Sufra by Moshes

One cannot miss this place on the Colaba causeway, if you are looking for a quick bite after some street shopping then this place should be your pick. It is a small little place with around four tables so you might have to wait for a table.

Coming to the food, we got one sandwich, a shawarma and a mousse cake.

The food was nice, I liked it. Won’t call it extremely out of the world but for the price we paid it was totally yummy.

The star of the meal was the mousse cake, it was delicious! I could have had that for the entire evening. If you love chocolate cakes then I suggest that you give this one a try.

The damage was somewhere around INR 600/- 

Your Personal Sanitation Squad

Sanitation has been a major issue in our life. It saddens me that it is so difficult to find clean washrooms in India. Every time I visit a place, I first check their washrooms and it is always a great relief when the washrooms are clean. However, if you travel a lot or even if you hop around the city a lot, you would have to use public washrooms, which again are questionable when it comes to sanitation.

Yes, there are some tricks that we use to avoid any contamination like hovering over the seat or making a tissue seat cover etc. My best is to use the Indian style washrooms as there is no touching the seat involved. (I know too much TMI right? Sorry!)

So I recently came across PeeSafe, it is a toilet seat sanitizer spray. They also have wet wipes which can be used for both the seat as well as the skin. Sanitizer sprays are really handy and be useful on daily basis. They have various sizes, so you can buy one depending on your needs.

The spray has a pleasant fragrance. All you have to do is spray the sanitizer on the toilet seat and wait for 10 seconds and you have a sanitized toilet ready for you! I have been using this product for a couple of weeks now and I am truly impressed by it. The fragrance even makes the stinking public washrooms bearable. 

You can order one from here: http://www.peesafe.in/

Bombay Vintage – Review

A lovely little place in Colaba. I like restaurants which have some theme and character to it. This place has a mix of modern and vintage feel. The seating area is also very cosy and thus made me not want to leave the place. It’s a good thing that we ended up going here a bit late; the place was empty and quite.

The place is not very big but they do have seating arrangements upstairs, I like the place upstairs better.

The food is good too, they have tried to mix the typical Mumbai dishes with western cuisine. I remember having a Chicken pizza with a typical chicken curry topping and vadapav sliders, loved both.

The staff was courteous and nice. We ended up chatting the waiter up as well, and he suggested the vadapav sliders. We are glad that we tried that one out.

The place is not really very economical and the bill was around INR 2000/- including drinks.

I really like the place, and may visit sometime when I am in a mood for some fancy meal.

Watermelon Martini anyone? #blogger #Bloggerlife #Mumbai #colaba #Fort #Bombayvintage #Bombay #Food #Drinks #Review #Zomato #Youtuber #mumbaifood #mumbaifoodie #drink #drinks #slurp #pub #bar #martini #Watermelon #instagood #cocktail #cocktails #drinkup #photooftheday

A photo posted by Pooja Mahimkar (@poojamahimkar) on Aug 10, 2016 at 2:38am PDT

Kolad River Rafting – Offbeat Getaways Near Mumbai

I have never been adventurous, actually I have never really done anything much sporty in my life. However i was really thinking about trying new things for a while now, so when I got to know about the Kolad River Rafting place, I immediately said yes for it.

There are a number of River Rafting places there so I suggest you Google them up and then take your pick. The Rafting in done in the Kudalika River.  It takes around 3 hours to reach Kolad but as we got lost in between and the road was bad we took nearly 6 hours to reach.

We started off at around 8am from Dadar, stopped at a highway restaurant near Panvel for some breakfast and then were on our way again.

I would really suggest using GPS to get to the place. The rafting begins from Sutarwadi and then you come down towards the end of the river. So you might just get confused there as there will be two river rafting points, skip the first one that you see as that is the end point. (If you are coming from Mumbai)

We reached the place at around 3pm and were the last ones to leave from there. As it was too last minute and we didn’t have enough time, we didn’t carry any cameras or phone.

The river was less furious at this time as the damn was close to closing, we did raft for a while and post that swam the river for close to half hour. It was pleasant and really beautiful. It was raining on and off and the scene was just beautiful.

We also tried a few stunts, like rolling the raft upside down, standing on the raft etc. Honestly, I was a little scared in the beginning, I remember screaming when they threw me in the river (I can’t swim, but we all had a life jacket on) but after the first two minutes of panic, I was fine.

They do teach you how to raft and be prepared to row your raft.

Things to remember when shopping - Sale Shopping Tips

Sales are one of my favourite things and like clockwork this year too Big Bazaar is coming up with its annual Independence day sale 'Big Bazaar Mahabachat'. The sale will be between August 13 to 17 2016. They have been doing this sale for over a decade now and this is their 11^th year!

There are a number of things that I particularly keep in mind when I go out shopping during sales, listing down a few that may help you when going for the Big Bazaar Mahabachat sale.

Plan the day

When you go out shopping especially during sales, it is quite understandable that you would be spending a lot of time in the mall and thus you should make sure that you go there ready to come back tired and with tons of shopping bags.

Go early

‘Early bird gets the worm’ just like that ‘Early shopper gets the best stuff’ I always believe that the earlier I go the better stuff ill be able to purchase. Going early means less people, no or less line at the payment counter, no queues at the trail room and just a big shopping place where you can pick and choose to your heart’s desire.

Coupons, coupons, coupons

Keep a track of all the coupons that you own especially of the shops where you don’t shop often. You can visit those shops during sales and redeem your coupons, this way you get to shop from a new place and incase you don’t like the product that you just bought, you still won’t be disappointed because you really didn’t spend the full amount for it.

Shop smart

Buying woollens during summer may look stupid but it really is the smartest thing to do. Woollens are going to be cheaper during summer so you can happily buy them now and use them during winter. Same goes for buying swim suits, umbrellas, raincoats etc during winter/summer.

So now that you have some handy tips to work with and a sale coming right at you soon, I think it’s time to take the pen and paper out and make a list of things to buy.

Oh, that’s the last time – Make a list

Make a list of all the things you wish to buy, this helps you stay focused and not waste time in the wrong section or store. This will also ensure that you have got everything that you need by the end of your shopping trip.

So head to your nearest Big Bazaar store during August 13 to 17 and make sure that you did some Mahabachat yourself.

Hum Tayyar Hai Big Bazaar!

Tea Villa Cafe, Hill Road - Review

I ended up at Tea Villa Cafe on a rainy Saturday afternoon. The rains had damned our shopping trip and we thought of spending some time at this place and wait for rains to calm down so we could indulge in some retail therapy.

The place was bustling with people and I was glad when we got a table for two immediately. The menu looks interesting and they had tons of options in Teas (obviously) the coffee options were limited and honestly quite disappointing. Another bummer was that it is a vegetarian place so I settled for a waffles with maple syrup while my friend ordered for a vegetarian burger, both the dishes were good. No complaints there.

The tea also was interesting, the presentation gets full marks and so does the taste. I am not an expert of tea so ill rest my case saying that I enjoyed it and would love to try out different flavours.

They get the water, tea leaves and a timer to your table and then infuse it in front of you. After the time is up, you just have to pour yourself some tea and enjoy it. Honestly, on a rainy day this was very welcoming.

The whole time that I was there, the nursery rhyme ‘I am a Teapot’ was stuck in my head.

Paint Away - Offbeat Weekend Activity In Mumbai

At times we just don’t have something new to do. We are stuck with the routine and there doesn’t seem to be anything new happening. Ofcourse chilling with friends and going to holidays work but that is not possible all the time.

PaintStrome is the fix you might be looking for. When I received the invite I was so psyched to try something new. Paintstorm is a concept that involves inspiring individuals to come together to paint, drink, eat, socialise & have a good time. It is hosted at Mumbai's popular bars & cafes once a month.

Paintstorm was born out of the realisation that options for creative recreation are virtually non-existent in Mumbai. The goal of Paintstorm is to teach share & inspire an artistic spirit on a collective & social platform. They provide a fun, creative, and non-judgmental environment in which their art eccentrics will guide you, step-by-step, through the creation of your own acrylic masterpiece which is yours to keep! They provide everything; you just have to show up and no art experience is required!

I was a little anxious as I have never painted on a canvas before but when I reached there I realised that I had nothing to worry about. They guided me perfectly though the painting. I did mess up a little bit but they were kind enough to help me fix it. I started off not so confident but ended up enjoying the event.

The workshop fees include food and drink charges, so you can just sit back paint, relax, soclialise and spend the evening doing something different than usual.

You can get in touch with them at - https://www.facebook.com/paintstorm.in/

The painter and the painting #paintstorm #getpaintstormed @paintstorm_in @whiteowlbrewery #Whiteownbrewery 

A photo posted by Pooja Mahimkar (@poojamahimkar) on Jul 21, 2016 at 11:35am PDT

#paintstorm #getpaintstormed @paintstorm_in @whiteowlbrewery #Whiteownbrewery

A photo posted by Pooja Mahimkar (@poojamahimkar) on Jul 21, 2016 at 8:05pm PDT

Also, The White Owl Brewery was kind enough to take us around their brewery and tells us how beer is brewed.

Chaitanya, Dadar West - Review

If you are craving for Maharashtrian food especially sea food then this is the place for you. This tiny little place has become one of the favorite restaurants of the people living around Dadar. 

It is refreshing to see that college go-ers and the youth is drawn to the place, as opposed to other thali places which is generally frequented by families. They have amazing malvani food; I loved the fact that they serve unlimited soul kadhi with the Thali. They have crab lollypop which has become a hit amongst the customers, I tried it and was really liked it.

The place is small and generally there is waiting during lunch/dinner time. I advise you to go a little earlier or be prepared to wait for your turn. Dadar needed a nice place for Maharashtrian food.