This latest Mediterranean entrant parks itself into the heart of an evergrowing hub of culinary choices - Bandra. At a location that already makes people overindulge into radical salads from Bombay Salad Co. and the legendary Biryani in earthen pots from Khan-e-khaas, Cairo Grill must bring their culinary aces to the table in order to make a mark.

Drawing direct inspiration from the popular New York food truck 'Halal Guys', Cairo Grill brings gyro cart food in the form the meat & rice, pita & hummus, shawarma, and a little more. The food is aimed is to be quick takeaway affair just as their tag line goes - Fast, Tasty & Mediterranean. Having sampled almost all of their menu in the past two weeks, the signature dish - New York style Chicken & Rice takes the 'Popular Dish' vote while the lettuce, croutons, chicken induced 'Shawarma Salad' takes my vote for being the heartiest. The contents of the tangy rich white sauce is something of a myth just as it is back in New York. It was mentioned to us that it contains only a little mayonnaise for the sake of consistency while most of it as we inferred should be sour cream coupled with Tahini dressing.

Cairo's shawarma appears well textured on the outside with crisscross grill marks on the pita. The succulent chicken meat ticks all the right boxes, though it's the filling that seems sparse and one gets an immense portion of the pita in each bite and quite less of the inner goodies. The Falafel mixture itself needs a lot of work as the end deep fried product tastes more of a desi imitation with irregular chunks of peas in each bite. On the other hand, their Hummus is impeccable with the right consistency of all ingredients. We ordered the Chicken & Hummus plate and it was finger-licked in no time. The deep fried garlic topping is a nice touch and adds a crunchy dimension to the paste like texture.

Oreo Nachos, the only sweetened attribute is a not so convincing affair of deep fried pita chips sprinkled with a mix of crushed Oreo, Cinnamon and Sugar.

To sum it all, Cairo Grill though fairly new to the scene does pack enough Mediterranean punches in the right places with its hearty portions of salads, flavorful gyro meat and more importantly tempts you every time with the red & white sauce laced Chicken & Rice. The 'Halal Guys' would definitely have to worry about yet another imitation brand if they ever decided to come down to Mumbai.

PostedMarch 11, 2015

AuthorAssad Dadan

CategoriesReviews

Tagscairo, cairo grill, grill, egypt, egpytian, cuisine, lebanese, meditteranean, shawarma, gyro, gyro food, street food, mumbai, Bandra, New York, New York Chicken & Rice, Halal Guys, Bombay Salad Co, KhaneKhaas

Location : Zapata's, Shop 13-14, Pleasant Park, Link Road, Opposite Movie Time Theatre, Malad West

Firstly to get the mood going let's listen to some pop from 80s. Yazoo did this amazing track which i only heard now in 2015 while watching a sitcom #TheAmericans. If you haven't seen it then do check out this thrilling CIA vs KGB drama that has unfolded cautiously over three seasons.

So moving on from Russians to Mexicans. On researching a bit over the internet it was found that Zapata meant an occupational name for a cobbler or shoemaker and also that 'Emiliano Zapata' was prominent figure from the Mexican Revolution. This Malad based eatery paints a different picture altogether. When conversing with one of the expat partner during our chef's table, he felt that Mexican food was not that greatly accepted here in Mumbai and with Zapata they wanted people to get comfortable with their asado style of cooking, tostados, ceviche and more that they have to offer.

Zapata's opens into a mix of high stools and cozy chairs enveloped in a wooden overtone. There's an yet to be complete artwork on one of its wall representing Mexico’s mafia in the form a dog smoking a cigar wearing a sombrero (very 'Snoop Dogg' i would say). My preferred ambiance will definitely be the open patch. The inside is such a stark contrast that it makes you feel you made your way from Mexico to Cuba.

Staff is well dressed with a smile. Makes you feel at ease throughout the meal.

Let me quickly run through the dishes that we tasted at the chef's table :

Drinks menu is up-to the mark like any other eatery with signature cocktails and other concoctions. Our White Sangria with pears was perfectly suited for the afternoon.
Nachos de zapata's - This large plate of concentric nacho rings came on a bed of minced chicken and refried beans with topping of fresh 'pico de gallo' salsa, guacamole, olives, jalapenos and sour cream. A supremely filling dish and perfect for a large group, though they do have smaller portions for a couple.
Tostadas - Presentation and stacking is precise. The use of microgreens is definitely appreciated. Tortilla crust was perfect, but the dish was vastly let down by the bland chicken meat. The dips will surely be of all help here. A roasted vegetables variation is available too. Portion size seems small for an appetizer worth upwards of 300 bucks.
Taquitos - These mini tortilla snackers with a softer crust are available in Asado Lamb and Beer-battered (Basa) fish variations. Take it with a squeeze of lemon and both of them will surely tantalize your tastebuds.
Burritos - We tried the Chipotle Fish variation which is plenty in portion but each bite rendered a lot of tortilla roll than the inner stuffing.

Having gobbled a lot of tortilla and nachos, we gave the next section 'main course' a miss. If Fajitas, Enchiladas or mixed platter is your game then you can surely go for it. With least regret in the stomach, we knew a better pasture was waiting for us. A dessert platter made its way on the table.

Desserts - Tres Leches & Churros are impeccable in taste and texture. The Flan was bit stiff and reminded me more of the pudding that mum makes at home. Having no previous taste memory of an 'Empanada', this one seemed more like a diwali karanji filled with caramelized nuts. The first try felt descent while the next one when accompanied with a little dollop of ice-cream and chocolate sauce made a small impact to the palate.

Zapata's will fare well from a corporate dining standpoint or weekend social gathering. The food though mostly flavourful and visually inviting still draws only a caricature of the Mexican culture. Nachos, Quesdillas, Fajitas and more has been done repeatedly by Chilis, Sammy Sosa, Sanchos and a few more. Mexican cuisine is not restricted to nachos, but consists of a lot of more like Mole Poblano, Tamale and Torta which can bring a lot of variety to the table than repetitive tortilla based dishes.

Folks staying in the final third of Mumbai - If sipping on strong concoctions and binging on typical Mexican food is what you're looking for then surely this is your place. Baba's & Baby's of South Bombay and Hipsters of Bandraites are certainly not missing anything by giving this place a miss.

PostedMarch 2, 2015

AuthorAssad Dadan

CategoriesReviews

Tagszapata's, zapatas, zapata, mexico, mexican, tex mex, nachis, nachos, quesdillas, sombrero, sangria, tres leches, tortilla, french fries, fast food, malad, mumbai, flan, churros

First thing first, Mediterranean cuisine is different from the Middle East / Lebanese cuisine. It's funny that people from this industry have nowadays started to sell Lebanese food as Greek food and vice-a-versa. So, many of us ignorant puppets will believe in the brand if it's marketed or labelled as 'Authentic'.

Coming from a family where my father worked in the middle east for all his life and me as kid grew up eating shawarma, falafel, khaboos, vinaigrette pickles, baklava and a lot more as a biannual staple for two months of each year, I can decipher a good Lebanese dish from a bad one just by its looks. I'm not the one to get fooled by fancy earth or hummus coming out of a piping bag. Just like me, I'm sure i speak for a lot many of us who have experienced the middle east and feel sorry it's apathetic rendering here in India.

'Ithaka- Veg Lebanese Kitchen' - 'Ithaka' is a Greek island and 'Veg Lebanese Kitchen' of course means Lebanese ! As I said, it's all in the marketing. They even got the restaurant signage done in the pseudo arabic-english typography.

Ithaka sits right on top of 'Riso' - another fully vegetarian eatery, which is flanked by two more vegetarian eateries - Spiceklub & The Rolling Pin. The decor - White floral pattern furnished tall sofas and wooden ceiling planks sets quite a bright and somewhat 90s ambiance. For some reason, they forgot to remove that glass cabin at the extreme corner which looked like it belonged to the back office. Since it was a pre-launch, we were treated to a set menu that showcased the best of what they had to offer. Service began with a bunch of gradient colored mocktails bearing some fancy names and description. Lemon Grass soup and Mushroom Cappuccino were next. Lemon Grass Soup was merely a broth with cut sections of baby corn and carrot. The rustic earthen bowl and spoon presentation did not appeal to me and made quite an uncomfortable experience to go through the bottom of the soup. Bursting the bubble a little soon, but the Mushroom Cappuccino was clearly the hero of the night. Frothy-creamy-rich soup and a lot of warmth is what you get in that large cup. It's the one you would want to be sipping watching a rom-com movie snuggling up with your partner. Full marks to the chef for providing that mini romantic escapade.

Appetizers were next. Batata Harra was presented in a long corn leaf jacket shaped dish. Again, Too cheeky and cliché kind of presentation which just overpowers the beauty of the natural ingredients. This baby potato appetizer is a rather uninspired fare. Too many garnishes and not so flavourful base for the potato makes it a forgettable one. Sesame Zucchini arrived next on a half crescent plate. Where is the zucchini was rather my question ? Wafer thin sliced zucchini base with a coat of sesame and veggie topping was a valiant effort to bring the heroics of a rather underrated vegetable. Turkish Kebabs (made of corn & fenugreek) came covered in an actual jacket of corn. Smooth and melt on the tongue types, though it left us wanting more of it. Portion size was rather minuscule.

The Water Chestnut & Raw Mango Salad - This one left a fire in my entire palate, wind pipe, lungs and intestine. It is guaranteed to leave you with a blazing burp once done. I had earlier managed to secure one of the coconut mocktail by my side, hence got relief from the inferno soon after. Among the salad my vote would definitely go to the 'Mediterranean Mint Salad' which cooled off my palate in an instant with its luscious mint curd dressing which smeared the French beans and cucumber.

Selection of Hummus (clockwise) - Turki, Harra & Traditional. — *Selection of Hummus (clockwise) - Turki, Harra & Traditional.*

Next up was the quintessential 'Hummus' with Pita. Three variations of Hummus were served - Traditional, Harra and Turki. Traditional was bit alkaline, less notes of Tahini and Garlic than I was expecting. No extra virgin olive oil and paprika garnish on top. The 'Harra' version was an interesting one with colours and flavours from pesto mixture. This one should definitely work among the masses. Hummus Turki felt a lot like 'Baba Ganoush' with abundance of kick from the blended black olives.

My set meal had to end abruptly at this point since I was already an hour or more into this dinner and was overlapping my meeting with some carnivorous folks in the suburbs.

As I said in the middle of this post it's a valiant effort, but most of the time too dramatized in presentation and a lot illiberal in portions. Lebanese cuisine is all about generosity and simple plating, which is clearly missing at Ithaka. Hoping that honest feedback is accepted from these pre-launch dinner and the daily production drill which is under-way is much liberal if still cliché.

PostedFebruary 24, 2015

AuthorAssad Dadan

CategoriesReviews

Tagsithaka, ithaca, greek, Lebanese Food, lebanese, zomato, food, hummus, pesto, baklava, cappuccino, pita, Pita Bread, riso, spiceklub, lower parel, Mumbai, town

Two-One-Two's all day cafe & bar recently opened its door to the lesser fortunate side of the eastern suburbs at Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla. Located at the upper floor, 212 occupies the spot next to the Irish Pub and also extends at the backside into a descent al-fresco area too. The thought of having a Sunday brunch in al-fresco was near perfect, but was dropped as soon as we saw the construction work within a few metres and also the afternoon heat was making things all the more uninviting.

So, We settled on one of the corner high seating table with an 180 degree view of the restaurant. The Lime Green dress code of the staff and the classy wooden interior builds quite a contrasting imagery on first reception. On a good note, the well staffed service is easy to spot without having to stress your eyes.

*Classic wooden interiors and shades of lime green moving around at 212 All day Cafe & Bar*

Menu is well segregated and compact without much of a fuss. The same cannot be said about the Drinks menu, which is a lot more columned. Our brunch started off with a portion of beer battered onions rings along with one deadly indulgence, one of the martini and a glass of 'Rising Sun' to sober us up. Portion was large, rings were fresh and filled with absolute crunch from the thick beer batter coating. To cover the void, we had also ordered a flat bread pizza 'Bolognaise' which sits as a chef's recommendation on their zomato page, but was a bit of a dud on portion size. The crude rectangular shaped pizza seems to be fad these days and the same is followed here. It is high on taste, texture and ingredients though better justice on the portion size is needed considering the price of the dish (495/-).

Next up on our order was the Sunday special - Beef steak, but soon conveyed to us was out of stock. Weird that in first hour of service and not many tables filled, one runs out of the day's speciality dish hero ingredient ! Quite unacceptable in my notebook. Replacing the mains was a Three Egg White Omelette and a portion of Chicken Skewers. The fluffy omelette was served hot in a skillet with potato wedges, grilled tomato and a spoonful drip of Mushroom cream sauce. Neatly executed and it is high on combination of textures from the foamy egg whites with wedges and the cream sauce. Chicken Skewers is an absolute must-order dish. The bird meat is ever so succulent and the tomato chutney plays the perfect accompaniment for it along with a handful of mix greens.

Lastly, Dessert was part disappointment and part orgasmic. My Crème brûlée ramekin was double the size of any other restaurant, but the custard inside was firm - Almost mousse like in texture than the runny one it should have been. Cheval's Crème brûlée in the past many months has been an epitome and I’m still to find someone to take that crown from them. The Lava Cake and it's oozing centre was copybook stuff. Piercing through the sponge and reaching for that molten chocolate is so sensual that there isn't any replacement for it.

212 defnitely has an audience in this mall and the potential to thrive provided their teething issues (mentioned above) are resolved sooner. One important fact to be noted here is the level of salt in each serving, which was always on the lower side and that surely gets them the brownie points. The fare for three people inclusive of taxes ran to slightly above 3k. That's on par with SMD or Tertulia or any other European cafe across the city.

So, Until the next one - Salud !

PostedFebruary 16, 2015

AuthorAssad Dadan

CategoriesReviews

Tags212 All Day, 212, cafe, bar, two one two, breakfast, pizza, creme brulee, BKC, market city, irish house, cheval, mumbai, kurla, Burgers, steak, Beer

The part where you will find Anonymous to be actually anonymous is the missing signage that direct customers to the rooftop since not all the lift doors lead you here. If I’m correct it was only the extreme left one that had access to the rooftop. The large wooden portal features a sliding peephole - I wished someone asked me a secret code through it and let me in. But that wasn't the case :-(

This rooftop space in the Cerebrum building of Kalyani Nagar is massive and split into a cozy enclosure and a larger alfresco with a part higher seating on one end and a stage on the other end. The ambiance overlooking the city is perfect for a chilled winter dinner or an afternoon brunch in the shade. Alfresco seating could have been a tad more relaxed and cushioned.

We sampled a few dishes during our time here - Rotiserrie Chicken, Chimichanga Veg & Chicken Schnitzel along with a few brews. Menu is rather extensive for a cafe, easily covering all continents of the world. A more compact menu and one that can let me easily shortlist dishes is surely welcome. First up, Rotiserrie Chicken delivered perfectly what was expected out of it - Juicy protein and subtle flavours. Next was vegetarian version of the popular southern dish- Chimichanga. This one was an open face fried pastry filled with beans and other veggies covered with a thick blanket of a bourbon coloured sauce (Not sure if it was Chimichurri as the menu mentions it. From my knowing, Chimichurri is a green base sauce). Cracking open the airy pastry is a breeze and enjoyable with the veggies. The sauce on top was too dramatic and acidic such that it cut through all the flavours and hit the palate in every bite. Chicken Schnitzel was last to arrive- Deep Fried Bread Crumbed flat Fillet covered with a white sauce of capers served with sides of Herbed Rice, Mashed Potato and assorted Veggies. The portion size of it is massive and is easily a one-time meal kind of dish. Chicken is rendered perfectly and tastes better with a dash of the sauce packed with capers. A perfect Ten-on-Ten dish.

All in all, the place packs a lot of potential, but does not come together as one would want it to. Service is slow and guests are left on their own for a good time other than when orders need to be taken. We dined on a certain slow paced weekday, Though it would be great to see a full house on weekends with live performances on the stage. With a square feet space as big as this one, It is surely not only the food that will matter but also the experience. Anonymous tries a bit too hard with its rebellious graffiti, rustic looks and back-lit table but does not converge all this into a so called 'happening' Pune affair.

A general understanding after visiting a few new restaurants in Pune is that people here do not accept new places / menus with curiosity and visits, but rather stick to tried and tested places / dishes. It is this culture that can put even an eatery with blooming potential into a slack of boredom.

*Medium&Rare was invited for this meal. Views are purely unbiased. We don't do paid reviews.

PostedFebruary 11, 2015

AuthorAssad Dadan

CategoriesReviews

Tagsanonymous, cafe, pune, kalyani nagar, cerebrum, bar, weekends bar, masterclasses

The brewery landscape has gotten an overhaul since a couple of years with the fads of Microbreweries across the metropolitan cities. So new entrepreneurs took it to their hands to develop their own variations of stouts, ciders, ales and roots et al. The city of Pune was suddenly envied due to the existence of their 'The 1st Brewhouse' inside 'The Corinthians Boutique Hotel'. Here, the brand 'Doolally' served (and still serve) some exquisite handcrafted brews. My trips to Pune are generally sparse and shortly timed. On a recent trip which was much more oriented for meeting a few clients resulted in finding time to visit this brewhouse. The place is plain picturesque and echoes 'Timber' & 'Turf' at every corner. With an option to choose from -Apple Ciders, Pumpkin Ales, German Wheat, Irish Stout and few more, Apple Cider hands down is a drink for the masses. Sweet notes of the Himachal Apples with hint of Cinnamon renders a very nectar-ish taste that is easy on anyone's palate. Appearance-wise too it can deceive anyone for a sparkling apple nectar. The cider leaves such a lingering effect to one's palate that it makes it painfully difficult for anyone to order any other flavour.

*Looking for some handy finger food with your beer then do try their Beer battered fish, Lollipops or Gilafi Kebabs.

Another of my pick for the Cider brew from the city of Pune is 'Flambos Brewpub'. This microbrewery is located adjacent to INOX in Bund Garden. In fact, Flambos happened to be my first experience of a microbrewery. Right away at its entrance you can see the pressurized kegs and then the restaurant space that opens to a much tex-mex styled predominantly woody diner with hits from the 80s and 90s played from the audio console. The Cider beer here is different - features a turbid appearance and carries infusion of strawberries. The beer here seems generally less filtered and more frothy which adds a different dimension. The Bavarian wheat beer is fairly okay here. Irish Stout is a next best if you're not in the mood for the nectar like taste of the Cider.

*You can order a portion of Chicken Wings or Nachos with Salsa or Assorted Platter to go well with your beer.

Doolally will be soon throwing the gates open to Mumbai with its Taproom space on Bandra Reclaimation. Sorry ! No Microbrewery here, but only fresh import of their kegs from Pune.

PostedFebruary 7, 2015

AuthorAssad Dadan

CategoriesFoodicles

Tagscider, apple cider, beer, microbreweries, microbrewery, pune, doolally, 1st brewhouse, flambos, pub

Cairo Grill

Chefs Table at Zapata's

Ithaka,Lower Parel - Preview

212 -All Day Cafe & Bar

Anonymous Cafe, Pune

For the love of Cider