I feel like it’s been forever since I checked in with you all. Sure, there have been posts… but we haven’t just chatted in a while. 2019 has been exciting so far – I’ve been on a few trips! Saw a new country. Created a bunch of videos that I’m quite proud of (one of them went sorta viral recently!)

Oh & I turned 27. That was a big one, or at least it felt big? Every birthday after 25 feels big, I guess. But I spent it in Goa with family & cake, so that was nice. A quick little two paragraph update on the last few months. I’ll be spending the rest of April playing catch up. And now, back to the noodles.

There’s something you may or may not know about me – I love noodles; I’m bordering obsessive about them. I take cheesy photos eating noodles, I follow the #noodleworship hashtag on instagram & no matter where in the world we are, if there are noodles on the menu, I will try them.

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to Hello Guppy in Mumbai to for the noodle fest. I’d been there once before, but we only tried the sushi & edamame. Needless to say, I was excited.

Can I take a second to talk about the décor? An authentic Japanese restaurant brings to mind a certain kind of aesthetic. But Hello Guppy is less minimal & staid, more playful kawaii speakeasy!

We started off with a cocktail, sake of course. The Nippon Cooler is perfect for summer day drinking.

i’m wearing –oval sunglasses // cherry earrings // velvet top // mom shorts // wrist watch // suede platform sneakers

For lunch – I knew I wanted ramen. It can be a hearty meal, so we skipped starters (a wise decision imo).

I got the miso chashu ramen with pork, mom got dry ramen with chicken (all of the trappings that come in a ramen bowl, minus broth). We also got some udon noodles.

They were good noodles. Now I’m not going to pretend to be some kind of expert, my experience with Japanese cuisine is still limited. But the portion was hearty, the broth was creamy & the pork + eggs were both the perfect texture. I vlogged that day too, if you’d like to see video of that perfect bowl.

The Hello Guppy Noodle Fest is on till the end of April. If you can’t make it this month, most of the dishes are on the permanent menu, but if you’re a true noodle aficionado, you won’t want to miss the special dishes that are available for a limited time only.

Hello Guppy, Jet Airways – Godrej Building, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai (google maps /website)

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Nine years ago, I started writing about beauty as a new & eager consumer.

Though it’s been almost a decade since, it’s still one of my favorite topics to review & write about. The beauty space in India might have started small, but it’s expanding at such a quick pace & global brands are definitely taking notice.

Bologna Fiere, one of the leading International exhibition organizer and UBM India, India’s leading  B2B exhibitions organizer recently joined hands  to launch COSMOPROF INDIA, the new event for the International beauty community. It happened on 10 and 11 September 2018 at the Sahara Star Hotel, Mumbai. As a beauty influencer, Cosmoprof invited me to witness the event first hand; it was quite enlightening to see the beauty industry from a whole new perspective.

As this was Cosmoprof’s first foray into India (they hold regular trade shows in Bologna, Las Vegas and Hong Kong), it was a preview event not only for the entire Indian beauty business community, but for the international beauty industry as well.

In addition to the expo the show they also held ‘Cosmotalks’ — a series of seminars & demos focusing on key issues of the beauty sector by renowned industry players. 

Beauty Finds at Cosmoprof

Along with suppliers, & manufacturers, a lot of beauty brands exhibited at Cosmoprof India – both Indian & International. I got to try international brands (like multiple K-Beauty brands, there was a whole block!) that aren’t officially available here but hopefully will be soon.

Among Indian brands, along with the familiar faces (many of which I’ve already covered on this blog), I also found some new ones, sharing a few of the most interesting brands below.

I was attracted to the COLAB dry shampoo display because of the fun, colorful variants, but only later after I went online did I discover that it’s a bit of a cult product!& turns out it’a a bit of a cult product. Other than the cute packaging & fragrances, COLAB seems to be one of the only invisible dry shampoos out there that doesn’t leave that pesky white residue. It’s now available online in India.

The bright neon & marquee lights drove me to visit Bollyglow cosmetics, a very new cosmetics brand that was just days old in the Indian market. They have a variety of fun lip products, lashes & sheet masks sourced from around the world, just for Indian skin. They’re also available online (I’d recommend checking out the fun desi names their lashes have).

I recently did an insta review of their bronze metallic liquid lipstick & I’ll be trying out more Bollyglow soon…

Cosmoprof 2019

Cosmoprof India will be back! It’ll happen from 12-14 June at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Center (a new, bigger venue) – more details on their website! x

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AJIO tshirt // Zara shorts // Hunter tall gloss wellington boots // Daniel Wellington Dapper Sheffield watch // Good After Nine cat ring // ONLY clutch

Lakmé Matte Melt Liquid Lipstick – Mild Mauve  | Maybelline Superstay Nail Polish – Rose Poudre

Photos by Sheila Vaz

I bought these hunter rain boots back in 2012 & since then, an outfit post styling them every monsoon has become something of an annual tradition (see posts from 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017; still sad about skipping 2014!)

It’s been a fun exercise to see my style evolve through just these monsoon posts – I started out styling these with just jeans, because I pretty much lived in jeans then (& also felt like my legs were too skinny for boots to be honest). As my body changed, I found it easier to experiment with dresses & shorts more often. I do wish that I was more confident in the start. I do also wish, by extension that we didn’t live in a world that demonise both skinny or plus sized people. I try to do my bit but sometimes the effort just feels a bit hopeless? People tend to cling to their biases tightly, so I guess all we can do is work on ourselves.

Now back to those boots – I’m still so pleased with them, although I feel a little sad now because they don’t get as much wear from me as they used to. Hunter boots may be expensive, but they’re made to be worn & they were far more practical during college, or when I took public transport more. Nowadays, I don’t really venture out just for fun in the monsoons, I can also afford the luxury of cabs, which makes these more ornamental. Nevertheless I’ve thrown so much money at ridiculously impractical thing over the years, like fancy branded bags that don’t really outlast the year I buy them (I’m looking at you, Fossil) so this was a good buy. Mumbai’s weather’s getting to it slowly, but I think it has another couple of years in it.

Oh and by the way, how many cats do you count in this look? I’m pretty sure that my extensive cat themed wardrobe has become one of my signatures. I even did a fashion haul video that was so full of cats. I love the tshirt from this look – even though it’s an absurd premise. As anyone who has cats could tell you, cats & large plants do not get along, much less a cactus! Take it from me, I have three. I had to give up on that plant lady dream a while ago.

It’s mid-August now, officially that time of the year when I’m utterly sick & tired of rains, I can’t even muster up any fake enthusiasm. Wherever in the world you are today, I just hope you’re warm & safe. x

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I’ll be the first to admit that it’s been a long time since I last blogged about eating out in Mumbai. I guess I’ve been feeling a little bit uninspired on that front. Now don’t get me wrong, there have been many nice meals. Many delicious dishes that tasted great & satisfied me quite a bit. But nothing special enough to write home about, you know?

An Introduction to The Quarter

The Quarter opened late last year at Mumbai’s iconic Royal Opera House in Charni Road. It’s an area of Mumbai that I was completely unfamiliar with, so I was pretty eager to check it out.

Quick online searches talk mostly about LIVE at The Quarter, the 1950s style jazz bar that opens at 6PM & hosts live performances every evening. However, The Quarter is unique in a way that it has four distinct ‘sections’ – other than LIVE, there’s also DINE – their alfresco dining area, CAFE – a bright & airy all day cafe & DRINK – the intimate, grand but understated all day bar situated above the cafe.

We went to the Quarter on a weekday, mid afternoon & were seated at the drink level. They have a reasonably large menu, & are better known for their small plates (small plates = quarter plates, get it?). We were there to check out The Quarter Plate festival, more on that later.

Drinks

Since we were going for lunch with a few things planned after, we opted for all non alcoholic drinks (though they do have an extensive & very diverse spirit menu).

All drinks at the quarter are served with steel or bamboo straws, it’s always nice to see restaurants & cafés choose more sustainable options.

The Virgin Mojito was a refreshing citrus drink with freshly pounded basil. I enjoyed my ginger beer because it reminded me of the EGB Ginger Beer I got mildly addicted to on my last visit to Sri Lanka. The Quarter’s version was slightly less sweet, which I do see as a pro. For our second round, we got a hibiscus sangria & a dry lavender soda. It’s not easy to find lavender based drinks in the city, & this was just sublime! I can’t describe it too well because I don’t have much basis for comparison, except that it was good. It’s one drink I’d definitely recommend if you find yourself at The Quarter.

Food

The Quarter has many options in their small plate menu, for vegetarians & meat eaters & pescatarians too! We opted for two veg & two seafood dishes.

Vegetarian

We tried the Sabudana Bombas, (literally Sabudana bombs, a spanish inspired dish with a desi twist) which was stuffed with raw banana, on a tomato based gravy on the recommendation of our server. This was definitely quite unique & I did enjoy it.

We also ordered the black hummus – which gets it’s name & slightly darker hue from black beans & sesame. Hummus rarely disappoints – this one was no exception. It was served with some taboulleh & deep fried pockets.

Seafood

Even though The Quarter has some very tempting red meat options, for our second round of quarter plates, we opted for seafood.

We got some seared tiger prawns with basil pesto and chaat masala, and salmon on ricotta gnocchi with herb butter.

Both of them were absolutely amazing but I have to give a special mention to the salmon, which was absolute sublime. It was cooked just right, the asparagus & gnocchi complimented it perfectly – add buttery sauce & some micro greens on top & the whole dish was superlative. Easily the best prepared salmon I’ve ever eaten & I order salmon whenever I see it on the menu anywhere.

Dessert

And finally, we shared a dessert – warm bread pudding with roasted bananas & bourbon ice cream. A perfect dessert to end a perfect meal.

In Summation

I absolutely loved my meal experience at The Quarter.

I really enjoyed the small plates concept (similar to Spanish tapas) because as someone who loves food but has a smaller appetite, I usually can’t explore much of a restaurant’s menu (unless it’s a special tasting menu, which is rare). Here, I could easily do two plates without feeling in the least bit stuffed. Smaller plates are great for sharing & you can try a lot of different things in the same meal. It also keeps prices lower than full portions, which is great when you’re not sure if you’ll like the dish (though I doubt it would happen, in this case).

Every single dish I had was amazing, even the Sabudana, which I didn’t think I would like. The flavours are well balanced – English / French / Spanish dishes many of which had uniquely desi twists. Even if I try hard to be critical, I can’t fault anything – the ambience, food & even pricing was all pretty great. Despite being at The Royal Opera House it has a chilled out vibe, which means you can still go in casual clothes & dine in a relaxed way. It’s not exactly visible from the road (you enter through the Opera House gate) which gives makes it feel like something of hidden treasure. Great for dates, or just casual catch ups!

The Quarter Plate Festival

The Quarter is hosting The Quarter Plate Festival until the 8th of August (coming Wednesday) which offers discounted prices on their small plates. If you have time this weekend or the first part of next week, there’s no better time to check out the place. If you can’t make it now, go later. But go! I enthusiastically recommend it, I can’t even remember the last time I had such a memorable, superlative dining experienced (can you tell I’m still sort of on a great lunch high, even though a day & a half has passed?) Oh & happy weekend, hope you have a good one! x

The Quarter, Royal Opera House, Charni Road, Mumbai (google maps /website)

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Mumbai has a couple of government museums & a few smaller ones like the RBI museum (currency) & the BEST museum (bus/transport).

Of the government museum, the most popular one is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sanghralaya (formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum) which I’ve visited multiple times & blogged about it here, here & here. Even though the Bhau Daji Lad Museum predates it (BDL is the oldest museum in Mumbai) it’s smaller & lesser known.

A brief history of the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum

This museum was founded in it’s oldest form in 1855. A little later, a committee comprising of Bhau Daji Lad and Jaganath Shunkerseth was formed to raise money for construction of a new building for the museum. The construction of the present museum building was started in 1862 & completed in 1872. It was built with the patronage of many wealthy Indian businessmen and philanthropists like David Sassoon, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy and Jaganath Shunkerseth. Despite the fact that it was a museum built in India with money raised by Indians, it was originally named the Victoria & Albert Museum (because of the our British Imperialist Overlords, of course) but it was renamed in 1975 after Bhau Daji Lad, a scholar originally hailing from Goa. I’ll admit that I didn’t know much about him before writing this post, but I was proud to learn about him & I think it’s a very fitting tribute.

Collections at the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum

Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum is significantly smaller than the Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum but still houses an impressive collection of 18th & 19th century artifacts (most of which correspond to the city of Mumbai in some way or another), early boats that docked in Mumbai, clay models / busts of different Indian & International communities (that did business in Mumbai) in their traditional garb) & other dioramas of provincial life.

The museum building itself is a thing of beauty & I felt bad for not really capturing it much in any of these pictures. It was apparently pretty run down once but underwent a five year restoration in 2012 & is now in wonderful condition.

Still looking for more reasons to visit? The ticket for adults is a mere ₹10 per adult & photography is allowed with no separate camera fee, in stark contrast to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sanghralaya, which hiked it’s entrance fees after a restoration & does charge for cameras (incrementally, depending on what type of camera you own).

The museum is open from 10AM – 6PM every day except Wednesday. If you’d like more information, they have a surprisingly well designed & detailed website. I think it’s a great place to visit to find out more about the city whether you’ve lived here long or are just visiting. It’s just beside the main entrance of Jijamata Udyan (Mumbai Zoo) that I’d recommend avoiding for obvious ethical reasons.

You can check my Mumbai category for more post about things to do & places to visit in the city and my museum tag for posts about other museums in India!

Have you been here yet? I’d love your recommendations for more must-visit places within the city! x

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Even though Mumbai is a large metropolis, I’ve always bemoaned the lack of truly multicultural cuisine in Mumbai. There are tons of themed placed – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French but most of the dishes are heavily adapted to suit local tastes. It makes good business sense, but you never truly get authentic world food.

This place was different. Sure, it was charming. But the food was really authentic too! We stuck to desserts on our visit, & I had the best half and half mint choco chip macarons & banoffee pie ever.

As luck would have it, the place sadly closed a couple of months after. These photos have been lying on my computer for a few years – it’s high time I shared them here, even if it’s just for a e s t h e t i c s.

Is there any restaurant or eatery you’ve been to just once, but you have fond (or unique) memories of? I definitely fondly remember places I’ve eaten at while travelling & sometimes I look them up years later to see if they’re still around. x

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Britannia & Co. in Fort had been on my wishlist since forever, but since it’s in Ballard Estate (the old business district) I had just never got around to going there. Recently mom & I had a boring errand to run in the area & it was the perfect reason to finally visit for lunch!

Simple, iconic signage to know that you’re in the right spot.

Britannia & Co. keeps it simple – it’s open for just four hours daily, from noon to four (mainly catering to the local office goers) & only accepts cash payments.

The main floor was packed when we arrived there, luckily they also have a mezzanine & we got to inaugurate it for the day. It did offer a great bird’s eye view of the going-on’s in Britannia & Co.

Irani Restaurants & Cafés are devoid of many modern comforts that many eateries offer- there are no air conditioners, just fans (although some do have a separate AC room with a higher priced menu). You will get a kind of old world hospitality that’s unmatched with any more modern place, though.

First order of business of business – get some drinks! Britannia is one of the only restaurants in Mumbai to serve Pallonji’s, a homegrown Indian soft drink brand that’s over 150 years old (yes, I did my research).

We got raspberry & ice cream soda, both were so good! I wish these flavours were more easily available.

The menu is conscise but still offers a good deal of variety although I hardly had to look at it because I had just one thing on my mind – their iconic Berry Pulao, a rice dish with lots of caramelised onion & sweet / sour dried berries. It’s available with prawn, chicken, mutton, kheema (mutton mince), veg & egg options – we chose to try the mutton & it was indescribably yummy (I’m not the most articulate when it comes to writing about food!)

Almost as famous as the restaurant itself, is it’s 93 year old owner, Mr Boman Kohinoor. Even though his son looks after the running of the place, he’s still always around, cheerfully greeting everyone & bragging about his age (he want to break the world record for oldest man alive!)

I asked if I could take a photo of him & he agreed as long as he took a photo with us, too! It was just so lovely meeting him.

We walked out of there with happy hearts & full stomach (& a doggy bag, because we are lightweights when it comes to eating!)

Speaking of doggy bags, I was so delighted to see the folks at the restaurant let a stray dog in the area take shelter near the cash counter. Most people seem to react to stray animals with suspicious, fear & disgust. It’s rare to see sensitivity & kindness like this, it warmed the cockles of my heart.

Eating at a place like Britannia & Co. is not just about the food (even though it was amazing!) It feels kind of like an exercise in history or anthropology, it’s like taking a step back into the Bombay of decades ago, very little seems to have changed over the years & I hope it stays that way!

Britannia & Co., Wakefield House, 11 Sprott Road, 16 Ballard Estate, Fort, Mumbai

If you’d like to know more about the Mumbai’s Irani restaurants, you can check out this NYT editorial from 2009 – A Taste of Persia, and Old Bombay. irani chai, mumbai is also a really great blog talking about almost all the Irani Cafés in Bombay although it hasn’t been updated much in the last few years.

Ending this with a picture of my mom being super cute in the tree lined streets of Ballard Estate.

I didn’t intend for this post to be this long. I really didn’t want this to just be about the pictures because the story is so much more important. If you live in Mumbai or are visiting, I’d highly recommend taking the time to visit this restaurant or one of many other historic Irani cafés in the city! x

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bhane. sway dress // Firmoo silver round glasses // Lavie path wallet  // Jord cora wood watch – purple heart // Hunter boots – original tall gloss in cranberry

lips – Colourpop Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick in More Better 

Photos by Sheila Vaz

As I sit here typing this, it’s pouring cats & dogs outside. And all I can do is think about early June & laugh! You see, summers in Mumbai can be brutal & by the end of it, everyone is praying for rain (not just the farmers, who depend on it to grow their crops). When the first showers start in late May / early June – we’re all collectively excited – about the chill in the air, about petrichor, about how glorious & romantic monsoons are. Fast forward three weeks – it’s pouring every day. Everything is wet. The bad roads become worse, traffic that already moves slow now practically grinds to a halt. All I’m saying is, it sucks, y’know?

We’ll all be relieved when monsoon is over & next summer we’ll all be waiting for it to start again. There’s something weirdly poetic about it, but that’s just life in Mumbai.

I’ve been sharing personal style posts on here since 2010. I bought these Hunter Boots in 2012 – on a college goer’s allowance (& vacation money) they were a definite splurge but worth every single penny, I can’t think of many other fashion items I’ve had for five years (Mumbai’s humid weather is not kind to leather, or metal, or cloth, really). I’ve styled these many different ways over the years – you can check out my posts from 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016.

This year’s look is about a lot of things I really like right now- minimalism, anti fit, Scandinavian aesthetics with little pops of colour.

Also, now’s as good a time to talk about this as any – early this year, I went on a makeup / beauty buying ban until I could finish up some of the products I’ve already amassed. I’ve been quite happy with the results so far (I’ve just bought a single mascara since 2017 started). And that just helped me realise that I could re-examine my buying habits in other areas too. I buy too many clothes – I’ve been known to use this blog as an excuse. I have quite a few things that I’ve purchased & never worn, & even more that I have worn just one time. So my next personal goal is to buy less clothes & try to cut out fast fashion as much as I can – I don’t want to say never because one day I am going to succumb & pick up a pair of cute sushi or cat socks from Forever 21, but I do want to buy more consciously – support Indian brands. Buy more consciously – well made pieces that aren’t trend based but will stay in my wardrobe for a few years at least. I’ve resisted all of the July sales thus far, & I hope I can keep this up for longer.

I’ve been a fan of bhane. ever since they first launched (remember when I was part of the bhane. Spring Summer in 2013?) So few labels in India design contemporary pieces at an affordable price tag & I’ve bought from them many times over the years (for me & mom!) This is another dress that is going to get so much of use from me!

Of course I’m looking for more clothing labels that are well designed & made, ethical & sweatshop free. Do you know any that fit the bill? I’d love your recommendations in the comments! x

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Let’s talk about the phone: The Nubia Z11 miniS is a new premium smartphone with a focus on photography. It has a 23 MP fast focus rear camera + 13 MP front camera with Selfie Fill Light. Under the hood, the Nubia Z11 Mini S comes with a Qualcomm®  Snapdragon 625, 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM.

It has a 98% metal unibody, and screen size 5.2 inch full hd with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass and comes in two metallic colours – khaki grey & moon gold.I have the moon gold & I love the classy combination of muted gold + white with little red accents on the main buttons.

The camera is fast & comes with multiple options like HDR, Pretty, Pro (where you get to choose a lot of settings), Panorama & more. The camera focuses with excellent accuracy in just 0.1 seconds which means you can immediately snap without any lag.

Of course I had to click this click #OOTD by an old building in South Bombay. I love how crisp & clear the colours are.

Next I decided to finally tick off a bucket list item & visit the famous Britannia & Co restaurant in Ballard Estate. I snapped this picture from their top deck / balcony. It was dimly lit inside the restaurant & sunny outside, but the HDR feature captured a lot of detail even in high contrast conditions.

Just before we dug into their famous Berry Pulao. Again this was very dimly lit with unflattering artificial light & I think the colours still are very crisp & there’s a lot of detail.

 On the way home, testing the selfie camera.

We were tired & sweaty, but the Beauty feature did a good job of making us looking presentable. It smooths out skin, enhances the eyes without distorting any features.

The battery life is impressive as well & even after a full day of snapping I had over 30% battery remaining. I found the camera really impressive & it was great to be able to capture such great images on my phone & not having to pull out my bulkier pro camera. Whether day to day snaps or travels, I think this is the perfect smartphone that multi tasks.

Of course this does everything you can expect out of a good smartphone as well (I love me some phone gaming when I’m stuck in traffic) but for this post I focussed most of my attention on the camera.

The Nubia Z11 miniS is available online exclusively on Amazon.In

If you’re looking for a new phone that looks good, works well & has a nice camera, make sure you check it out! x

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