction of 14th and Khar Pali Road, off Linking Road, Khar (W).

bpb Sneak Peek: A food trial at this Pan Asian restaurant - Indian outpost of Dubai-based Noodle House – reveals hospitable staff and a bright, clean space curving around an expansive open kitchen. If Chilli Chicken in thick, aromatic gravy and lemony, slightly charred Singaporean noodles are anything to go by, we’ll be back. And yes, we’d like vodka in that kiwi, mango, strawberry and lychee concoction we tried. The Secret Scouters also sip you off on Sancho’s, Delhi-based Mexican restaurant that’s opening downstairs.

When: Opens next week with (n)oodles of promise.