Nina Pinta Santamaria – What CREPE!

Nina Pinta Santamaria

So, for the past couple of months, we had been noticing this cool, retro looking food truck on the baner-aundh link road. Always seemed busy, which is usually a good thing in terms of food joints. Last night Sangeeta Majumdar and I headed over to try it out. And man, we loved it!

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The Food Truck

The Food Truck

The food truck is beautifully done up, with pretty lanterns hanging down, and a few stools strewn around for patrons to sit and gorge through the crepes. The menu is split into dessert, non-veg and veg crepes (yes they serve savory crepes, not something that’s very common in Pune.)

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Trippy Pretty Lanterns

Mutton-ki-baat

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The Mutton Ki Baat

Mutton keema stuffed crepe with onions – ultimate street food! Our first bite into this, and I knew I was going to order a second one! Sangeeta’s first reaction to this was “This tastes almost like Kosha Mangsho!” The blend of spices resulted in a not-too-hot, delicious stuffing. Slices of onions inside added some much needed crunch. The crepe itself was bland, which is exactly how it should be, while cooked to be just a tiny bit crisp at the edges, and soft at the center. The best part is that the crepe actually held up till the last bite, without breaking down or going soggy, making this perfect to be eating standing up, in one hand, without going messy.

Chicken Puneri

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The Chicken Puneri Crepe

Another savory non-veg crepe with bits of chicken, this one paled in comparison to the muton ki baat. While being delicious in its own right, the mutton keema variant is far better. It could also be due to my personal preference – I mean, you can’t really beat mutton keema, can you 🙂 ? Again, not too high on spices, with a similar flavor profile as the mutton one, this, too, is a delight to eat.

Death by chocolate

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Death by Chocolate – Image courtesy Nina Pinta Maria, Zomato

Crumbled chocolate brownie, chocolate ganache, chocolate mousse, whipped cream, almonds, gems – this was a flavor explosion! The brownie, almonds and gems gave some amazing texture to each bite, while the chocolate mousse, whipped cream and ganache came together in a mind blowing blend of chocolatey goodness, without being overly sweet. The best here was again the filling to crepe ratio, resulting in the crepe to be structurally sound right till the last bite! This one had Pihu, Sangeeta and me fighting over each bite!

Mango Cream

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The Mango Cream Crepe

To be perfectly honest, they didn’t have the Mango Ricotta crepe. Instead, they are currently selling a Mango and cream variant. This one is simple and delicious – a crepe, folded with fresh mangoes, mango pulp, and whipped cream. The magoes tasted fresh and juicy, while the cream added a bit of tartness to cut through the sweet pulp. I do wish they added some more cream (or another non-sweet element – caramel maybe?) to balance the mouth feel of each bite.

The Menu

They also have a couple of veg crepes (mushroom, paneer – didn’t try any, coz, well, mera Mangalwaar tha – Mangalwaar ko veg nai khaate) but then crepes themselves have egg in the batter, so pure-vegetarians, stay away.

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The Menu

The other dessert crepes on offer also seem pretty interesting, particularly the Banoffe one, which is served with dulce de leche and bananas – a match made in heaven – definitely something I want to try next time around. I was surprised to not see a Nutella crepe – coz, come on – you got to have a nutella crepe!

The Story

Overall, NPS is a fantastic addition to the Pune food scene – what I love is the fact that they have a limited menu, and they serve limited items, and they do it perfectly! The crepes are all priced between 100-150 INR, making it affordable, and total VFM. Service is quick, and the chefs work like a well oiled machine, quickly dishing out crepes within a few minutes.

Love it! Love it! Love it!

PS: Thank you Soham Bhatawadekar for the complimentary Mango Crepe 


Nina Pinta Santamaria Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Rastaman Soul Food – Bacon Cheese Burgers!

Rastaman, Soul Food – Food truck

Bacon Bhabhi

Rastaman Soul Food, a food truck opposite Balewadi High Street is dishing out some amazing burgers, pasta and sandwiches. They have recently moved here from Aundh, and man, its a delight!

We were invited by the delightful owners, the newly married Satya & Naina, who run it with all their passion for cooking and love for food.

Their menu seems super inviting and absolute VFMwhatsapp-image-2016-12-28-at-11-46-21-pm

We started off with 2 refreshing drinks – Iceberg Lime & Mellow Mood.
I loved the Mellow mood. It was sweet, it was salty and had a beautiful hint of ginger flavor.

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Tried 2 non veg burgers from their menu:
Cheezy paradise:
Yummy yummy & yummy! Yes, it was delicious. And juicy. This has a chicken patty with a cheese filled center, caramelized onions, topped with mayo,chipotle sauce, jalapeños, and loaded with huge strips of crispy bacon. Yes, when something has bacon added to it and OOOZES cheese, what’s not there to love!
#HighlyRecommended

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Cheezy Paradise

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The Asian:
This had a beautiful grilled chicken fillet tossed and coated in some soy, vinegar, honey, fish sauce, sesame seeds. Very Asian in flavor with a lovely sweet ‘n sour note as the name suggests. An interesting one worth a try.

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The Asian

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Next was Rastaman’s fusion pasta. Currently these guys serve a veg / non veg version of this. That’s the only pasta on their menu, and it was super tasty.
Penne pasta in a rich cheesy white sauce with lots of Italian herb flavours, succulent baked chunky chicken pieces, mushrooms, bacon bits and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Yummy again!

We ended the meal with their dessert ‘Heavenly Delight’. That’s chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream ,banana,chocolate sauce,some nuts, and drizzled on top with condensed milk. I am personally always a bit partial whenener there is brownie involved in any dessert. So yes, I totally loved it. The brownie itself was so delicious, which by the way Naina herself bakes! Our 2 year old couldn’t stop eating this one 🙂

Rastaman can be found opposite Balewadi High Street (on the Urban Foundry / Apache side) and are open from 6:30 PM to 11:00 PM. Leaving you with some more yumminess!

Rastaman Soul Food Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

View my food journey on Zomato!