Cult following

Murg makhani risotto

Type the words "popular culture" and it will lead you to a Wikipedia page where the write-up cascades into a verbose blurb that sounds something out of political thinker John Rawl's Theory of Justice. The page also alludes that popular culture "is sometimes viewed by many people as being trivial and 'dumbed down,' so we'll do just that. Simply put, popular, or pop, culture is a set of practices that are in vogue. With the social media boom, pop culture references, objects, and language have become all the more ubiquitous. Now, the city is teeming with cafés and restaurants themed around popular films, TV shows and video games, too. Owners at four of these establishments, which are present even in the far-out suburbs, like Vasai and Mira Road, give us the low-down on their cafes.

I'll be there for you

In November last year, M.I.T.R.O.N, a restaurant and bar opened its doors to patrons in Saki Naka, creating some buzz, since the interiors and menu were themed around the hit TV show, Friends.

"The underlying concept behind our cafe is community bonding and our core team has grown up watching the show, since we are all from the '90s. Friends translates to mitron in Hindi, which is also a trending word," Gaurav Shetty, owner of the eatery explains. Here, various sections of the restaurant, which is divided into three primary sections at different levels, are named after the characters, the menu design is inspired by the show's characters and lingo and one walls sport a colourful graffiti of the characters.

"However, we have made it a point to not go overboard with the utilisation of the theme," he adds. "Our aim is to facilitate good times for small/big groups at the lowest possible spend," Shetty said, speaking of offers available at his establishment.
AT: Mitron - Peninsula Grand Hotel, Andheri Airport Road, Sakinaka.
TIME: 12 pm to 3 am
CALL: 33956258

Time for a chicken dinner

"Pehli baat to yeh keh doon, I love PUBG," shares Prashant Vinayak, who owns PUBG Cafe in Vasai, which opened in January this year. Inspired by the online multiplayer battle royale game that has gamers hooked since it released in 2017, this one's a small space sporting wall art, albeit a tad caricaturised, and cutouts made to look like the game's avatars flanking the signboard and the logo emblazoned on the entrance door.

"The game is very popular and everyone seems to be loving it, so I thought of dedicating my eatery to it," Vinayak, who's day job is that of a cameraman, shares.
AT: PUBG Cafe, Gagan Dreams Building, Vasai East.
TIME: 9 am to 1 am
CALL: 7738540057

Marvel at this

Bipin Gupta is right when he says that there are innumerable establishments themed around super heroes, but very few inspired by super villains. "India is seeing a great rise in concept cafés and being a Marvel fan, I always wanted a place where the young crowd could come and feel as if they're living the life of the Avengers," he tells us.

Fluffy egg white omlette

As such, his cafe, House of Thanos, which opened in February this year, has been designed to appear like the famous comic character's spaceship and a wide range of food that includes pizzas, pastas, burgers, juice and shakes.

"We are also coming up with a contest where in you can click a selfie with the Thanos action figure at the eatery and winners get a free meal!" he reveals.
AT: House of Thanos, Waterfield Road, Linking Road, Bandra West.
TIME: 5 pm to 12 am
CALL: 30151931

The end game is here

"Marvel made my childhood with their cool comics, and through movies as an adult, and Stan Lee sir has always been an inspiration," shares Mayuri Ajay Mhtare, co-owner of Cafe Marvel'ous, a December 2018 opening. "While setting up, I made sure of including props belonging to all the characters and invested accordingly, so now, patrons can use, for example, Thor's hammer or Loki's scepter. The food, too, is named after the characters," she adds.

In fact, Mhtare's eatery is deeply in-sync with the comics and they often host themed days, offer loyal patrons opportunities to win merchandise and are currently running a campaign that includes discounts as well as tickets to the latest Avengers movie.
AT: Cafe Marvel'ous, Ramdev Park, Mira Road East.
TIME: 12 pm to 11 am
CALL: 9867087247

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