We return to this Juhu eatery for a quality check only to fall in love with Asian fast food including baos and sliders
Sea bass slider. Pics/ Karishma Kuenzang
Food: Flavourful
Ambiance: Cosy
Service: Prompt
Cost: Mediocre
Verdict: 1.5/4
If you dream of pillowy baos with layers of your favourite protein, complete with complementary sauce and crunchy crisps at the rim, this small Juhu eatery can make your dreams come true. That was the takeaway after our unusual bao and sliders lunch on a weekend.
Buttermilk chicken bao
The first ones there, we sit beside the glass door to soak in the last of the feeble winter sun as we go through their quick-to-peruse menu, and order the prawn corn dogs (Rs 280) and yuzu lemonade (Rs 120) on the steward's suggestion. He's back before we can recognise the song they are playing [an EDM number from the 2010s], with a chilled orange bottle. We take a sip, and the refreshing tangy jolt of sweet and tart lemon hits us. Made in-house using palm sugar, we would have believed it was made fresh had we not seen our server take it out of the fridge. We take in the equally refreshing interiors full of greens and soft lighting, as we wait for the prawn corn dogs that take 10 more minutes.
Prawn corn dog
They come covered in spicy mayonnaise and a side of the same. They come with wooden sticks speared, an ideal food-on-the-go option. It makes them relatively less messy given how juicy and succulent they are inside.
Snickers bar
Next, we try the buttermilk chicken bao (Rs 310), Chettinad prawn bao (Rs 320), Singaporean crab bao (Rs 320) and lamb seekh bao (Rs 350), with the aid of their mix-and-match option that lets us split a portion of two into two different baos. The highly-recommended (by our server and our previous visit) buttermilk variant lives up to its reputation — we would travel two hours for a meal of just this. The chicken has a crisp outer layer which gives way to a juicy, meaty bite, aided by coleslaw. The bao — this one's charcoal — is perfect.
Yuzu lemonade
Amid the silence that's fallen on the table as we busy ourselves with the food, the Chettinad prawns arrive, looking deathly spicy. One bite and we knew we were right — they have kept the flavours intact which works well. The lamb seekh one is a no-frills, simple onion, bao with mint chutney and is akin to a fluffy roll, while the crab variant, heavy on lemongrass, is robust and strong.
Next up, we order the sea bass slider (Rs 330), fish and chips slider (Rs 320) and daredevil chicken (Rs 320). The sea bass is the clear winner — it's light even though it has a fried patty — and miraculously juicy. The jalapeno bun it comes encased in, adds a subtle kick to it. The fish and chips option looks better than it tastes, with too much coleslaw in it. The daredevil chicken is a serving of pink buns with crispy KFC-style chicken and oodles of lettuce.
We end the meal with their Snickers bar (Rs 250), which looks simple enough but is quite an explosion of flavours from the first bite — it has a caramel middle, with a mix of peanut chunks, peanut butter and chocolate. It's creamy and again, quite light — even though we were full with the meal, we end up wolfing it down.
We leave, promising to be back the next time we are craving baos, knowing that we're going to order more than just that.
Time 12.30 pm to 11.30 pm
At Fuu Qin, Juhu Supreme Shopping Centre, JVPD Scheme, Juhu.
Call 9833403133
The Guide first reviewed Fuu Quin in May 2019. We conduct select, anonymous follow-ups to assess maintenance of standards
Fuu Quin didn’t know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals
Food review rating: 4/4 EXCEPTIONAL, 3/4 EXCELLENT, 2/4 VERY GOOD, 1/4 GOOD, 0.5/4 AVERAGE
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
