The Yoga House

Critic´s Review

• Food: 3.5 / 5
• Service: 2 / 5
• Decor: 3 / 5

-By Rashmi Uday Singh

I write from the banks of the glorious Ganga near Kolkatta. And I cant think of a better location to write about Mumbai's new cafe The Yoga house". Yoga has been my enduring passion for more than thirty years (ever since I studied it in the IAS academy in Mussoorie). And Kolkatta is my most favorite city (after Mumbai). So I am in double bliss as I do yoga at dusk (and then swim in the infinity pool) by the river as it flows timelessly into the sea. Right through, the flautist's silver sweet notes seduce the vast silence of the starry skies and seem to spangle the ripples of the river with shimmering moonshine.It keeps getting better. I feast on a world class gourmet experience where art, culture, music, history fuse seamlessly in myriads of rooms,lounges and bars where time pauses to take a deep breath and then sighs contentedly and stands still. Here centuries of rare recipes distil onto my plate as a baraat of "peasant" "zamindari" and the "Musalman" food of Bengal come alive in Madhu and Harsh Neotia's product of passion.Kolkatta lives up to all my childhood memories of colorfully lit festooned Park street Christmases, mustard spiked jhal moodi, gracious golf clubs, golden hearted Marwari friends and more.This time I not only lunched in the sexily glamorous,very white and very rocking Mediteranean restaurant but also in the timeless popular relic of the Raj "Mocambo" on Pork medallions, Fish Diane, devilled crab and chicken ala kiev's bomb of a version . Ate here with our very own bombs, the sparkling ma-daughter duo of Shobhaa De and Anandita.. Oh ! Calcutta-aaaah!

THE YOGA HOUSE

"Leave your shoes and ego outside the door" announces the blackboard outside this bungalow in the Chimbai village of Bandra that houses a pure vegetarian macrobiotic cafe (flip the page right now if this kind of cuisine is not your shot of juice), a yoga studio and a shop stocking clothes, yoga props, soaps, wild honey organic grains, muesli and more.

Clad in white and cooling shades the spartan tables, doors and floors and soft white curtains lend a relaxed air. This all day cafe serves lots of grains, (like millet or raw bajra) yogis breakfast, juices (including wheatgrass and combination fruit juices). "I am fighting" (Rs 200) was my salad of choice (dried figs, alfalfa, purple cabbage with a sesame oil dressing...flavorsome but not enough figs) the signature "I am detoxifying" quinoa burger (light and tasty quinoa watermelon seeds patty with hummus) the well made tofu brown rice (Rs 240) laced with soya sauce and ended with a dryish organic muffin. Two charming French ladies (Francette Harrison, whose husband heads up the Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai and Veronique Desjonqueres, working on a project on our city) who happened to be there thought "everything was nice, tasty and healthy".

Do remember there is no airconditioning, no alcohol (obviously not) and the service can get very slow. The food is far from gourmet but its healthy, well made and moderately priced. If you've read till here, then youre obviously into“macrobiotic recipes rooted in ancient dietary wisdom” . Go. You'll be delighted. It doesnt get better than this in our city.

P.S. I found out later that Yoga house is the owned and run by the very French Maud Chuffart and Ajit Tapaswi, and the menu is devised by chef Christopher James Clark, who specialises in Macrobiotic food."