Riding The Black Horse

Kala Ghoda Café.
10, Ropewalla Lane, near Blue Synagogue, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai.
Tel: 2263 3866
Meal for two: Rs 800

Or if you prefer Dr Who, he of the nerdy gaze and time-traveller tricks, head for Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda Cafe. Hidden next to what is called the ‘Blue Synagogue’ behind Mumbai’s most famous art district, you feel you are stepping into a phone booth. Cleverly placed skylights flood the interior. The roughly whitewashed walls are spiffed up with saleable art.

The cafe meanders down a dark corridor and morphs into a boutique called Obataimu. It’s so dark, this reviewer almost mistook it for a gothic loo. You could however bump into Dr Who checking out the aforementioned spectacles.

The owner, Farhad Bomanjeet, not only has a firm sense of what he thinks is great food, simply prepared and elegantly presented, he also offers organic options. The organic South Indian coffee (Rs 80) is free on Sundays.

You can go the raw food way, order sweet potato and pumpkin salads (Rs 135), pesto cheddar sandwiches (Rs 200), but he also allows you to choose waffles doused in honey and butter (Rs 125) or a Parsi pora (omelette for Rs 125). The bakery items are so fresh you can spend your time gazing at them, if not at the crowd. There’s even a wooden mezzanine floor where young men and women ramp up and down “talking of Michelangelo”. Or, if not him, another cup of Cappuccino.