SEEFAH

Thai Japanese

Let's track these success stories! It all starts with a Thai lady chef marrying Indian chef specializing in Japanese food.  Three years ago, their very first, very tiny no-frills,  no booking  “The Blue” had Mumbai foodies swooning with delight. I waited in a line, tripped out on Seefah Ketchaiyo

 and Karan Bane’s  The Blue. We  crowned The Blue with the prestigious Times food Award. Two years later  their Soi 69 opened  in the swish Breachcandy. And then came the sad news, The no frills Blue shut down. Thankfully the much bigger “Seefah” opened in Bandra. And now that’s the only restaurant they have. Will their earlier  success story be repeated here? To check it out I dined here with a super success story herself. A pioneering legend for the past 25 years in the national and international world of beauty aesthetic medicine & anti aging. Dr Jamuna Pai,  supergorgeous granma, pioneer of cosmetology is constantly introducing new high tech  treatments and through it all  actually finds time to cook and cooks brilliantly. Giving her vegetarian take on the food is her dearest friend,  charming Suchi Kalia.We not only enjoy the food but Dr Pai, (synonymous with superlative skincare) gives Seefah ‘s food yet another thumbs up. She points out  that eating right food plays  a major role in the beauty & health of our skin,   Seefah s food is  “flavoursome while also being equally healthy”  she says.

DÉCOR

Don’t get put off by the location. Walk to the side of the Bandra building housing  McDonalds. Get into a tiny elevator at the back and zoom up to the third floor. The simply done up in hues of blue, (Seefah translates to the color blue in Thai) also has  beautiful Cherry blossoms painted on the walls. Colourful paintings from the streets of Thailand add to the Asian vibe.

FOOD

Vibrant Thai flavors and textures delight be it the  chicken deep  fried and sparkled with lemongrass  or the spicy chicken 

with refreshing notes of basil.Ask for the moist  pillowy gyoza, plump with intense mushroom flavour and continue the heady musky joy with the truffle infused sushi. But this one has a prawn tempura crunch in it’s centre. Avocado buffs delight in the generously loaded avocado sushi,rolled with the right kind of rice.

A few dishes unique to Seefah which are worth trying…Raw salmon salad sparkled with spice, the moist succulent tenderloin grilled to perfection, crispy squid paired with fleshy raw mango. Must end with the unique, crazily addictive  and justifiably famous, luscious dessert of  Honey toast.

MINUS POINTS

Not enough vegetarian dishes on the menu. No pork dishes and no alcohol…since the landlord is a muslim. Some of the dishes lack punch: Thai papaya salad our usual favourite falls flat with not enough sweet or spicy notes. Similarly tuning up of flavors and balancing them needed in many a dish.          

MY POINT

The husband and wife duo  of Seefah and Karan bring a whiff of Japan and Thailand to Bandra. They do so in a cheerfully simply done up space in a nondescript Bandra building. 

Depth and  intensity of flavour mark  Chef Seefah’s Thai dishes. while Chef Karan’s Japanese are more pristine. Chef Karan takes pains to add an extra  dimension of spice and crunch too. Any wonder that Seefah has been magnetising the likes of Leander Paes, Kuunal Vijayakar to Anita dongre?

The chef-couple have a gift and skill to reliably turn what’s already enjoyable into something remarkable. To keep down the prices and to turn up the oomph. Kudos 

SEEFAH Khan House, Hill Road 3 Floor, Above McDonald's, Bandra West

Ph: 8928895952

Open lunch and dinner

RATING FOOD 3.75 SERVICE 3.5 DÉCOR 3.25