‘I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes’… Le Pain Quotidien, Colaba, Mumbai

Update: 16/10: well don’t know what to say. Got third time unlucky. Was welcomed with a long strand of hair in our potato and leek soup on Friday night. Spoilt the night. We waited for our roesti to come, finished and ran to the arms of Baba Ling and Johnny at Ling’s Pavilion. And, these guys at LPQ seriously need to start adding salt to food. But still, the rest of what follows was true too

 

Sometimes you know it’s just right.

 

As I did when I walked into Le Pain Quotidien at Colaba last Saturday.

 

Fell in love with the place the moment I pushed the door open. With all the lovely breads around. The cookies and croissants and cupcakes and cheesecakes. The high ceilings. The wood.

 

I took out my camera, hypnotised by the place. Mesmerised, I clicked away. Captivated by its spell.

 

   

I love photographing bread.

I was too full that day and went back with some soft-chew cookies that turned out to be outstanding. I am a sucker for good cookies. The chocolate brownie was deep but a bit crumbly in contrast to the what the camera lens promised.

We were back to Le pain Quotidien exactly a week later. Stepped in for coffee after a lovely lunch at Ling’s.

We sat down at the community table. And immediately knew I was right last time.

I stretched out. Felt completely at home. Languorous. In a happy place. Chatting away over French Press coffee, hot chocolate, cappuccino, cookies, banter, giggles and guffaws.

 

 

       

I headed home with more cookies.

I knew I would be back. For breakfast. And for the mains.

For Love is all around at Le Pain Quotidien.

 

(contd below…)

 

 

 

Update: 9/10/11 (Trying to update this live on to Blogger reminded me what a messed up interface blogger is these days. Had to go back to Windows live editor. Hope the earlier comments are saved. And the net connection. Will probably laugh when I think back on these day but vein bursting stuff right now)

I did go to Le pain Quotidien for breakfast. A few hours after I wrote I would.

I woke K up the next morning. We drove down the Sea Link, Haji Ali, Marine Drive and reached Colaba from Bandra  in about 40 minutes.

She loved the vibe of the place too. The brightness and the chirpiness.

We had a scrambled egg with smoked salmon. The egg had a lovely texture. Needed a touch of salt. I wonder if this was intentional as the smoked salmon balanced this out. It was served with a rather crisp and Spartan wheat bread. Undiluted by maida or flour it seemed. Different from what one normally gets and probably needs some getting used to.

Some blue cheese on the side was just what I needed to lived up things. The salad with the cheese was zestful and balanced the dish.

 

I tried the French Press coffee which was sober, deep and strong. Just what I wanted while K sipped on her favourite frothy cappuccino.

After some initial confusion we did get our waffle with Belgian chocolate sauce with extra butter with and not before the coffee. As K pointed out the texture of the waffle was different from that of locally available waffles. Richer and more layered. The consistency just right. Not crisp. Not chewy or soggy.

    

Le Pain Quotidien was packed with locals and expats this Sunday morning. There were more babies and kids around here than at the average Bandra coffee shop as K noted.

We bumped into @lpatrao and her family. A twitter friend who moved from the virtual into the real world this morning thanks to our tweets. Turns out that like me, she too is very particular about getting her dessert with her coffee and NOT after. She had returned her coffee when it came without her apple crumble just as we returned ours when it came without the waffles.

And yet we were smiling. That’s the sort of place it is.

The decor and mood made you feel you were holiday abroad and not at India. And this breakfast cost Rs 1000 (20 USD) ... not cheap but worth it.

The sort of place one knows one would keep coming back to.

   

 

IceRocket Tags: Le Pain Quotidien,Colaba,Mumbai,cookies,cup cakes,muffins,coffee shops