I’m really glad I live in Bandra. With the number of eateries that pop up every week, there’s always something new and exciting to look forward to. As foodies, one can spend hours watching the diversity in street food all around the world. I was watching Eat St. on Fox Traveller a few weeks ago, where they feature “North America’s tastiest, messiest and most irresistible street food.” Wow! It really got me thinking.“Man, we need food trucks like these in India.” I’ve always been interested in the concept of food carts/trucks and it’s been a lifelong dream of mine to own one.
About a week later I heard about Cairo Grill. I was told it was inspired by the food truck concept and served Mediterranean street food. Joash and I immediately made plans to drop by and sample the goods. We were not disappointed. For the record, we both love Mediterranean food and can give you a list of places that serve the best Shawarmas, hummus & falafels in Mumbai. We hadn’t found a place that made falafels that impressed us; but after out meal at Cairo Grill, things changed.
Located at Pali, Bandra West, next to Bru World Café. It is a take-away joint, styled like a food truck. They serve Shawarmas, Hummus, Falafels with salads, fries, a few specials and dessert.
The first thing we tried was the Smoked Chicken Shawarma. It tasted like a normal shawarma, the chicken lacked smoked flavor but we fell in love with how the pita bread looked. It was grilled really well ensuring that it had perfect cross-hatch grill marks on it and, that made it look very appetizing. The sauces were well balanced and it tasted good.
We met Chef Pujan, who so passionately explained the inspiration and inception of each dish. The way every component of every dish is prepared, the care that is taken to ensure that everything served was fresh; right from the ingredients, to sauces and even the containers in which the dishes were served. He brought us a platter that summed up everything that a person should experience at Cairo Grill.
This was a non-veg platter, prepared specially for the food critics like us who were invited that day. It had the Caesar Goes Veg salad, Falafel Hummus, Lonely Fries, Combination Rice with a side of toasted pita, cheese sauce and hot sauce.
I mentioned earlier how we had not yet found a place that served good falafels; well, we had a big smile on our faces when tried the ones they served here. They were crisp on the outside and moist on the inside, well seasoned and went so well with the salad which was generously sprinkled with parmesan cheese. The hot sauce and white sauce added a zing to the salad. Full marks for that.
We loved how the hummus was garnished with burnt garlic, very creamy and flavourful. The fries were OK, the cheese sauce and the hot sauce helped. Besides the white, harissa and the cheese sauce, they also have a hot sauce which is also prepared in-house and a fun condiment called the “TitBil” sauce, their rendition to the traditional “Shipkah” which is a pickled pepper served with middle eastern dishes.
Coming to the star of the evening, their rendition of the New York style Chicken N Rice. The Combination Rice – OMG it was unbelievable! Fluffy, flavourful basmati rice, that’s seasoned perfectly with spices and pepper, served on shredded lettuce, topped with succulent lamb and chicken and covered with their awesome white and harissa sauce. I would call this a Mediterranean flavor bomb of a rice/meat combo. I have never seen Joash eat lamb before and he was enjoying and savoring every single morsel.
They also have a Chicken only/Lamb only version.
We usually make sure we make it a point to try the same food for the second time at every new place we visit. Sometimes on a weekend when there’s a lot of rush, to see if there’s consistency in how the food is served and the quality of ingredients etc. We have had this combination rice more than thrice in the last ten days and we have never had any complaints whatsoever. We’re pretty sure we’ll be back at Cairo Grill at least once every two weeks for the Combination Rice.
And now, dessert. We were asked to try the Oreo Nachos. These were deep fried pita bread tossed with cinnamon sugar, served with an in-house vanilla cream and toffee sauce. It was certainly a perfect ending to a fun meal.
We definitely see ourselves going back for more, it’s perfect for parties and get-togethers. The packaging is impressive, service is warm and friendly and we just found out that they are open till midnight! We strongly recommend this place to all you food lovers.
Oh yes, They’ve also started deliveries in Bandra West. 🙂
Call: 022 2600 0250
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