My meanderings through the alleys of Mumbai in search of a good meal with great experience take me to places far and near (well, mostly near). This time, the halt was at Sky Cafe - opposite Sterling Cinemas. This is one of the few open-air cafes in the city and had been on my 'to-try' list for a long time. To start with, don't let the name fool you. This place is right on the ground floor, and the sky is far-far away and barely visible through those huge umbrellas and tarpualine sheets. A name like SKY CAFE would suit a roof top restaurant with a clear view of the sky.
But this does not take away from the 'ground realities' (pun intended) of the ambience at this place. The lighting is perfect and sets the mood, only to be spoilt a bit by the ‘canteen-like’ moulded wooden chairs. They should have stuck to more comfortable seating like couches or lounge chairs made with natural materials like cane, bamboo or pure wood. It would greatly add to the ambience.
Now comes the food, this place has it all – Chinese, Italian, Lebanese, Pizzas, pastries etc. But sadly, it doesn’t score much in this area. The cold coffee that we ordered was not churned and had to be sent back to the blender. The one with ice-cream had no trace of the ice cream in it. The cream of mushroom and almond soup was ok-ish in taste. The starters: Potato wedges (I have been trying this at most places now !!) and Crispy Veg. in thai sweet chilly sauce were good. The later was better of the two and we ordered another one, just spend more time in the café. We were not courageos enough to order the main course, but may be next time, I like adventure in life ;-)
The service leaves much to be desired, right from the English speaking skills of the waiters to the simple things like serving water before being asked to. This place is new and probably run by a similarly new (inexperienced) management. Maybe they will learn with time, till then we’d go here solely for the ambience and to kill some time before or after the movie at Sterling.
