Imbiss, Mumbai

Imbiss,
14, Ben O Lil Haven,
Waroda Road,
Off Hill Road,
Bandra West
Mumbai
022 26414985, +91 8454946413

Although I was just visiting Bombay for 2 days, I knew I had to visit Imbiss as all my pork loving friends had been raving about it. Temporarily based in Ahmedabad where I have yet to find a restaurant with pork on its menu (other than the Japanese Tamura), I just couldn't miss this opportunity.

Imbiss is on a side road parallel to Hill Road in Bandra. If you aren't familiar with the area, use google maps or waze+four square to locate the place. Its also a tiny road and parking is difficult. So park on Hill road and use one of the tiny shortcuts to cut across.

The location is tiny and when we called up to book a table, we were told that they didn't take reservations. When we arrived there on Saturday afternoon, there was a long waiting line, but that couldn't deter this porkaholic on a mission.

And the food more than made up for all these inconveniences.

Their menu is extremely limited. They have a Hungarian Goulash soup (120/-), 3 sandwiches (120/- & 155/-), a burger (120/-), 2 types of hot dogs - chicken or pork (120/-), 4 types of sausages (120/-, 180/-) including a duck sausage and about 18 different main courses  ranging from schnitzels to roasts, steaks and chops. As a side order, you can choose to have fried duck egg (30/-), pickled quail eggs (50/-) bhut jholakia pickle (50/-), spice beef jerky (75/-) or garlic bread (75/-)

But everything that we tried from the menu was outstanding. The baby back spare ribs (385/-)  were the absolute star of the afternoon. While they say that it is a portion for 2, for me it was just the right size for one and I refuse to share!

The other dishes were not filling enough, but they were tasty. So you have the option of trying at least 2 dishes each from the menu.

A friends kid was with us and she was quite happy with her chicken hot dog (120/-) The smoked pork chop (180/-) barely managed to make a dent in my appetite. The Mexican chorizo rice (150/-) was interesting, but I prefer the Goan Sausage Pulao for complexity of flavours. Hubby loved his signature sausage platter (180/-) and a non-pork eating friend who was a little dissapointed in the lack of options for her on the menu, ended up being pretty happy with her Chicken escalopes (180/-)

Having lived in the North East for awhile, we weren't impressed with the world's spiciest chilly pickle (50/-), but I've heard its quite a popular item.

Given that we were only 2 pork eaters in the group, I couldn't sample as much of the menu as I would have liked to, so I'm definitely headed back the next time, I am in town. But I'll most probably try the Colaba outlet, as I hear that they have a bigger spread there.

Rating : 4.5 / 5