On Saturday evening Mumbaikar.com (whom I’ve been blogging for for some time) sent me on a mission to review Pebbles, the seafood specialty restaurant at the Juhu Residency Hotel (formerly J49!) and OMG I was totally not expecting to find one of the best seafood meals I’ve ever had in Mumbai to be hiding out in this cozy little, romantically lit restaurant on the 4th floor. The PR lady, Sonia Chowdhury took us on a little tour and then we spent the evening chatting with their consultant Chef Saby Fernandes who, apart from being a legitimate foodie was just superbly passionate about making sure he only ever serves what he himself would eat (good policy in the restaurant biz I feel!) I think the only thing which remains to be done now is for you to head over there asap and try it out. I can’t understand why the dominating crowd seems to be full on families when its totally the kind of place you and I would go with our friends, drink LOTS of wine, eat crab on the shell and remember as one hell of a night!
Oooh and guess what? Saby has agreed to give one lucky blog reader a chance to cook up an epic meal for someone special along with him at Pebbles one evening. All YOU have to do to win is post a comment telling me who your special someone is; mom, dad, girlfriend, brother, fiancee whoever and why you want to do this for them 🙂
Admittedly, I’m not that much of a foodie, which is why I took friends who are, to review the menu. So its over to the boyfriend now for his expert opinion!
Pebbles, Food Guide by Nowshad Rizwanullah
I admit it – I’m a sucker for a good surprise and maybe that’s why I was so taken by the food at Pebbles restaurant at the Juhu Residency Hotel. In a city where a handful of establishments have laid an iron-fisted claim to the title of best seafood restaurant (you know which ones I’m talking about) and where the monsoon season scares away even the most avid seafood fans, I wasn’t sure what to expect a our meal this Saturday night. The moment we started chatting with Chef Saby Fernandes, however, it became clear we were in the hands of a man who knew what he was doing.
Fernandes not only spoke passionately about his craft, but displayed a deep understanding of the ingredients he used and the best ways to prepare them – and his food more than spoke for itself. Not only was everything remarkably fresh (he sources daily from the Bay of Bengal during the rainy season to get around the local monsoon concerns and freezes nothing overnight) but it was also cooked to perfection – no rubbery or tough calamari here.
By far our group favorite was the Shredded Crab Thai Garlic appetizer – a delicate but flavorful dish that kept the sweet crab meat center stage while adding flecks of chilli and garlic to liven things up. The Squid Saffron Masala was grilled just right, allowing it to retain some bite without getting chewy, and flavored with a generous but not overwhelming dusting of savory spices.
Our third appetizer, the Singapore Style Pomfret, was also quite tasty, but I have to say the least original of the three – basically a well cooked but standard “Indian-Chinese” style fish in a thick red gravy (kind of reminded me of a Manchurian sauce). Our main courses did not disappoint – Sukha Clams cooked in a bold, dry mix of Mangalorean spices and coconut (a little hard to eat but that’s generally the case with clams), a flaky, tangy, spicy Tandoori Rawas, and the standout Moheli Tiger Prawns – a coconut milk stew perfectly tempered with curry leaves and mustard seeds – an absolute must try that will have you clamoring for extra appams to soak up every last drop (they are cooked fresh at a live station so why not?).
Our meal left us satisfyingly stuffed and wondering what other gems were hidden in the extensive menu, cleverly organized by cooking style (grilled, fried, etc…) – although we did manage to find space for a perfectly decent, if not slightly heavy, chocolate mousse dessert.
With a generous selection of wines (both domestic and foreign) and an attentive wait staff, Pebbles is a worthy addition to the list of beloved seafood restaurants in the city, and one well worth checking out the next time you have a craving for some delicious fruits of the sea.
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