OvenFresh - A Vegetarian Delight

I am a vegetarian. That means, finding a good place to eat gets quite difficult. At best, you get the regular Udipi or some fancy looking restaurant that serves very ordinary Punjabi fare. Honestly, I stay away from such food as much as possible. Too rich food and too much oil leads to a sort of party-gone-wrong in my stomach. So, when I find a good place that offers good variety too, I am usually ecstatic. And this was the case when I landed at Ovenfresh.

Where: Shivaji Park, on the road that leads straight from the station to Dadar Chowpatty.

What: An all-veg bakery-cum-restaurant, serving Continental and a bit of Middle Eastern cuisine. Pizzas, Pastas, Sizzles and some Hummus and Falafels.

Ambience: The first thing you see when you enter is the bakery and the crowd at the counter. The croissants, doughnuts, pastries, cakes, tarts and more are all lined up beautifully. There is a glass box behind the counter, which has a part of the kitchen, and you can actually see the chefs in action. I find that bit quite interesting and love to watch them whip up stuff.

The seating area is divided into two sections - one at the front and one at the back. Seating is comfortable, but both areas can get quite noisy and chaotic during busy hours. And when I say busy, I mean really busy! If you are in a group, you may have to wait for a while to get seating. The back area has some fun graffiti, but as a friend pointed out, they could do with some soft music to drown the noise made by people and make the place more pleasant. Overall, it is not fine dining, or even decorated restaurant-like. But it gives a cosy feel and is the kind of place that is best enjoyed with a large group of family or friends.

Positives - Food:
The baked goods in the front area look very inviting. Glazed, golden and generous with fillings. The pastries and cakes look good too, are moist and fresh. Whole cakes are freshly made on order on the same day. The doughnuts are soft and tasty, and the tarts are crumbly and good too.

As for the restaurant, the menu itself is very interesting and varied. They have a variety of pastas from Raviolis to Lasagne to Cannelloni. You won't find the regular Arabiatta here, but you will surely discover many more tastes and flavours in vegetarian continental cuisine. They have pastas in Orange Butter Sauce and stuffed with vegetables too. The Ravioli with sun-dried tomato is delicious with a good dollop of yummy tomato sauce and just the right flavour. The Enchiladas are known to be a favourite. I definitely wish to try every single of their pasta items at least once for sure as I couldn't help but read that section of the menu over and over again, smiling to myself. I just loved the combinations that they have put together.

If pasta is not your thing, you can opt for the Sizzlers or the 'Make your own Pizza'. You can choose your base and toppings and it is served hot, and in a large portion. The thin crust is the winner, with a crispy base and enough toppings. The sizzlers too look decent, but I would prefer the pastas and pizzas any day. The sizzlers too look colourful, are delicious and have good portions.

Besides Italian fare, they also offer sandwiches, burgers and some Middle Eastern dishes. I haven't tried those, but I saw them on the next table and they looked inviting enough. There is not much variety in starters or beverages though and they could do with adding a few more attractions there. But whatever is on offer, is nothing less than delicious. They also offer some parathas and very very limited Indian fare, though I doubt it would be asked for often.

The desserts of course are a cracker. No matter what you choose, it will be difficult to not like it.  I loved their Plum cake and cheesecakes, and the tarts and doughnuts are good too. They have nailed the balance of taste in their food and that works to their advantage.

Negative - Service:
The place is very noisy and seems very small. The service is really slow and lazy, and it can take ages for someone to listen to you. I was crying out for some friendly gesture from my server. And it can take really long for your order to arrive sometimes. The portions are good enough for one main course dish to fill one person entirely, so if you go with people, you get to try more stuff. Another negative it a lot of the items on the menu are available only from 11am to 3pm and 7.30 pm onwards.

Overall, the place is definitely worth a few visits. In fact, it has been known to convert many non-vegetarians I know and get them to appreciate and speak positively of vegetarian food for the first time.
So, this may not a place for a late lunch or early dinner. But it sure is a place to enjoy some brilliant food and believe that even vegetarian fare can be really really good.

गुलाबों सी पट्टी

Yeh kya hua hai mujhe?

Kaise samjhaaun, ab kahoon main kise?

Ek choti si harkat,

ek lamha bana kahaani,

par alfaazon se bandh na paaya woh,

ek itihaas jiski rachna mann mein hi.

Khwabon ke dhaagon,

Se buna liya aasman,

Jad liye rang birange taare usmein,

Aur odh ke lagne laga yeh apna sa.

Dohra ke mann me,

Woh dhundhla sa pal,

Khushiyon ki silvaton mein chip gaye,

Koi shak, koi gumaan, anchaahi hulchul.

Aankhon par bandhi,

Gulaabon si patti,

Kholne ko jee na kare kabhi bhi,

Isse yeh duniya dikhe kitni madhur si.

- © HAEM ROY

Kahaan chal pade

Galiyon ki mehek mein huye aise mashroof

Ke sadakon ka pata hum bhool gaye,

Fiza ki madhoshi mein kho hi gaye,

ke lamhon ka pata bhi bhool gaye.

  

Saundhi mitti ki khushboo bichi,

Aankhen moond hum kheeche chale,

Oas ki boondon se baatein karein,

Hariyali ki chadar par daude chale.

Patli si sadak bhi chhoot gayi,

Khushi khushi hum gum hi gaye,

Neeli chadar odh, hare bichawan par,

Thake tab do saans late gaye.

Raat ki surrati hawa suni,

Mausam jaise dharti se kare baatein,

Meethi yeh boli mein aise khoye,

Ghar wapas kaun jaana chaahe.

- © HAEM ROY

Khwaab chale jet plane par

(A song I wrote for children.)

Khwaab chale jet plane par,

1^st class savari.

Wings ho gaye hain saare puraane,

Yeh hai style kuch nayi.

Khatte se kuch oranges mein meethi chocolate candy.

Bageeche mein chippi mili dekho Santa ki red potli.

Khwaab chale jet plane par,

1^st class savari.

Birds ke saath khel rahe hain,

Hum toh chuppa chippi.

Butterflies ne banayi hai darvaaze pe rangoli.

Stars ko bhar diye hain piggybank mein meri.

Khwaab chale jet plane par,

1^st class savari.

Rainbow ke peeche chale hum,

Koi nahin hai hurry.

Treasure chest ko dhoondh nikaala pirates ne haar maani.

Fairies ke saath dance kar lein phir ho khatam ye story.

Khwaab chale jet plane par,

1^st class savari.

Pakad ke hum bhi udne lage,

Clouds se bani dori.


- © HAEM ROY

Decisions

An open road is rare,
a crossroad is always encountered,
there's the choice blindly made
or maybe pondering for hours,
and then you choose the way.

A decision is like mist,
Always hanging in the air,
fogs your eyes, blurs your vision,
but you can't move it aside, you can't feel it there.
Try and grasp at it,
it'll run away,
try making sense of it,
and it'll evade you.

Let your eyes adjust,
feel it on your cheek,
Imagine the road ahead in your head,
and jump forward.
Only then will the mist clear out,
And reveal the truth beyond.

- © HAEM ROY

Where the clouds are born

After being trapped in the limited confines of the city for very long, I was eager to break out. And since I am not so brilliant at planning trips, and more importantly co-ordinating with people, I readily joined in when some friends planned a trip to Malshej.

Before leaving, all I knew about Malshej was it was a hill station some 3-4 hours from Bombay. Rumours were that some parts of Raavan had been shot there. I was happy with that.

We went to Thane by rick and then took a train to Kalyan. Some of the people had heard very bad reviews of the food at Malshej. So at Kalyan station, we picked up a lot of fruits, some Maggi and instant soup packets and a few munchies. We then took a rickety ST bus to Malshej Ghats. Once we crossed the city borders, the can't-take-my-face-away-from-the-window journey began. Wind in my face, lush greenery outside and an assortment of mountains, hills and valleys, topped with lovely grey clouds.

Picture Diary: 

Along the long-winding road, the bus stopped suddenly, and we were told this is Malshej Ghat.









It seemed to be smack in the centre of a mountain, with nothing nearby at all. Just one small road leading away from the main road.

When we looked ahead, we saw that about half a kilometer down the small road was the hotel, sitting pretty on a plateau jutting out of the mountain. And it was surrounded by valleys, mountains and clouds. Niiice!

We walked towards the hotel, checked into the dorm we had booked, and went to the canteen for lunch. That's when we got our second surprise. The extremely cool weather at Malshej was balanced by the gut-ripping, throat-splitting, tongue-burning pungent food. One morsel and I was metaphorically jumping into some waterfall for relief. The fruits we had bought were now a boon.

We set off to try and discover some waterfalls. We walked about 2 kms one way, reached nothing useful and then walked back and then in the other direction for about a km. A waterfall on the road was spotted and not left alone.

In the evening we would sit on the porch outside the canteen, sipping on hot chai, feeling the mist on our faces and just peering through the clouds that were now actually just a hand away from us.

Picture Diary:

The MTDC hotel has a viewpoint, a concave section from where we could have a pan view of the valley. There were a few more surprises here.

The mountain peaks resembled smoke machines. Clouds were being spun quickly and they hushed away towards other parts of the world. It just seemed like the mountains kept churning out the fluffy grey masses out of nowhere.

Next we saw something called a Water Rise. In simple words, thats a waterfall turned upside down. Due to the wind and water pressure, the water instead of falling to the ground, defies gravity and rises upwards. At times, we even saw some waterfalls entirely and directly forming clouds instantly. It reminded me of the cotton candy machine spinning the sugary sweet.

We would find the clear times in the day and roam about. From the viewpoint we decided to do a blind trek. Walking around the mountains, making jokes about this being the new Mc Donalds outlet location, we reached a convex. If you could fly, it was not very far from the viewpoint. It looked onto the same scenery, but the difference was obvious. Everything was wide angle now. And no matter where I turned, my mouth was left open.

We sat there till the clouds came, and then ran back through a shortcut we discovered. Of course, we returned the next day.

Apparently Malshej is quite the hotspot of various insects, birds and other such living beings. Flamingos too appear during the monsoons but due to the global warming, the change in seasons, they were late this year. My friends kept spotting weird blue and green insects, while I tried my best to avoid anything that moved. Mountains - good. Water - good. Treks - brilliant. Snakes - RUN!

We avoided the spicy food and went to a hotel about 3 kms away - Sushant Resort. Bad place to stay, decent to eat. Really small cramped rooms, and hardly any view.

The best part about Malshej is that it does not have many places to go. Unlike present day Lonavla, it is quiet, secluded, and lovely too. Perfect for a little escapade. It is best in the monsoons, and it's better to travel to and fro before dark, as the roads can get quite scary. Most rentals even refuse to ply after dark. The ST bus too is not bad and is quite frequent from Kalyan Stn Depot.

If you wish to explore, there is the Shivneri Fort, about 30 kms from Malshej. Along the way, about 5 kms from the hotel is a dam too. But I say, the place itself is enough!

Before we knew it, we had to leave the dreamy place and were jolted back to town. Literally! But our minds stayed there for long.

IMPORTANT INFO


HOW TO GET THERE:
Nearest airport is Mumbai at 154-km. 
Nearest railway station is Kalyan. Buses or rentals from there available.
By road, Mumbai to Malshej Ghat, via Murbad is 154-km, Pune to Malshej Ghat via Alephata, is 164-km and from Alephata to Malshej Ghat it is 39-kms.


The best place to stay is the MTDC Resort. The dorms are strictly ok, and best if you are in a large group, as they have common loo facilities and not much else. The rooms available for two and four people are pretty nice and worth it, at a reasonable rate too.


Check-Out time: 12 noon


Things to carry: Some instant food like fruits, maggi etc, water for the way, warm clothing, rain wear if you are travelling in the monsoons (DO NOT carry an umbrella, it won't survive), shoes or floaters (flip-flops will make you slip) and a camera.


Best time to visit: June to September. Avoid road travel after dark.


Places to see:
Viewpoint at hotel
Dam 5 kms
Shivneri Fort 30 kms