PETALING JAYA, Aug 28 — Most times, quick meals tend to be unhealthy choices as they are easily available everywhere. On days when one wants to eat healthy, the choices are limited in the Klang Valley. Moreover the high prices of nutritious meals mean you think twice of spending that much for a daily meal.
ChimiChurri aims to change that by offering sandwiches, salads, wraps and more at affordable prices. The founders of the restaurant felt that options were limited for salad and sandwich eaters in the Klang Valley.
As prices tend to be more on the premium side for the existing places, they decided to build their own cool sandwich and salad place with reasonable prices and generous servings. With the tagline “fresh honest food”, ChimiChurri aims to deliver real food at prices that won’t break your wallet without compromising taste.
Customers are also reassured that they do not use any processed foods, artificial colouring or flavouring, chemicals and preservatives. The name ChimiChurri was selected as the owners felt it sounded fresh and unique.
Started since last December, the eatery allows you to customise your meal. You start first by determining what type of meal you prefer, whether it’s a sandwich (French loaf or sliced bread with white or wholemeal choices), wrap (made from a 10-inch flour tortilla) or a salad bowl. Next you choose from chicken breast, Dory fish fillet, salmon fish fillet, beef brisket or even vegetarian. These items will be freshly grilled once you make your selection. Meals range from RM9.90 to RM15.90 depending on your choice of protein.
Pick salad bar style from their selection of fresh vegetables. Choices include tomatoes, arugula, carrots, lettuce, red cabbage and more. You also can select warm fillings like sweet potato mash, mushy peas, brown rice, cauliflower rice and couscous. Top off your meal with their freshly made sauces, whether warm or chilled.
There’s a selection of 14 sauces, whereby two new sauces have just been introduced this month with local flavours, the lemongrass and rendang vegetarian. You will also find their signature chimichurri sauce that is South American inspired and made from parsley, garlic, olive oil, salt and lemon.
There is no written rule on how much you can put in your sandwich, wrap or salad bowl but there is an element of trust involved. As a customer with conscience, you wouldn’t want to pile your salad bowl with food and leave it unfinished.
Recently, ChimiChurri introduced the concept of rice bowls (half rice and half salad) for people who prefer more carbohydrates in their meals. Choose between brown rice or parboiled Basmati rice. The parboiled rice has a lower glycemic index and higher fibre content. So far there’s an increasing demand for these rice bowls.
Every morning and evening, the food is prepared fresh from scratch using natural ingredients. The food is prepared with healthier alternatives whereby brown sugar is used instead of white sugar. In most of their cooking, olive oil is used and any excess oil is removed after it is cooked.
My personal favourite snack from ChimiChurri is the sweet potato chips which are actually wafer thin sliced sweet potato that is baked and not fried. To keep the food fresh at all times, there is a lot of monitoring and planning involved throughout the day. All of the meats at ChimiChurri are sourced from halal suppliers and the restaurant plans to have their own halal certification in the future.
The eatery is winning over fans like young professionals and gym goers who can often be seen tucking into their salad bowls. It attracts the office workers as well since the restaurant has a few offices in its vicinity.
If you are concerned about what goes in your food, ChimiChurri displays the ingredients in the sauces and warm fillings. Next up would be to display nutritional information and allergy warnings to adapt to customers’ dietary needs.
Since ChimiChurri is about making your own healthy meal, the new breakfast menu will have “make your own omelette” and “make your own toast” options where you can customise. The current breakfast menu includes a healthy version of the Malaysian staple nasi lemak where it’s served with brown rice cooked in santan, grilled ayam percik, oven baked ikan bilis, baked eggs and sambal sauce.
During breakfast hours which starts from 8.30am to 11am, you can also make your own wrap, sandwich or salad bowl but the warm fillings and protein choices are only available after 11am.
ChimiChurri also has a policy that minimises food wastage by cooking just enough for the day. Some items like the fresh vegetables require less time to prepare while items like their sauces and warm fillings take a longer time so the team prepares as and when it is needed. If a menu item is sold out before 7pm which is the closing time, the team will decide whether to replenish the menu item.
Menu items change from time to time to test the market as the place is still new. The owners firmly believe that before a food item gets on their menu, it must pass the litmus test of being unique and tasting great. Most of the menu items are inspired by customer feedback and whatever cool idea that pops into the minds of the founders. The bestselling combination to date at ChimiChurri is the grilled chicken breast salad bowl.
For those seeking healthy meals delivered to their doorstep, ChimiChurri has partnered with food delivery service provider Foodpanda. The delivery area is limited to a radius of three kilometres from the restaurant but ChimiChurri is looking to expand their reach via more options. There are also plans to open another outlet in the future.
ChimiChurri
Lot 100.1.037 First Floor
The School @ Jaya One, No 72A, Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7666 8088. Open daily: 8.30am to 7pm
