The Bawa Balance for the Satellite City at Zazie Bistro & Grill – Vashi.

Mumbai undoubtedly is a large chaos when it comes to a variety of cuisines. The number of Cuisines available in this city is almost unlimited. But when we talk about typical Cuisines and about the many sizes and shapes of food joints one experiences in the city, Parsi cafes are exclusive to Mumbai, rather (SOBO) South Bombay (as a townie may protectively say).

One definitely cannot miss the distinct interiors of any Parsi cafe. The high ceilings to the old and rustic lights. The barely running fans, to the antique pieces of art or the old Grandfathers wall clock. The typical chequered table cloth and that one person sitting behind the cash counter with not a smile ever on his face. All these are typical characteristics of a good old Parsi restaurant or cafe (how the Parsi like to address it).

Parsi food is simple with a distinct flavour and is predominantly non vegetarian. The main ingredient in Parsi Cuisine is Love, and Eggs. Their love for edu (eggs) can be seen in all their meals. A wise Bawa once said, when in doubt, break an egg.

If there was one cuisine which hadn’t entered New Bombay food scene, it was the Parsi cuisine until few months back when Zazie Bistro threw open its doors to general public. Run by young couple this restaurant serves Parsi food but with a slight twist as per the owner’s personalisation. Most of the dishes in the menu are a tribute to someone or inspired out of someone’s kitchen.

Few of our favourites amongst all that we had in the evening are

Mutton Kheema Samosa – Minced kheema flavoured with a whole lot of rustic spices and deep fried to perfection. The filling was perfect with the right amount of spices. Though the cover was a bit thick, it was way too crispy that we wiped off the whole plate.

Luckily there were vegetarian versions to most of the non vegetarian dishes on the menu. The Chettinad Paneer Samosa had a slight spicy twist given to the cottage cheese. The coating of the Samosa was perfectly crisp and complimented the soft and spicy stuffing.

Next up was the Edu Chutney nu Pattice. Boiled egg stuffed in spiced and mashed potato and deep fried. The outer most layer was crisp and crumbly and the inside was soft melt in the mouth. This was served with spicy and fresh Corriander chutney. Amazing.

As we downed these amazing appetisers the good old Raspberry and Ice cream soda Pallonji kept us company along with Supreet, the Partner and Brains behind Zazie.

The interiors of this bistro was very bright. Right from the tiles on the floor to the full sized Bonnet of a Mercedes which stood proudly on one of the walls. One can definitely not miss the bright orange Vespa or the grandfather’s pendulum clock.

Coming back to food, next we were served Papeta par Edu. Thin circular sliced potatoes with a whole lot of spices and herbs and topped with half fried eggs and baked. Garnished with some chilli powder and Corriander leaves was a complete meal of its own. A delicious one pot meal we’ve had in a very long time. This dish was multi purpose and could be had at any time of the day and with or without pao.

Like mentioned earlier most of the dishes on the menu are inspirations. The Delshad’s  Signature Crede Butter was smoothly beaten mashed potatoes topped with Crede Butter and some herbs. Sitting on this mashed potato heap were chunks of cottage cheese. The whole dish was topped with more butter. It’s the Crede Butter which made a whole lot of difference to this dish. Though the paneer lacked flavour but the potatoes and butter took the dish to the next level.

Now a days restaurant make it a point to make dishes look as good as it tastes. The Chicken A la Kiev lived up to this. Crisp chicken marinated and mixed with herbs, spices and coated with a layer of bread crumbs and deep fried to perfection. This cutlet was given a shape of a cute duck. The face was made with mashed potatoes. This duck sat on a bed of mildly herbed fried rice. Accompanying it were some crispy fries and grilled vegetables. A nutritious yet flavourful meal.

Our meal came to an end but never without the good old Caramel Custard.  Extremely light and high on taste the custard made us crave for more. We also tried the Nutella Pizza, but it’s the ‘Caramel Custard’ that won our hearts.

There was so much more on the menu that we had yet to try but there always has to be some reason for us to visit the place again! We have our decisions made, when the craving is for Parsi food look nowhere else but Zazie Bistro & Grill So as a Parsi would say, Jamva chalo jii! (Come, lets eat)

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