One of my favourite food quotes. And so apt to introduce this blogpost. Because this is not just about eating sushi but also making it.
The food bloggers were recently invited to BusaGo at Lower Parel for a fun sushi making MasterClass where renowned chef Nikhil Chib would be teaching us. Here we could make our own sushi and eat it too! The best tasting sushi would then be put on the menu at BusaGo, Lower Parel for the entire month of July. We all reached the venue the allotted Saturday afternoon and sipped on sangria while we waited for the class to begin. They brought out the sushi making ingredients and the shutterbugs went crazy clicking pictures even before we knew what the ingredients were.
Talk about malls and shopping in Mumbai and one name comes to mind: Phoenix! The one at Lower Parel and the younger sibling who resides at Kurla are both landmark shopping and most importantly food destinations.
With our emphasis to explore the food options that Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla has to offer the food bloggers set out on a Food Crawl. We were looking forward to this fun evening that the guys at Phoenix Marketcity in collaboration with Food Bloggers Association of India (FBAI) had organized for us. Well I’ve done food crawls and bar hops before, but nothing inside a mall. So this was going to be different indeed.
Destination I: The Irish House for drinks, cocktails, and appetizers.
I love The Irish House having been to the other outlet at Lower Parel before. It’s such a fun place to chill with friends and grab a drink.
Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Maroosh. Famous for their wraps, rolls and shawarmas, in addition to their Mughlai fare, Maroosh is a popular post-partying-drinking haunt. Ideal for grabbing a roll on the move, they have established themselves as a popular Lebanese fast food chain across the city. In fact the owner of Maroosh, Ketan Kadam, decided to launch Maroosh because people were looking for a place to grab a quick bite after a night of partying at his famous night club.
The popularity of Maroosh over the years has recently led to them revamping the brand as MM! Maroosh. Mumbai Food Lovers were invited to the recent opening of their reinvented Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) at Bandra Reclamation. In addition they launch a take away at Shivaji Park, Dadar and kiosks at PVR Cinemas across the city, planning to have 30 revamped MM! Maroosh outlets by the end of this year.
The menu includes Lebanese food like shawarmas, falafel, hummus with pita bread, and Lebanese salads. Indian fare such as wraps, starters and a few mains are on the menu too. The restaurant is brightly done up in cheery yellow and white. I loved the fun vibe to the entire place. Even the food is served in kitschy wrapping paper, interesting take away containers and trays. They even have yellow Vespas to home deliver your orders. I loved the new feel to the place. This new look and feel is intended keeping in mind their idea for Pan-Asian expansion.
The MM! Maroosh Prototype Restaurant
They’ve launched three new dishes to the menu, out of which, the Baked Falafel Wrap was my favourite dish of the night. Succulent falafel pieces, crunchy vegetables, and hummus that were enveloped in a wrap. Go try this new addition to the menu!
Baked Falafel Wrap
However, the Falafel Salad we tasted was not as good. It contained falafel, veggies, and hummus. I found the falafel a bit crumbly, and not as good as the ones I tasted in the wrap. The Paneer Shawarma was average. I wish the paneer pieces were a bit spicier. Overall the shawarma was slightly bland.
The Paneer Tikka Roll however compensated for this. Succulent, spicy paneer tikka pieces wrapped in a roomali roti and this was served with lovely, mint chutney on the side. I also loved the hummus platter with pita bread. Three hummus types: Garlic, Sundried Tomato, and Jalapeno were served in containers, which makes it perfect to eat on the go. All three went perfectly with the toasted Pita bread. The Sundried Tomato Hummus was exceptionally good, and we scooped off the entire dish.
The other new dish of the night was the Chicken Tikka Shawarma. I’m replacing my regular shawarma with this one. Perfect combination of two popular favourites: Chicken Tikka and Shawarma. The chicken in this was the perfect spicy, tikka flavour.
Chicken Tikka Shawarma
The Chicken Hummus Salad was all that is contained in a shawarma, without the outer pita wrap. So if you want to do the healthier version of a shawarma, this is for you. Not that this is too healthy, but still. (On a random thought I wonder if we get whole wheat shawarmas anywhere. Anyone knows?)
Another favourite dish of mine that night was the Chicken Bhuna roll. The chicken stuffing was similar to chicken makhanwala. So this roll was basically a portable Butter Chicken- Roomali Roti. Absolutely yummy, despite the excess oil.
Overall MM!Maroosh retains the qualities it was known for: easy, take-away, delicious, filling, Lebanese food. All of this in a revamped avatar! Sometimes, the sequel can be better than the original, as proved in this case. Maroosh or MM!Maroosh , we know where to get our fill of shawarmas and rolls late at night!
PS: Sincere apologies for lack of photos in this post. Lost phone, no backup, long story! Promise to make it up with excessive photographs in the next. Cheers!
I love Mumbai city for the sheer number of people from different caste, creed, and religion who inhabitate it, each rendering a different flavor to the culture of the city. This is reflected in the different food and cuisines that are available in abundance. South Indian food goes far beyond idlis and dosas, and luckily we have a few, landmark restaurants to prove that.
Mahim and Fort areas are home to a number of hidden gems, that have been serving up traditional Malayali food since years. Especially since there are so many people from the state of Kerala that have made Mumbai their home. But when you’re looking for traditional, home cooked Malayali food, your neighbors or friends house is your best bet. And even if those options are not available then a concept like ‘Poppaddum’ comes to the rescue.
What is Poppaddum?
A concept initiated by Sneha Nair; whose profession is economic research and passion is cooking. She put her flair for cooking traditional, Malayali, home food to good use through Poppaddum. It is basically a pop-up restaurant that she hosts every Sunday at her place and serves some delicious food that she whips up. It is a fun concept where not only do you get to try out some traditional Kerala cuisine but also get to meet some interesting, like-minded foodies.
God knows I needed a detox. God knows I needed to cleanse. All this eating out, writing blog posts, uploading food pictures on Instagram, and tweeting food reviews can take a toll. Weight gain, heaviness, and breakouts on my skin began to happen. So much so, that my face began to resemble a constellation on a night sky. Detox was the need of the hour. And when I read about Raw Pressery’s juice cleanse program, I knew I had to do this!
About Raw Pressery: The company which launched last year basically offers juice packages to suit ones daily needs. They make India’s first raw pressed juices. Raw pressing is basically hydraulic technology that involves naturally extracting the juice, without involving any air or water to even come in contact with the juice. This preserves the nutrients and ensures the juices are as fresh as possible. Read more on www.rawpressery.com
About the Raw Cleanse: Apart from offering monthly juice packages, where juices are recommended to you as per your needs, and then delivered home, they also offer juice cleanse packages. It basically is a day where you detox, and survive on juice the entire day. The juices fulfill your nutritional needs, so you’re not really starving or deprived. They recommend eating light a few days prior to prepare your system. On the cleanse day, they advise drinking loads of water and fluids to flush the system. Read more about the Raw Cleanse here
