The stunning restaurant, lounge and bar in Mumbai brings you cheery chic, cocktails with chutzpah, and a bingeworthy menu.
If you’re tuned into the Mumbai food scene on social media, you must already have caught a glimpse of that glorious winding staircase against the 30-feet high wall lined with books. Powai residents may miss their favourite deli at this spot, but there’s no need to feel that particular shade of blue. Eve, which replaces it, has some interesting food and drink options too. And is definitely much more Instagrammable.
This one, like the others — Donna Deli, Blah, and Kyma — from the Monarch Liberty Hospitality stable (Dhaval Udeshi, Nikita Harisinghani, Sumit Govind Sharma, and Pawan Shahri), has certainly got the look. Think 7,000 sq ft of eclectic glam, from swinging chairs to scarlet sofas to an elegant island bar to sophisticated private dining to more social sunshine-filled spaces. Even a visit to the lav is pretty intriguing, as though you’ve been to exotic Narnia instead of the washroom (you’ll know what I mean when you go).
But let’s get down to brass tacks. Is Eve only good for the gram or should you go there for the vital victuals. The bar experience starts with a welcome drink in a glass labelled — what else? — Eve, which is a refreshing harbinger of good things to come. Their story goes that Eve is a pirate who has travelled the world and stolen ingredients from each place she’s been and brought them back to put into her drinks. Well, yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum, but this tale is a bit of a shaky sea shanty medley.
Nevertheless, the drinks by ace mixologist Sachin Yadav (he calls himself the art-tender!) are eminently drinkable, and I really enjoyed Essence of Life (a Thai-inspired daytime drink with lemongrass-infused gin, kaffir lime liqueur, lemon, and tonic) and Barrel Oak Fashion (which took me into an evening in the American deep South with its moody Bourbon, spiced demerara, bitters, and rosemary smoke).
One that’s got my name on it for the next visit is Spice Trade, which is inspired by Indian spices and has gin infused with pink peppercorn, Kashmiri Kawa tea with green apple, clarified milk, and rose dust glitter. The well-crafted bar menu is quite elaborate and has everything from such signature cocktails to the top labels of popular alcohols to some rather unique liqueurs. And a selection of buzz-free sips as well.
The food menu has a bit of everything too. Fortunately, its cuisine agnosticism doesn’t result in an indifference to quality, as happens so often. This is thanks to the talented Chef Sanket More (last seen in the kitchens at The Bombay Canteen and O-Pedro). I love that they have an all-day breakfast menu featuring tempting options such as a ratatouille shakshuka, a vegan matcha chia pudding, truffled scrambled egg on sourdough, and everyone’s ubiquitous fave these days, avo and ricotta on sourdough. But that’s for another visit.
The appetisers my lunch date and I tried, each had repeat eat value. The Malta Som Tam salad with spicy peanut praline was perfect on a hot Mumbai afternoon, refreshing, yet with a vein of delicious heat running through it. Garlicky Sichuan prawns with a lemongrass drizzle waltzed in with fluffy brioche pav, the perfect dance partners that allowed us to sop up all the complex flavours.
Eve’s Cranberry and Phyllo Cups, were filled with softened and buttered Brie and Maraschino cherries. Topped with a tart berry compote, they were good but best saved for someone with a sweet tooth or as a light, sweet-savoury dessert. I would like to go back to try more from the small plates selection, especially to see how they do the Shrimp Po Boy and the Greek Souvlaki.
While the sushi that we sampled was a tad dry, the kitchen team promised us that this was something they would rectify very soon. The pizzas, meanwhile, were more than moreish, the bread baked to perfection in a stone oven and bearing some very interesting toppings such as coffee-smoked BBQ or Middle Eastern Shish Taouk.
After all this excess, it was hard to find space for a multitude of large plates. But we were glad we made room for the slow-cooked Mutton Kulambu Curry. Unanimously (and surprisingly animatedly!) declared the Dish of the Day, it had the most tender morsels of meat in a Chettinad gravy redolent of cinnamon and clove and was served with a rice rich with browned onion.
Dessert, even though we could barely move, was well worth the excess baggage. The Gianduja Mousse (that sesame brittle and coffee soil!) and the Seasonal Pannacotta (with some gorgeous berries and citrus) were both beautifully plated and pleasing to the palate.
My only quibble with Eve would be that, at our table, the height of the seating and the eating surfaces weren’t matched very well for comfort. But then, with such a variety of seating available, one can always move to another table. I think that much like Goldilocks, each set of dining companions will eventually figure out the setting that works for them best and keep coming back to Eve for the vibrant vibe, the fab F&B, and the high feel-good quotient.
Eve
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Max: 5 stars)
Food: 8/10 | Drinks: 8/10 | Service: 8/10 | Décor: 9.5/10 | Vibe: 9/10 | One dish we loved: Mutton Kulambu Curry | One dish that didn’t work for us: Philly Cheese sushi.
Timing: Between 12 pm and 1 am | Address: 101, Sentinel Building, Hiranandani Gardens, Adi Shankaracharya Marg, Powai, Mumbai | Contact: +919819114000 /+919819224000.
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