After almost six months, restaurants have finally been allowed to open their doors in Maharashtra. We promptly headed out to JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar’s multi-cuisine restaurant, JW Cafe, to get a slice of the new normal.
Masked and gloved, we were thrilled that the touch-points of the property were being sanitised every two hours, the kitchen counters are being sanitised after every 20 minutes. Besides, each section in the kitchen now has only one chef and all of them are required to wash their hands after every 20 minutes - they have an alarm to remind them.
Our temperatures were checked twice, once at the entrance of the hotel and again at the entrance of the restaurant. It is compulsory for guests to have the Aarogya Setu app downloaded and each guest has to sign a declaration form.
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Soon we took our seats inside the 140-seater restaurant, which is running at 33 per cent capacity. Unlike the old times, the cutlery set and the plates aren't pre-placed for the guests. The table mat has also been made disposable. The menu has gone digital and there is a QR code placed on every table. The menu has also been made limited keeping in mind the logistics but retains most signature dishes and being an all-day restaurant, one should get ready to try Italian, South Indian or Asian cuisine to satisfy your taste buds.
While we scanned the QR code, we sipped on a Mandarine Shower - a delightful mix of pineapple and orange juice with some soda and hazelnut syrup. It was refreshing and had a subtle sweet aftertaste. Soon we were distracted with their delicious tandoori offerings. While the Chicken Tikka was juicy, and marinated and grilled to perfection, the addition of tandoori paneer in the Kathi roll made a whole lot of difference and we would recommend you to try both if you love Indian spices and flavours. Another dish you can try is Kung Pao Chicken, a stir-fried Chinese dish made from diced chicken, cashews, and chillies. The dish was a perfect combination of salty, sweet and spicy flavour.
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If you are somebody who likes having subtle flavours, the Almond Crusted Polenta is the dish for you. While polenta is an Italian dish made from cornmeal and can be served as porridge or can be solidified into a loaf which can be later baked or grilled, here it was made into rectangular blocks and wrapped in the almond crust and then fried. Served with a cheesy dip and a small bowl of salad on the side, it was surprisingly not greasy.
The vegetarian version of Nasi Goreng, was served with ample veggies, tofu steak and a flavoursome sauce made from coconut, peanut and chillies on the side. In fact, the sauce rescued the fried rice that needed an extra dash of seasoning to match up.
To end our meal, we were served the Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. Dripping with melted chocolate and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the cake was delightful and gooey.
Our recommendations: Grilled Chicken, Tandoori Paneer Kathi Roll and Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
The average cost for a meal for two: INR 3400 + taxes