Healthy dining at Au Bon Pain - preview of Indiranagar branch

Au Bon Pain is a fast-casual bakery and cafe chain headquartered in Boston; they started their chain of cafe shops in India with Bangalore as its base and they have 17 outlets with a huge advocacy of the patrons. 

Recently I happened to visit the Indiranagar CMH Road Au Bon Pain outlet with my husband to taste their classy and wholesome menu.The decor of the bakery was cozy and themed; the kind greeting by the staff was novel.

We started off with litchi iced tea which was very refreshing and different and then tasted the lemon fizz,iced mocha and frozen hot chocolate despite the fact of cold weather.Then we tried the salads like Tuna Garden and southwest chicken which were quite competent and a healthy option.

We also tried their signature cold sandwiches like Vegetarian Pesto Club which is made using fresh garden vegetables, Swiss emmental cheese,romaine lettuce,olives and jalapeños with signature spread on whole wheat bread and to me that was a square meal!

My husband is a seafood lover and he loved the smoked salmon wasabi made of smoked Atlantic Salmon, wasabi honey and cucumber on rosemary focaccia.I liked the sun dried tomato & cheese hot & toasty sandwich apart from chicken pesto sandwich which is made from grilled chicken with signature cheese blend, basil & tomatoes on rosemary focaccia.

Au bon Pain even has got all day breakfast like toasted bagels,museli,egg & chutney; anytime treats like baked vadapav, tamarind paneer sandwich,chicken patty sandwich and ofcourse their classic mac & cheese both vegetarian and non vegetarian,fresh soups from the kitchen; fresh beverages like buttermilk,mango lassi and fruit juices.And adding to that they have stupendous bakery products listed on their menu like butter croissant,chilly cheese croissant,spinach & corn puff etc for the vegetarians and pepper chicken puff and chicken tikka puff for the non vegetarians.

Finally my favorite part of the meal - desserts.Cinnamon roll,pineapple Danish,black currant Danish,chocolate chunk muffin,cinnamon raisin muffin,blueberry muffin,walnut brownie and banana walnut cake were few of them.

The pricing of the menu was pretty affordable and was not a hole in our pocket.The service was very prompt and the friendly staff of the cafe made my evening a memorable outing to me and my family.

I would recommend everyone to visit Au Bon Pain for an in-expensive yet enjoyable experience.

New Grill and Wok menu at Trader Vic's Mai Tai lounge Bangalore

I have always loved the food at Trader Vic's Mai Tai lounge in Bangalore; so was really excited to know that they launched a new grill and wok menu. Along with my husband I went there to check out the new varieties and also enjoy the new flavors! 

I started with a mocktail which had flavors of Mango Tai. This tropical drink was very refreshing and relieved me of all the stress and fatigue that I got during driving through the traffic. The mint leaves and just the right amount of ice complimented this cocktail perfectly! 

We also tried out the coconut based mocktail which was served in a unique coconut shaped lau bowl of Trader Vic's. It had a hint of citrus and was garnished with pineapple slices which refreshed the mind and readied our palate for the burst of flavors which awaited us! 

Next up we tried out the starters from the new Grill menu. We took the Tsukuni chicken which was miso soy minced chicken skewers served with asian tarter sauce. This was really yummy and grilled to perfection - neither under-cooked nor overcooked! It was very juicy and tasty.

We tried out Huli Huli chicken next which is a Hawaiian specialty boneless chicken grilled to perfection and marinated with sweet & sour pineapple juice. It had a tangy taste to it and was one of my favorites dishes from the new menu too! 

In vegetarian section of the Grill menu, we tried out Cilantro Yogurt Babycorn Skewers which are tender grilled babycorn marinated in spicy scallion yogurt marinade. I'm not a big fan of babycorn but this was crunchy and yummy so we devoured them in record time! 

We tried out also our regular favorite from the old menu which is Maui Waui shrimp which are prawns with coconut crust, maui dressing and cilantro thrown in for good measure! This dish has always been and will continue to be our favorite from the Trader Vic's stable! 

For main course we tried from the Wok Menu the vegetarian main course of BBQ Vegetables like eggplant, onions, squash and mushrooms with Tofu which we had with Jasmine rice.

Enjoyed this experience of exploring the new Grill and Wok menus at Trader Vic's Mai Tai lounge and looking forward to many wonderful gastronomical journeys like this in the future too!

Asian Grill festival at Shiro, Bengaluru

We recently went to Asian Grill festival at Shiro, Bengaluru. We wanted to try out smokey flavors, crispiness of vegetables and the tinge of those tangy sauces! The menu crafted by Executive Brand Chef, Rahul Hajarnavis included grills like Grilled Chicken with Citrus Tamarind Glaze, Indonesian Grilled Chicken with Avocado salsa, sesame Grilled Chicken Wings, Grilled Mushroom Skewers, Teriyaki Glazed potato Skins, Thai Curry Baby corn Skewers, Grilled Snapper Brochettes, Spiced Yoghurt Fish with Vermicilli Crusted Tofu and Barbecued Pork Ribs among other.

Festival was from November 19, 2012 to December 16, 2012 (Lunch & Dinner)

We had Asian Barbecued Pork Ribs which were perfectly barbecued ribs finished with a Hoisin and Sake glaze. There could have been only one outcome: Heavenly ribs!

We tried out Grilled Snapper Brochettes & enjoyed the authentic burst of flavors as they were spiced up with Thai Green marination. 

Next item we tried out on the Asian Grill Festival menu was Indonesian Grilled Chicken with Avocado Salsa. This was warm, grilled chicken marinated with Sambal Oelek.  A little tang was added through a serving of Avocado Salsa! 

Kaffir Lime Infused Grilled Chicken was the next item we tried out. Chefs had slowly grilled these succulent chicken to perfection, so all flavors of the fresh herbs & spices came out on our plate! 

One of the highlights of the evening was Thai Chilli & Lime Grilled Prawns. These were fresh prawns marinated in the fiery blend of spicy & tangy sauce and served with Shiro's special Asian Cocktail sauce. 

We decided to try some vegetarian items too and ordered Pan Seared Tofu with Indonesian Ginger Sauce. Shiro's In-house Ginger Sauce accompanied the perfectly marinated, pan-seared Tofu steaks! 

Another surprise highlight of the evening was Teriyaki Glazed Potato Skins which were Potato Skins stuffed with a mixture of Chilli & Basil Mayo glazed vegetables. They were finished with Shiro's house special teriyaki glaze! They were really yummy too! 

Had a wonderful time at Shiro, Bengaluru for the Asian Grill Festival.