Disclaimer: This Is about POP TATES at MALAD and Not at ANDHERI
27th of April finally had arrived , the Jing-bang of MS was seen and experienced live at the sea-view hotel. Then down the melody lane we went at Vijigita Studio. The oft read about Maddy and his musical talent was there for all us to be heard and experienced.
Then when the “ADULTS” went for the late nite guys only party at Maddys house ,
Victims of child marriage like me chose to or ( had to) lolz. Go home. Nahh … Not home.
When the whole MS gang was partying, was not feeling like being left out. So as soon as we were out of Maddy’s studio and the good byes and shall keep in touch gestures..
We were on our way… Rekh got a rick and one KMH gone, dhaval was the one with us in the rick, when the not so brilliant idea of going out for dinner stuck me. Made a courteous request to Dhaval if he would care to join us for dinner. He said no. And I asked him to get down… The 2nd KMH gone.
Now the biggest, most fought after question between me and Bhavana(HAPPYZ) , Yes she is my wife. There I said it… lol. Is where do we go for dinner. One good thing about fighting over the venue is we end up eating at home.
And then it struck me .. suddenly like a flash. One of my friends had long back talked about it. And had told me to definitely go there once atleast. So It was decided then and there in that rick… that POP TATES would serve us beer and dinner the nite MS members met.
There’s one POP TATES in Andheri and then it got pregnant and delivered a beautiful, cozy new joint which they strangely chose to name the same. The baby was delivered in a remote suburb of Bombay.. Malad.
And hey about POP TATES getting pregnant , That’s the way the actually had advertised when they were opening the new joint in Malad. The whole of Malad had banners shouting POP TATES is pregnant.
Finding POP TATES in Malad should not be a problem at all. It is in Evershine Nagar ,Just off Linking road in the Movie-time (A theatre complex). Another Landmark to reach there would be Uncles Kitchen. This tiny little Chinese joint is a landmark in itself in Malad.
The fist impression of anything be it a person , place or thing is the outwardly appearance and looks. And POP TATES scores hands down. The glass doors just call you in. And that what we did… We went right in.
A hostess(am really not sure if this is the right word) was there to greet us, she asked how many. I said pointing to my wife… One. And that’s enough. With a wry smile she showed us our table . I dint like the table she showed us and I requested to be given a table on the higher level area , so that I can I have a birds eye view of the hotel and… Ahem !!! . The table we then got was just perfecto !
The Restaurant is really very Spacious, with tables for two, four six and more available. This really is a rarity in the new places that open up in Mumbai. Most of the places they try to pack in as much of tables as possible leaving tall legged creatures like me no moving space at all They have put up table out in the open too. So all those who love dining in open places have that choice too.
The Restaurant was more or less full given the competition that it has in its vicinity, that’s no mean achievement. There are at least a dozen well known hotels within a KM of POP TATES. Parking should not be a problem unless you are really unlucky , ample of Parking space in front of the hotel and , if you fail to get one there. You could sneak in your vehicle in any of the lanes of Evershine Nagar.
I love places where they play soft instrumental tracks, And yesterday they chose to play some awesome instrumental tracks. A giant TV Screen plays the sports channel mostly.
The décor is bright and vibrant to suit the mood of the crowd that frequent the place.
Its mostly all young couples or working execs and less of the family outing types.
The menu is a treat to read cos most of the things in the menu are difficult to pronounce with they serving all those Mexican and Italian dishes. They have Indian dishes too. But then if Roti Sabji Is what you wanna have why come to POP TATES. If you are at such a place order the weirdest item on the menu.
Ordered a Bacardi Breezer and a guy promptly walked with a chilled bottle in hand.
And wife kindly refused to have anything to drink. A guy came across and offered me a Breezer free if I order three. I told him “bhai itna pina hota toh maddy ki party main chala jaata” ;-) He dint quite understand what I said but smiled and walked away anyway..That's one thing you can’t help but notice. The smile on every waiters and helpers face and no it doesn’t feel artificial. They really mean to give you good service.
Food order , you’ll should see the way me and bhavana throw the menu and each other to order .Invite us for dinner sometime… ;-)
DRAGON SPRING ROLLS how’s that for a name and to start eating. But it was just perfect. Though fried it was not too oily and the sauce they gave with it was yum yum yummy !!! six ok ok kinda pieces for 70/- .
By this time I had paid my customary visit to the loo. It my rule., Any hotel you go you should check out the loo ;-) .
And then came the weirdest food name I have came across. I sincerely don’t remember the name but it was too crooked and long and difficult to pronounce, I tried, then Bhavana tried , Then we called upon the waiter and asked if he can. And that guy after two or three of my PJ’s that I pulled on him rattled of the long winding name in one go. Must say that the waiters are well trained also. And then he gave a fair enough explanation for what the item will contain also. I asked if it will contain Mushrooms.. “Yes Sir” came the reply. I said I hate Mushrooms,. He said “ I ll ask the cook to take the Mushrooms out “.
“Will you charge me any less “ I asked… “He He Ha ha “ He laughed and offered to put extra baby corn for each of the mushroom piece that the cook takes off.
The “Whatever” dish, the explanation given was barbequed vegetables in Indian and Thai sauce. Was again a pretty decent thing for 80/-
The sizzlers at POP TATES I suppose are very famous and that’s what most of the people come there for. Every now and then there would be a sizzle (strictly talking about eatables here) passing near by. But after the usual nok-jhok we decided against the sizzler . The price range though just for thou info is 135 –175 bucks.
Then came the bye-bye time again , that waiter was so happy I was leaving , he came till the door to make sure I don’t come back for the sizzlers. Seriously though, was a very pleasant bow and sendoff.
If you are wondering why I have written POP TATES in bold and capitals everywhere is cos I somehow feel the name is to be shouted and not told softly. Lolz.. weird reason na ?
And last but not the least, they have very funny table mats. Ironically this was written on mine
“A good wife is she who knows what her husband likes to eat and knows the restaurant that serves it best “
