The Hungry Cancerian

Love and Flour by Sarah Patka

By tesrygkhl' - 4/02/2016

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Mumbai, being a metropolitan has well established Pan Asian restaurants and fine dines. But a recent concept of woks served in boxes has got a whopping response for being compact, quick, and pocket friendly.

On the similar grounds, Wok 123 is a QSR (quick service restaurant) which serves decent Chinese and Asian food. This place took me by surprise as it is very reasonably priced and serves good quantity.

Wok 123 specialises in custom made woks, where one can choose the ingredients of their preference.

All you've got to do is:

1. Select a base ingredient - rice/ noodles.

2. Pick your favourite addition - Chicken/ prawns/ tofu etc.

3. Add any sauce out of 13 variety of authentic sauces.

4. Sit back and watch your wok being made! :)

I customised 2 woks- one with Rice, prawns, and teriyaki sauce.

The Japanese teriyaki sauce was sweet, thick and nice which added so much flavor to the rice and vegetables. This wok is mildly spicy, which undoubtedly was the best to taste.

The next wok again had rice as it's base ingredient with chicken and Thai curry sauce. This wok had a moist texture and tasted slightly blunt due to minimal flavors of the Thai curry. But the the chicken pieces were tender, and yet made the dish delicious.

The next thing to try was the Chef's special noodle wok. This was loaded with wheat flat noodles, chicken breast chunks, chicken salami, mushroom, and a combination of schezwan and hoisin sauce.

The Chef's special definitely did not disappoint! I loved the texture of these noodles, neither too dry nor too moist. The flavors of both sauces made a terrific combination to create a spicy palate.

Apart from Woks, you also get a kickass variety of French fries and filling appetizers. Read further to know more about it!

Five Spice Fries

Five Spice Fries are french fries with a desi twist of 5 combinations of Indian spices. These fries are absolutely recommended for its spicy and tangy flavors.

Satay Chicken

'Satay chicken' - boneless chicken appetizer on skewers sautéd in various Chinese sauces and garnished with spring onions and sesame seeds. It is sweet, spicy and definitely a treat for your taste buds!

Being a QSR, Wok 123 has a small seating area with comfy tables and chairs. The food here is amazing to taste, but the rice used could be of improvised quality. Apart from this, this joint is a value for money and should seem perfect for a quick meal / takeaway.

My overall verdict for Wok 123 is 4/5.

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airoli

Barworks Eatery & Bar

By tesrygkhl' - 3/17/2016

While most of us whine about not having many options for a place to chill in the city, I was lucky enough to review Barworks - a newly opened bar & eatery.

Tucked away in the MIDC area of Airoli, Barworks is an ultimate destination to shake off your weekday blues!

The ambience comprises of modern day interior designs with warm lights making it look rustic and cosy.

The in - house DJ makes sure that one enjoys every beat of the music with his infinite collection of songs.

Apart from the huge seating area and bar, Barworks also flaunts a live Pizza counter for Wood Fired Pizzas. Yes, you can watch your Pizza being made right from scratch! :)

We were served with a few delectable round of starters and cocktails.

Barworks has a huge menu for food as well as drinks, and I'm going to showcase some of the best ones below:

Watermelon Sangria

We were served a glass of Watermelon Sangria which was remarkably sweet and refreshing. Also it is a perfectly fit drink to sip during summers!

San Francisco

'San Francisco' was more of a thick, cream based texture blended with pineapple pulp. It is served chilled and is sweet in taste.

Kheema Paav Sliders

These tasty 'Kheema Paav Sliders' will definitely make you forget all those long established Irani Cafés.

Minced lamb spiked with spices, sandwiched in a paav and served with fries & dips. This was the best dish so far!

Bhuna Seekh Roll

'Bhuna seekh roll' is a flavorsome wrap made of crisp lettuce leaves and other vegetables, infused with chicken seekh kebab pieces. These wraps are crunchy, creamy and extremely delicious!

The Shroom Burger

The next thing I sampled was a Mushroom Burger which typically was made up of fresh mushrooms sautéd with cream cheese, onion, tomatoes, crisp lettuce and cajun mayo. Known as 'The Shroom Burger' in the menu, this is a delight for both- vegans as well as the meat eaters.

Roast Lamb Burger

Lamb is one of my favourite non vegetarian ingredient, and I absolutely relish having it in a burger. So this 'Roast Lamb Burger' had a sufficiently large amount of cheese in it, some caramelised onions, gherkins, tomatoes and a bit of tangy mayo. The lamb patty was supposedly slow cooked, but it actually turned out to be undercooked and chewy. Sigh.

As mentioned above earlier, Barworks has a live Pizza counter which undoubtedly makes me drool for their wood fired, thin crust Pizzas. These Pizzas are not the regular round shapes ones, but are square shaped which are further sliced into square shapes. Sounds like inception, right? :P

We sampled each in Veg & Non Veg.

Barworks Special Pizza

The vegetarian Pizza being named as - 'Barworks Special Pizza' is an overload of vegetables, pineapples, olives, and what not!

It's crispness and fresh ingredients are worth every bite of this Pizza.

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

The 'Barbeque Chicken Pizza' has an impeccable variety of lamb and chicken pieces which are soft to chew. Topped with various other vegetables and cheese, this Pizza is now a personal favourite! :)

The chef has wisely chosen his menu and has made sure to provide a variety of innovative nibbles apart from just the usual peanuts along with drinks.

You might be surprised to find these dishes by the sides -

Jalapeno Cheese Poppers

'Jalapeno Cheese Poppers' are the best thing ever invented! The crunchy surface and creamy texture of cheese simply melts in the mouth. This is definitely a must have when you visit!

Jalapeno Cheese Poppers

Soya Chilli Sausage

'Soya Chilli Sausage' is a divine combo of crunchy vegetables and soft chicken sausages sautéd in Soya, chilli and garlic. I'm sure one can't resist it as the taste and flavors were well balanced.

Misal Paav Fondue

Fondues are loved by all and the concept of it fascinates each one of us. But hey, ever heard of a 'Misal Paav Fondue'? Barworks surely knows how to keep their customers happy. And I'm one of them after I tasted this fondue.

The Misal gravy was piping hot when served (just how I prefer). It was spicy, had the precise texture and was drop dead delicious!

Also the Paav was toasted to give it a crunchy twist, which made this fondue experience worthwhile.

Panko crusted fried prawns

'Panko crusted fried prawns with Wasabi mayo' had a crunchy coating of Panko (a Japanese style crispy coating of bread crumbs mostly used for deep fried foods).

The two major drawbacks of these prawns was the excess salt and oil content.

Crispy Onion Rings

'Crispy Onion Rings' are the usual deep fried onion rings served with Gunpowder Cheese mayonnaise dip. The dip was so good and worth dying for!

Chakk De Fatte

'Chak De Fatte', a twisty combination of four drinks which tastes strong and is definitely not for the weak hearted ones.

LIT

Vodka with mint, basil leaves and dry ice

Dark Rum based cocktail

Banana Smoothie

Moving further onto the next section of the menu, which stated specialised meals for one person.

Mirch Makhni Curry
Picture Courtesy: NuvoFoodies

From the Indian cuisine, we tasted 'Mirch makhni curry', a curry tempered with fresh green bell peppers and tossed in a tomato based gravy and served with saffron rice & baby naan.

Burmese Khaw Suey
Picture Courtesy: NuvoFoodies

To our delights, we were served a delicacy from the lands of Burma - 'Khow Suey', thin rice noodles medley with coconut cream curry on the side along with various other condiments. These meals are ideal for just one person.

With all these beautiful dishes and a few desserts we concluded our meal.

Serrao Hospitality, who manages Barworks has taken the topmost effort to ensure customer satisfaction and comfort. The staff members here are extremely friendly and modest.

Barworks has definitely raised the bar a notch higher for its luxurious lounging and dining experience.

Will I visit here next time?

Well, I've already made plans of coming to Barworks for the weekend. :)

My overall verdict for 'Barworks- Eatery & Bar' is 4.5/5

A special thanks to Mrs. Pooja Trehan Dhamecha of NuvoFoodies for organising such an amazing evening!