Mirchi & Mime, a restaurant I visited during the New Year long weekend, is located just across the Powai Lake in Mumbai. What attracted me to this place was the fact that most of the activities at this amazing restaurant are undertaken by the staff who communicate using sign language.

Founded by Henley School of Business graduates – Prashant Issar and Anuj Shah, Mirchi & Mime draws inspiration from “Signs”, which is a Toronto based bistro functioning on the concept of hiring differently abled people. The restaurant was set up in March 2015, and has been gaining a lot of popularity since then. Mirchi & Mime employs people who are hearing and speech impaired. Diners are requested to place their orders mimicking the hand gestures associated with the particular item. These gestures are mentioned in the menu and are very easy to do. The food menu matrix that lists out all the food items being offered are in a single page along with images of the gestures, has been designed by the National Institute of Design. The staff here has been specially trained by Dr. Reddy’s Foundation.

Not just the concept is amazing, the food is super awesome too. The food menu is dominated by Indian cuisine, with its own unique twist that just makes it all the more delicious. What’s more its a budget friendly place, so you won’t need a suitcase to carry the money to pay the bill here!

Dishes like tandoori prawns, Crab Seekh kebabs, Madras curry and rice, Tariwalla Chicken, Nehru Place Paneer Methi Makhani, Rajma Chawal Arancini, Smoked Dal, etc are really very popular here. Their desserts are also very noteworthy with options like Coconut Bakewell Tart, Sugarfree Sitaphal Pannacotta, Nutella & Toffee Tart, etc.

When I went to this place, it was completely sold out for the night, and it was just about 8:30 pm still. They mentioned there were a few chairs empty on the high tables outsides, if I cared to take them, they would be happy to serve. I didn’t mind. It didn’t really matter to me whether I was sitting comfortably on a couch in an air conditioned environment or out in the open, with all the lovely new year decorations that the entire Hiranandani-Powai area had been decorated with, lights on every tree on every road…

Settling in, I just asked the guy if there was such a huge crowd because of the New Year festivities or maybe because it was a Saturday night… He mentioned that this was an everyday story for them, they would be sold out each night. That says a lot about how popular the eatery is, and how much the people love coming here, hanging out and grabbing a bite.

The accompaniments/appetizers/timepass tools served in most restaurants is a plate of sliced onions with lemon and of course the staple salt and pepper shakers. However, Mirchi and Mime is far from being a conventional place. They served something very different, with a very different blast of flavours. Onion, cooked with spices tasted amazing, as did the pickled cauliflowers. And the cucumbers mixed with its own unique spices was also a great bite.

I ordered a Rajma Chawal Arancini accompanied with an orange flavoured Bacardi Breezer. One of the thumb rules of travelling alone is to keep it light on the alcohol, you don’t want to end up all high, unable to manage yourself with nobody to help you out. Rajma Chawal is a childhood favourite and I was eager to try this unconventional twist to the mighty traditional Kashmiri-Punjabi dish that I have relished since I my school days. 

Arancini are generally rice balls, coated with bread crumbs and deep fried. I was a little puzzled about how this went with Rajma Chawal. But I was happily surprised when the dish arrived. There were rice balls in the centre of my plate, surrounded by caramelised onions and then, piping, hot Rajma was poured over on top of it while serving. And, my, my, it was even more delicious than I had imagined. The Arancini was perfectly cooked, as was the Rajma, with all the right spices and the cherry on top was the caramelised onions. Mind blowing awesome.

I told the attendant in sign language that the dish was really very yummm, and the joy it brought to him, it left me speechless. It is a great feeling to be able to bring a little joy to someone, to bring a smile on their face.

The dish was super filling and I had no space left in my tummy for dessert. But the desserts that came over on the table next to mine were delicious and amazing for sure.

I loved every minute of being at Mirchi & Mime and would definitely love to visit again when I am in the area. They have also launched a gastropub just two-three shops away called Madeira & Mime, which works on the same concept of sign language. The staff has written on their shirts at the back in bold, “I know sign language, what’s your superpower?” Isn’t that awesome?