Au Bon Pain - Blog

 

 Been Here to attend the Summer and Winter Menu Launches of Au Bon Pain park street. Invited here by "Bang In The Middle" team. 

 Located in the heart of the city at 18G Park Street, where MusicWorld was situated, the Au Bon Pain flagship cafe will serve a “build-it yourself” range and assortment of breakfast, lunch and dinner items such as sandwiches, soups, salads, breads, bagels & croissants,as also hot and cold beverages. The accent is on freshness, quality ingredients and wholesome offerings.Keeping in mind the cultural and local taste and preferences, the menu at Park Street will also include a whole range of options, including smoked salmon & tuna. Also included in the menu are healthy options like egg white on bagel, exotic varieties of cheese like emmental, mature cheddar along with the alltimefavourites like bagel and cream cheese & chicken pesto sandwich. For the first time ever,ABP is offering 4 new programs: • 

A help yourself cereal program for breakfast in addition to sandwiches. 

• An assisted and ready to serve make-your-own-salad station with choices of additions. 

• A live baking counter visible to guests. 

• A sit down tea program with the finest choices of teas. 

The brand has also expanded its menu to provide for enhancing the quality of some popular street food options. Its baked vadapav and baked samosa have been a runaway hit across its Bangalore locations and the same response is expected here too. The eating behaviour of consumers has evolved manifold now- fast food chains. Swanky restaurants and home delivery systems have occupied a larger space than home food among the upwardly mobile young Indians. People not only crave for good food but also prefer food which is high on nutrition and low on calorie-count. With Au Bon Pain’s signature dishes, authentic artisan breads with zero grams trans fat and commitment to the highest standards of cleanliness & hygiene not just in terms of the top quality ingredients but also the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant. ABP serves only cooked or baked food and serves nothing fried in its assortment. Au Bon Pain is yet another initiative by the RP-SanjivGoenka group to differentiate itself by bringing new and exciting experiences to the evolving Indian consumers. The 140-seater café at Park Street has been set up in a space of 4000sq feet. The vision of the café decor has been inspired by the architectural beauty of the building juxtaposed with a European street café look and feel. In order to ensure that the Music World legacy is carried forward, this café will be open to be a venue for occasions like music releases, book launches, and other creative activities. For the first time in the city, ABP has come up with the concept of a community seating table with 24 seats. This provides for people to freely interact and socialize. Besides, the menu has been very mindful of its pricing. It has offerings from opening price points at Rs 49 right up to the indulgent tuna sandwiches at the upper end of the spectrum. The idea is to provide food solutions to people who care for what they eat and drink in a conveniently located premises. 

 Now let's review some of their new menu items - 

 * Toffee Latte - A large shot of espresso blended with steamed organic milk and toffee syrup, topped with a swirl of cream & toffee drizzle.  

 * Passion Fruit Bubble Tea - The bubble tea concept is becoming quite familiar as most cafés and tea joints have this item. It is a pretty refreshing drink with fun bubbles which burst in the mouth and release the flavour of the drink. In this case, the passion fruit tea had the characteristic flavours and tasted great.  

 * Iced Cappuccino - With less milk than a latte, Iced Cappuccino offers a stronger espresso flavor, a luxurious texture and a velvety, frothy foam with a crisp, cool undercurrent.  

 * Watermelon Mojito - This was the most refreshing drink of the menu. refreshing mint ans tangy lemons virgin mojito with added lot's of refreshments of Watermelon. It was full of flavour, sweet, little tangy, refreshing and heavenly delicious.  

 * Orange and Papaya Cooler - Super healthy and refreshing drink, Orange and papaya cooler. Orange and papaya combo with lemon punch and it turned out so good. Though it was a thick drink, the sweet and tangy taste made it refreshing. Loved it.  

 * Blue Lagoon - Blue Lagoon is a popular summer mocktail featuring blue Curaçao. Mocktails are the new favorite specially for them who love clubbing. Bar tenders have come up with some amazing non-alcoholic drinks that not just look fancy but are also very soothing and refreshing in summers. One such all time favorite mocktail is Blue Lagoon aka Swimming Pool. Though the original recipe has a dash of vodka in it, but who says it cannot be enjoyed without alcohol. Take the glasses in which you want to serve the drink. Add sugar syrup, lemon juice , crushed ginger, some crushed mint and curacao syrup and stir with a spoon. Now add club soda in it and give a quick stir. Quickly add handful of ice, some mint leaves and lemon slices to garnish.  

 * Peach Iced Tea - Peach Iced Tea is perfectly infused with unique blend of real tea and peach essence for a delicious taste that refreshes your body and mind.  

 * Frozen Mint Lemonade - Also called Limonana. A Frozen Mint Lemonade. This is a very common and refreshing drink throughout the Middle East. Made on the spot with fresh squeezed lemons mixed with ground mint leaves. It has also been found in many morning detox drinks. And is becoming popular in many parts of India. This is one of my all time favorites, on a super hot day.  

 * Red Wine Sangria - sangría is an alcoholic beverage of Spanish origin. A punch, the sangria traditionally consists of red wine and chopped fruit, often with other ingredients such as orange juice or brandy. ABP serve the non-alcoholic version of it. Some people may laugh about it but i personally liked it a lot. It was refreshing, little sour, fruity, little tangy and tastes deliciously. This was orange juice based with hint of red wine and in chopped fruits they used oranges, apple, pineapple, etc.  

 * Muesli - Muesli is a breakfast and brunch dish based on raw rolled oats and other ingredients including grains, fresh or dried fruits, seeds and nuts, and may be mixed with cow's milk, soy milk, almond milk, other forms of plant milk, yogurt or fruit juice. This was Cow's milk based. * Cone-WICH - Conewich bread cone is a flexible, soft, hand held, fully baked bread cone that features the unique ability to hold very moist foods and foods with sauces such as: salads, seafood, chili, BBQ beef, chicken, pork, Philly Cheese, Gyros, and egg combinations. You can also have a Conewich bread cone for dessert with fillings such as: apple/cherry cobbler with ice cream and many others.. I tried Mushroom Eggplant and Tandoori Paneer Cone-WICHes both were spicy, hot, herby and tastes delicious. Mushroom-Eggplant one was coated with cheese and Tandoori paneer was tossed with indian sauces.  

 * Peri Peri Mac & Cheese - Macaroni Pasta Baked with cream cheese and Cheddar Cheese with a pinch of peri peri seasoning and some veggies like carrot, cucumber, zucchini, corn etc. very delicious in taste little spicy and full of creamy and cheesy. served with roasted brown garlic bread.  

 * Veg Platter - In this they give Toasted Bagel which was a bread product originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, that is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. Bagels are often topped with seeds baked on the outer crust, with the traditional ones being poppy, sunflower or sesame seeds. Some may have salt sprinkled on their surface, and there are different dough types, such as whole-grain or rye. with fruit cup in which they give papaya and watermelon. and blueberry muffin which was perfectly baked, flavorful and tastes delicious. they also give complimentary fruit juice or cappuccino whatever you want. Light and healthy veg platter at decent price.  

 * Harvest Veg Salad - This was their best selling item and the one which loved by all. The most healthiest and amazingly tasted salad made with Roasted spiced pumpkin with balsamic tahini dressing, feta cheese, toasted almonds, cucumber and cottage cheese in assorted green and purple lettuce.  

 * Exotica Roasted Vegetables - This was the Russian Sandwich made with grilled vegetables like bell peppers, tomato, cucumber, zucchini etc and caramelised onions, fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese with basil pesto on rosemary focaccia which was a flavorful and easy-to-make Italian flat bread baked in a sheet pan. It’s made with a yeast dough that rises twice: once before it is shaped and then again after it is shaped (so be sure to allow plenty of time). To give the bread its signature dimpled appearance, little indentations are formed all over the dough, which hold tiny pools of olive oil that soak into the bread as it bakes. This classic version is topped with coarse salt and fresh rosemary. taste was exotic, spicy and very tasty.  

 * We tried some of their bakery products like Cinnamon Roll, Mango Puff, Cranberry Puff, Choco Muffin, Blueberry Muffin, Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Puff and Oatmeal Currant Cookie all were freshly baked and tasted heavenly delicious and in pocket friendly price too. We ended with couple of desserts - 

 * Chocolate Monkey Bread - Monkey bread, also called monkey puzzle bread, sticky bread, African coffee cake, golden crown, pinch-me cake and pluck-it cake is a soft, sweet, sticky pastry served in the United States for breakfast or as a treat. It consists of pieces of soft baked dough sprinkled with cinnamon. It is often served at fairs and festivals. It's half portion coated with dark chocolate and other half portion coated with homemade honey. taste was amazingly delicious. recommended.  

 * Dark Lava Meltdown - It was my favorite desert in the menu.The dark lava meltdown was deliciously sinful.It was a warm brownie filled with dark chocolate syrup inside,topped off with whipped cream and garnished with mint leaves. heavenly delicious in taste. highly recommended. Before rapt up like to thank "Bang in the Middle" team for inviting me and the staff of Au Bon Pain for that wonderful times. A must visit place. highly recommended to all.