Mexican FPSM at 360°, HomeTown, Vikhroli

FPSM = Fixed Price Set Meal (Rs88 for Veg, Rs.98 for nonVeg plus taxes) FPSM is my terminology.

Here is the 4 course meal, served as soup, starter-cum-main course-with-accompaniments, fruit salad with icecream. One free soft drink is also offered!

Pepper Pot Soup
One of the finest soups I have had in recent times. Felt like it was a 5-star hotel soup. Pepper was very, very bearable. The consistency was divine -- slightly thinner than a thin coconut milk consistency. It was mainly made up of carrots and tomatoes. Very little tomatoes, I suppose, as the tang was not there. There were plenty of thin granuales of garlic (size of a smallish sugar crystals). If the temperature was 5-10 degrees hotter, it would have been perfect/great/divine! But given the rainy day today, it was OK. Still I would give it 4/5 stars.

1- Bad 2-Poor 2.5-Average 3-Good 4-Perfect 5-Divine

Pineapple Salsa
The chef has a way with food. He really combines the food and tastes and textures so well, that the food really seduce you. I am not sure whether this can be called a salsa. I have heard of only Tomato Salsa. Well, these were very tiny cubes of pineapple (say 1/8th the size of a sugar cube), with even tinier pieces of ginger, garlic, corriander and green chillies (w/o the bite/theekapan). I really enjoyed this one -- though the serving was tiny. Was served in the smallest flat chutney dish. Not complaining, just describing! 4/5 stars

Burrito with tomato salsa and cheese, accompanied with gaucomole, sour cream, with side portions of Mexican rice and refried beans (er, rajma). The burrito had a decent spinach filling and the burrito was topped well with stringy cheese. Apparently, it was splashed with tomato salsa, but I could just see a very thin sauce on the side. The wrap was OK, but a tad undercooked. If I were the chef, I would definitely try to improve the wrap (looked like one of the readymade ones). 2.75/5 stars

Gaucamole was indeed novel -- it was surprisingly thickish and roughish (freshly made and not the smooth, bottled one!) with chunks of, I believe, er, avocado! Loved its nice fresh green colour, with hints of yellow. Taste was different but good. 3/5 stars

Sour cream is an international favourite. I think it is a lip smacking taste. This one was really sour, very much like dahi, but with a cream consistency. 2 tablespoons. Passable. 2.5/5 stars

Mexican rice was nothing but thin long grained rice with brown colour! Disappointing. Cannot believe that such a creative chef could mess up on this one. But, er, take my criticism with a pinch of salt because in reality there may be no such thing as Mexican rice. Any Mexican or someone who has been to Mexico should be able to clarify this one for us. 1.5/5 stars (This rating may be very mean, but do remember that it is very subjective. Also, the problem is with the name/description. If you call it brown (colour) rice -- the rating is 2.5/5 stars!)

Refried beans/rajma A fistful. Just right for me. This was again average. 2.5/5 stars. It was not very flavour-full. Maybe the burrito and the other stuff, which were really good in many ways, overshadowed it.

Plated Serving: All these were served on a single large 10 inch oval plate. So most of the stuff stuck to each other and made it difficult to really, really enjoy the meal. But, I understand, for such a low promotional price and during the rush lunch hour, this is the best that they could do.

Fruit Salad: This is one of the best fruit salads I have had. I skipped the ice cream. There were 3 fruits: Melon, Papaya, Pineapple. Not sure whether there was black grape also. All fruits were cubed perfectly, a little smaller than a sugar cube. Served, perfectly, at room temperature. Each fruit had a distinct taste -- which means they were added in the bowl individually and not kept mixed (which would rub the taste on one another!) The fruits were of the right consistency and taste -- firm and with the right amount of tartness and sweetness. 4/5 stars

I LOVED the Mexican meal. It was just perfect for me in terms of size, taste, and price. But to have a great meal created by a good creative chef is indeed a blessing. To pay just Rs.100 for the entire experience is a double blessing. Each of the courses, themselves are worth Rs.100 each. Rs.399 would actually be a good price to pay for such a meal (portions being adjusted here and there). But thanks to the promotional offer, I had it for just Rs.99 (88 plus taxes)!

Please note: available only for lunch (NOT for dinner). Lunch time could get crowded as today, and service could be a bit tardy.