The Nutcracker, Mumbai: 4 / 5
Cuisine: Casual, Cafe (All vegetarian, they serve eggs)

It’s hot and humid. You’re trekking down an alleyway, following the advice of a must-visit place where ‘everything on the menu is delicious’. And you’re dying for a salad after a week long gluttony that comes with travel.

As you perspire your way to the door, you’re greeted with a quaint, bustling, cozy little cafe that has extra stools hanging upside down on the walls. Interesting.

Unlike The Nutcracker itself, a table seems almost hard to find at lunchtime, and there’s little room to wait. Thankfully this phase of our journey only lasts about 10 minutes and we’re ushered to a table. As the waiter eventually comes up to us, I order the Asian salad and I put forth my eternal drink question: “Is your iced tea made in-house?” With the answer in the affirmative, we can proceed.

We feel like our order is too healthy, so a side of potato wedges are quickly added. These crispy bits of heaven remind me of Heston Blumenthal’s triple cooked chips, such is their perfection. And yet I’m blown away most by a condiment—the fresh wholegrain mustard. Such is Nutcracker’s attention to detail that even this — this delicious, lick it off your fingers mustard — is stellar.

The refreshing Iced tea and the delicious Asian Salad makes my lunch absolutely worth it. The tofu grilled vegetable salad is equally good, but the tanginess and zing of the Asian salad makes it our favorite of the meal, at par with 5-star versions of this dish.

As we slowly cool down and settle, it’s time to leave. But not before the 3 people almost breathing down our necks have started where our experience began, ready to take over our table.

I hear the burgers are pretty good too.

The Nutcracker • Google Maps • Zomato
Modern House, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai
+9122 22842430