Restaurant Review: Faaso's, Mumbai

‘OPEN BOX WITH CAUTION

No specific reason though.’

A yellow box containing Paneer on Biryani had arrived from Faaso’s. But first, let me take you back a bit. We have a ritual in our department to order in lunch every Saturday. So last Saturday, scouting the web for possible restaurant delivery options did not take me far.

On a completely related note, Prabhadevi (in Mumbai) lacks serious food options. Potential restaurateurs,  please consider Prabhadevi- it has attracts so many office-going crowd. If things don’t change around here (by which I mean if eateries don’t spring up, threatening to occupy all corners of Prabhadevi), I swear I will set up a food stall which will cater exclusively to me and my cravings.

Back to Faaso’s. It’s a fast food chain in Mumbai and Pune that specialises on delivery. Their tagline is ‘Wraps on the run’ and outlets typically have a really tiny seating section. Their focus is on Indian wraps and rolls and making India cool in a non-cliche way. It has smart, witty statements and graphics on its branding and packaging. Eg: ‘Rice is a smooth operator. It gets cozy with multiple curries.’ And – ‘Our courses do not offer soup as it is not a part of our curryculum.’

The Biryani (Rs 120) arrived as promised, about 20 minutes after placing the order. Eagerly sampling a spoonful of the rice, I was taken aback by the lack of flavour. Did they forget the spices?! It even lacked salt. We salvaged the Biryani by adding generous (really generous, like Bill Gates generous) quantities of chaat masala to it. In case you are wondering how I got my hands on chaat masala in office.. between my colleagues and I, we have a mini pantry thing going on in our department. The Boss stacks steel spoons, forks and salt. And at any given time, I have ketchup sachets, plastic bowls, tissues and at least some type of food handy.

Faaso’s has a few things going for it – I am mighty impressed by their packaging, look and feel. But no so much by their food. I am also a bit peeved by the fact that their minimum home delivery amount is Rs 100, when ALL of their vegetarian wraps and rolls are priced under Rs 100. Where does that leave the lone eater? I do not like being compelled to shell out more for eating extra food I did not want to order in the first place. I was also going to write about the utterly unpleasant guy who took my order on the phone, but I think it would be too much nastiness in one post.

Think I’ll stick to the friendly neighbourhood Udipi hotel next Saturday.

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