Mumbai Masala: Blue Frog Set To Revive Live Music In Ballard Estate

The best news on the music front is the proposed reopening of the hugely popular live world music venue, the Blue Frog. It opened in Lower Parel some years ago and was an instant hit. Before it could take root, the owner Mahesh Mathew declared bankruptcy. The good news is that the joint is going to be relocated to an yet-to-be revealed place in Ballard Estate.

Apparently the Maharashtra government's decision to let shops and restaurants remain open all night and the move to have an international cruise terminal at the waterfront has prompted Mathew to opt for a second innings. In any case, Ballard Estate, which despite its beautiful heritage office buildings, is dead as a dodo at night except for sailors getting themselves drunk silly at Harish and other bars. Hopefully Blue Frog will jazz up the place from March 2026 onwards.

Bom Dia Brings Global Flavours To Matunga's Culinary Scene

One of the better things to have happened to the gourmet scene is the opening of Bom Dia, which is Portuguese for good morning. It is situated diagonally opposite the iconic Cafe Madras on Bhaudaji Road, Matunga. It’s well lit with the ground floor selling takeaways like cakes. The real action is on the first floor where a spacious restaurant welcomes you, shutting out the din of traffic outside.

The menu offers a wide variety of choices in cold and hot beverages like cortado coffee and Indian, Asian and Italian food. You can settle for the usual paneer kofta, lehsun Palak, dal makhani, kulchas etc or opt for sushi, open sandwiches, satay et al. The ambience is pleasant and cosy. However, the pricing is very much on the higher side which may discourage repeat footfalls. It will be interesting to see how the owners Manjrekars sell a totally “hatke” cuisine to Matungaites who have been reared on idlis, dosas and wadas dished out by Cafe Madras, Cafe Mysore and Anand Bhavan.

City's Street Light Woes Dim Its World-Class Dreams

Mumbai is aspiring to be a word-class metropolis. But how can it do that with a sharp deterioration in basic services like street lights. The other day I went to Mazgaon to attend Kali Puja at night and I found several streets were plunged in darkness. Power outages, an unheard of thing in the past, are now common in SoBo. The flyovers at Lalbaug and Parel are permanent areas of darkness. In the suburbs too non-functional street lights are common. It makes walking at night a highly risky exercise. In the tunnels on the Eastern Freeway darkness is a routine feature. The indifference of the authorities is simply shocking

Tailpiece

There is so much talk about "vote chori" these days that one would think that democracy is not about honest voting but taking part in a bank robbery. (Compiled by S Balakrishnan)

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