Sub sandwich at Tacos Shop

Tacos Shop in Uttara may not be the best sandwich shop out there, but I would often stop for a sub.
The sandwich is made with long bun, filled with chicken and salad vegetable, smothered with loads of mayonnaise and chilli sauce, before grilled, but that is not why this sub would be on my list. They may not have the best culinary skills or amazing gastronomic ideas, but they have picked one ingredient smartly that has worked for them and that is capsicum. You will also find cabbage and carrot in it, but the capsicum there is doing all the work in terms of taste. There is a good peppery flavour that compliments the mayo-chilli sauce and every bite is satisfying. The sandwich itself is filling too.

The presentation is very lousy though, and the interior is a sorry excuse for a restaurant. But when you can get a satisfying sub for Tk140 only, you can also consider takeaways.

Dine at Fiesta OVEN FRESH bake n' brew

It is probably true that when you are hungry, things you would probably never even put in your mouth tastes sublime. I do not deny I was hungry to the point where a bowl of a dish was merely a plate size to me, but I can still identify the flavours going down my throat. 
One hunger stricken evening and I had to make a quick stop. Thankfully Fiesta OVEN FRESH bake n' brew was closest to me then. With a burning stomach I was planning for something prepared from dairy products rather than something spicy. The gastric reflux has been bothering me a lot lately.
It didn't seem like a cafe though inside. The place was more like a family dine out space for me. Interior is bright and the couches had tables with the right size. So i did not have to break my back bending forward to eat. 

I needed something to go easy on my stomach and though I was there for a proper meal, the croissant was just too tempting to pass. It was surprising to come across a croissant that was golden brown, with perfectly puffed up layers which were distinct when you check after the first bite, and didn't coat my palates with any unwanted fat. This croissant was done with care, and I can say that since I was edging for another before remembering that I asked for a pasta and cake slice and I am dining alone.

Tuna Macaroni probably doesn't get too many points for presentation though. Pasta was cooked perfectly, and the creamy sauce had oregano and basil. None of the flavours overpowered the other and neither were they too strong and sharp on the tongue. The herbs went smooth with the cream. The cream sauce was generously served and the goodness would often ooze out from the macaroni when pressed with the fork. There were a few tuna chunks and oregano made a harmonious bond with the fish. I would have preferred a slight hint of garlic and a generous sprinkle of black pepper, though black pepper may disturb the gentle character of that sauce.
Garlic bread slices were nothing but biscuits on the plate. 

Then came their special OVEN FRESH special cake slice. It was basically a dense cream cheese cake, with the combo of a thin chocolaty layer in the middle and sticky orange top, on a crust that you probably cannot even feel when it is in your mouth. The flavour of the orange coats around the tongue and chocolate is a nice mix with it. I was happy with the overall result since the cake wasn't gooey or crumbly and the cake came as one.

What was even surprising was that for a satisfying meal the prices were just too reasonable for the present days and yet only a few chairs were filled. My total bill was about Tk580. People probably failed to notice something good at the corner of the street. 
I will hopefully dine again and next time I am going for Spaghetti Bolognaise.

Burgers from Takeout

I tried only three of them.

Twister:
It is like having a bun with bacon inside while chewing on other things you can see, but cannot identify with your taste-buds. Bun to patty ratio was far off. Burger patty was pretty dry and crumbly and the strong flavour of bacon bits masked everything inside, rendering the use of any condiment and the meat of the patty useless. Everything else in that burger was just to add to the mass.

Chicken Supreme:
I couldn't even tell the burger had cheddar. This must be a mock cheddar cheese, that has the colour and melted creamy texture but lacks the alluring salty characteristic flavour of the cheddar. Chicken breast was amazingly dry with strong outbursts of rosemary in every single bite. It was a struggle to go through half of it.

Beef and Bacon:
Was that the plan? I mean is the bun supposed to lose its texture and form and become something like milk soaked bread? The condiments were not balanced and the overuse of garlic mayonnaise first seems to go down well, but then becomes too heavy for the taste-buds and even the gut to take. But this is not even the worst part of this burger. Bacon already masks any flavour the patty thrived to give, but the patty is so big and chewy, and the bun is already out of sight within a couple of bites, this burger is in the 'never try again' list now. The patty is ought to be like that. When you make a large patty like that, there is too much contact with the meat and it tends to become firm and slightly bouncy like a sausage after the proteins have gelled the meat in the fridge. So they have compromised with the 'melt in the mouth experience' deciding to use such a big lumpy patty.

Their packaging is worth taking notice of and I really liked the way they can be unfolded to make paper plates. I must admit that I loved their honey mustard dip which was dense, sweet and pleasantly mustardy instead of an earthy kicking one.

Photo credit: Takeout page
https://www.facebook.com/takeoutbd/photos/a.645977542162485.1073741826.642777399149166/850885045005066/?type=1
I apologize for losing my own photos and having to use their photos.

Pizza at Sbarro Bangladesh

Cheese Pizza at Sbarro Bangladesh

This is probably the best pizza I found at Sbarro. It was a sudden plan and the pizza was just perfect!
The base was thin with a slightly crispy edge that feels like a toast in texture. The sauce was a chunky tomato spread-like and it tasted fresh. The freshness of the sauce just lifts this up to a whole new height and this is what a gourmet pizza should be like. The whole thing came as one.
It was generously topped with cheese and the texture was enough to tell you about its quality. Apparently this pizza slice would outclass any pizza from the other chains here.

Super Supreme Pizza at Sbarro Bangladesh

This pizza slice did not live up to the expectation after the Cheese Pizza. The base was hard like a confectionery baked old slice of pizza. The sauce seemed different here. It was like a paste and had the sublime flavour of basil and perfect blend of herbs. The topping was dense, generous and balanced, but the crust killed it.

Pizza at Platter

If you haven't tried the pizza at Platter and go drooling on pizzas, you should probably be planning a visit this week.
They serve wood fired pizzas. If you are not careful here, you can easily either get a charred pizza or have a underdone one. The dense heat gets the pizza done very fast and you should be very good with your timing if you are preparing pizzas in wood ovens. But wood oven will always give you the best pizzas in the world with a woody smoky hint.
They seem to get it right almost every time. The pizza has a thin soft proper crust, unlike bread based as served in many places, with slightly crispy edges.
What makes this pizza so special to me is the heart of it. The heart of any pizza would be its sauce. The sauce has vibrant flavours, with the refreshing kick of basil. This is a pizza keep on stuffing yourself with whole day may be and not get tired of that easily. Toppings are generously served too.
You can see your pizza being prepared by the chef and the dough just gives you the idea of the story to follow. When you can see the dough made right, and the pizza pie rolled out from it, it is just too hard to wait for the climax of the tasty adventure.

Mac N Jack

How often do I have a 'short' post of a review?
I wonder too! (lol).
This is just going to be one of those rare ones, since it does not need much to be said about. When something is good, you actually do not have to say much. You will just have to read and go for a taste to believe I guess.
Mac N Jack, in sec7, uttara was on my list for a long time, but could hardly make time for it. And then the other day, my boss got it for our light kind of lunch and I couldn't help but giggle inside and say to myself 'That saves me the money for another tasty adventure (or could also be another "insipid" nightmare actually)!'
Jokes aside, their burgers are good.
I had the original beef burger and I could taste and see small dabs of mustard on the meaty patty, with a good bit hint of sourness from pickles on the mayonnaise smothered crown and heel of the bun. The interesting thing is that all those flavours were in a perfect balance and complemented each other in that light and juicy mayo based body. The filling also had slices of onion giving it that earthy spicy  dimension to the taste and holding in that perfectly slight bit of extra sweet and sour flavour from the tomato slices the burger needed.
(I know! This is isn't how 'short' is defined in dictionaries tongue emoticon .)

*Image-Taken from their page*

Tokyo Express

It was a sudden dine out at Tokyo Express and a boring redundant day ended with an exotic meal.
I am not an expert on Japanese cuisine, but I always love to dig into and research. All the dishes may not be authentic, but food that tastes good sells! You cannot serve a spicy hot beef bhuna to western palates usually used to sublime subtle soothing flavours. Similarly you cannot bring in everything Japanese to suit the local palate.

There is not much wrong with the taste, though it was filled with assorted salad vegetable, cheese and a fish you just could not tell. The wrapping leaves a lot to be desired. Loose wrapping that promises to fall off when roughly messed with chopsticks.
Nigiri platter was good. If you get your rice right here, you cannot go wrong with making these. 
Tip: The best way of having nigiri that has wasabi in it already is just by dipping the fish side in the soy sauce and eating it. Otherwise, you can just put it in the mouth without the sauce, chew it, and then quickly have the pickled ginger. The sweet taste coats your mouth and complements the raw fish perfectly. Try either ways please.



If the sight of cooked octopus does not creep you out and you don't mind trying it (since most locals here would not dare to and be disgusted thinking of it as an acquired taste), then let me tell you that octopus does not have much flavour. It is much like chicken breasts; bland. But the firm tentacles when fried right are just so good, that you feel like chewing them to the end of time; makes a perfect starter and you could think of starting as a road side delicacy on a cart at this point. Soy sauce with minced garlic and chili goes well with the tentacles.



Chicken Nanban had a nice crispy coat served with a sweet and sour garlicy mayo that had the hint of soy sauce. The original sauce would though be much more sour and light in texture, this particular one was on the heavier and slightly sweeter and less sour side. In terms of taste, you cannot take anything away. Like I said, food that tastes well sells! Unless you are from Japan or have already tried it there, you should not have much to complain about this dish.