Madeira
and Mime at Powai is quite a distance away from my home in Bandra(about an hour away), but I
readily accepted the invite for the review of this newly opened gastro-pub,
simply because the staff is differently abled (all are speech and hearing
challenged) and since I am associated with differently abled persons,(mainly
mentally challenged persons) at SBP, I was most anxious to learn about how
different this experience would be.
My
friend and I were greeted by a friendly staff who guided us to the most
comfortable table in the centre of the room. We were introduced to Rohit
Pandey, who would be at our wait staff. A brief introduction with the help of
his assistant made us understand the sign language that we would use to
interact with the staff. Rohit, the sweet and polite kid was quite attentive to
our comfort. Served our meals with great precision, stood at fair distance away
from our table and was quick to clear the plates as soon as we finish one
course after another.
In
sign language we learnt to say Thank you (by tipping on the chin with two
fingers) and sorry (rotating a closed fist over the left chest) The menu card
clearly showed the sign language and how we could interact with the staff.
The
menu was focused on comfort food. There were dishes such as Ramen, Pasta,
rolls, street food like sandwiches, burgers, pao-walla. For complete meal there
was this interesting rice plate selection like pilaf and biryani. We were just
two of us, friend is veg and I could eat non-veg. We asked them to serve small
portions so that we could try more dishes.
While
we waited for our order to arrive, I glanced around the restaurant taking in
the beautiful surroundings. The bar tender was busy mixing drinks. On the other
side was open kitchen, we could see lot of activity while the dishes churned
out efficiently on the order expressed in sign language.It seemed like a
graceful dance as they moved their fingers to put their message across. The
ambience was very vibrant.
On
one side of the room was this huge, left ajar fridge filled up not with food stuff or
chocolates but it had games such as UNO
and Jenga that one could play and while away their time with friends over food
and drinks. There were also some comic books and novels for more serious
clients. It sent the message across that one could bring the games or books to
their table and sit as long as one wished and management loved having people
around for fun and pleasure.
This
gastro –pub is the sister outlet of another fusion restaurant called ‘Mirchi and Mime which has been quite a
success. The food is okay, still at initial stages but open to suggestions and willing to improve to suit the indian palate. I am specially impressed by this concept of providing equal opportunities’ to
differently abled persons.
I
had a very good experience dining at this restaurant, I would recommend this
place to all my friends who like to relax and eat food at leisure.
