Eat Ravioli Or Apply To Join The World's Oldest Secret Society: This SoBo Restaurant's Got It All

Ladies & gentlemen, a new restaurant in Fort, Goose and Grid Iron is more than what meets the eye. A pub, an outdoor café or the entrance to a secret society? We investigated.

Bang opposite the iconic Sterling theatre in South Bombay, while many people took the right to go watch the latest flick, we swerved left into the green and leafy Goose and Grid Iron. Enter first, and you’ll see a pretty outdoor café for an innocuous daytime date. Large wooden benches fit for a picnic, light pink ceiling fans, and colourful lanterns are across the space.

Push through the large doors, however, and you will be transported to a pub in London’s Oxford Street. Brown leather seats, high top stools, and a lot of hints and clues adorn the wall.

We left our suspicions to rest, while we ordered our food off the menu. A mostly continental menu, we ordered our starters with feta jalapeno cigarillos, and chicken in blanket which is basically chicken wrapped in a layer of bacon. Both were well prepared and quite delicious.

For our mains, we feasted on a very indulgent and comforting spinach and ricotta ravioli, and a plate of chicken roulade {chicken breast stuffed with spinach and cheese}. Our meal ended on a whiskey chocolate pate, which you could replace with a whole drink, if you like.

The menu has a bit of everything, from your classic pub food – fish and chips, messy French fries and more. They’ve experimented a little with the classic dishes too – a smoked mushroom cappuccino soup, Korean lamb, chicken and bacon bake and more. They even have Italian and Indian dishes on the menu for the main course.

They have a classic selection of cocktails on the menu, though we tried a more sophisticated version of a shandy, the beermosa {beer + mimosa} and an LIIT served in a beaker {not the strongest, but definitely one of the yummiest}.

A meal here will cost about INR 1,400 for two people.

Turns out, the building that Goose and Grid Iron is based out of is the Freemasons Hall we wrote about earlier. Behind the restaurant are the actual quarters where this elusive secret society, Freemasons hold their meetings and discussions. In fact, the restaurant is owned by a member of Freemasons Mumbai itself.

Through the many hints dropped across the menu and décor with posters saying ‘we want you’, the restaurant wants you to know about the Freemasons society. If you ask for the business partner, Priyanka, at the restaurant – she can connect you to the Freemasons and pass on your enquiry to join the club {although it is open to men only, a requirement we can hardly encourage but merely let you know}.

Intrigued yet? It’s worth going here for a little nibble, tipple and maybe to enter this age-old society.