Concept Restaurant
PDT is a concept restaurant brought to you by KSW hospitality. Many people would know them for its infamous Pritam group of hotels and Grandmama’s café in Mumbai. It’s the first speak easy concept bar I have visited in mumbai. Many people don’t know the concept of speak easy bars including me and I was delighted to know the history behind this stuff. Apparently Speak easy bars were illegal establishments that came into prominence in America during the Alcohol prohibition era. During this time the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcoholic beverages were banned in America. Such bars used to be disguised to look like a saloon, shop or a telephone booth etc and used to actually sell liquor to its loyal patrons
Ambience
True to its concept PDT situated in Kamala mills is secretly tucked in besides a red telephone booth. You actually wouldn’t even know there’s a restaurant in there. You got to get inside the booth and dial the number “5” which gets you access to the restaurant. I found that pretty cool. The ambience of the restaurant is completely true to the concept where the interiors have been done to give an old tavern like look with industrial elements here and there.
PDT serves a mix and match of American, Modern Indian and finger food. Sagar Bhosle is the man behind the magic at PDT. He has previously worked at Taj group of hotels and Le café before joining PDT. He is full of energy and is dedicated to his work. He cooks up a storm and is also very open to feedback which was something I appreciated a lot. If you’re at PDT and want help just give him a shout. Appreciate all the efforts he put in to make it an awesome experience
Food
The food in PDT is majorly Indian with some modern Indian elements in some dishes. Their Indian dishes are what really shine bright in their menu. The menu is divided into starters, Finger food, Rolls, Hot Dogs, Burgers, Pasta, Risotto and Mains. Each section has some house specials but their core must have is their rolls. They are absolutely top notch in their rolls be it the filling, sauces or the wrap. Their rolls are so much in demand that they also have a rolls take away going on in parallel.
Must haves
The street secret, Shrooms with a view, The Chicken Achari, Chole Papdi & Vada Pav Roll and the Veiled Beauty
Read on to know the complete set
Hush Mush
A dish consisting of panko fried stuffed mushrooms. The stuffing inside consisted of spinach, cheese and some balsamic reduction to flavor the core served with their signature harissa mayo. This dish replaces the jalapeno cheese poppers and does it with style. This dish was loved by veggies and non-veggies alike
Street Secret
Mumbaikars love their Vada Pao and the guys at PDT have replicated that love in the form of these mini Vada Pao sliders served with 3 chutneys. These were made in true Mumbai style and both the Vada and the Pao was super soft. All of the guys loved it.
Camouflaged Bird
Spicy Chicken tikka masala topped on puff pastry garnished with a drop of mayo. This dish was great but it could have been better in my opinion as the puff pastry used could have been a bit softer. The chicken tikka masala topping on the puff was really good but the puff in my opinion had to be chewed a little more which changed the taste and texture holistically
Rolls
As I have mentioned earlies the magic of PDT food lies in its rolls that’s where they really excel. It’s one of the better rolls you find in the city. The rolls are whole wheat, made by hand and freshly baked in the tandoor on order, these are then dressed with their in house dressings and filled up with their top notch gravies to allure our taste buds. If you visit PDT you have to have these rolls or you’re missing the essence of their menu. We tried a couple of rolls
Vada Pav Roll
The guys at PDT have done something really innovative in this space and created a Vada pav roll. I have never had one before but when I had it here I absolutely loved it. That’s because of the way the saucy dressings inside the wrap gave a wet texture to their already soft and high on flavor Vada’s.
Chicken Achari Roll
The chicken Achari roll is a roll that every non vegetarian must try when you’re here. The flavors that we felt in each bite left us longing for more. This roll was what Indian rolls are made up of. Sweet, Sour Spice & everything nice. A must have wrap. The filling inside was also very generous. For vegetarians there is a chole papdi roll that you must try
Chicks on Sticks
Chicken skewers made teriyaki style and served with Peanut butter sauce. The teriyaki flavored meat was succulent, well grilled and just about perfect for my standards. For me the dish lost its plot with the peanut butter sauce. It just doesn’t go with the Sweet flavored teriyaki. All it does is that it neutralizes all teriyaki flavor on the meat and gives a peanut heavy flavor. This dish was Like “Udta Punjab”. It had the potential only to be failed because of the dip that’s served
Crave the Date
Another Dish that had few elements which were very good only to be neutralized by other elements which brought the dish down. This consisted of Minced Lamb cutlets topped on a pita bread and garnished with sweet onions, tomatoes and coriander. The thick and dry Pita bread in this dish neutralized everything that’s on top. It needed some sauce or masala on it to add on to the lamb. The Lamb cutlets topped with those onions actually were very good and reminisced me of those young days spent having kebab pav.
Shrooms With A View
The feeling I got with this dish was like the England Vs Iceland Match yesterday. You have high expectations with something and something completely unexpected becomes the star of the day. That’s what this dish was all about. Who would have expected an open sandwich to be so damn good. Soft Focaccia bread toasted and topped with a delicious and saucy mushroom mix drizzled with balsamic reduction. Mushrooms and balsamic can never go wrong
Veiled Beauty
Well when you have so much of Indian food you would really want to have something Indian in mains too and that’s why we opted for this neat little Pav Bhaji made PDT Style. A very simple pav Bhaji loaded with some parmesan and served with warm, buttery and soft pavs. Just the way all Indians like it. The vegetarian options really were good here.
Butter Chicken Risotto
I read a lot of reviews and recommendations for this dish and had made up my mind to try this at all costs. Slated as one of the best modern indian risottos that you can try here but my experience was the polar opposite of this. This dish was just too sweet for my liking and I dont think I can ever visualize myself having a sweet risotto. That too coming from a guy who loves sweet flavored food
Desserts
In Desserts we tried the baked cheesecake and a chocolate cake. Both the desserts were good to end the meal. I especially liked the baked cheesecake which made me remember my favorite Japanese cheesecake a lot.
Final Verdict
PDT had its shares of ups and downs for me but It’s a nice option to go in Kamala mills especially as most of the star studded places are always full. If you want to have some rolls, drinks and in general have some good Indian finger food you should definitely give this place a visit.
My Taste Test 