The Fork Tale, Mumbai
How important a role does ambiance play when it comes to an eating experience is definitely underrated. Oh the food must be this and it must be that and oh it is always the food that matters over and above anything else and many such conversations undermine the role that an ambiance plays when it comes to a dining experience.
A couple of days ago, I got the chance to dine at the recently launched, The Fork Tale in Fort and this is the second time in the last couple of years that a standalone restaurant has an ambiance that played such an important role in making you feel royal!
A large, gorgeous chandelier welcomes you as you step into this very tastefully done restaurant and you immediately find yourself smiling and telling yourself that the drive from the suburbs has been worth it!
Coming to the food, The Fork Tale offers a unique dining experience, a buffet on your table; yes, you heard that right, a buffet on your table apart from the usual a la carte menu!
We opted for both and had a wonderful time indeed.
For the buffet, we opted for the “Patiala House” option and I personally was floored! This starts off with two variants of chaat and one of them was an apple chaat that I had for the very first time and surprisingly loved; the soup and appetisers followed. As delicious as these were, what truly made my afternoon was the main course! A large thaali appeared with an assortment of breads, the most sinful jeera rice that I may have ever consumed, dal tadka, seekh sabji (yes, veg seekh kebabs cooked in a gravy) which was the best part of the meal for me, methi malai mattar that tasted exactly like what nani makes at home, mix veg in a spinach gravy, and paneer tikka masala; so so good! So full by the end of this that I decide to totally skip dessert, but the smile of satisfaction by the end of the meal was indeed a genuine one!
While I totally binged on the Patiala House meal, my family decided to go a la carte and this is what they had:
Carrot Capuccino: A delicous carrot soup, well spiced topped with a delicious vanilla foam; what made this special was the contrast combination that gets you confused in the start and then slowly you start enjoying it and find it difficult to stop.
Wild Rice Nachos: A concept never heard of, the wild rice nachos are different and delicious. What also makes wild rice beneficial is that this is gluten free and packed with nutrients. These came served on a bed of grated cheese and not a cheese sauce, sour cream, guacamole, beans and salsa. A unique, yet delicious experience.
Veg Blast Pizza: Topped with generous portions of peppers, zucchini, olives, and jalapenos, this was delicious indeed but for me, I personally liked my pizza with a little more sauce, but thats about it.
Pumpkin Ravioli: I recently fell in love with the pumpkin and feta combination and hence this dish was a must! Topped with a sage butter sauce, cooked to perfection, not burnt, but cooked to that extent where it tastes hazelnutty!
Mix Veg Risotto: This came in a pink sauce and tasted just like what maa makes at home and we were delighted to get home style food here, why; not because the place has a fancy ambiance but also because it shows the attention to detail in the food and how they strive to give you comfort food, cooked well with good quality ingredients.
Cottage Cheese Steak: Amongst the least liked dishes of the meal, this was a grilled cottage cheese steak on a bed of mashed potatoes and vegetables topped with a honey mustard sauce; the honey mustard sauce actually killed the dish for us, but relished it otherwise.
Caramel Popcorn ice cream and Raspberry Cheesecake ice cream: The younger sister a caramel and ice cream addict and not ordering multiple scoops of ice cream for her at the end of a meal is a crime in the literal sense because she will literally be chewing our brains for the rest of the week then; the fact that these got cleaned out in a jiffy means they were good!!
The Fork Tale is a pure vegetarian restaurant, owned by Sarthak Oza, Marzy Parakh, Parth Dalal and Nikhil Mody.