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| - I was born in Mumbai so I was thrilled to see Colaba Junction open and was excited that Toronto may finally have a restaurant that serves authentic Mumbai street food. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment.
The menu is all over the place. It does not have some basic essentials (like Sev Puri, Dahi Batata Puri, or Misal Pav) and instead includes chicken satay tikka (Malaysian/Mughlai?), Wasabi raita (Japanese?), Paneer lasagna with goji berry (no idea!). If these items were well executed that would be something to celebrate, but they fall flat.
I tried the Colaba Chaat, which was too much farsaan (chickpea, wheat crisps) and too little rice puffs. It would not pass the muster on any Mumbai street cart. The Fish Koliwada was delicately cooked, but the spice mix on the batter was schizophrenic (neither Konkani, not North Indian, just a haphazard mix of two flavours with an overpowering of coriander seed).
Finally, an Indian restaurant is judged on its chai. The tea was served in a glass reminiscent of what you'd find in an Irani Cafe in Colaba, but it was flavoured with mint instead of the traditional ginger. Again, if they had pulled it off (like a Moroccans or Egyptians mint tea), I'd celebrate, but like everything else, the tea was a failed attempt at overreaching, neither here nor there.
As a Mumbaikar, I'm embarrassed. Torontonians take note, this is NOT what Mumbai street food tastes like.
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