Founded in 1956 by the same owners of the epic Delhi culinary institution Kwality, you can be assured that Gaylord knows what it’s doing. What initially seems country club meets French brasserie culminates in a decades-old, much loved establishment reminiscent of a European café that you know serves good butter chicken.Once frequented by the likes of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and The Beatles in its heyday, Gaylord’s managed to hang on to the icon status by a grip that you’d by no means call feeble. Newly-renovated, it preserves its old Bollywood glamour, and remains to this day the oddest convergence of all kinds of diners: oldies who’ve had their regular verandah tables since before you were born; families picking up eclairs from the alfresco bakery every Sunday, and young city newcomers marvelling at the live pianist and terrazzo floors. The interior’s very fancy: black and white photographs boasting famous guests enjoying night after night of jazz; red velvet upholstery, rattan chairs. A Bombay of decades past.
The retro theme’s what it built its name on, and so the retro theme is here to stay. You’d be hard pressed to find their classic dish, the Chicken A La Kiev, made so well anywhere else in Mumbai. It’s crispy on the outside and stuffed to the brim with cheese, butter, mushroom, and chicken; cutting it open is a visual wet dream.The caramel custard is the clear winner on the dessert menu – again, one of the very best in the city, and topped off with a maraschino cherry and a dollop of whipped cream. Most importantly, it’s one of the few establishments that hasn’t messed up the caramel to custard ratio. Thankfully, Gaylord believes in getting lost in the sauce!