MRP - My Regular Place (Dadar)

Visited this quircky place (looks from outside) which is right next to the vintage Pritam Midtown. Makes you feel that it'll be a regular joint and undermines the beauty of this fun place. As they say, never judge a book by it's cover.

Extremely well lit up, spaced out seating, seating for all (couples, groups of 5, large groups) and a very warm ambience. The staff was very very accommodating (helped us with an extra seat even though the place was housefull).

The idea of 3 different prices for liquor from 6-9pm, 9-12pm and 12am onwards is a absolutely great!

To our surprise it was the unplugged night. We were treated to a great live band performance - bollywood songs ranging from 80's to the present. The band was fabulous and the songs masshup with a combination of originals and coke studio styled singing was fun to hear to!

We ordered the following food items apart from the rum, vodka, gin, whisky and beer orders which were totally worth it :)

Pritam's Paneer Tikka (starter) - supposedly a signature MRP starter. What came on the table was indeed disappointing. The paneer was white in colour (first time have had a tikka dish which is not orange in color) minus the famous yoghurt chutney and extremely bland in taste. A normal pudina chutney was served.

Pepper Chicken (starter) - we assumed that it would be a thick gravy base with lots of pepper burst but what came in was a deep fried chicken dish with spring onion toppings and schezwan sauce. Tasted decent but the deep fried touch to it was indeed very usual.

Grilled Sweet & Sour Chicken (main) - well cooked chicken, good rice portions, lots of veggies - all in all a complete dish though could've been more sour than sweet.

Stir Fried Schezwan Chicken (main) - the best of the lot!! Perfectly cooked chicken with a good combination of schezwan sauce + rice cooked well + spices. Just perfect for our liking!!

In all a fun place to visit with friends, family or a large group too. Friendly staff, clean & spaced out set-up, smart concept menu and easy on the pocket.

p.s: the washrooms were very very clean to my surprise and the concept was neat :))

May Day Mayhem: Leicester (title contenders) v/s Manchester United (the race for top 4)

It could’ve been an almost perfect evening for the club & the fans at either of the clubs!! (sigh..only if United could steal the 3 points and make it worse for Leicester!! Yes this was any United fan’s ultimate wish before today’s match).

Brilliant display of classic old time Fergi era football in the first half with countless dangerous passes by the wingers cutting through the Leicester defense right into their box creating ample goal scoring opportunities, thanks to Rashford, Martial & Lingard! Leicester was at their nearly very best in the 1^st half of the match but United seemed to be on top post the first 45 minutes of play at Old Trafford.

With the 1^st goal coming within 8 minutes from Martial (great awareness by the Frenchman to glide the ball in goal past the ever aware Kasper Schmeichel) we all thought for a moment that this great club is back to the old Fergi style football play, which we all are so used to seeing by now. Yet we keep forgetting the fact that this is the LVG era which is really a combination of (like it or not) the team in a transition mode with so many new faces coming in, a lot of injuries to take into account and still required to display the same passionate footballing style (which a lot of people think has changed to a boring style) week on week in front of massive crowds.

Leicester had some good performances in the 1^st half by Riyad Mahrez (he almost got a penalty when he was tripped in the box by Marcus Rojo but the ref had other ideas and didn’t see it as a penalty challenge), Wes Morgan (with his powerful header in the 17^th min which even the super-human De Gea couldn’t save this time), Robert Huth (some very gritty defending by the seasoned campaigner denying Valencia and other United wingers quite a few times from sending the ball in their box), which might have surely given them the belief to go all out in the 2^nd half and achieve that amazing feat of winning the EPL title today.

The Foxes looked extremely dangerous in the 2^nd half especially from their well thought over set-pieces but super De Gea came to United’s rescue once again. We then have a few yellow cards combined for both the teams’ players with the game heating up in the center of the pitch! A couple of tactical subs from both teams fails to tilt the game in either side’s favor. Then the crucial moment comes in the 86^th when Mr. Drinkwater decides to bring down the ever agile and alert Memphis Depay right at the edge of the box (wait a minute…wasn’t that a nudge right in the box and a simple penalty??) and gets a 2^nd yellow card booking which means a red and sending off by the ref! This was the moment that Leicester surely spilled its chance to win the title today and give it away rather cheaply to their opponent. On the other hand if United did get that penalty, and even otherwise would’ve scored from a Chris Smalling header that hit the bar, it would’ve been a very different final score line!!!

Eventually it was a calmer 2^nd half as compared to a wild stormy 1^st half affair between the two clubs fighting for two very different objectives. It was indeed a hard grind as both teams tried to throw their weight around in all parts of the field, but it just looked to be another stale mate with so much at stake for both clubs.

United deserved to win this one but that’s how the season has been for them. Excellent performances turning into just good ones and the good ones not being noticed at all!

I have been a die-hard fan of the club following them and the game since the past 15 years or so. The current squad is brilliant with a fine balance of experience + raw young energy, but all it lacks is 3 things at the moment as I see it - Consistency, Belief & Tenacity! These will come with time and I believe LVG will stay on for another year and make the club get close to where it belongs – at the top of the EPL table.

A crucial FA Cup Wembley final with the ever so dangerous Crystal Palace and a top 4 finish well in sight would mean the club has done decently well this season despite the inconsistency in doing so. What we should see here is the transformation of this team, which is in itself a difficult process to finish in just 2 years’ time after the grand Fergie era!!

Three more games to go and the curtains shall come down on an eventful, exciting, unpredictable #EPL2016!! Few predictions – Leicester City wins the league, Manchester United finishing in the Top 4 (which means the noisy neighbors or Wenger’s men will slip to 5^th spot) and Newcastle, Aston Villa & Norwich getting relegated. Yet again we all have seen predictions go haywire by the best of football pundits this season and hence my money would still be in my pocket J (still believe United finishes top 4)!!