Gostana, a favourite restaurant with fitness enthusiasts, food bloggers and Mumbai’s twitterati, re-opened amidst cheers and conversations on 17th September 2012. A burger and salad café in Bandra that ‘started with the intention to turn fast food into a healthy option,’ Gostana’s re-opening was anxiously awaited by all.

Gostana’s new location maintains the friendly, tucked away Bandra hangout identity that made it so popular in its earlier avatar. The spanking new address is in the same building as The Den; that’s Prabhat Kunj, 24th road, Bandra.

While much of the old menu remains the same, Arpana Gvalani – owner and partner at Gostana, has some surprises in store for us. We asked Arpana a few questions at the pre-launch party and here’s what the lady had to say:

Gostana has a pretty strong following with the Indian twitterati and food blogging brigade. Will this demograph continue being a priority with the re-launch? How helpful have you found this positioning to Gostana's appeal? 

Arpana Gvalani: Definitely as our friends on various social platforms have helped us grow and reach where we are right now, we'll always continue to strive and improve for them. And at the same time, cater to everyone who have probably just got to know us through word-of-mouth. We do owe a very large part of Gostana's awareness to all our friends who've helped us spread the word about our new venue. 

We love that Gostana is re-inventing fast food and making it healthier. What cooking methods and ingredients do you use/substitute to give a healthy twist to each recipe?
Arpana Gvalani: The cooking methods we use are mainly steaming and compress cooking. We make most use of local flavours to enhance taste buds. As general mentality is that healthy food is usually tasteless. So we make sure that you can have your favourite food without any guilt.

You mentioned sinful Fridays as a new addition to Gostana's menu. Could you tell us a little about this? (A thought: Is this to entice non-healthy eaters to try out Gostana's menu, or for healthy eaters who like indulging once in a while?)
Arpana Gvalani: This idea is for people who would like to indulge once in a way and don't have to feel bad about cheating on their diets. The breads will still be whole wheat or multi-grain but there will be a lot of new additions that are basically very popular with people, in general. 

Do you find that more people eating at (and ordering from) Gostana are doing so to eat healthy? Is this something you've noticed, or do you get requests for cheese, mayo and fried patties?
Arpana Gvalani: Well, we'd like to believe that people are very satisfied with our menu and it's probably one off case where someone would request for cheese, mayo or fried patties. 

What will Gostana's main offerings be on the menu? Are there any new additions and experiments?
Arpana Gvalani: Our current menu will remain but we're going to be introducing meals, daily specials and fun new experiments with our burgers. 

So if you’re craving a burger, but don’t care to sabotage your healthy eating and weight control plans, then head over to Gostana. Sip on a healthy fruit smoothie, dig into a delicious and healthy steamed patty burger, and enjoy conversations with the friendly staff and other like-minded patrons. Stepping out doesn’t have to be unhealthy anymore.

Check out the new Gostana menu here.