Two new places to eat out in Alibaug

The cafe is housed inside a courtyard

While travel might be off the cards for now, a daycation or a quick drive down to aamchi Alibaug is always a welcome idea for us Mumbaikars. And, we're happy to hear that a group of women are creating quite a buzz at the coastal town with two new hangouts that make for the perfect excuse to set out on a food-happy, weekend escape.

Cuppa in store
While Mumbai-based designer and artist Ritu Patel and four of her friends were spending the lockdown in their respective Alibaug homes last year, they realised that the town lacked a place that offers a curated collection of house décor and lifestyle items.

Ten94 operates as a lifestyle store-cum-cafe offering home decor items, tea, coffee and bakes

The five women then joined forces to convert an old warehouse, that you're bound to cross on the way from Mandwa jetty, into a rustic lifestyle store and café called Ten94, which opened late February. From furniture and glassware to quirky artefacts, the idea is to offer homeware that you don't need to source from Mumbai, they tell us.

"Apart from tourists who flock to Alibaug between Thursday and Sunday, a lot of people come here for quick meetings during weekdays, and we thought a cosy café that serves coffee, cakes, cookies and other bakes would be a nice idea," she explains.

The menu at the café keeps changing, with beverages costing anywhere between Rs 125 and Rs 260, and brownies, cookies and the likes priced around Rs 50. If you visit over the weekend, you're likely to run into a pop-up, with restaurants such as The Clearing House, Royal China and The Bombay Canteen setting up shop at the quaint little cafe that's housed in a courtyard.

"We'd like the store and café to grow into a community space that offers workshops, cookouts, pottery shows, and other activities, and also rope in more locals," she adds.

At: Ten94, Zirad, Alibaug
Time: 10 am to 6 pm
Call: 9022474976
Log on to: @ten94.alibaug on Instagram

Snack till you drop

In the three years that mother-daughter duo Naina Rahul Goregaonkar and Dhani Goregaonkar have been running Paisley Experience in Alibaug that offers farm-to-table Panchkalshi fare, they have had to let go of clients several times as they run on pre-orders only. "I always felt that we should also have something for walk-in visitors. We wanted a small dhaba-like space offering local food, where Alibaug residents would like to hang out too," shares Naina.

Their misal pav is a hit with visitors

Their new venture Jatra, at Awas Phata, does exactly that. With a pocket-friendly snacks menu that comprises favourites such as misal and vada pav, poha, eggs Kejriwal, puri bhaji, sheera, upma, etc - all priced in the range of R20 to R80 - and homely Agri meals (thalis R180 onwards), the 40-seater restaurant literally lives up to its name that translates to a fair or mela in Marathi. "Since most of my staff members hail from the Agri community, we offer their fare. We also serve all-day snacks or nashta that no one else here does," Naina informs us, adding that the misal pav has been a hot favourite since they opened earlier this month.

Dhani and Naina Goregaonkar

The brightly-lit eatery has been attracting a lot of attention at night, thanks to the simple but colourful indoors that boast of old Marathi film posters, she tells us. "Visitors get all nostalgic looking at the posters of the movies that they or their parents must have watched, and a conversation ensues. That was the idea," she signs off.

Jatra at Awas Phata is a dhaba-style eatery that offers a pocket-friendly, all-day nashta or snacks menu

At: Jatra, Awas Phata, (on the main road right behind the rickshaw stand), Alibaug.
Time: 9 am to 10 pm
Call: 9821016711