When in Goa, homemade non-vegetarian food usually takespreference. But when in Mumbai, there is an exposure to a variety of worldcuisine. Be it Chinese, Vietnamese, Mediterranean, Thai, Mexican, Italian andnot forgetting, North Indian and South Indian cuisines.
Last week, we visited ‘Snow Flake’, a restaurant in SouthMumbai that serves Goan food. Started by Late Joaquim Pascal Rebello almost 90years ago, this restaurant is now taken care of by his daughter Sebastina Vaz.
Trays crammed with Beef and Fish Cutlets, Fried Fish andCroquettes were sitting in an antique showcase at the entrance. This family-runrestaurant does not give you a menu, but lists the items on a board. There isalso an additional board which highlights the speciality of the day. The firstto arrive at our table were a couple of circular Beef Cutlets and oval FishCutlets. It’s a tin cake of smashed beef and fish that’s mixed with spices, andfried after cradling the cake in a bed of semolina. This is all done withouttaking away the flavour of the meat or fish.
This is more like it for starters. In a quick chat withSebastina, she related that soups and salads used to appear on their list, buteventually disappeared as there were no takers. According to her, people inMumbai are always in a hurry, and don’t have the time to sit for a leisurelythree-course meal in a tiny restaurant like this.
The second-course of the evening’s sumptuous dinner was PorkChilly Fry. It was a platter of finely chopped delicious tender pig’s meatsleeping on a bed of fried onions, tomatoes and green chillies. And the meatwas English Pork. Then arrived two plates of steamed rice accompanied withbowls of Ambot Tik and Beef Xacuti. Ambot Tik is a gravy carrying pieces ofshark and was sour and spicy like it’s meant to be. On the other hand, Xacutiis a curry made of finely grated coconut and is beautifully spiced. If I had tochoose between the two gravies, it would definitely be Xacuti for it has theperfect taste.
If a question about Snow Flake serving vegetarian foodarises in your mind, the answer will be yes and no. It tried serving Veg-Kurmaand Ussal-Missal for some time, but no takers, again. So, they prefer servingveg only during Lent season on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The evening could not end without drooling over the tinyCaramel Custard. It was thick and egg-y. Sugar wasn’t over burnt and it wasn’tvery sweet.
As of now, the restaurant is populated by Parsis,Maharashtrians, Gujarathis and Goans, of course. According to the owner, SnowFlake’s popular items are Pork Vindaloo and Tongue Roast. Be warned “ SnowFlake doesn’t stock liquor. Choose from aerated drinks.
The Goan conducts anonymous reviews. We pay for our own food
