“Cooking Up Stories”, says the tag line of Fable, an all-day café and pizzeria recently opened in the by-lanes of Juhu. The stories don’t translate on to the menu though; it seems to waver between the run-of the-mill (sandwiches, pizzas and pastas) and being on trend, with some fusion Indian dishes thrown in.
The good stuff
The café-restaurant has a bright and airy alfresco section, complete with picket fences and streetlights, and a whitewashed interior section with tables set (too) close to each other. In keeping with the bookish theme, there is a “fable wall”, plastered with several open novels, scrawled over with an arty illustration of a cycle with reindeer-horn handlebars. There’s a “reading lamp” (a stack of paperbacks mercilessly skewered by a standing lamp) and a vintage telephone mounted on a leather-bound book.
The menu has no literary elements, apart from being divided into chapters—breakfast (available till 7pm), soup of the day, salads, deli, small plates, large plates, pizzas and desserts. The breakfast menu has the usual egg dishes, waffles, pancakes, etc. From its “bun & run” section, we chose the Lamb Kheema Ghotala (Rs.245), which arrived with toasted pav. The lamb mince was piquant and not very oily, though the ghotala element (egg) was missing, and the keema was topped with grated cheese, which was unnecessary. From the deli section, we ordered the Butter-poached Lobster Sandwich (Rs.550)—pillowy focaccia generously topped with a lobster and lemon mayo mix, spiced up with capers and pink peppercorn. Our Peach & Apricot Iced Tea (Rs.195) was a tad sweet, but the Litchee and Lemon Grass Cooler (Rs.195) was refreshing and well-balanced.
The small plates seem the most interesting part of the menu: We tried the Methi Thepla Quesadillas (Rs.250) and Fable’s Very Own Pani Puri With A Twist (Rs.150). The hot, flavourful theplas were stuffed with goat’s cheese and drizzled with tomato salsa, and were our favourites (along with the lobster sandwich). The chocolate-laced puris were stuffed with green apple and served atop shot glasses filled with the pani. The dish had the perfect sweet-sour balance of a good chaat and we devoured the puris in no time. Among the large plates, we tried the Irish Lamb Stew (Rs.425), which was warming and hearty, with lots of baby potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and broccoli. The lamb itself was tender and juicy.
For dessert, we ordered the Chocolate Mousse (Rs.225). The menu lists it as Tricolour chocolate mousse but, thankfully, our mousse came in a single colour—a decadent dark chocolate—and it was perfectly airy and creamy. We also tried the Tiramisu (Rs.225), which was delightfully drenched in coffee, but had a bit too much of mascarpone.
The not-so-good
From the extensive pizza menu, we chose the Stagioni (Rs.550). The 12-inch-thin-crust pizza was topped with desultory pieces of smoked ham, some mushrooms strewn about and exactly two pieces of artichoke. The only thing generous about the pizza was the pile of arugula in the centre; the overwhelming flavour was of tomato sauce.
The signature desserts were not available halfway between a Saturday lunch service. The restaurant was also short-staffed, with service delays, and hassled servers dropping food on the floor. The Hot Chocolate (Rs.195) was enticingly described on the menu as “Cadbury’s Silk, steamed milk, topped with whipped cream and garnished with Lindt powder”. The drink arrived minus any whipped cream or Lindt powder; instead, it was garnished with two strips of kaffir lime, which gave a bizarre citrusy flavour to the hot chocolate, which itself was more milk and less chocolate.
Talk plastic
Our meal—two mocktails, three starters, one sandwich, two mains, two desserts, and one hot beverage—cost us Rs.3,765, all inclusive.
Fable–All Day Café and Pizzeria, 8.30am-12.30am, shop No.3, Ashiyana Apartments, NS Road, Juhu, Mumbai (tel. 26206400/500).
