Carter’s Blue- A honest Review

Carter’s Blue – Kalaghoda 

This place serves North Indian, Lebanese, Chinese apart from Rolls, salads and fast food. After opening a while back, they have managed to pull good crowd for home deliveries as well as Dine ins. They have a beautiful large seating with separate AC room and a Sheesha room. They are in the Rhythm house lane and one cannot miss Carter’s Blue even if one wants to. We decided to check the food and also check the service. We joined some friends on a table at their place to get a hang of the dishes served out there.

The owner and his sons were courteous to greet us and gave some valuable inputs as we browsed the menu. The Carters Blue menu is complex and comprehensive. Having said that, they have made a name for themselves with delivering all that they display on the menu. They serve pretty quickly and that gives them the edge when doing business in the busy South Mumbai.

Food

Since we had joined a friends group Table, there was a lot which was ordered to be tasted. What we ensured that no food was wasted and all the friends helped us in doing so. We shared each dish only with a small portion so that we could evaluate the taste and at the same time everything on the plate was consumed.

There was Fish Koliwada of boneless chunks of Basa fish batter coated, deep fried and served with green chutney, Arabic Chicken Shawarma with succulent chicken wrapped in a bun with olives, Cirspy Chieken Schezwan with some juicy chicken chunks and onions tossed in Schezwan Sauce, the Za’atar naan again as an improvised Indian version, the recent version of Mutton Galouti Kebab of what was first made by Haji Mohammed Fakr-E-alam saheb and of course without all of the 150 exotic spices which he had used then, the Lebanese Boneless Dajaj where we have minced mutton stuffed inside chicken and topped with fresh chopped veggies like bell peppers, beet and red onions along with a chicken seekh roll and some more. In the main course we checked out the famous Arabic Mandi Rice. The group then had some coolers and Mojito’s to finish off the meal process.

Food review of Carter’s Blue:

Now coming to the food eating experience:  The starters and appetizers are in plenty. The chef gets a lot to play with their choice of combinations to innovate new dishes. This is the reason why you will find many dishes improvised by the chefs here. The chicken Seekh roll is a regular dish here and can be ordered without worries. The chef has a master’s hand here and the roll is almost perfect. The Boneless Djaj is also recommended to those who would love to try some innovation. Though the traditional Lebanese Djaj recipes are far away in taste as compared to what we had here, this dish is appreciated because it has been curated as per Indian taste of spices and food. The Traditional Djaj appears flat in taste as compared to the Indian made here due to the spice content and innovation.

Za’atar naan

The same is the case with Za’atar Naan which has been improvised as per Indian taste. The use of cumin, fennel and coriander is traditionally not done. What we have is dried thyme, marjoram and Oregano mixed with salt and sesame seeds. In Syria commercially prepared Za’ater herb is used. Since we are in India and at Carters Blue, the chefs have very intelligently managed to tilt the spice quotient with the mix of Indian origin herbs to make it Indian. This dish is definitely recommended.

Crispy Chicken Schezwan

In the Chinese section, the Crispy chicken schezwan is definitely a dish to go for. The chicken is done perfectly in the schezwan sauce with none overpowering the other. The balance of garlic and onions has been maintained with care so as to not disturb the blend of the chicken and schezwan. All other dishes were okay with nothing special to be mentioned as a recommendation.

Chicken Mandi Rice

The Chicken Mandi Rice was a surprise disappointment. I had ordered this presuming it to be a showstopper dish. Unfortunately this fails to register itself as the signature dish of the Chef. The traditional Mandi Rice is from Yemen. It later moved on to the other Arabic countries. It is the main staple dish of many. The lamb or the chicken used here is of a young animal to enhance the flavors. The chicken is boiled in water along with the whole spices. The boiled chicken is then cooked in a tandoor. The stock of the boiled chicken is used to cook already soaked rice. Some raisins are added to this to give it a sweetish and rich note. The final dish gets a charcoal effect with a burning piece of charcoal introduced on the rice in a small plate.

Then either ghee or spoon oil is poured on it. The rice pan is then tightly covered so that the charcoal fumes engulf the rice properly and give it the aroma needed. It is then served topped with the tender grilled chicken pieces. What we got here was undercooked rice (probably because it was not pre-soaked) without the sweetish note and the charcoal effect. My two cents to the chef would b to invest time in this and see the magic.

Service Time of Carters Blue

Once the order is placed the food is served in a decent time. This I would like to appreciate because the staff is seen on the run continuously to improve the service standards. The whole team efficiently manages the kitchen, the sheesha room and the regular serving areas. I did not observe any bottleneck anywhere.

Plus and Minus

Like I always say, as a Food blogger and chef, I am choosy about the food and look at all aspects when the end product is served. I always look at bettering the dish and the menu further to the point of perfection. While the dishes I mentioned were pretty good, I found the Chicken Mandi Rice needs lot of improvisation. A small note to the chefs would be, not to use so much of cheese. Even 2/3^rd the amount of cheese used in all dishes will make them appear and taste great. I would also ask them to put some more heart in working on prawns. The prawns take up what we give them. So please give them some love before sending them in the oil. Allow them to rest with the spices and marinade for a while before sending them in the frying pan.

My advice to the marketing team/management would be to correct the Menu card. Some of the dishes have been wrongly put under wrong sections. Kindly correct that. Having said that I would definitely give a 4.5/5 for service and 4.0/5 for the food. I will give the extra 0.5 overall because I feel the chefs are slightly overburdened with so many dishes to make (if asked for) and they appeared to be the ‘always ready to learn’ types. The overall 0.5 is deducted because there is always scope for improvement of food quality and Hygiene/cleanliness. I am sure the restaurant will take my feedback positively and serve me the improvised versions soon. Restaurant recommended.

Address: Carter’s Blue, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai

Meal For 2: 1000/- for two.

Timings: 12 noon to 3.00 am (Go before 10pm if you want to choose your choice of seat)

Ratings: Food 4.0 Service 4.5 Value for money 4.0 Overall 4.5

Uttpal K

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