27 April,2014 08:33 AM IST | | Kareena Gianani
At Juhu, where cafes pop up faster than you can ask ‘another one?’, American bistro B’wiched manages to stand out with its lavish spreads and fresh ingredients
Juhu's new American bistro, B'wiched, has quaint wooden tables and chairs, lovely bamboo lamps suspended from the ceiling and that grungy look thanks to the exposed bricks on its walls, which seems to be a favourite among new cafes in the city.
Raspberry Cheesecake B'wiched at Juhu
But, unlike its walls, its food is anything but predictable. B'wiched offers an interesting mix of non-alcoholic drinks, salads, cold/regular sandwiches, burgers and flat-bread sandwiches, and quite a few combinations leap off the menu.
The Creamy Garlic Chicken Sandwich is impeccably flavoured. Pics/Sameer Sayed Abedi
If freshness could be tapped in a glass with a lid on it, it would taste like the Avocado Pear Yoghurt (Rs 175) or Spiced Guava (Rs 135). Neither drink was too sweet; we could taste the fresh fruit and, in case of the latter, the blend of the spices. One of us, who prides herself on never "wasting time" on salads, dug into the Melon Feta Salad (Rs 285). A large bowl of ripe fruit, ample feta cheese and perfect flavours of the dressing, however, changed her mind.
B'wiched's philosophy is to present sandwiches as the star of the meal, and going by the Creamy Garlic Chicken (Rs 265), you wouldn't have trouble believing it. The chicken was succulent, the flavours impeccably balanced, and we were glad to see it wasn't slathered with cheese to raise the bar.
Ditto for the Cilantro Cottage Cheese Panini (Rs 235) which is perfection resting between the softest bread there was. Do ask for their basil dip - there was no dish it didn't go well with. Next up was the Spinach Ricotta Burnt Garlic (Rs 265), which wasn't as delicious as the previous sandwiches, but worth a shot if you must sample a flat-bread at this cafe.
B'wiched paid great attention to how their sandwiches were presented - they all came looking rather lavish with interesting house dips, salad, crackers and breadsticks.
We were quite pleased to note that the desserts went beyond the regular cakes and cheesecakes, and didn't think twice before picking the Guava Strawberry Cheesecake (Rs 185). It was a refreshing change from the usual suspects. We did try the ubiquitous Raspberry Cheesecake (Rs 225) (do you blame us?) which, unfortunately, was not as fresh as it looked.
B'wiched has many dishes we'd go back for - and that's something one rarely says these days, when a cafe springs up every other day in the neighbourhood. We cannot rate the experience, as we were invited for the meal
