I know things have been a little quiet here lately, that’s because I’ve been travelling non stop these past two months – Delhi, Chiang Rai, Bangkok, Delhi again & Colombo, to give you an idea. I’m always grateful for the opportunities & I’ve truly had some amazing experiences, but it’s also been a little hectic, & I’ve been kinda overwhelmed when at home, trying (in vain) to play catch up with pending work. But enough of that, for now. Last week I got the chance to take a break & spend an evening at Renaissance Mumbai Hotel, just relaxing & indulging.
Renaissance Mumbai has got to be one of my favorite hotels in the city, one that I’ve been visiting for over four years. Built on a hill, it offers a stunning view of Powai Lake. I’ve blogged / vlogged about them so many times before, but these photos of the Powai skyline taken from the hotel lawns & the feast I had at Emperor’s Court for Chinese New Year are my two favorite (blog posts and memories).
The property is celebrating it’s 15th year in a grand way with the launch of Quan Spa. Inspired by the natural elixir of life – water, the spa borrows the restorative quality of this natural element to provide healing therapies and treatments which are pure, natural and help to repair the natural balance of the body. Quan Spa offers an exotic menu of exquisitely designed treatments that uses organic ingredients to calm and soothe the frayed nerves of weary travelers.
I was invited to experience the Jet Lag Massage Treatment which came at the perfect time!
The waiting / reception area of the spa is really large, soothing & tastefully decorated with fresh flowers. After having a look at the services they offer, I was led in. Little did I know how much bigger it is inside!
The first step is obviously to get out of my stuffy jeans & into some spa appropriate garb! I was given a robe, disposable panties & slippers, while my clothes & belongings were kept in a locker.
Excited about my massage, thought it called for a selfie.
I was then taken to these cute little day beds, loved the natural light streaming in here. There were a ton of magazine & I was served a cup of lemon tea. One of the best parts was the view, it looked onto the manicured lawns with a fountain.
After a quick bit of pre-massage relaxation here, I then met with my therapist, Aruna & was taken to the massage room.
It was dimly lit & tastefully decorate with subtle Indian accents. My massage started with a foot rinse in the brass tub by the chair, before heading to the table.
The next hour was basically pure bliss. The Jet Lag massage is a full body treatment said to relax tired muscles & nerves as well as improve circulation. Before we began, Aruna asked if there was any place I wanted special attention paid to, & I requested the upper back, because that’s where I carry a ton of tension, plus spending long hours at the computer has really messed up my posture.
My treatment started with a few minutes of dry massage, followed by a very thorough oil massage, where every part of my body (think neck to toes) was coaxed into a state of extreme relaxation. After the massage, I got a full body steam (my first time!) followed by a quick shower. Didn’t want to leave there, but of course I had to move on to the next part of the evening!
Post my pampering at Quan Spa, it was time for some grub. Mom & I headed to Nawab Saheb, their contemporary Indian restaurant. Though I had been to Emperor’s Court many times, this was my first visit to Nawab Saheb & that was enough to make me seriously anticipate the meal!
Nawab Saheb is headed by Chef Yunus Khan who specializes in Indian gourmet. He was lovely to talk to, asked us if we had any special requests & came around many times to chat with the diners.
Started with some fruity mocktails.
Nawab Saheb has a Kebab Festival (Kahani Kebab Ki) on till the 27th of November, serving a wide array of various vegetarian, meat & seafood kebabs. You have an option of either a la carte dishes or ordering a set menu, which is the best because it lets you sample more dishes.
Under set menu, you could opt for Meat, Vegetarian, Seafood or do what we did & opt for mix – it’s the best of all worlds!
These were every kebab we tried. They were all tender, not too spicy (just as we requested) but bursting with flavor. I’d have to say that the paneer one was my favorite – I was skeptical about the dry fruit stuffing but it works magnificently.
Mom & I aren’t big eaters, so when the time came for mains we were pretty stuffed & hence requested smaller potions to avoid wasting food. These were a few dals & curries.
I’ve mentioned time & again that I’m not much of a biryani person – I always found the dish to be a bit overhyped & I never quite got the fuss surrounding it. Well after trying this Ghosht (mutton) biryani, I’ve now officially a convert. It was moist, fragrant & the best biryani I’ve had in a while, it sort of reminded me of this excellent Lamprais I tried at Mount Lavinia Hotel, Colombo earlier this month (ok Biryani & Lamprais are two different dishes but I do think they’re closely related!)
After dinner, it was time to head to the dessert section – mainly Bengali sweets & a dizzying array of flavored paans!
I’ve eaten petha & I’ve eaten meetha paan, but I’d never eaten Petha Paan (the green triangle, below) – such an innovative dessert.
A good masala (spice mix) is the cornerstone of any Indian dish, & all the masalas used to prepare the dishes at Nawab Saheb are made in house through traditional methods, Chef Yunus very kindly gave us some garam masala, I can’t wait to try it in some of my preparations at home.
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening at the hotel, I’d like to thank the team at Renaissance for putting together this truly wonderful, personalized experience for me.
I also vlogged my highlights of the evening, which you can watch below! x
