Kamdar's
Just Around The Corner is,
in fact, just around the corner opposite Churchgate. It's supposed to be
Raveena Tandon's
favourite hangout, so hopes ran high. Rajesh and I walked in, sat down,
and started discussing the the hope that the man in a white chef hat sitting at
the adjacent table would come over. After a few minutes, we figured that
- Just around the corner is a self-service restaurant, and
- the man in the chef's hat at the adjacent table was a guest.
So we got up, walked down the food aisle through the exit gate. (The manager gave us
a dirty look, but I'm hoping it was because he was jealous we were thin enough to squeeze
through.) There were
soups,
salads,
pastries,
sandwiches, and
burgers. Except for the salads, the items were 75% non-veg.
But the variety was fairly good, despite that. A bit on the expensive side, with sandwiches
at Rs. 80, salads (a side order) at Rs. 70, and my apple pie at Rs. 45. But the ambience was
nice, so were the people around. There were just 3 or 4 groups dining, while the place could
seat several more.
Towards the end of the meal, a rather interesting black and white poster caught our eyes:
Cindy Crawford, with the caption "I love my eggs the sunny side up." She was lying with nothing
on, and her posterior was just covered by the caption. Intrigued, we moved on to the other
posters (all black & white).
- The Beatles: "It's been a hard day's nite, And I feel like a hot dog."
- Nicholas Cage strangling John Travolta (clearly Face Off): "I was in line first". (This one was placed where we had to queue for the food. Clever.)
- Madonna: "Always Mad-on-a frozen creamy milk shake."
- Schwarzenneger (in Terminator): "You'll be back for more!"
- Bruce Willis (in Die Hard): "Pack me a soup-salad combo to go! Hurry, or you'll die hard for it." (I don't remember this scene -- he's on a phone in a cut-sleeves vest. Is it Die Hard 2 or 3?)
- Mr. Bean: "I can't go wrong with beans on toast."
- Julia Roberts: "Fresh salads always make me a pretty woman."
- Vivien Leigh: "Care for some mayo or mustard on your sandwich?"
- Clark Gable: "Frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a damn." (Gone with the Wind)
There was also this poster with a girl that reminded me of Brooke Shields. I wasn't sure.
Since I was attracting enough attention walking down each poster and writing the captions,
I figured I may as well call someone and ask them. So I went up to a cleaning boy, who professed
ignorance. So did the cashier. Finally, they called the manager over, and the two of us studied
the picture intently. (While we were doing this, at least two other groups who were dining,
were doing the same -- while staring at us in-between.) Finally, the manager came up with a
tentative "Cindy Crawford?" I had to lead him up to Cindy's "eggs sunny side up" poster, point
out her mole, and say, "No way." We promised to find out who that was and get back to him.
PS: It's not Brooke Shields. In case anyone drops by, please have a look at the poster next
to Mr. Bean. The caption is "Nothing comes between me and my french fries."
PPS: It
WAS Brooke Shields! I got confused. And she's a Princeton graduate in
French literature.