Shivaji Park’s hidden carbonara gem, Terttulia

Our friend, Manisha, wanted to take us to Terttulia for a while. I wanted to go there for a while too. The stars aligned one Sunday & she took K & me to T for lunch.

Terrtulia is located in a quiet lane in Shivaji Park. Walk down & you will reach the fairly new Dadar sun deck where you can stand & see the sea. It was a clouded day & we managed to spend some time on the deck. It had the vibe of an Indian seaside town, far away from the madding Mumbai crowd. Till you looked down & saw the muck which had collected in the water by the sun deck. Which is why it makes sense to look ahead in life than otherwise.

Enough of this pretend spiritual guru stuff. Let me take you to Terttulia now.

We reached a bit before the lunch crowd, got a prized, and rather cheerful, window table. No sea view though.

The restaurant got packed soon. A reminder that there are neighbourhood restaurants in the city which do not have the PR budgets or newsiness of new restaurant launches, but who are quietly doing a good job, even if they only have word of mouth going for them.

Service was good. The folks taking the order knew their stuff.

The girls loved their kaffir lime and lemon grass lemonades. My sweet & salt fresh lime soda made with stevia was well balanced.

I chose, yes you read it right, I chose the kale and quinoa for us. It was fresh, crunchy & the dressing offered a beautiful balance between the sweetness of dates and sharpness of chèvre (goat cheese). The quinoa did not shout for attention & rested quietly in the background. Toasted almonds added to the fun.

My carbonara…yes, yes, I see you shake your head, ‘stevia, salad & then carbonara?! Well, that’s me. The carbonara was beautiful. The sauce was creamy, but not runny; its flavours were sharp, yet indulgent; the bacon crisp but done right, not over-crisp. I had a carbonara at @eatalylondon the week before; the Shivaji Park version was not too bad in comparison.