Restaurant Review - Open Affair (Bandra)

Sitting compactly on the booming strip of restaurants in Carter road’s very own khau-galli, Open Affair is hard to miss with its huge glass windows, behind which assemble a line of chefs dipping scrumptious skewers into the tandoor. The multi-cuisine menu boasting of Italian, Indian and continental is a smart attempt to fit right in & to possibly compete with the neighboring eateries right from Kareems (which is very popular for its Kebabs) or Crepe Station which is famous for its crepes, omlettes etc. 'ek theer do shikhar' kind of a funda i guess! :p

The restaurant has an air-conditioned area as well as tables lined neatly outside by the sidewalk carefully fenced with a wall to ensure the customer’s privacy isn’t compromised. When we reached there around 9:30 the place was buzzing with mostly families and large groups of youngsters who seemed to have to dropped by to grab a bite before heading off to partying the night away. The manager who met us at the gate seemed semi-distracted and wasn’t attentive at receiving the patrons which was a put-off. The indoors were a bit cramped with around 4 tables placed tightly together, so we chose to sit outside, but were promptly conscious of the hovering waiters who were quick on their toes (but a little too quick for our comfort). Not having read prior reviews or having any recommendations, we were low on what to expect and weren’t sure which menu to choose from. Eventually settled for Indian as that had a more dominant place on the menu, plus the open tandoor kitchen was highly tempting.

The restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol (anyone knows why?) so we settled for a glass of coke and peach ice tea. The ice tea wasn’t exceptional by any standards and tasted almost like the lipton ready to make ones available in the market (possibly it was just that). We had to wait for a good 15 mins before reminding the waiter if he could atleast serve us the drinks. Post that one reminder, the dishes were bought to the table rather quickly, but almost everyone even in the nearby tables seemed to be having trouble getting the first orders. The kalimiri kebab was very good, six pieces of perfectly cooked with slight hint of pepper. Followed by a main course of not-experimental tandoor roti and butter chicken. It’s quite disappointing that the menu has just three varieties of roti/kulcha and no naan. The main course was an awfully regular fare, something that can be easily whipped up at home courtesy Venky’s ready to eat meals.

Verdict: Open Affair is placed in an excellent location and the staff is enormously eager to please especially if they sense that you’re a first-timer.  At Rs. 1000 for our meal, the pricing does not do justice to the quality of food served. For a substandard meal with hardly any USP’s in comparison to the eateries available in the vicinity, the dishes are highly priced. If they do not improvise their dishes, they are sure to lose out on the competition.

Thumbs down from us!