Woodside's Beer & Burger fest was organized from 15th July until the 3rd of August. With options from the trendy Ramen Burger of Japan to Mexican Chipotle and from Frisco's Burger in a bowl to Gourmet Gujju's Eggplant and Mushroom Burger, it featured a host of patties and buns stacked in various styles from across the globe. Beer's from local micro breweries like Gateway Brewing Co. and pints from the likes of Asahis and Estrellas were all part of the seventh iteration of this festival.
After a good half an hour of waiting, we got a table upstairs which was minus the bar chaos and dim pubbish ambience. Wasting no time, we ordered the Crusty Noodle based Ramen burger and a Chicken Schnitzel Burger. I would have loved to sample the shrimp cake one and the Spiced Chickpea Pattice, if only there were more of us in number.
First to sample was my obvious choice of the evening - 'Ramen'. Keizo Shimamoto has been known to pioneer this unique collaboration of 2 cultures. Fried Ramen Noodle-Buns on either side and a grounded beef patty in between. Woodside's Ramen too packs a punch of flavours and oozing juices. It's a messy affair and hence we stuck to knife and fork, stacking ramen crust over beef patty. Next was the German Schnitzel. Deep fried bread crumbed and well seasoned Chicken Filllet would be anybody's comfort snack. So it's obvious that tucking it in between a burger bun will just make it even scrumptious. It was an ideal and less messy burger. Spreading some Wasabi Mustard on each bite while alternating between fragrant potato skins and coleslaw is just additional comfort.
While an array of well known brands of world beer are stocked, people nowadays seem to be picking up local brews over their pricier counterparts. Domination of White Zen and Doppleganger Dunkel at the fest just proves a point that Micro Breweries are here to stay.
If the pictures made your stomach grumble, then you can still head to Woodside to enjoy their regular options of burger. Woodside has 2 outlets in #Mumbai, Colaba & Andheri.
After a slightly unimpressed first two visits, i took the time out to satiate my burger cravings last evening at Between Breads #bandra. And this time it didn't disappoint by any margin whatsoever. Got served a perfect Double Patty Beef Cheeseburger. It's mouthful and ginormous. Too many hints of peppercorn seasoning in the patty but you will get over after a few initial bites.
They have a special menu running from 25th July until 3rd August in collaboration with Small Fry Co. and serving some one-offs like Stuffed portobello mushroom sliders, Lamb sliders & Chicken wrapped in bacon, Salted caramel milkshake and more.
Cheeseburger at Between Breads, 16th Road, Bandra West
Nowadays walking into a mall has become somewhat of a rarity for me and RCity at Ghatkopar is the last thing i would do on a nightmarishly crowded Sunday. For a change i did and went particularly for this joint - 5 Fat Monks, after my sister and sister-in-law's recommendation.
It's located at the back side of the mall on the ring of eateries that run along in a semi circle. Interiors are fresh in white and dominantly bright orange. The kitchen is open and was quite busy due to the fact it also does home deliveries around that vicinity.
FFM is built on the concept of Stir Fry Kitchen. You can pick and choose your proteins, sauces, veggies and build it around a rice or noodles meal-in-a-box. The concept is neat, but we stuck to their combinations instead of ours. Ordered the 'Prawn-Chicken-Lamb Holy Trinity', Smokey Yakitori Chicken and Silky Dim Sums. The Yakitori Chicken was served in no time. Just like the Japanese Street Yakitori, it was six bite sized chicken cubes on mini skewers. The chicken was flavoured well in soy and mirin combination with a dash of sesame on top. Though some people might find it a tad bit over-salted. Between this and the next one we spent a good 15 minutes waiting for the dish. #NotCool, seriously not cool. The Silky Dim Sums were little dry and not close to the slippery silky ones you can have at Yauatcha. The filling was generous, not too salty and overall it needs the help of the side garlic and chilli oil to really provide you that punch. Holy Trinity was next and filled upto the top of the box. Thumbs for the portion size and quality of ingredients. I would have preferred this in a more drippy saucy avatar, but nevertheless it was a good VFM dish.
Do ask them for a cup of green tea at the end as they say it's #ontheHouse. The tea might just help you cut all that goodies you just stuffed into stomach. Flavours apart FFM comes out as a VFM eatery that does not burn holes in your monthly eating-out expense. I say so because all the three dishes were shared between three of us and we are decently gluttonous eaters !
