bpb Review: Quench

What could have been a cosy sip and swirl spot in Bandra is instead a messy wine and beer bar tries to do too many things, and barely gets one right.

The newly opened Quench is quite an eyeful: its look changes from run down wine cellar (red brick walls) to youth dive (graffiti designs) to garage pub (the bartender sits in a jeep that juts out of a wall) – all jammed into less than 500 square feet of space. Adding to the chaos is the multi-cuisine menu – Chinese, Indian, continental - with everything from Chicken Teriyaki to Chicken Tandoori. We had barely begun our meal, and we were already exhausted by the choices.

Don’t Mock(tail) Me

Quench isn’t the kind of place to serve a fancy vintage, but we had hoped for a chilled Chenin Blanc to combat the Mumbai mugginess. Alas, the bar’s wine and beer license doesn’t kick in until May 25, before which patrons will have to make do with an unimaginative selection of a mocktails - *cringe*. Perhaps that’s why the place was almost deserted on a Saturday night. Or maybe it was that John Secada track that was playing.

Loaded but no Bang

We started with the Loaded Potatoes (Rs 99), baked in their skins and filled with a tasty scoop of cheese and veggies. Had we known that these would be the highlight of our meal, we would have savoured them slower and longer. Next up were bottle green spinach rolls, embellished with weirdly orange spikes and filled with cheese. These looked like something Frankenstein would eat, but tasted pleasant – don’t get them unless you’re a brave soul.

On the management’s recommendation, we went with the Chicken Steak for mains, a slightly undercooked hunk of meat topped with generic barbeque sauce and redeemed only by a side of yum butter garlic mash potatoes; and an unremarkable bowl of spaghetti. We skipped dessert – banana split, sizzling brownie – not because we were full, but because our meal couldn’t handle any more mediocrity.

Note to Quench

Dress down, lose the strange 3D wall art, but keep the booze bottle light bulbs. Fine tune your menu, fuel that jeep-turned-bar with better drinks and you’re good to go.

Getting there: Shop no 10, C-3, Kosamba, ONGC Colony, lane opposite Lilavati Hospital, Bandra Reclamation, call 26400511 or visit the Facebook group here, open 11 am to 1.30 am, meal for two Rs 550 (without alcohol).