Mumbai Food: New Khar eatery aims to offer something for every personality type

A Canopy of vines makes for a pathway at the entrance, and sprites lounge on the walls mounted with foggy glass cabinets that house more plants in the interiors. Together, this tries to create a fantastical world at The Looney, The Lover & The Poet, a new restaurant where you can embody any of the three characters that make up the name.

The falafel platter

The quirky name is inspired by Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and aims to cater to every kind of diner - the post-work hassled Mumbaikar, the couple in love, and the foodie who is crazy to try out new flavours. The menu, we are told, will change frequently.

Almond Nutella babka French toast

How does one find coherence in such a wide variety, we ask co-owner Gaurav Dabrai, and he tells us that there isn't any. All they want to do is concentrate on fresh flavours (even the cocktail menu will have specials for the day) and not follow a theme. The menu has been designed by chefs Harish Devadkar and Sagar Thite. And coming soon, are custom-made meals.

Root vegetables spanakopita

We start our looney tasting journey with a rather sane but delicious salad, kale a day ( Rs. 395). It's a combination of kale and apple, with basil leaves adding some freshness and candied Brazil nuts a touch of sugar, all pulled together with a light blue cheese dressing. The carrot and baked yoghurt salad ( Rs. 395) has paprika-spiced savoury muesli with slow-roasted carrot, avocado and a sweet addition of baked yoghurt that holds the dish well.

The naked burger. pics/shadab khan

For appetisers, the falafel platter ( Rs. 375) makes for a colourful click-friendly dish with three types of hummus (made only with tahini) - pistachio, almonds and yellow pepper, the last version being our favourite. They have also added gnudi ( Rs. 375) in their appetiser section and do a light Asian version with a lemongrass, galangal and coconut cream sauce. The Levantine aubergine caviar ( Rs. 375) with its smokey aubergine puree stuffed in tomatoes placed on delicate tofu does a good job with the vegetable and a hint of wasabi, though we wish for something more to bring all the elements together. Almost a detox ( Rs. 425), a kale cocktail made with gin, green apple, orange, ginger and cucumber refreshes our palate. We also like the quirky drink and she said to me ( Rs. 475), a maple-infused bourbon and Martini Rosso concoction.

Almost a detox

For the mains, the restaurant does a root vegetable version of spanakopita ( Rs. 495), topped with a great almond-crusted camembert. Keto followers can try the naked burger ( Rs. 450) - with mushroom and quinoa patties, arugula, burrata and flavoursome jalapeno tomato jam. We end our meal with an indulgent almond and Nutella babka French toast topped with three scoops of fresh house-made icecream ( Rs. 450). Dark chocolate and coffee are our favourite. The madness of the menu works as they pull off the dishes with the right use of varied flavours. The prices are on the higher side, but you will surely find something interesting to try here, regardless of what your taste buds crave for.

Opens on : February 12, 6.30 pm onwards (will open for lunch soon)
At: Ground floor, Hotel Shubhangan, 21st Road, Khar West.
Call: 9820029933

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, current affairs from Mumbai, local news, crime news and breaking headlines here

Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go