Despite the strained ties between India and Canada, fast food brands from the North American country appear to be making a beeline for India, beginning their journey from the tri-city of Chandigarh, the melting pot of modern Punjabi culture. First came Tim Horton’s, and now famous Canadian fried chicken brand MB Chicken (since 1969) is formally opening its first outlet in India in Chandigarh’s Sector 35-C from April 16.
A media preview of the outlet was organised on Sunday, and your own news portal LifeInChandigarh.com shares with you in this write-up the first impressions of some of the items on their elaborate menu.
Despite predominantly being a fried chicken brand, MB Chicken promises that at least 20% of the offerings on its menu will be vegetarian. While broadly diligently sticking to its core international menu, which remains uniform globally, MB Chicken will nevertheless cater to the local palette wherever it opens shop across the country.
Briefing media persons at the outlet, Gregory Roberts, owner of the brand and its worldwide CEO, and Cameron Thomson, MB Chicken India President, shared that MB Chicken is already 250+ stores strong across Canada and opening a new outlet there every week. Simultaneously, it is spreading its wings worldwide with presence in Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, and now India. They will be entering the US market early next year and thereon to other parts of the globe.
Asserting that “Our menu is being crafted with the finest ingredients and flavours you’ll love,” they said, “At MB Chicken, it’s all about great taste. When we say Crave Delicious (which is the brand’s tagline), we’re really talking about the kind of great taste that can only come from premium, locally sourced ingredients and careful, attentive preparation by hand. The kind of taste you crave.”
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Sharing the secret behind the uniqueness of MB Chicken, they said, “MB Chicken uses special proprietary cookers. Rather than frying with pressure, which is the industry standard, our cookers built inhouse use high heat to seal in juiciness and flavour and give our chicken its delicious natural golden colour and delicious taste. MB is real food, made fresh from scratch daily. It’s always been that way – and always will be. We won’t settle for less, and neither should you,” they added.
The constantly evolving menu (see photograph) includes signature chicken and taters along with shareable, family, party and celebration feasts.
In boneless chicken, the outlet offers piece tenders, and dynamite tenders, apart from pop-ins and chicken rice bowl.
Poutine taters, a new flavour, and chicken twists make up for the snacks section. Sides include gravy, coleslaw, taters and fries.
In desserts and beverages, you can grab any offering from choco lava, chocolate brownie, cold coffee, mango shake or strawberry shake at Rs 129. In soft serve, a single or double flavour ice cream cone can be had for just Rs 49.
There’s a variety of offerings in the vegetarian section as well. Apart from sandwich and wrap combo, there is special MB spicy paneer supreme, MB veg and MB aloo patty.
After Chandigarh, the brand plans to open stores in Gurugram (NCR), Doraha and Jalandhar (Punjab) soon. After opening about 10 corporate stores in India, the brand plans to follow the franchisee route in future expansion in the country.
Among others present on the occasion were MB Chicken India COO Sanjeev Ghatak, MBI Brands VP International Dillon Powell, MB Chicken India VP Gautam Kamra, and GM Marketing India Ankita Mane.
Know more about MB Chicken
MB Signature Chicken
- Grade A, delivered whole and fresh
- Marinated, hand breaded and cooked fresh
- Prepared in small batches in each store.
MB Taters
- Made from whole, fresh potatoes grown by Indian farmers
- Delivered in big brown bags to each store
- Cut, seasoned and crafted by hand daily
The Big Mary® Chicken Sandwich
- Handmade in-store from a whole chicken breast
- Made with no fillers
- Canada’s favourite
MB Coleslaw
- Handmade in each store from whole fresh vegetables
MB Vegetarian Menu
- MB’s first ever 100% Vegetarian Menu handcrafted with love for India
History Of MB Chicken
In 1969, while the world watched the first man walk on the moon, MB Chicken celebrated the first guest walking through the doors of Mary Brown’s Chicken in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador – the eastern-most province of Canada. It was a giant leap for chicken. Word quickly spread and stores began to open across the province.
By 1972, the secret of Mary Brown’s quality food had spread. More stores opened in Ontario, Canada. From there, growth expanded west to Alberta, back east to the Maritime Provinces, and out to the Prairies and the West Coast.
Today, there are over 250+ Mary Brown’s Chicken locations across Canada, and that number continues to climb rapidly, both in North America and around the world
Named After Mary Brown
Mary Brown was a woman with an incredible recipe for fried chicken. After serving it to her family for years, her husband decided that the rest of the world deserved to eat as well as he did. He met with businessmen from Newfoundland, who immediately fell in love with the chicken, bought the recipe, and started the business. This was the beginning of a chicken revolution in Canada; the restaurant was named Mary Brown’s in honour of the woman behind the recipe.
