Another place to add to your ‘must visit places in Mumbai’. Upstairs is a newly opened Pan Asian Bistro, located right next to sardar pav bhaji, with an amazingly soothing ambience, great music, delicious pan-asian cuisine and an amazing drinks experience! We went for the launch of this place and instant fell in love with the interiors and the great vibes we got from the place! We absolutely loved the outside sitting section. The monsoons, dim lights, music makes it perfect for a night to chill with friends. The set up is East Asian with Buddha statues, lanterns, trees and so on!
Since it was the launch party, the place was buzzing with drinks! They have some amazingly delicious shots and cocktails! They also have this amazing thing where they’ve divided the bar menu in different categories. Every category has a certain price for drink number 1, and the price keeps reducing as the number of drinks increases! Awesome, isn’t it?
We couldn’t resist from trying out most of their drinks! The cocktails we had were:
Thai street, which is basically Bunta soda, with a Thai twist! It is a gin based cocktail which tastes a lot like the original bunta soda!
Water pipe, is a hippie style cocktail which is refreshing and vibrant! It is served in a way where you could smoke it too! Woah! Loved it!
Upside down was my favorite cocktail of the night. Its more of a handy drink which is best suited for the dance floor, especially after a lot of drinking (if you know what I mean). It is filled with herbal notes of coriander infused with Gin aand fruity dominance of Strawberry. You should definitely have it if you like fruity and sweet flavored cocktails like me! It won’t disappoint you!
The Larntern was another cocktail we tried which is a concoction of whiskey, cranberry and mint with cinnamon to enhance it. Since I’m not a cinnamon fan, didn’t really enjoy it that much!
Coming to shots, first of all, they have some really tasty and unique variety of shots out there.
Best one first, Upstairs infinity is a must have shot! Just two shots of this one, and you are set for the night! When you place an order for this one, the bartender after making it for you makes you first sniff the smell thrice, then you take the shot. But that’s not it, the Bartender then proceeds to give you a circular ride on the bar stool! Sounds crazy, right? Totally worth it!
Other shots we had were, Karai shots, which is a basic vodka shot, with a kick of jalapeño! Hint of jalapeño takes away the pungent taste of vodka and adds the jalapeño flavor to it!
Chai-Yo shots, which is a fruity shot with green tea infused in it, acts as a perfect palette cleanser! Chai-Yo Shot = Tasty!!!
Coming to food, there was not a single dish that we didn’t like! Everything was totally appetizing!
We started with the som tom salad, and all I can say about it is that it was simply irresistible! It is a traditional Thai raw papaya salad, mingling with sweet spicy and sour flavors! Once we had it, we just wanted more! The taste of green chillies and papaya together, a little sweet, a little sour and a little spicy! Delectable!
Cottage Cheese Chilli Pepper, which is cottage cheese pieces with dried red chilles and back pepper! With the ingredients and the name we expected it to be spicy, but it was moderately spicy and very tasty!
Next was vegetable murtabak! This is an Indo-Muslim specialty from Malaysia, which is like a pancake stuffed with Asian flavored veggies. It looked like pieces of stuffed parathas. As soon as you take its first bite, you will fall in love with it. So flavorsome and tasty. It is served with a homemade sauce called sambal, which is cheesy and goes perfectly with the dish!
We also tried their honey chilli lamb, which is roasted lamb tossed in honey and mild bird chillies! The lamb was soft and succulent! Sweetness of honey with spice and everything nice!
We tried their veg and chicken dimsums both. Veg crystal dimsums are filled with crunchy green veggies and water chestnut. It was good, but nothing extraordinary. However, chicken coriander dimsums, filled with minced chicken and coriander were a delight especially with the delicious spicy red chilly chutney served with it!
For mains, we had,
Asian stir-fry, chicken cubes wok tossed in herbs, spiced with chilli and a tender flavor of basil. Just like the typical stir-fry we usually have. We paired it with Jasmine burnt garlic rice, which was flavorsome and rich in taste!
We also tried Jasmine burnt garlic rice with their Malaysian Curry, which is classic Malaysian fragnant curry with flavors of Asian spices and herbs with Asian vegetables in it! Malaysian curry was Oh-so-yummy and a must have!
Next was Mee Gorang, which is Indonesian style noodles, served with curry like Malaysian curry with a coconut base and veggies!
Our sweet-tooth called for some desserts! And when in an Asian restaurant, Crispy honey noodles are a must have! We had their crispy honey noodles which are glazed in sesame and served with vanilla and coconut ice-cream! The chef did justice with the dessert and it tasted great, especially with Coconut ice-cream!
We also tried their day special, red velvet cheese cake, which was every foodie’s delight! Pleasantly sweet, creamy and yummy !!
Overall, I would say it is a place which is definitely worth paying a visit too! You will have a great date night, or a great Saturday night with your friends and will surely leave happy and satisfied!
-PRIANCA BAKSHI
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