Qzine-Sports Bar in Noida has healthy portions of Tex-Mex food on their list but their presentation style is not aesthetic, says Shana Maria Verghis who liked their fried rumali roti version of the tortilla
I learn the Mexico influenced American snack called the chimichanga dates back early as 1922, when someone apparently dropped a buritto in a fryer and uttered an exclamation in Spanish, “Chi!”
Modern American history is so easy to trace back, that popular culture in US usually tries to follise recent products in stone, to give them more relevance. Be it fast food or ice-creams. Even fruit. (Remember Johnny Appleseed).
This works when you are running a business and you want to establish your brand. I wonder how this applies in the case of the chimichanga aka chimmy chonga or chivichanga, which I’m noticing more frequently on Delhi’s restaurant menus. It is made by filling the Mexican flatbread called tortilla, (like our chappatis). with an array of yummy stuffings, such as meat or vegetables, cheese, guacamole (avocado dressing), refined beans and sour cream. Qzine, a recently opened Sports Bar serves the chimichanga in glory, with Mexican rice, flavoured with Malay spices, refined beans and salad. It’s a chunky helping that is both calorific and healthy.And the portions are large enough to share.
Executive chef Radhey Shyam overseas five kitchens for the Ansal group, who own Qzine, has earlier done stints in locations like Burj-al-Arab in Dubai. He seems particular about using premium ingredients, so you can’t fault this place, which includes a snooker table, video arcade and bar, on that score. The problem is their servings aren’t works of art.Tex-Mex is comfort food. But surely it doesn’t have to look ugly, which makes it unappealing to the eye, which is the first line of attraction. The menu is a messy deal that makes it confusing to order, because so much is stacked in it. But surprisingly that didn’t make our mouth water. It didn’t make things any better when they served a peach-pineapple drink which looked like something insipid, served from a can. When my drink goes awry, I scent disaster ahead, and I wasn’t far from wrong.The mint replacement drink was much better. But if it takes two chugs to like the order..., And the interiors didn’t do much to uplift our mood either. The lighting is dark.
Our starter was Chinese money bag, made with crispy puff pastry, filled with chicken and garlic sauce. We had ignored the Indian section, and frankly, I think it wasn’t a bad choice to go South Asian in this place. (Although it is at odds with the Tex-Mex part of Qzine’s identity). But we shouldn’t have ordered the mountain of chips and things underneath called Texas cheese fries. It was a health guru’s nightmare covered with chilli, jalapenos and what have you. But boy did it look terrible. I wasn’t totally happy with my grilled fish either — because I didn’t want it served on an ugly, steaming tray used for sizzlers. While the darsan with ice-cream was puff pasty flakes with ice that wasn’t value for money. Although the food itself was not bad, it just wasn’t good looking. I think that’s the main downer here. Though chef and I agree on one thing — you shouldn’t be serving basa fish!