This South Mumbai eatery offers hygienic street food with a twist

Do Dil Mil Rahe Hai

If you want to taste street food in a comfortable seat where the scorching heat doesn't interfere with your eating experience, you might want to drop by DesiKlub, a new vegetarian restaurant at Nariman Point in Maker Chamber 5 building.

Taste Ka Kuan

This restaurant, which opens for all on October 1, offers street food with a twist. On their platter, East meets West, and other places in between meet each other to end up as dishes that are almost all delicious. To add to the twist they serve the food in a street-like ambience with a wall-size photograph of a busy South Mumbai market, signage and images one finds on the road and Bollywood music from films like Sajaan wafting about. The washroom has the sign Sulabh Shouchalay (though free) and the reception has a rack full of Parle G biscuits.

Interiors of DesiKlub. Pic/Dipanjan Sinha

We started with the Mango Duet, a light and tasty starter with mango ice cream and soda. It sets the mood for things to come with its sweet and light taste. This was followed by the spicy Ginger Lemon Drink, which is supposed to remind you of nimbu paani on the road but we think was made too well for that. Next came the Bhakarbari Chakli Chaat that stood its ground as good chat with right amount of indulgence on the spicy side with crunch where needed.

Jalebi Sandwich

But among the starters, the real surprise was Chennai se China Tak, a dish of fried Idli gone the Chinese route. Despite the ridiculous sound of it, it tasted brilliant. One, however, needs to wait for the response from a Chennai local about this Chinese makeover of the humble Idli. Taste Ka Kuan, the dish that followed, kept the promise of its name with its samosa chat filling mixed with spicy yoghurt dressed in pomegranate.

Do Dil Mil Rahe Hai

Among the main dishes, one shocking dish worked best - with a name as corny as Do Dil Mil Rahe Hai and being a dish which combines the gravy of pav bhaji and hakka noodles, one does not expect much. But it worked well, remarkably, if we may say.

Mango Duet

The other dish we tried in the main course - Shanghai Nights (a pizza with Shanghai sauce) - was a bit disappointing as the sauce seemed too alien for pizza and it seemed more like a half way dish. The winner finally was the Jalebi Sandwich with two chilled jalebis holding together an offering of kesar mousse, which melts when you put it in your mouth and takes you on a trip of sweet intoxication.