Restaurant Review: 80 Days

My visit to 80 Days started off on an amusing note.

It was Restaurant Review evening at 80 Days with other Navi Mumbai Foodies and I had arrived early. It was a lovely evening in March and the sun had not set. There was enough natural light to settle on one of the benches placed outside the restaurant and read a book, while waiting for the other reviewers to arrive.

I had barely sat down and pulled out a book, when the mosquitoes decided to join me. That was enough for me to decide to wait inside the restaurant instead. I was warmly welcomed at the entrance and when I said that I was waiting for the rest of my group, I was told that they had already arrived and were waiting for me. And I was led straight to a table where a Kitty Party was in full swing !

The people at the Kitty Party table were as startled as I was and after a few seconds of confusion and amusement, things got sorted out, and I was led to another table. I, however, decided to get started on photographing the restaurant interiors before it filled up with other diners.

80 Days is in Sanpada at Navi Mumbai, just off the Palm Beach Road and part of the Global Culture group. According to their FB page, “Global Culture is a  four-part food destination that would appeal to connoisseurs of all cuisines and palates looking for great food, drinks and conversation.”

80 days is one of the “four parts” and serves world cuisine. The restaurant’s name and cuisine is inspired by Jules Verne’s book, Around the World in 80 Days, and its decor reflects this — the seat back rests have flags of various countries printed on them. The back-lit ship on the wall is another such element.

I liked the fact that the tables in 80 Days are not placed too close to each other and one can have a meal without hearing the conversations of other people or being heard by others in turn. Also the lighting in the restaurant was just the way I like it: not too bright or  too dim.

The other Navi Mumbai Foodies soon arrived and once we chose where to be seated, we got down to the serious business of choosing what to order from the the menu.

A plate of Olive Tapenade appeared while we were selecting what dishes to order. This was the first time I was having Olive Tapenade and I liked it, even though I’m not a big fan of black olives.

Once the ordering was done (I left the choice of drinks to the good people at 80 days), it was time to wait for the food to arrive, and then remember to photograph it before having that first spoonful / bite. I was quite excited to be in 80 Days for I love multi-cuisine restaurants. The prospect of having a starter from one type of cuisine, mains from another, and dessert from a third is always fun.

And here’s what I had that evening at 80 Days…

Green Apple Mojito was a refreshing drink and I loved the bits of the tart green apple added to the drink. My only complaint with this drink was that it was a little sweet for my liking.

Essence of Mushrooms or Mushroom Fricasse. Don’t be fooled by the rather insipid picture for this was the dish of the day for me and perhaps the best dish I have eaten out in a very long time. Smooth, flavourfuI, sublime and delicious — one of my fellow diners later said that I had closed my eyes and was ‘umm…ing’ in pleasure while having this dish. That should tell you what this dish was like.

Jalapeno Poppers is one of my favourite starters and while the one I had here was nice, it wasn’t exceptional. I did like the presentation though.

The Mezze Platter came with warm roundels of pita bread (tasty), falafel (yum), babaganoush with pomegranate (strictly okay), hummus (delicious) and tabbouleh (tasty). The platter may be too much for one person to have and is best shared.

The Creole Cottage Steak came with pan seared slices of soft cottage cheese marinated in a Creole spice mix, some corn on the cob, fries, a small portion of salad, some stir fried vegetable, and an accompanying spicy sauce. I loved the dish — the portion was quite generous and one can make an entire meal of just this one dish.

Chocolate Marquis. I have mentioned earlier that I am not really a dessert person, but the dessert I had at 80 Days almost made me revise my statement. The Chocolate Marquis was perfect — chocolatey, not too gooey and not too sweet— and was a close contender for the dish of the day. I found out later that the sweetness was controlled by adding just a little bit of salt to balance the flavours. Whatever the reason, I loved it.

Overall and all around, I loved 80 Days for its food, service and ambiance. It is a place that I’m looking forward to visiting again. 80 Days has been added to the list of places I have to visit when my niece is here for her summer vacations in May. Another point in favour of 80 Days (and completely unrelated to the food aspect) is that it is pretty close to where I stay.

On second thoughts, May is still some time away. I think I should persuade a friend or two to join me for a meal at 80 Days soon. While I do enjoy eating out alone, 80 Days has to be visited with friends or family. It’s that type of a place. 🙂

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Notes:

1. The washroom is clean. I checked.
2. I declare and promise that the food looked and tasted much better than what the photographs convey. Please bear with me while I figure out the finer and delicate points of photographing food.

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Disclaimer: The meal at 80 Days was complimentary. However, this has not influenced my review of the restaurant and its food.