Snack That Food Up: Snazzy fusion of Indian and Mexican cuisine in Canberra

The store name STFU took me by surprise and I had to do a double take. No, it does not refer to it’s crude counterpart but is instead an abbreviation for Snack That Food Up. They certainly succeeded in hooking potential customers in with their humorous naming sense!

Located in the highly anticipated Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre that opened in Dec 2022, Snack That Food Up is serving up a number of interesting dishes. Offering both Indian and Mexican cuisine, as well as a fusion of the two, they’re out to give you the best of both worlds.

Sporting an orange and black-coloured store front, it has a kind of retro old-school appeal that stands out against the other stores in the hawker centre.

What I tried at Snack That Food Up

As Snack That Food Up is touted as an Indian-Mexican fusion joint, I decided to order their Tandoori Chicken Quesadilla (S$6.20). At first glance, it appeared rather plain and unappealing. It did, however, have a slight smoky aroma from the tandoori chicken that tickled my taste buds.

For S$6.20, the portion was rather small and half of it was corn chips. Perhaps it would be more filling than it looks — there was only one way to find out.

To really get to know what I was about to indulge in, I gently pulled back the quesadilla wrap to reveal its treasures. Inside lay chunky pieces of chicken, melded together by a generous portion of melted cheese.

To my pleasant surprise, the tandoori chicken quesadilla tasted much better than it looked: the crisp but slightly chewy exterior of the quesadilla wrap blended perfectly with the juicy, tender pieces of chicken. The chicken was lightly seasoned and had the classic smoked aroma that made it extremely appetising.

Though the nacho cheese provided by Snack That Food Up was probably not intended for the quesadillas, you must try it together for the full experience. Leaving a slight salty tang and that classic nacho cheese taste, it rounded out the flavours of the smoky tandoori chicken nicely.

Personally, I felt that the cheese sauce went better with the quesadilla than it did with the accompanying corn chips. But of course, to each their own.

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Seeing the Bbq Chicken Taco (S$7.50) front and centre on their store front, I decided to try it, too. While it certainly looked very appealing, it was still definitely on the more modest side, size-wise.

The dish came with three taco shells packed with ingredients and the same corn chips and nacho cheese sauce that accompanied the tandoori chicken quesadilla.

On closer inspection of the taco, we saw that they were stuffed with BBQ chicken, white cabbage coleslaw and a healthy amount of cheddar and mozzarella.

Having previously judged a book by its cover too quickly with the previous dish, I was ready to be taken on a ride by this one. However, unlike its delectable friend, the Bbq chicken taco looked better than it tasted.

The barbecued chicken, though juicy and well-cooked, was overpowered by the sweet and cloying taste of the barbecue seasoning. The taste of the seared meat was not particularly noticeable, which is a shame considering that a less sweet seasoning would probably have made it taste phenomenal.

The crunchy shell of the taco did provide a nice contrast to the tenderness of the chicken, though. If you’re a sucker for textural contrast, it might be worth a try.

Final Thoughts

In terms of price, Snack That Food Up is definitely on the higher end of the scale. In line with their name, their dishes make for an enjoyable snack, albeit a light one as you’re likely to leave hungry if you don’t order more than one main.

As such, Snack That Food Up is probably best suited for parties or even office potlucks. True finger food and extremely easy to snap up, they’re worth a visit if you’re planning a party and want something fuss-free. Likewise, if you happen to be in the area and your curiosity is so piqued, it might be worth trying out.

Expected damage: S$6 – S$13 per pax

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