By Hilath Rasheed

On the rare occasion I go out to eat now, today late afternoon I went to Café Alfresco at the busy business area of the STO Trade Center in Male’.

Skimming through the snacks I was struck that I still hadn’t tried out that weird-sounding sandwich, Vaayolense.

I had already, in my imagination, related the term to the hot Saddam Soup — to reflect the great leader’s fiery temper — a recipe invented by the now-defunct Baghdad Café in Male’ which arose from popular anti-American sentiment at Bush’s invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

I was not totally wrong. Vaayolense did violence to my senses and here’s why. Alika, always reliable and on hand, gave me a brief overview of the ingredients that went into the making of the ‘violent’ mix:

- Grilled bread
- Topside beef
- Cheese
- Lettuce
- Tomato

And the following three ingredients were, according to Alika, the ‘magic’ ingredients which made the sandwich ‘violent’:

- Mayonnaise
- Ketchup sauce
- Pepper

Alika explained to me that: “Girls particularly liked the mix of tastes among mayonnaise, ketchup sauce, and pepper with something as tasty as cheese.”

I don’t have any proof on Alika’s theory though But I’m sure I’ll be revisiting Café Alfresco soon again to violate my own taste buds, just as I enjoy doing by trying out the spicy dishes whenever I dish out to India and Sri Lanka.

Tags: alfresco, cafe, food, review, sandwich, snack, vaayolense