(Harry Potter inspired title for this post. Yay!)

Talk about malls and shopping in Mumbai and one name comes to mind: Phoenix! The one at Lower Parel and the younger sibling who resides at Kurla are both landmark shopping and most importantly food destinations. 

With our emphasis to explore the food options that Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla has to offer the food bloggers set out on a Food Crawl. We were looking forward to this fun evening that the guys at Phoenix Marketcity in collaboration with Food Bloggers Association of India (FBAI) had organized for us. Well I’ve done food crawls and bar hops before, but nothing inside a mall. So this was going to be different indeed. 

Destination I: 
The Irish House for drinks, cocktails, and appetizers.

I love The Irish House having been to the other outlet at Lower Parel before. It’s such a fun place to chill with friends and grab a drink.

We were all gathered around a large table in front of the screen playing the FIFA world cup. (Major plus points to them for being so football friendly and screening the match every evening). A special drinks menu was created just for us. Aaaah… the good life!

I tasted four drinks from the menu. (Yes, four drinks!)

The Cosmopolitan was like any other Cosmo you’ve had before. Order it if you’re a fan of girly drinks and/or Sex And The City. The Irish Trash Can was a combination of four spirits with a dash of peach flavor served in a beer mug with Redbull. Looking to get guaranteed drunk in a single drink? Then please order the Irish Hangover. It has Jameson, spiced rum, black rum, white rum, vodka, gin, tequila, bourbon whiskey, absinthe, triple sec and three types of whiskies with pineapple, blue curacao and lime. Phew! Is there any alcohol that isn’t in there? Guaranteed hangover Ireland style with this!

My favorite drink of the night, and a favorite with a lot of the others was the Jalapeno Margarita. A classic Margarita with a spicy jalapeno twist. We got the opportunity to get behind the bar and try our skills at bartending. I chose to learn how to make the Jalapeno Margarita and called my drink the ‘Jangli Billi’. Meow!

We dove headfirst into the food after our stint behind the bar. I loved the Chicken Popcorn which makes a fun bar snack and my all time favorite ‘The Irish House Nachos’. Heaps of refried beans, guacamole, cheese and sour-cream make these babies so much fun to eat!

After all the bartending and hogging it was time to move onto our next stop of the food crawl, but not before we did some shots!

Destination II: 
Rainforest for some more appetizers and mains. 

This was my first visit to Rainforest, and I enjoyed the jungle vibe they had going on. An artificial gorilla greets you at the entrance and a there is a waterfall with a bridge just as you get past the door. We sat on wooden log like tables with creepers and vines all around us. Jungle B(h)ook time.

I enjoyed the Prawn Cocktail which was served in a Martini glass with some cocktail dipping sauce.

The Kurkure Cheese Kababs were as the name suggests fried balls of cheese with veggies.

We were made to play a fun game where we tasted this yummy Rainforest Pasta the chef especially created for our table and were made to guess the ingredients. The person who ended up guessing the most correct ingredients as we took turns, was declared the winner. And yes, white sauce isn’t an ingredient.

Destination III:
Dunkin’ Donuts for dessert.

Mass hysteria gripped the city when this famous international donut chain came to Mumbai. Thank God we didn’t have to stand in hour long queues to get our fill of donut and coffee.True foodies like us could’ve been eating the entire night, but we always make space for dessert and coffee.

Three Pitstops, Three courses, Three of Mumbai’s famous food destinations, this was a guaranteed fun night at Phoenix Marketcity!

P.S: Do you know Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla is a 10 minute rickshaw ride from the Jagruti Nagar station on the Mumbai Metro. Easier access for me from work now. Yippee!