Hammer & Song — Restaurant in Mumbai

Hammer & Song is a new Chic Cocktail Bar in South Mumbai, located at World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade. Owned by the same management who also own Flamboyante, this bar spreads over 2 levels ground and mezzanine. Plenty of seating is available and can accommodate large groups as well.

Ground Level has a neat looking bar and this place is known for its cocktails. Lot of bottles are on display at the stairs you take to go to the mezzanine level. Since it is a cocktail bar, focus is more on appetizers, small plates and starters.  Talking about what all we tried at Hammer & Song -

We started with few mocktails to begin since the place is known for its drinks - Berry Peach and Virgin Mandarin Caiprioska. Both drinks were nice, my recommendation would be Berry Peach, a nice thick and rich blend of peach with different berries. Virgin Mandarin Caiprioska was a mix of Orange and Lime, nice refreshing blend. You may pick and choose basis your priority. Later after finishing with starters, with the main course, we ordered Virgin Kiwi Margarita (Fresh Fruit Margarita), awesome drink and must try. Drinks are really good and compliments to the bar tender.

Moving to the starters, we ordered for Lotus Stem Nachos and Tex Mex Chillies to begin. Tex Mex Chillies were stuffed Anaheim Peppers, grilled to perfection and served along with Chipotle Salsa sauce. A unique Mexican preparation and I loved it. A little spicy I must say but full of taste. Recommended. Lotus Stem Nachos another amazing dish where instead of tortilla chips, you are served Crisp Lotus Stem Chips with Oriental spices, Jalapenos and topped with sour cream. Mind you, the nachos here are very different from what you get else where it is loaded with cheese and mayo and salsa sauce. This one has no such toppings. Lotus stem chips along with spices and jalapenos and hint of sour cream just do the magic.

Next we tried the Baked Brie and Black Pepper Cottage Cheese from the Grill section. Brie is cow's milk cheese served in samosa shape topped with caramel spiced seeds and truffle honey emulsion. Brie just melts in your mouth, absolutely awesome and a must try! Black Pepper Cottage Cheese is a clay oven roasted Peppery cottage cheese with Indian slaw and garlic cream. Black Pepper Cottage Cheese is again a rare dish which you find in very few restaurants. Cottage Cheese fans, highly recommended for them, go for it.

We loved the Indian starter so much that we decided to try couple of more Indian based starters, Emmental Chilli Naan and Spiced Yogurt Kebab. Of the two would recommend to go for the Naan starter which is stuffed with Emmental Cheese and Anaheim Chill and Sun-Dried Tomato. Dish is served with some mint chutney. Suggestion to the restaurant would be to serve along with some Dal Bukhara. Spiced Yogurt Kebab is spiced curd and pomegranate filling kebab served with mint chutney.

Since we went heavy on starters and nibbles, the focus was less on main course. And I would recommend the same to everyone trying Hammer & Song. We ordered for Veg Chinese Meal Bowl which has plenty of veggies like carrots, broccoli, corn, bell peppers, etc. with fried rice and steamed Bok Choi or Pok Choi (Chinese Cabbage). Real nice preparation, would recommend to go for this in case you don't prefer Khao Suey.

Finally moving to desserts - we tried the Nutella Cheesecake and Mexican Churros. Personally loved the Nutella Cheesecake which is a two layered cheese cake topped with Nutella sauce on the cheesecake and around along with Cookie Soil. Every bite of this cheesecake was divine. Churros fans can go for the Mexican style churros (loaded with sugar) and dark chocolate dip.

Met Amrish and Ayush Arora at the restaurant who own the place and we complimented them for the amazing vibrant place they have come up with.  The food is fantastic, drinks were amazing. A fabulous experience overall , something which shouldn’t be missed in case you are travelling to this part...

Hammer & Song - Name sounds interesting, so is the place. Call it a Cocktail Bar which is beautifully designed situated at Cuff Parade (comes from the same Stable who has given us Flamboyant and fountain sizzlers) this place looks a class apart. 2 Levels (Upper level is mainly for parties but they open up during the weekends) Just a month old baby and the who's who of Mumbai has visited. Being a Thursday - by 930 pm was packed. They have Gigs and other events lined up each Wednesday and Fridays (Do reserve your table) Serves Asian and Continental food. European as well. Plating is small. Basically their focus is Bar and the food is bar nibbles and some mains. Coming to what we started:

Classic Drink FRENCH 75 - Gin/Sparkling/Citrus (there is a story behind this drink) which goes back to 1915 (World War 1) Created in New York Bar in Paris by Barman Happy MacElhone. Rest is history after a long time a good classic.

H&S Old fashioned - their take on this classic. Jeam Beam (Bourbon) with homemade H&S homemade syrup. Amazing. Do try out.

Beers as usual and to start with - PESTO TROTE (Bar Bites) European. This is basically layers of Basil Pesto (freshness) topped with Cream Cheese and the last layer being sundried tomatoes (subtle in taste) served with Toast points. One can say a dip. Some micro greens as a garnish. Overall good. Priced at 250+ not a bad choice to start with the cocktails.

Salads - H&S Supper Salad, This was classy. A mix of avocado/kale/pickled vegetables/walnuts/Peanuts fried Cranberry, baby carrot. Had the crunchiness/softness, subtle in taste. Once you added the Maple Vinaigrette it became a sweet tangy affair. Lovely colourful and healthy.

Baked Brie - this is their signature dish and presume the highest selling and a must order. This is all about balance. Light at the same time had some good balance of the truffle honey emulsion with blended well with baked brie which was stuffed in the Phyllo pastry. A bit of Caramel spices seeds enhanced the dish.

Korean Chicken Skewers were the next in line - asked for 2 pieces as my partner is a vegetarian. Had some bold flavours spice/sweet/tangy. This is because of the soy/Mirin/honey marinade. Sesame and Celery with onions. Another classic starter.

EMMENTAL CHILI NAAN - star dish of the day not to be missed. This is spicy. Baby Naan Tandoored stuffed with Emmental cheese/sundried tomatoes and Anaheim Chillies (Scoville scale at around 500 to 2500 Heat units) mildly spiced. Overall yum. Gooey from the inside served piping hot - a perfect starter for the cocktails.

Flatbreads - they have 6 to choose from. We asked for Hulk Avocado. Do try and polish it quickly as it would tend to get cold. Thin Crust. Topped with sauce/Avocado/asparagus/jalapenos/cheese and micro greens. Taste: Subtle.

SUSHI - do try the AVOCADO and ASPARAGUS. The size is double then what you get elsewhere. Lovely texture, nice balance. Compressed with avocado layer with some sesame. Rice perfect. Served with Wasabi / kinnoman soy (Japanese Brand) and Gari. Nice Creamy and subtle.

From the Clay section - asked for Indian Lamb Seekh - hand pounded rusty texture. Moist. Balance of spices/aroma was just perfect. Placed over mint chutney with a garnish of Mint leaf. This is comfort food all the way.

Mains / Meal Bowls - Buckwheat protein Bowl, asked for the vegetarian. This is again their signature dish. Basically Cantonese style buckwheat noodles with tofu (silken) a lot of condiments like Edamame/asparagus/mushrooms/carrots. Perfect Mini meal. Taste: subtle at the same time healthy. THIS IS VEGAN/GLUTEN FREE and chef's special. Priced at 444+

Desserts: Not to miss the homemade Mexican Churros. Can't figure if the dark chocolate dip was better or the freshly made Churros. Combination of this 2 was wow....

A new place opened it’s doors to the famous part of Mumbai. Located inside WTC on the ground floor, a highly recommended and definitely must visit place. It’s indeed a perfect pub for a romantic dinner date or a family get together. A great place to sip on some beers and snack on some yummy bar nibbles. The menu is not so extensive when it comes to meals, but they a great variety of choices for snacks and as we know it Chakna. Partnered with Gateway Taproom and Independence brewing company, they have a number of taps and also offer some quirky cocktails. We had their Orange Valencia and Blueberry Pie which was a great way to kick start our evening. Huge and extremely spacious, they also have a another floor for dining. Dim lighting and a soft commercial Pop and RnB music was exactly my kinda ambiance. We were attended by Craig who was serving us quite quickly and time to time refilling our glasses with different beers. Everything mentioned below were recommended by the head chef.

Hammered Chilli Cheese Rounds : Round puff pastry filled with chilli and cheese. They were freshly baked which made it crispy and buttery.

Baked Brie : Must Have!! Triangle shaped, freshly baked puff pastry filled with brie cheese and topped with barley. Extremely delicious would be an understatement.

Asparagus Cigars : Those who love asparagus will enjoy having these cigars. Again freshly baked cigars with asparagus and cheese.

Hot Pop Chicks : The best Chakna to order with your beer. Spicy chicken small popcorns to munch on while sipping a drink.

Chicken dumplings : Dumplings stuffed with minced chicken with a super thin wrapping was delicious, especially after being dipped in the chilli oil.

Galouti Kebabs : Definitely go for the Veg galouti kebabs more than the lamb one. However both of them were perfectly cooked and smooth.

Portuguese Peri Peri Fish Tikka : Perfectly marinated fish chunks with peri peri spices which tasted really good but however the fish was a bit undercooked, so I couldn’t eat the whole.

Dahi ke Kebab : I love this one. They were cripsy on the outside with yummy cooked yoghurt filled inside.

Feta & Roasted Beetroot Flatbread : Highly recommended. This flatbread was just Wow. Nothing more than just roasted beetroot and feta made it so damn yummy.

Smoked Chicken Bianca Flatbread : Didn’t quite like this one in comparison to the above. Though it tasted delicious, I would still recommend the above.

Korean Chicken Skewers : I loved these skewers since they were perfectly cooked, yummy and juicy. Amazing to have with a beer.

Bangers and Mash : Coming to the mains, I saw this on their menu and immediately called for it. Chicken sausages sitting on a bed of potato mash which was creamy and yummy and served with mushroom jus. A perfect bowl of carbs.

Chinese Meal Bowl : Must have bowl. A complete meal bowl having delicious Egg fried rice with a wok tossed chicken served with pokchoy. A wholesome chinese meal.

Nalli Nihari with Shirmal Pao : I was not quite fond of the nalli nihari since it didn’t taste that good, though the shirmal pao was soft as cotton.

Nutella Cheesecake : An amazing combo of nutella and cheesecake which was heavenly and I enjoyed every spoon of it. The sour but sweet, creamy and airy cheesecake topped with a layer of nutella is perfect choice for dessert.

Mexican Churros : Small sugar coated churros served with chocolate syrup, was quite enjoyable to munch. A great way to end my evening in this beautiful...