The Food Studio, Mulund

Location:

Opposite Runwal Green project, Mulund Goregaon Link Road, Mulund West, Mumbai

Cuisines:

Italian, North Indian

At office, whenever we plan to have a team outing, we end up being in an anomaly. There is always a difficulty in deciding which place to go. We had to go for a lunch on a Thursday afternoon and as usual we were stuck to the likes of BBQ Nation or Mainland China. A friend suggested visit The Food Studio in Mulund as had heard a lot of good reviews about the place. Thus we decided to try it out! What follows is my experience with the place. Check it out.

Ambiance:
Let’s stick to the basics first. If you are driving to a restaurant, you would certainly encourage ample parking space. I’m afraid you won’t get that here thanks to the narrow roads in the locality. But rest assured your car will be parked safely thanks to the valet parking facility provided by the restaurant. A very thoughtful thing indeed keeping in mind that parking space is less.

The place is easy to spot as it is just opposite Runwal Green project on Goregaon Mulund Link road. It is in close proximity of the Fortis Hospital as well. That makes it easily locatable. At first, the place looked small to me while standing outside but when I set foot inside it looked quiet spacious.

The interiors are quiet flamboyant with loads of wood and metal used. Thus the place doesn’t give you a boring fine dining restaurant look and feel. It is more like a restro-lounge. This place offers both indoor and outdoor seating which is a plus, especially in this weather. The place is tastefully designed including tables and chairs, menu cards, the bar etc. I feel such things are necessary which make a restaurant stand apart from the others in the same league. It’s an age of competition after all and presentation does matter a lot these days. The music was perfect, as they were playing famous numbers of Yves Larock, Rihanna, Far East Movement, LMFAO etc.

Food and Beverages:
Coming to the most important part of this review, the Food!

I had done some research prior to visiting this place and I had heard a lot of people saying that the portion size is small and the food is overpriced. But I decided to try it myself and avoided jumping into any conclusions.
Here was our order:

Appetizers: Nawabi Murg, Jamli Kebab, Cajun Fried Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken

The Food Studio Signature Poulet Pasta

Grilled Chicken Sizzler

Butter Chicken with Breads

I’ll start with the things I liked the most. If you ever visit this place, I strongly recommend Nawabi Murg. Imagine perfectly cooked (in a tandoor) chicken chunks stuffed with molten cheese. The moment I dig my fork into a piece, cheese came oozing out and my eyes were filled with joy. What more does a person want after all. The dish was so delicious that we ordered it for the second time. Cajun fried chicken may remind you the classic fish n chips recipe of Great Britain. It was served with a handful of French fries and tartar sauce. Teriyaki chicken and Jamli kebab were good too but nothing special about them. All the appetizers were good in quantity with around 8 pieces of chicken in each dish, which is acceptable.

The pasta was completely bland with no distinct flavour at all. It disappointed me as it was arguably the best pasta dish in the house. This place offers sizzlers with good variety of sides varying from corn, fries, mushrooms, tortilla chips, veggies etc. we opted for sautéed mushrooms and tortilla chips. The sizzler was good and it served 2 people which is decent. Grilled chicken breast was not up to the mark though and it lacked taste. I am not a huge sizzler fan thus my review for sizzlers can be biased.

For me, a meal is never over till I have had butter chicken and tandoori roti. No offence given, but I have never had a decent quality butter chicken in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. My search for the same went in vain here too. I enjoyed the taste but I was not overwhelmed. Portion size was less in case of butter chicken I must say. So order wisely!

This place has happy hours and gives one plus one offer on IMFL’s. We ordered beer towers and got one on one. It is worth mentioning that liquor prices here are steep so one should be prudent while ordering a few extra rounds.

Service:
Management here is very friendly and warm. The manager came up to me frequently and inquired if we were comfortable and everything was fine. These things are very important in hospitality industry as they leave a mark on the customer. The service was prompt which is always a plus point.

Cost:
After enjoying our meals, it was time for the cheque. Liquor bill was around 2000 bucks which was more than one would expect from a decent place. We could get much more at half the price in places like Pop Tate’s. Food bill ended up costing us around 400 bucks per head. Given the quantity of some of the items, it may pinch you.

The Bottom Line:
This place is worth giving a try and thus I give it 3 and a half stars out of five. The only scope of improvement would be food quantity.

I hope the review was helpful. Happy dining!