A new food truck in Chembur offers fare that is fried and familiar but lacks flavour
Chicken Burger
On a rainy evening, we reluctantly abandoned the comfort of a dry taxi and hopped off at a tiny lane in Chembur's Sindhi Society. We were keen to sample the area's first food truck, the month-old Philoo's Food Truck.
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The name intrigued us; we expected to find a matronly Goan mother, dishing out hot burgers or may be mutton cutlets. Instead, we found a bunch of four youngstersâÂu00c2u0080Âu00c2u0088 manning the bright yellow truck and cooking over hot plates. Philoo, we learned, was the name of the owner's mother. The truck was named after her to invoke her blessings, we were told. In a burst of enthusiasm, we ordered everything on the menu. The Garlic Mushrooms ('120) came first.
The food truck
The mushrooms had a light and crunchy batter but were tasteless; the topping of garlic sauce adding nothing to the dish. Philoo's Fried Chicken ('150) had flattened bits of chicken topped with a spice rub batter containing herbs like rosemary and thyme. The herb coating was salty and after being deep-fried, tasted odd — you could barely taste the chicken.
Also read: East Indian food truck to hit Mumbai roads
The Chicken Junglee Sandwich ('120) was comforting. It got most of its flavour from the sauces. The Chicken Wings ('120) had a nice spicy coating that reminded us of the Goan recheado masala. However, the chicken was undercooked and we abandoned the dish after two bites.
The saving grace of the entire meal was the Chicken Burger ('120), a big meat patty served in a bun dripping with mayo, che-ese and mustard. The patty was well-cooked and had that familiar herb crust, but here, the bitterness balanced out the sweetness of the sauces.
We love the enthusiasm of the boys — they were chatty and shared details of how the recipes were sourced from a friend and how they often give discounts to people who like their Facebook page. But, the whole meal felt like these were just boys trying hard to cook. They had the right idea in terms of ingredients and portions but the fare needed better seasoning overall.
We would recommend you pick up the burger on a night when you have nothing to eat (they don't deliver). But if you aren't from the neighbourhood, wait until the boys have honed their cooking skills before heading there.
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