Which are the dishes that hit your senses when we talk about the Mediterranean cuisine? Is it the ever-popular Arabic snack Shawarma? Or what about hummus, tabbouleh, and baba ghanoush? You’ve likely eaten at least one of those dishes before. From breads to vegetables to oils, there are so many ingredients and dishes that are uniquely and iconically Mediterranean.

While many dishes that have influenced the Indian main-stream food arena are from the Arabic and Lebanese front, the actual Mediterranean cuisine encompasses the and covers several vastly different geographical areas including Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Istanbul and Syria, among many others. Several cornerstones of Mediterranean cuisine include olive oil, wine, bread, and dried spices.

Our 14-year old sojourn in Dubai had made Mediterranean food an absolute staple. While back in Mumbai, we did relish but always missed the exotic, rustic flavours of the originals.

WHAT’S HOT IN MUMBAI strongly recommends Mediterranea – a cloud delivery and take-away kitchen in Worli launched by Creative Eats LLP. We must add here that it’s not just another delivery kitchen but it borders on the pure luxury elements- not just on the branding, packaging but also for it’s stunning, quirky flavours. Being a first-time venture of this entity, the premium perfection exhibits the passion of the team involved.

A brief about the team at Mediterranea

The brainchild of two passionate school friends who love food – isn’t that the perfect blend for a successful business? Co-founders Kiran Salaskar and Mahesh Malkani noticed the deluge of premium Mediterranean food and voila – MEDITERRANEA was born!

Kiran Salaskar, Co-Founder discloses, “Mumbaikars love good food and will go the extra mile if they get sizzling flavours. Our team of highly trained and dedicated chefs lovingly hand make our diverse range of foods. We aim to get you the best of Mediterranean countries in a comprehensive single menu”.

While flavours continue to rule the roost, Co-founder Mahesh Malkani uses his experience of having being associated with the recycled plastics and equipment pooling business. He adds his expertise by incorporating sustainable and environmentally friendly business practices. “Having worked in the past, Reuse, Reduce, Re-cycle are themes which are very close to my heart. Our aim is to use 100% sustainable packing within the next 2 years”.

WHY WHAT’S HOT IN MUMBAI strongly recommends MEDITERRANEA – It’s not just the pure luxury branding, packaging or scintillating menu that grabbed our eyeballs. Mediterranea unleashes those holocaustic, volcanic flavours that create a fire-branding sizzle to every dish. The freshness of the meal stuns you, the creative color-breakers (for the hummus especially) are eye-candy, the magical notes create a torrential high with every bite.

Our final verdict – MEDITERRANEA meals are not just Magical – they add that mystical blend that leave marvelous memories for a lifetime. You will forget all the cheap Mediterranean feast imitations that surround you. You surely got us hooked for a lifetime!

Do read our viewpoints on the menu which we sampled:

THE HUMMUS range:

Mumbaikars have been fed on hummus which has the ubiquitous additions of garlic, red pepper, and a basic hummus drizzle. What we experienced was sheer magic and outstanding, off-beat and contrasting flavors. The Hummus Beiruti was rich, creamy and innovative lip-smacking. The Moutabal Baba Ghanoush had a pleasing flavour for the taste buds, the usual tangy tinge was miraculously underplayed which made it enjoyable. The Truffle hummus a stunner that gave an over-powering definitive tinge of the exotic truffle. The Mouhamara is one of the best we have had, crispy walnut bits add the sizzle – the invigorating, eye-catching, peppy color added the drama to the dish.

An honest confession here is that every variation had a superlative, rich, creamy texture that added varied flavours. You will forget all those flavoured, coloured hummus variations once you try this range.

Batata Harra – An absolute must-have for all potato lovers. It’s an unimaginable feat to make potatoes glossed up to be so darn delicious. The beauty of this creation is that although it gives you a feeling of a typical Indian spicy dish, the condiments are explicitly enticing and authentic to the original.

Fattoush – Typically, a simple chopped salad dressed in a zesty lime vinaigrette and blended with homemade pita chips served as croutons. Here, we loved the crunchy fresh salad and what stood out more were the chip-strips pita which had a flavourful tangy taste. We did missed the zesty lime flavours in this one.

On the shawarma and falafel front, we feasted and literally fought for the Beetroot falafel. The coarsely blended texture reminded us of the authentic falafels we have tried in Dubai and Egypt. The liberal showering of sesame seeds to the batter added that extra crunch to the falafel. The slightly tangy, yet subtly sweet beetroot flavour takes this dish to the next level.

What’s a Mediterranean meal without the shawarma? This one is a complete, tummy filling meal. We chose the vegetarian options and loved the liberal choices of dips to add more magical flavours. The Paneer shawarma had the best, chunky cottage cheese, effectively and juicily blended with the veggies.

The Falafel wrap was another treat since it levelled the spice quotient to a higher note, just the way we love it. A point to note here is that unlike most shawarma joints who usually upload the French fries and reduce the actual filling – the MEDITERRANEA shawarmas are super-loaded, power-packed and serve the fries separately. This small gesture speaks volumes about the brand’s vision to customer satisfaction.

THE SHOWSTOPPERS ARE:

The Istanbuli kebap is a stunner not just for the size of the two kebaps (spelt as per the origin) but for the overpowering and aromatic fragrances the dish promulgates. An exceptionally soft tender meat kebap neatly rested on a bed of fragrant peppery pilaf made of rice – this dish is not just outstanding but evoked memories of our tryst with a local perde pilavi dish we had tried on one of our trips. What astounded us was the high frequencies of the saffron aroma that swooned us, while we elaborately enjoyed the soft kebap with the marvellous dips.

Well, if your mouth isn’t watering already, you know what you are missing.

The desserts always leave not just a sweet ending but also banish all your ‘no sweets’ promises you make to yourself. The desserts are earth-shakingly seductive. We tried the Pistachio baklava cheese cake which zapped our senses. The Turkish coffee and dark chocolate mousse had the perfect punch for all coffee lovers and non-chocolate lovers like us. Just one jar won’t be enough for these mind-blowing silky, velvety and slurpy creations.

A perfect end with a promise to be a loyalist while we surely wish to experience some more of your non-vegetarian creations.

MEDITERRANEA CREATES A SPELL-BOUNDING, DRAMATIC ENTRY AND REVOLUTIONIZES THE MEDITERANNEAN CUISINE TO PENULTIMATE HEIGHTS!!

Place your order on their Website: www.mediterranea.in or connect with them at 9820007347 / 9820007437