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Fun food, great service: Kettle & Keg restaurant review
Like most contemporary casual-dining restaurants, K&K’s is a ‘safe’ menu, but the options are plenty and the staff refreshingly warm.
WHAT: Kettle & Keg
RATING: 3.5 / 5
WHERE: Shop No 1, Plot No 470, Celeste Kinchin Co-Op Housing Society, 14th Road, Khar (West)
WHEN: 9 am to midnight
COST: Rs 1,500 for two without alcohol
CALL: 2605-4343 / 2604-0303
It’s rare to find a restaurant in Mumbai where you’ll see such camaraderie among the service staff. When your server is busy, another waiter, or a captain, will take your order, clear your plates, make suggestions, and provide explanations, even before you draw their attention. It’s this congenial spirit that makes pint-sized Kettle & Keg such an unusually warm and friendly place. This warmth emanates from the kitchen as well. The chef sends out a complimentary salad when one part of our order is delayed; later, when he finds I’ve left my mushroom cheese melt sandwich half-eaten, he apologies and promises to work on the recipe.
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It’s unlikely he’ll be able to do anything to rectify it. The problem with the sandwich is the problem every bland or neutral flavoured Western dish faces in India: it gets drowned with spices. I was expecting a simple, toasted sandwich that melded the sweet earthiness of mushroom and the salty stringiness of cheese. What I got was a spicy, saucy mess of a filling that killed the taste of mushroom.
I was pleased to find that the restaurant didn’t charge us for it.
Like most contemporary casual-dining restaurants Kettle & Keg has a ‘safe’ menu – there’s enough to satisfy every palate, appetite and age group. You’re overwhelmed with options from an all-day breakfast menu to burgers, sandwiches, grills, pastas, pizza and Parsi food.
We decided to start with a portion of Guntur chilli cheese fries and a beef tikka boti. Arranged in a neat column on a black spice-flecked plate with a generous topping of grated cheese and coriander, the chilli-tossed fries are beautifully plated. The combination of cheesiness, pungency and crispy fries makes it good enough to become a signature dish.
The botis, tender and moist, are served along with some soft, bubble-shaped ladi paos and a raw papaya salad that’s inadequately tart. These are not the chewy street botis but generously marinated strips that pull apart effortlessly.
We anticipate a mushy disaster when we ask for the three-cheese, black pepper and thyme risotto to be prepared al dente and are told that the rice is pre-cooked. It turns out to be not as firm as we’d like, but much better than what you’d get at most non-Italian restaurants. And you can taste the brie, padano and cheddar distinctly.
Kettle & Keg only serves wines on the weekend. We opted for a Twinkled Galangal Lemonade, which proved to be refreshing on a summer afternoon.
Despite being on a street that’s bookended by Monkey Bar and a Domino’s, Kettle & Keg is full on a Friday afternoon. With the exception of our table, the tiny place is entirely overrun by large groups of ladies who lunch. And even though it’s noisy and a bit cramped, what draws the crowd seems to be the fine balance of comfort food and attentive service.
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(HT pays for all meals and reviews anonymously)
