South Mumbai gastropub disppoints with its indifferent service and confusing men

Chicken cordon bleu. Pics/Rosetta Vaz

Intrigued by an invite that introduced us to a 'quaint gastropub in the heart of Colaba', our first attempt at checking out Pergula - never mind the altered spelling of the garden feature, a pergola - is futile. Despite the time stated on the aforementioned press note and all other indicators on social media pointing out its opening time as 12.30 pm, we arrived at the said time only to be told by the door attendant that it opens at 2 pm.

Mexican buff chilli

Attempt number two on the following day had us troop in at 2.45 pm to find the place relatively full, with a mix of tourists, students and the odd on-a-late-lunch-break office goer. Seeming more like a night place than daytime eatery, the dimly lit, smallish space - that serves as the mezzanine-level section of the popular Café Royal - calls itself a cosy neighbourhood café and bar with an eclectic menu. It's a mix of references from the by-now-ubiquitous Cantonese baos to the even more ubiquitous Mexican nachos.

Steering away from those staples, we call for a corn tempura roll ('355) and are at once put off with our first bite of the eight-piece sushi serving. Stale, flabby grains of rice attempt to cling unenthusiastically to soggy bits of deep-fried baby corn, with a pasty, peppermint-tasting blob standing in for the promised wasabi. The French-inspired chicken cordon bleu ('550) mercifully fares better. All this, thanks to the two juicy chicken breast roulades stuffed with ham and cheese, both enrobed with an almost silken mushroom sauce and served with a side of basil-scented mashed potatoes.

Things begin to spiral downwards again, when our plate of Mexican buff chilli ('575) is plonked rather brusquely on to our table. Chewy, sinew-redolent bits of buffalo meat swim in an overtly sweet bell pepper sauce, with a side of limp, oily grilled veggies. The only saving grace is the accompanying buttery herbed rice that we wish we had been served more of.

Our shrewd (so we thought) bid at combining both a drink and a dessert by ordering the dough apple cinnamon freakshake ('450) backfires, as we sip at a visually appealing, but watery milkshake that barely registers the presence of apple or cinnamon in it. Perhaps, we should have stuck to the safer options that included gooey chocolate with ice cream ('250), molten chocolate with ice cream ('275), and chocolate brownie with ice cream ('250). Maybe we'd have had better luck. Numerologically speaking, that is.

At Indian Mercantile Mansion, opposite Regal Cinema, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Colaba.
Call 22883985
Time 12.30 pm to 1.30 am

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