An Old Classic - GayLord

There was a time when people use to visit a particular restaurant a couple of times as there were not many options, but in recent times, there have been quite a many restaurants opening up and there has been a lot of competition these days. I personally have seen a new restaurant opening up every now and then and that to at every corner.

Being a Chef and a Foodie, I like to travel, try out different cuisines and roam around and eat at many restaurants. Due to the long working hours and busy schedule, in recent times haven't tried any new restaurants. Recently, a mail from the FBAI - Food Bloggers Association India was received in the mail box, which said, there was another bloggers meet up at an old, classic restaurant names GayLord. This is one of those restaurants which I use to think, some day ill visit for sure whenever I use to pass by and finally got a chance to visit here.

The main reason, the restaurant had arranged a bloggers meet was, its a restaurant that doesnt need any publicity or any articles, its one of the most famous and the one of the oldest, this was being discussed between me, my friend Zenia Irani blogging at www.brandedbawi.com, Jahan Bloch, blogging at www.toxicbaker.com and almost everyone else there. The actual reason was they were going social and spreading over social media, as it is the generation of social media and people are jumping over to the internet.

So everyone arrived, we got into talking to each other, and I tell you, there was lots and lots to catch up and talk about. Drinks were there to accompany the talks and not to forget the food. Drinks like their well known Pina Colada, their Daiquiri and lots more.


My peach daiquiri was good, but had a bit extra kick of the alcohol, couldnt taste the flavor of the peach, but it is said, the more the better, so the more alcohol, the better it was.

This is not it, there was a huge menu and a good variety of food planned for the meet and the dishes were picked from their menu and consisted some of their well known.

Looking at the menu,  I was a bit surprised, why isn't there classic dishes like the Chicken Ala Kiev, Lobster Thermidor, Chicken Montreal and many others. But the menu was quite enticing and mouthwatering.

While all of us were seated, came the GM of the restaurant. Mr Noel. the person has been handling the place for the last 25 years and its a very long time, and has a big hand in maintaining the consistency of the food, the service and the taste which is what I was hearing from people. as they had visited the place earlier as well.
There was a time, Gaylord was mainly known for its bakery, as they were the first people to have an show oven, where people could see the breads being baked fresh and coming out of the oven and anyone passing by had to stop there for a glimpse for sure and smell the aromas of the breads.

One of the dishes to start with was the Bhaerwan Aloo, a mild preparation consisting of Potatoes stuffed with cottage cheese stuffing and other flavors, The dish seemed pretty interesting, but there was something which was lacking, it was a bit bland and had a floury taste to it.
Look wise the dish was really good. and as they say, people eat with their eyes first and then proceed, thats what exactly happened, the dish was quite eye appealing.


Another dish, that was the Chicken Kebabs, must say, they the most amazing, juicy and tender kebabs. Packed with flavors, and just amazing.
This is one of the dishes I wouldn't mind eating again and again.
In case, you get a chance to visit the place, do give it a try and I'm sure, you will love it.




Paneer is one of those dishes, a person loves to eat and enjoys it for sure. The kesari paneer over here was looking very tempting but was lacking flavor, was bland and tasteless from the center.
Something could have done to it so that one can enjoy it and have the taste eat more of it.
Along with these, also there was Lahori Fish Tikkas, and must tell you, the fish was just melt in mouth, lots of flavors, and cooked to perfection.









A roughage with the meal is always a great option, and here we all had a variety of two of the classics, Waldorf Salad and the Prawn Cocktail. The Prawn Cocktail  dint seem like actual prawn cocktail, as it was quite sweet taste wise, but the prawns were perfect in texture.
The Waldorf Salad, had real good crunch from the walnuts, had the nice taste from the dressing and was quite eye appealing as well. I'm glad, that a classic like this dint go wrong.

Apart from the food and all the bloggers, there was also the Founder of Gaylord- Mr A.N Malhotra - he was one of the founding partners of Gaylord and is the current CEO. It was a great pleasure meeting the man behind the restaurant and interacting with him was such an honor.

There was another classic on the table, the Classical French Onion Soup and this one had an egg yolk as well. The soup had flavor at first, but once mixed with the egg, lost the flavor and dint look that appealing as well. Where the other soup, Chicken Consomme, was quite interesting and much better than this one. Do give it a try when visiting here.


In between, we all headed to the all time famous, the bakery which was well know at one point of time for a group photos and where the history was being told to us and was quite surprised to hear that the it was amongst the first bakeries in town.


There was a time, I use to avoid eating fish, but in recent times, after joining the industry and working, I have again started with the same, and recently i had good pomfret meuniere at this place, cooked perfectly,and had a nice flavor of the lemon from the lemon butter which  was poured over it and served.
If i remember, I dint stop at just 1 piece and had a couple of them.



The Roast Chicken and Bacon, looked a bit unpleasing, and after i had a piece of it, dint enjoy it as well. Cant explain it but it was a no for me to this dish.
Would avoid it the next time as well.






The Keema Nali Ghost, one of my all time favorite mutton dish, so I had to try this one without any doubt. The texture of the dish was very nice, the meat was tender, but had a strong flavor of cardamom which was very overpowering and was a let down.





The murg Makhni, a north Indian classical dish, this one had the right consistency, the chicken pieces were quite tender and not chewy which is more of a disappointment, but this one was just perfect. 

And specially along with the variety of naans and parathas, the flavors were complimenting each other. 

The was one dish dish which was the hero of the day and took away all the attention, Lasuni Palak, this dish, I would say was one of the best lasuni palak I had in a very long time. If I visit the place again, this will be the dish I would go for again, without any questions.  

Before leaving the place, everyone was handed over with a token of appreciation, a huge basket which consisted goodies from their bakery, like the macarons, breads, cupcakes, cookies and much more.
To the left with me are some of my favorite bhookads and bloggers.
(L-R - Beenaz, Myself, Megha Sarin and Zenia)

Like I always say, 'Photo to Banta hai'. At every meet, there has to be a picture where all of us come together and take a photo, that we can always cherish and remember. With this another great FBAI event comes to end, which was filled with lots of food, fun and talks and a great story. 

Thanks to the FBAI - Food Bloggers Association India and Dennis Taraporewala - Director of Criesse Communications and the whole team for having us over and the wonderful evening. 

Address - Mayfair Building, Ground Floor, Veer Nariman Road, Churchgate, Mumbai

Number - 02222821259, 02222044693