When a friend and I decided to go out for dinner and the location was left up to me to select, I knew I had to pick somewhere good. As I had not been to Bandra in nearly four months, I knew there would be plenty of options considering the rate of turnover there. So when I was trying to pick a restaurant, I remembered a place I had mentioned several weeks back, Villa Vandre. Headed up by a former Pali Village Cafe chef, this restaurant quite certainly packs a punch. It's small size was initially deceiving, as I wasn't sure that with my flying elbows I would fit inside the small shop, but still we headed inside. I might mention that you should use Google Maps to find the place since it's off a small side road, but still technically in Pali Hill. Although geographically it is a bit lonely, we had no difficulties in spotting it as they had a cute sign written in half Hindi half English (those who cannot read Hindi look for the "Vandre" half of the sign which is written in English). The menu is vast with plenty of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. They serve a small selection of breakfast items, which are available until 1130AM, which I know I will be going back to try. The typical pastas are there along with the sandwiches you would expect and salads.
We ended up trying the mutton dhansak, ploughman's sandwich, jerk chicken, with mashed potatoes on the side. The mutton dhansak was extremely tasty with the mutton perfectly cooked and falling off the bone, indicative of the time that went into cooking it. The jerk chicken came in the form of capsicum and chicken kebabs with a sauce that we already itching to replicate at home! Both chicken and capsicum were cooked perfectly and were soft, a rarity with vegetable and meat kebabs in which the vegetables are often undercooked and hard. The ploughman's sandwich was stuffed to the brim with vegetables and was plenty filling without any meat at all. As for the mashed potatoes, they were the unexpected star of our meal, with a creamy, yet not liquidy which can happen if the chef goes overboard while mashing. The spices ratio was balanced, and the flavors were not at all overpowering. We also ordered the ice cream soda and raspberry soda, both of which were excellent and arrived promptly.
All in all, I highly recommend Villa Vandre for a quiet dinner for two, whether romantic or not, the ambience is great for a quiet night out. Our total bill ended up being Rs 1200, which is quite affordable for the number of dishes we got to try!
Price: Rs 1200 for two (600 per person) $$
Timings: 830AM-1130AM; 1230PM-1045PM
Quality: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
V/NV: Non-vegetarian food is served here
Bar: not available
Home Delivery: not available
Payment: cash and credit card both accepted
Address:
Shop 3, May Flower, New Kantwadi Road, off Perry Cross Road, Pali Hill, Bandra (W), Mumbai
Anagha C.
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