15 April,2016 12:30 PM IST | | Dhara Vora
A new terrace restaurant in Juhu is drawing in crowds but it needs to smoothen the edges
Dabeli Pita Pockets
The Terrace
Food: Can do better
Service: Regular
Ambiance: Heady
The terrace above The Spare Kitchen in Juhu is now a café bar called The Terrace. Within a month of its opening, we dropped by one evening and spotted every table occupied.
Dabeli Pita Pockets. Pics/Sayed Sameer Abedi
We took it as a good sign. The snazzy island bar sat neatly in the centre, surrounded by cabañas and large tables on all sides, ideal for hookah lovers, who appeared to be their main customers.
The heady whiff of the all-pervading smoke wasn't for us, and so we skipped it, and went ahead for Berry Mix Mojito ('350, all prices exclusive of taxes) and Melon Passion ('350) cocktails. Both cocktails tasted identical but for the bits of strawberry in one and watermelon in the other.
Berry Mix Mojito
Our Dabeli Pita Pockets ('275) were a good bet, the pita was light and fluffy, and the dabeli filling was how it should be. Plus the pockets made it a non-messy affair to eat.
For a non-vegetarian starter, we ordered a Peanut Butter Chicken Kebab ('375). The kebabs were a tad tough, overtly salted while the texture felt like the read-to-cook variety. The sauce, however, was spot-on; the peanuts gave it a natural nutty, creamy texture.
An island bar dominates the interiors
There are very few vegetarian mains to choose from, so we picked The Nizza ('295, plus cost of toppings as per choice, more like a naan pizza), which is their speciality. For our meat fix, we called for a Chicago Burger ('395).
The naan served as a great base for the pizza, reasonably easy to bite into and yet firm enough to hold the cheese, tomatoes, jalapeno and pepper. It was also drizzled with a desi, gravy-style sauce that seemed perfect for the Nizza.
The burger was served with the perfect lamb patty; the cheese, however, was missing, so were the caramelised onions (as mentioned on the menu). Hence, even though the patty was good, it could not make the burger win on its own.
With its large table seating and hookah indulgences, The Terrace will make an ideal escape with friends on a breezy weekend and if you're cool with smoky hookah haze. The menu reads promising too, but a few tweaks are necessary before we can give it a double thumbs up.
Time 4 pm to 1.30 am
At Above The Spare Kitchen, Juhu Church Road, Juhu.
Call 9820073765
The Terrace didn't know we were there. the guide reviews anonymously and pays for its meals.
