Had marinated some chicken strips in a Caribbean seasoning and it turned out brilliant. Here's what i added to my marinade other than the seasoning - Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, mashed Garlic, dash of Oregano and pinch of salt. Ratio is up-to you. Left it overnight in the fridge till the chicken soaked the maximum of that mix. Pan grilled it next late afternoon and served inside my favourite twisted buns on a bed of microgreens.
You can find that Caribbean Seasoning off the shelf from some local grocer who deals in imported materials.
Firstly these are personal views and some people may or may not agree to what is being written below. Neither do i intend to promote any other brand in the same category.
To us Indians, Subs is synonymous to Subway - The great milestone brand from the west. Foot long baguette filled with lettuce, sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, gherkins, capsicum and meat of your choice plus a lot of options of sauces. I really love the ranch sauce and honey mustard. For many years we were stuck with just this one option - Subway. The gimmick that worked brilliantly and still works for us is the deal called#Suboftheday. Everyday a different sub is sold at a much lower price than usual. Indian always need more bang for bucks and they just gave us that. Roasted Chicken, Chicken Teriyaki, Hara Bhara Kebab, Italian BLT have been some of the well known and successful subs. Not only the fillings but subs come with a option for freshly baked breads too - Chipotle, Wheat, Multigrain etc. This is where is the good part ends - at-least for me.
My last outing with Subway must be approximately 2 years back at the one opposite National College. Ordered a 'Sub of the day' and the personnel behind the counter hurried me into the choice of bread and then to the veggies counter.
Two Things got noticed -
1. The guy behind the counter just wanted to get done with my order as there was a descent queue behind. So veggies were seen flying from his hands into the bread like it was a dunking game of NBA All stars. Slap and Bam !
2. The veggies used were of very inferior quality. Onions had the outer skins which get damaged, tomatoes were almost pale yellow and the mushrooms not fresh or cut too long back as they started getting brownish stale.
That was the last time i had their sub and as far as i remember it was not at all great.
In the past 2-3 years, We've seen newer brands like 'Torrp It up' & 'Quiznos' open their branches across city and serve exactly the same concept. 'Torrp it up' was a descent effort, they had more options in the daily sub offer but the experience was short lived and not the right amount of marketing and social media may have put them in the backseat. Quiznos - Yet another western master at the game of subs opened soon in Bandra West. Fresh bright ambience and slightly different approach to subs made it more likeable by the gym goers and health conscious folks. I have been their loyalist since my first visit and till day, the quality has stayed the same. My point of concern - Veggies are fresh, bright and although not superior but best what money can buy at that price point. Plus no charges for adding cheese ! The breads are definitely better than others and your sub sees a little oven time before it arrives to your dish.
If you have ignored this fact then might as well try some other subs brand and find out for yourself.
*Picture attached above is from Quiznos last night. Smoked Chicken Sub
Impresario's SHD is another of it's delicatessen that builds upon the strong base of SWC. With an almost similar menu as the latter, SHD is an identical twin. The menu is slightly shorter yet heavily derived from SWC.
Did a quick stop today late afternoon to sip some soup and gobble some sandwich. First up, the interiors are done up extremely well in pastel. Always loved the al-fresco sitting right from the days of Yellow Tree Cafe. With a view of the outside, it's a perfect setup on a gloomy day. Ground floor interiors are pretty in hints of pinks and floral print classic lampshades. The first floor is more communal and perfect for larger groups while the prettiest and the best decor, hands down is on the second floor. The lavish sofa, wooden flooring and classic wooden table compliment each other well. Yet all this lavishness was no good for my favourite al-fresco seats.
Was in the mood for Eggs Florentine so got that going first. Followed that with Soup of Mushrooms and Tuna & Sesame Sandwich. First off, the soup (A Couple of Mushrooms) - which is a blend of Shitake, Button Mushrooms and Porcini dust was rich and creamy. In a long time, i haven't had such great pleasure while sipping on a soup. I clearly remember that the Asparagus Soup at SWC was one such experience. Tuna & Sesame s/w was perfect grilled. For half a portion, that is quite a descent size. The fibrous feel and taste of tuna is cut well by the celery, balancing each other out.
The Eggs Florentine were served perfectly as they should be - Poached Eggs sitting on Brioche Bun and Boiled Spinach topped with a rich creamy Hollandaise. I wanted my eggs to be runny (you have the option of a well done too) - Just so that i can watch the oozing yolk fall over and out on the plate. Love that mess ! Alternating bites of Hash Browns dipped in the sauce and then back to the Eggs with buns and sauce is just a cycle one wouldn't mind repeating for a good 10 mins. To end it, you always have the complimentary bread basket at your disposal. Slap on the butter & jam on those assorted breads and your can close your quick meal with little sweetness.
The place mind you, is expensive. All these exquisite flavours are only possible by procuring the best & fresh produce from the market. Hence, once in a while i don't mind it at all. If something touches your culinary side of the soul and comforts you, you shouldn't have a reason to complain.
A special shout out to my man - Nelson, who took good care of us. Thanks buddy !
There are burgers, and there are double whoppers and then are massive open face burgers. The last one is by all means a mammoth task.
Visited #HungerPangs late last evening after hearing some good bits about it, even though my presumptions were overpowering the views from many people. The place has a very calm and relaxed atmosphere. Dim lights and lanterns on tables make up for a descent conversational dinner. The menu is very deli type featuring Burgers, Cheese Logs, Beef Bolognese and Sandwiches. Service is quick and with smiles. Yorack - the man behind the ka-ching counter makes sure he has a feedback from almost all of his customers.
The open face - 10 oz Legendary Chicken Burger is a must have dish. Stuffed with Grilled Onions, subtly flavoured Chicken Patty, Salami, Sunny side up, Sliced Onions & Tomato and Iceberg, it is one heck of a messy affair. The XL size of the serving itself is enough to put anyone into a food coma. The question is - Where does one begin from ? Cap the burger to begin the ritual and the egg yolk ruptures and oozes all over the burger layers. The stacking is neat and well balanced that nothing seem too dominating in flavours. The Sandwiches are massive too. Had ordered the Chicken Caesar S/W and it was served in a much Panini avatar that a regular sliced loaf. Loved that switch of bread as the texture is different and all the ingredients fit well inside the casing. Again, flavours are right there and well balanced.
Do give it a try, I sure am going to yet again in this week for it's Pasta & Starters. What i love about this place is that the team behind it knows what they want to serve (limited american fast food & tex-mex dishes) and serve them well with perfect execution.
Just in case it's hard to locate the place - It's opp Nature;s Basket on Hill Road.
Happy Eating everyone !
Microgreens is a word that we may have learnt of only recently. The amateur chefs from Masterchef series and even other world class chefs like Heston Blumenthal or Gordon Ramsay particularly use it in the garnish of the dish. As they say - "And top it off with a little Microgreens"
So what are these Microgreens ? These are a specialized bred greens which are harvested as soon as they reach a length of a inch or inch and a half. We already know about baby vegetables, similarly MIcrogreens are micro baby forms of some of the well known greens, like - Sunflower Microgreens, Raddish Microgreens, Broccoli Microgreens, Arugula and many more. These are cultivated in small batches in specialized farms or possibly even at your home. Many a people have taken up microgreen farming as a serious profession as the demand for this rises around the world. Supermarkets are now stocking them in small fresh batches. These baby greens are valued and popular due to 2 reasons - One : they are full organic produce and Two : they are nutritional, crunchy and look great on a dish.
I've been consuming some of them since the past 2 weeks and more. Sunflower is my favourite of the lot. Since we at home do not plate and serve the dish like a restaurant, the idea of topping them on a indian cuisine does not make sense. They go well with any of the continental dish you may whip up at home. But for me, i now always keep a handful of them on the side of my plate and eat them as any other salad component. Don't hesitate to add them to your finger sandwiches as they work quite well with any meat component cutting through the dense meaty flavour and give you a different airy, crunchy feel. Taste wise they are almost like sprouts and leave a mild nutty aftertaste in your palate. Nutrition wise they are have been researched and evaluated to have found 40 times more nutrition than their mature counterparts. Researchers have evaluated high levels of four groups of vital nutrients, including vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and beta-carotene, in 25 different commercially grown microgreens.
I usually pick them from Nature's Basket. Fresh stock arrives daily and is sold out by the evening. Priced anything between 25 to 60 bucks for 60-70gms, these are a great addition to your meal and don't do much damage to your pocket.
So go the Microgreens way ! You'll love it.
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.
