Thai Curry, Tea and Tiramisu - Heady dining at CafeTrofima restaurant Mumbai

What's mentioned in the title of this post are three of the items on the menu which you should not miss out on, when dining at Café Trofima restaurant in Mumbai city. When it opened a year ago, the restaurant had a menu which was limited for vegetarians and was predominantly non-vegetarian food. On our second visit today, we were happy to see a much improved menu, both in terms of the menu layout itself (previously it was just a large sheet of thick paper, much like a large pamphlet, frayed at the edges. Now it is a cheery orange and blue one on the inside, albeit a dull brown outside though. There are more options for vegetarians as well. It goes without saying that, a year on, the prices have shot up too!!


No matter the price rise, not to mention the dreadful GST tax tacked on, it is still worth a visit to  Café Trofima. The interior is bright and airy and fairly spacious, though the corner tables at one end are a bit too closely clustered. Above the dessert and coffee machine counter are blackboards on which is mentioned the Soup of the Day and the names of Desserts to try out.  

At one end is a pipe-like contraption (the Air-conditioning duct?) and at the other, just outside the kitchen are colourful cups and pans hanging from the ceiling. 

The Menu

Menu

As mentioned earlier, the menu has undergone a sea change. Earlier, the vegetarian options were limited to risotto, Thai curry, pastas, pizzas and burgers. This time round, we were happy to see parathas listed along with varied rice and vegetable options. However, we were disappointed to be informed that the parathas are available only up to 11.30a.m. Quite odd, to say the least! Surely parathas should be on the lunch-time menu. 

The Soup of the Day was Roasted Lemongrass. Lovely and piping hot! Not a watery one, this soup, but semi-thick with mixed vegetables. Stir it properly, otherwise you will get the spicy hint of pepper only towards the end. 

We ordered the Mushroom Trio Bao, which was three steamed buns stuffed with mushrooms. Quite boring!

The Tomato Olive Mozzarella Bruschetta (four on a plate), listed under 'Small Plates' were four long pieces of toasted bread (French baquettes as per the menu listing) topped with Basil-marinated Tomatoes and melted Mozzarella. While the bread was truly crispy and crunchy, there was no taste of the basil coming through, though there were a generous number of olives. 

Don't bother with the Jalapeno Masala Omlette Pao or the Bagus pictured above (had last year) - these are extremely boring and the Omlette-pao which should have been served hot was limp and cold. Dreadful, to be blunt.

We then had the Veg Thai Curry. Note that this is accompanied with rice. This was not mentioned in the menu, so we had assumed that the curry was a dish by itself and hence had ordered the Veg Fried Rice as well! The Thai Curry was delicious, thick and packed with a wholesome flavor. It contained broccoli pieces, as also yellow capsicum (maybe it was zucchini though, could not quite make out!). It tasted good whether poured on the white rice which accompanied it as well as with the fried rice. The Tomato Risotto we had on an earlier occasion is also yummy.

For vegetables to accompany the rice, we had the Wok Tossed Vegetables. The vegetables in it are: Lotus root, snow peas, Shimeji mushrooms, baby pokchoy and carrot. A very good medley and liked very much! 

The non-vegetarian members of our group had Fish & Chips, followed up with BBQ

Chicken. The Fish & Chips consisted of two pieces (should have been more, surely!) of batter-fried crispy Vietnamese fish fillet served with French fries which were disappointingly not as crunchy as they ought to be, served with a dip of Tartare sauce (white mayonnaise).

The BBQ Chicken dish was grilled barbequed chicken served with a spicy barbeque sauce. There were also fried onion rings and some rice. Overall, quite a wholesome, delicious meal in itself! 

Do try the unique teas. On our previous visit we had the Fruit Bloom, this time round it was Jasmine Green Tea.

The tea is served in a Filter Press, which allows the tea to be poured out after being infused with the ingredients of the tea that rest at the bottom and do not come through the filter. It is a substantial amount, served in a fairly large cup. 

And, finally, the Desserts. On a wall is a blackboard which proclaims "Life is short; Eat dessert first". Well said, as far as the Tiramisu at Trofima is concerned - it is simply heavenly! The Red Velvet Cake was not something we liked very much, perhaps because we expected something soft and this one was unexpectedly like a toasted bread with a stiff surface. The Coffee-Chocolate Mousse had more of a coffee taste and less of chocolate. The Pineapple Gauteaux pastry has loads of cream and was OK. I think the desserts do need a bit of an upgrade overall in terms of taste, though visually they are very appealing.

Café Trofima Address
Raja Badhe Chowk,
Shivaji Park Road No.2,
Opposite Raja Rani Travels,
Mumbai - 400016

A wonderful point to note: On the back of the take-away menu were a list of emergency numbers for contacting the police, fire stations, ambulance service, hospitals, blood banks, pharmacies which are open 24hrs round the clock and even contact numbers for power supply and of the local Municipal Ward offices. Good work!