Eat Around The Corner Opens Today
View Slideshow For over a decade, Just Around The Corner has been to suburban teenagers and 20-somethings in Mumbai what Central Perk was to the characters in Friends; a comfortable hangout, a home away from home, an unthreatening space where they weren’t judged or reprimanded for “chilling” for hours. On January 3, the restaurant/coffee shop closed for renovations and the management gradually erected a wall around it “to block out the noise, dust and bystanders”. Today, when it reopens, that wall won’t come down but a wooden door (that has replaced a gate) will welcome what the management hopes will be a mix of regulars and a new crop of diners who come there for the food and not just to “hang out”. The self-service restaurant is now called Eat Around The Corner, because its parent company, Mars Hospitality Services, sold the brand name Just Around The Corner (along with that of their popular Churchgate restaurant Not Just Jazz By The Bay) to an investor. Here are the changes you can expect to see:
THE LOOK
The decor has been completely revamped by co-owner Rachna Narang to create what resembles a cross between a deli and an upscale diner. Gone are the pop art and Hollywood posters, the bright yellow and blue walls, and the stackable chairs and tables in the al fresco section. They have been replaced by immaculately white walls, predominantly grey and black furniture, and the imposing boundary wall, the inside of which has been painted with an illustration of a typical Autumn scene. “The look is very European,” said Nabil Sheber, general manager, restaurants at Mars. “We’ve gone back to our original concept of a self-service diner as we wanted to move the focus away from the coffee and divert attention back to the food.”
THE FOOD
They’ve done away with the Costa Coffee outlet in the al fresco section and have introduced an Illy coffee counter indoors. The menu is an equal mix of new additions and JATC favourites such as sandwiches and burgers. They now have a more elaborate bakery section with 12 varieties of bread to eat in or take away (including oatmeal, rye and wholewheat), and 16 types of dessert. The menu includes veg and non-veg hot meals (moussaka, Caribbean jerk chicken) that will be changed either every alternate day or on a weekly basis. The all-you-can-eat salad option has gone (!) but popular salads such as the Caprese, smoked chicken with sun dried tomatoes, and salmon and potato, are still on the menu. Starting Saturday, February 12, they will also serve three kinds of set breakfasts: French, English and American. Pizzas will now only be served by the slice, in order to “eliminate waiting time”.
THE CROWD
In a move that is likely to rile the younger crowd who spent hours there without ordering, they’ve introduced a cover charge of Rs250. “People who care about good food will not mind spending the minimum amount, and the decision will work to keep out the crowd to whom this was only a place to chill and not eat,” said Sheber. To further change the “outlook and mentality” of the place, they have removed the TV screens and the newspaper and magazine rack. Said Sheber, “We want college kids to come, but we also want them to come for the sake of the food.”
LocationEat Around The Corner
Ground Floor
110 Cyrus House
Near St. Theresa School
Junction of 24th and 30th Road
Bandra (West)
Phone2600 6717 and 2600 2665
HoursDaily, 7am to 1am
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Its much like the government increasing the tax rate and having less people to pay it!
Staring at their new jazzy white and clean (there is only an occasional customer to litter the place now), Im sure those guys will reminisce over the loads of people who used to walk in for a salad buffet (history now).
I hate to admit that one of my favorite hangouts has lost its gleam and I totally loathe its new version.
So much for the suavy revamp.
it’s not too bad…i think the reactions are to the 250 cover charge, which is an excessive reaction to their National college faithfuls, it’ll settle down i think
it nice, clean, cool and quite…and the food is ok…what more can you ask for…they’ve gone for the 5 star coffee shop feel and done a good job with it
just visited EATC after reopening. They seem to have taken the concept of “eatery” too seriously. Frankly, the food quality was OK, salads as good, but very small portion size.
What sucks is that the waiter is too eager to clear your plate from the table. He came to my table thrice, even before I had finished my meal. I am like, “dude will you let me atleast eat?” (and i have spent way more than 250 bucks.)
The pepperoni pizza was disappointing by any standards. No salt/pepper on table. Same old, same old sandwiches for higher price.
In short, go there if you want to pay 250 bucks to sit in good ambiance. Don’t expect too much from the food.
Place looks good….but the food is not good… had a pepperoni pizza and a roast chicken salad… pizza was chewy .. it had a confused crust neither thick nor thin… salad was just about ok… while my friend had a chicken manchow soup and a beef burger both were below par as well… The sad part is the food looks really good but lets you down big time when you taste it… their desserts look really good but after our meal we weren’t too sure if we should go in for it… Ironically so I think i may go back only for coffee…
went to JATC …oops EATC on sat. the whole attitude sucked. They’ve even put up a board with long copy at the entrance staying the reason for 250 bucks. i didnt care and eat for only 180. they had no balls to tell me to eat more as i had already poured by soup (which got cold by the time my salad got made) and got my salad made.
the place is in deep shit.
Very pissing off that the management has to take the high hand and firstly say that the college kids are only welcome if they eat, otherwise no thanks! And secondly to have a cover charge for the restaurant! What next? Pay to window shop in malls?
Bandra has just lost one of its most charming, endearing and value-for- money landmarks to the greed and aggressiveness of it’s short sighted owners… So what’s new?
So they’ve basically butchered whatever they had going for them. Didn’t see the food area ever empty earlier too..and the coffee just added to the charm of the place.
From the picture here and sneak peek I’ve caught..I think they’ve tried too hard and fallen flat on their face. Hope the food’s good though.
As for the cover charge..is there someone from the East India Company running this place? If they’re not sure their food is good enough for 2 people to order enough for them to profit then they’ve got another thing coming. . and it’s not a horde of “regulars” or people looking for a diner experience for which I’d happily visit Indigo Deli or Sandwich & co./Sante, one of the many good dessert joints in Bandra.
But I’m gonna go there and give it a try once. And they better match up to their self hype.
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