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CARLS JR

CARLS JR IN INDIA

By Prakriti Bhat

The burger lords seem to be in a good mood! This is quite evident from the opening of major burger chains like Fatburger, Burger King, Johnny Rockets and Wendy’s in Delhi over the past few years. And another blessing has been the recent launch of popular burger brand, Carls Jr in the capital. Known for their lip smacking char-grilled burgers, they are here to wow you with their enormous burgers. Their first outlet in India was opened on 8th August, 2015 at Select Citywalk Mall, Saket.

20150807_152520A blogger’s meet was held on 7th August, 2015 as they introduced us to the brand and its delicacies. It is located right next to Khan Chacha. The outlet is done up in hues of red and white. The ceiling has a big metallic star symbolizing the brand logo, from which hanging lamps illuminate the place. It’s quite spacious and the staff is affable. Every staff member was wearing a Carls Jr T-shirt with witty one liners. With beer on tap and free cold drink refills, it is definitely going to be a crowd puller. Carls Jr seems to have put a lot of thought into the designing of their menu since they have tailored it to suit the Indian palate.

20150807_161033To begin with, India is the only country where Carls Jr offers vegetarian burgers. So the vegetarians need not worry. The Paneer Tikka Burger is simply awesome. A Slice of cottage cheese is excellently marinated and grilled till scorch marks are visible. Unlike a few other burger brands which use spreads very sparingly, the sauces and spreads in the burgers here are quite liberal and appetizing. Their signature dish, Mango Jalapeno Burger has a piquant flavor and seems to be an ode to our ever growing love for mangoes. Because “aam ka season kabhi nahi jata!”

For the non vegetarians there is a plethora of dishes to choose from. I tried their Tandoori Pepper Chicken Tikka Burger. With a delectably seasoned char-grilled chicken fillet served in a multigrain bun, this burger is quite filling. You won’t need any ketchup with this since the spreads and sauces already have the required zing. Another of their signature dishes is the hand breaded tender chicken. Though they were quite succulent, I would still prefer KFC’s hot and crispy chicken over this. The Mile High Chicken Burger stays true to its name as it comes fully loaded with onion rings and chicken fillet. This is one flavorsome adventure you do not want to miss!

In other countries like the U.S., Carls Jr is quite popular for its hand scooped shakes, mini beef burgers called sliders and bacon cheeseburgers. While beef items are not included in the Indian menu, they do have hand scooped shakes. A lover of Tiramisu, I decided to try their Tiramisu Shake. This was the only low point in my meal. It tasted more like a Vanilla shake and the flavour of Tiramisu was very fleeting. For me, a burger-licious experience is incomplete without fries. Carls Jr presents a unique blend of American fast food and Chinese cuisine by introducing Wasabi Fries. Your regular fries are accompanied by a wasabi flavoured masala (tastemaker). It tastes exactly like Wasabi, sans the pungency; a very innovative idea. Mr. Sahil Baweja, Director of Cybiz Bright Star Restaurants explained, “We realize the need for spices in India and that prodded us to introduce Wasabi Fries. Yes, we Indians love spices, but it need not always be chillies.” The brand also serves hand breaded onion rings. They, further, plan to open 100 stores across India.

Burger chains seem to be mushrooming all over the country. This is owing to the fact that burgers are a part of finger foods which are easy to consume. You can have a burger easily while driving or rushing for a meeting. The same can’t be done with a slice of pizza or a noodle box. Moreover, burgers are hassle free; they don’t spill and are wholesome.

The burger war has begun and Carls Jr is the latest entrant. Only time can tell how it will fare!

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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Kala Burger Wala

Kala Burger Wala

By Simran Kaur Kainth

IMG_20150101_184047West Delhi is said to be the hub of amazing food joints .Every Street and corner is famous for one or the other food speciality of its own. One such fantastic street joint situated in Subhash Nagar is Kala Burger Wala. People who lives around this area has amazing memories attached to this place. KBW was started by Joginder Singh, a small vegetable seller back in 1990 who sold burger at Re 1.

Since then it has become the most well known joint in the locality. As the name suggest KBW is famous for its vegetarian burger. Priced at Rs.40, the burger served here is simple yet finger licking. As we all know, usually burger is prepared with fancy dressing and toppings but KBW likes to keep its burger authentic, rich ,tummy filling.

The round buns are fried on tawa untill crisp, a sizzling aloo tikki is stuffed in along with big slices of fresh paneer. Thinly sliced cucumber and onion is placed inside the bun and drizzled with generous amount of masala. Guess what ? your snack is ready to digg in. The moment you take the first bite, the soft paneer and aloo tikki dissolves in your mouth. The taste of veggies refreshes you and you actually forget about the calories !

The sour green chutney  prepared with anardana ,mint, green chillies and coriander is mixed with sweetness of red saunth and is served along with this snack which is  Singh’s wife’s own recipe. Entire joint is run by the team work of the family. One can see the family members rolling the doughs of tikkis and handling the kitchen and counters.

With time and stiff competition , KBW added vegetable rolls, spring roll, momos and noodles to its menu .But frankly , customers rarely order these dishes from the menu. The Tikki Burger is what people are fond of.

Thus, a great value for money, however, you may find parking problem but suits best as a takeaway joint. Definitely ,a great option for vegetarians that stumps you on your very first visit.

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.
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10 things you need to know about Burger King

10 things you need to know about Burger King

By Aisha Bhattacharya

I was part of a privileged preview of Burger King’s first outlet in India and I have to say the kind of effort they have put into making it a sure shot success is mind-boggling. From travelling to various cities in India to discover what people want, to doing group surveys across our demographic and creating a menu of products suited to the Indian market in just under a year – Burger King has taken efficiency to another level.

The launch was conducted by Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma from the popular television show ‘Highway on my plate’ and Chef Vicky Ratnani. We did a masterchef inspired team relay challenge and each participant had to make a burger to the standards and specifications of Burger King. This was not an easy task but we won! I was with another group of bloggers and by the end of it we ate so much food. Burgers, fries, slush, shakes, ice cream – we tried it all and below are the top 10 things you need to know about Burger King India:

1. It launched on the 9th of November, 2014 at the 2nd floor of Select City Walk, Saket.

2. India is their 100th country in the world of Burger domination

3. They have carefully customised the menu for the Indian palate based on 3 core aspects – Juicy, Crispy and Spicy

WP_20141108_14_05_14_Pro4. The Tandoori grill chicken burger has been created by Chef Vicky Ratnani – it is everything we could want – succulent tandoori chicken + Mint chutney (mayo) + onion rings (pyaaz) all stuffed in a bun. What more could we ask for?

5. There are NO Beef or Pork products on the menu – ensuring that no religious sentiments are offended

6. The kitchen is clearly divided into vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections with colour coded tongs and separate prep areas like all QSR outlets. Vegetarians can rest assured that no French fries are being fried in chicken nugget oil.

7. It really does ‘take two hands to handle a Whopper’ – irrespective of your gender.

8. The service is super fast – they take 30 seconds or less to assemble each burger!

9. When Burger King says chicken or mutton burgers, they mean 100% chicken/mutton patties. No fillers whatsoever. Just pure delicious, juicy meat.

10. Apart from the burgers, there are fries and chicken strips called Cravers and a couple of shakes and slush which go brilliantly with the burgers. The blue slush is a winner.

I said 10 and I know how to count. This last one is for good luck because Burger King is now officially in India

11. There are 13 burgers on the menu so have a ball and try out a different one each time because here is a place where the burger is King!

Anubhav Sapra
Anubhav Sapra is an avid foodie! He is a Founder but proudly calls himself a Foodie-in-chief at Delhi Food Walks. He is also a street-food and Indian regional cuisine connoisseur and loves to write about street-food.