Da Vinci (Italian)

Da Vinci

Da Vinci is an Italian restaurant that I got to visit last Saturday. It is cradled just off Pali Hill in one of the many by-lanes that run into the slums. Da Vinci stands out in the day with its black painted walls and in the night by its massive neon-sign.

Entering this restaurant gives you a very warm feeling with a well done setting. The ambience is set right with the dim yellow lights all around and all the furniture, including the tables and chairs (benches) being carved out of wood. Each table comfortably seats up-to 4 people only and so only the bar area looks like it could accommodate a larger group. The attendants are very friendly and hospitable. However, their fake ‘Italian’ accent and their incapability of helping you pick out dishes are quite turning off.

The menu at Da Vinci is an even bigger bomb and somehow the attendants seem nicer now. Da Vinci is more expensive than Café Basilico also off Pali Hill. Being an ardent aficionado of Italian food, paying insane prices for something more expensive than one of the finest Italian restaurants in Mumbai, you tend to expect a lot from Da Vinci.

Starting off with the Chicken Bitki and Pan Tossed Paprika Mushrooms, you don’t have to wait too long to be disappointed. The Chicken Bitki comes with 5 pieces and a dip. The dip is of tomato base & has dried onion peels in them. Together they taste quite good, but are too less in quantity. The Pan Tossed Paprika Mushrooms seem to be some thick mushroom gravy tossed onto garlic bread. Though the dish is quite tasty and melts in your mouth that is something you really won’t be remembering when you have washed it down with all the pepper water that you taste from your Roasted Garlic And Sundried Tomato Soup. You might as well have filled a packet of Knorr Tomato Soup in a bottle and brought it along.
The savior however here is the Grilled Chicken With Mushroom Sauce that tastes like they had flown in a chef just to cook that dish. The chicken pieces are substantial and very well cooked. They have the right balance with the mashed potatoes and the mushroom sauce that was well done. They overdid with the extra vegetables on the plate, but you can overlook it for the simple fact that you’re finally getting something worth eating.

Make sure you get a large rum instead of a small to survive this ordeal and it almost costs as much as the 30ml anyway. Basically you won’t be missing out on anything if you give this place a miss.

Delhi Belly

Having grown up watching more of HBO & Star Movies than any other Indian channel airing Hindi films, tends to give you distaste to all the films that Bollywood churns out like a factory. You could watch any genre of films from the Western world and they would be worth watching. It’s not about the style the film is shot in or that it offers something new, but it’s the entire package that it comes in that makes it an experience. Bollywood films for the last 50 years have been unable to do just that. Once in a blue moon there is a new director who tries something different and usually gets shot down. A recent example of this would be the Aamir Khan starrer Dhobi Ghat. The different technique, the pace of the story and the flow of the entire film wasn’t really a treat. A bunch of camera happy teenager’s with a star cast of that caliber and a budget that high could have pulled it off. However, the new Aamir Khan produced Delhi Belly is otherwise.

Moving on from the slapstick comedies such as Golmaal, Welcome, Mujhse Shaadi Karoge, Bhool Bhulaiya, Ready, comes Delhi Belly. It is the advent of new intellectual directors who know that there is a audience who can understand what real comedy is about.

Delhi Belly revolves around 3 friends who live together and the twists and turns that they endure and go through because of mostly adrenaline pumped decisions. Somewhere based along the lines of The Hangover, it has a very easy to understand script which is paced well enough to not really need you to be Sherlock to understand what’s going on and what the repercussions of each of these three’s actions are. Adding to their poor judgments of the situation are Imran Khan’s & Vir Das’ girlfriends who bring on very funny episodes to the film. The excessive foul language in the film coupled with scenes that should make you want to look away makes it an even more interesting watch. You somehow tend to not mind the excessive bruises, unnecessary shootings, and God alone knows how many toilet scenes, it will make you just want to laugh with your eyes wide open so that you don’t miss anything!

The fact that the actors play these roles so naturally just adds to the good taste of the film. It isn’t something you may want to watch with your parents but most definitely something you can enjoy with your friends, especially in theatres that don’t censor the cuss words. It is a must watch and it is a must that you don’t buy a tub of pop-corn because you’ll be bouncing about in your seats laughing quite literally – your asses off.