“K” – Korean Restaurant has recently opened up in Aundh, behind Medipoint restaurant. Serving authentic Korean cuisine, they sure bring some exciting flavors to our palate. #baconbaba was invited for a tasting to this tiny cosy little place.
Here’s a quick run down of my experience.
Tangsu
Tangsu with Fried Mushroom
A dish with Korean-Chinese origins, the Tangsu consists of Batter fried mushrooms with Mixed vegetables and a sweet and sour sauce. The highlight was the thick sweet sticky golden sauce, characterized by the flavor of pineapple and vinegar. Fresh pineapple slivers added to the overall sweetness of the dish.
Tangsu with Fried Chicken
The Fried Chicken Tangsu had very similar flavours as the mushroom variant. The Red garlic chilly sauce and pickled radish served on the side add a much needed salty/spicy kick to this overall sweet dish.
Jampong (Veg)
Jampong (Veg)
Jamppong is a Korean-Chinese noodle soup with red, spicy broth flavored with gochutgaru (chili powder). The veg version is loaded with vegetables and mushrooms. While this had quite a hit of spice the strong flavor of mushrooms in the broth was noticable.
Nagasaki Jampong (Sea Food)
Nagasaki Jampong
A form of Korean Ramen, the Nagasaki Jampong is a lovely sea food broth – prawns, mussel, squid with mixed veggies and pork. Super light, super delicious – a must have for all you sea food lovers!
Clear Noodles Chicken soup
Clear Noodles Chicken soup
Like the name suggests, this is a simple, clean broth with mixed vegetables and chicken. The strong flavor of the chicken stock shines through.
Jajang (pork)
Jajang (pork)
A thick Black bean paste based gravy with chopped Cabbage, Onion and minced Pork on a bed of noodles. My first taste felt rather bland – the flavors just didn’t work. But mix it all together, and it results in porky noodle awesomeness! The flavor is rich, lightly spiced, minced pork and onions. Most noteworthy was the flavor profile – its different from anything I have tried before.
Best experienced with chopsticks!
K is a great new addition to the ever growing food culture in Pune. A host of new flavors, this brings authentic Korean cuisine to our city. Looking forward to more trips here!
The menu is rather cryptic, so feel free to ask the waiters for advise. And, if you do land up here, be adventurous! Its a great experience.
Cafe Arabia is known for their multiple QSR counters in malls across Pune. They are known for dishing out some of the best Lebanese cuisine in the city. Souk is Cafe Arabia’s first standalone dine in restaurant, taking the Cafe Arabia legacy to the next level.
Salad Bowls
The Grilled Chicken Greek Salad
Grilled chicken, feta cheese, oregano and fresh veggies makes this a lovely summer salad. The freshness and crunch of the veggies, creamy feta cheese and the oregano based dressing go perfectly with the perfectly grilled chicken.
Souk Fries
Souk Fries
Crunchy french fries dusted with sumac powder – the sumac gives it a lovely Mediterranean touch adding a bit of spice to the golden fried fries. That being said, the garlic dip didn’t go too well with the fries though – I would love to have these with some ketchup instead!
Lebanese Platters
Hummus Platter with Pita Bread
Hummus Platter with Pita Bread
Cafe Arabia is known for their hummus. This platter adds a dimension, serving four avatars of the delicious creamy hummus – original, basil pesto, jalapeno & harissa and beetroot. The pita bread is coated with za’atar dressing, and that did over-power the delicate flavor of the hummus. Be sure to ask for only a light coating of za’atar next time around.
Falafel Platter
Falafel Platter
Falafels (chick pea balls, deep-fried) topped with a bit of garlic yogurt and olives, served with a garlic dip. Beautifully cooked, tasted delicious.
Kababs
Harrissa Chicken Skewers
Harissa Chicken Skewers
These looked delicious, but were a bit of a let down. The harissa gave it an overall spicy heat, but these were under-seasoned. A dash of salt helped make it more palatable.
Skewered Mushrooms
Skewered Mushrooms
The best part about this dish was the fact that it was very lightly spiced, allowing the natural flavor of mushrooms to shine through. The gentle char on the top really added a beautiful dimension to the flavor and mouthfeel of the dish
Chicken Black Pepper
Chicken Black Pepper
A take on the more popular malai tikka, these were rich and creamy. Would have helped if the black pepper flakes were not as massive.
Flatbreads
Peppy Paneer and Pesto Mushroom – Half ‘n Half
Peppy Paneer and Pesto Mushroom Flatbread
The paneer was delicious. Pepper, oregano, red bell pepper and grilled paneer – this had the makings of a delicious ‘desi’ pizza. The pesto mushroom didn’t work for me personally – the pesto didn’t work with the mushrooms, leading to a confused palate.
Spiced Minced Lamb
Spiced Minced Lamb Flatbread
An absolutely gorgeous looking plate of food, this was the highlight of the meal. Lightly spiced minced lamb blended beautifully with the cheese and tomato sauce, leaving us going ‘yummm’ with every bite. The fried egg on top was like a ray of sunshine, taking this spectacular plate of food to another level.
Chicken Shawarma
Chicken Shawarma
Cafe Arabia is famous for its shawarma. This one, however, was not up to the mark. Over stuffed with the garlic sauce, and the lack of crunch lead it to be totally unbalanced. The pita bread too wasn’t toasted enough, leading to a very ‘meh’ mouth feel.
Shakes
The Peanut Butter and Jelly Shake
Peanut Butter and Jelly Shake
If you like peanut butter, you will LOVE this!
Chocolate Mint Shake
After 8 – Mint Chocolate Shake
I, personally, am not a fan of mint chocolate. That being said, this ticked all the boxes for a good chocolate mint shake.
Desserts
Baklava with Ice Cream
Baklava with Ice Cream
I have been a fan of the baklava made by Cafe Arabia. The pastry is crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and is rich with the flavors of honey, cinnamon and nuts. This one is a slight variation of the one they serve at their outlets, shaped like a cup to hold the ice cream. Its good, but felt a bit dense at the inside base of the cup. I prefer the one they serve at the outlet.
Baklava with Ice Cream
Dark Chocolate Tart with Mediterranean Sea Salt
Dark Chocolate Tart with Mediterranean Sea Salt
An absolute masterpiece of a dessert, this one is to DIE for! The tart is beautifully crumbly, and the dark chocolate filling is so gooey, it should be a crime! With just the right amount of bitterness creeping through, it makes this such an amazing dessert.
However, the coup de grâce was the sprinkling of the sea salt. That salt cuts through the chocolate like a hot knife through butter, leaving you salivating for more!
Sinful, decadent, major win!
Dark Chocolate Tart with Mediterranean Sea Salt
Overall, a great place to chill if you are in the NIBM area. Great stuff!
Its no secret that I love pork (#baconbaba ftw!) So naturally, when I was invited for a pork special tasting, I was excited. I love pork as a meat for 2 reasons – 1. it is extremely versatile in the ways it can be cooked – bacon, ham, smoked, pulled pork, steamed, medium rare, crisp fried, etc. and 2. the inherent flavor of the meat is lovely – that slightly sweet fatty-ness makes it just beautiful. Also, Bubsterrs has a history of having some great pork (anyone remember the pork overload?)
Porky Perfection
Jumping straight to the new menu, Vidur Mehmi, the chef/owner at Bubsterrs, really knows his meat. Every burger has the meat cooked to perfection – unlike a lot of Indian chefs, he doesn’t believe in incinerating the meat – he has the courage of taking it to the edge, where the meat is pink inside, and just right on the outside. In fact, I would love to see how he treats a steak – i bet he could pull off a medium rare to perfection. But I digress.
The Classic Pork Burg
We started off with the Classic Pork Burg. The simplicity of this burger made me fall in love with it. Light dash of mayo, one slice of tomato, and a bit of lettuce is all that is there, apart from the gorgeous patty itself. The pork patty is lightly seasoned, allowing the natural flavor of the meat to be the star. Lightly grilled on the outside, and perfectly pink in the inside, this one is all about the meat. On a scale of 1 to 10, this one is a major go!
The Classic Pork Burg
The Spicy Pork Burg
Next up was the Spicy Pork Burg. Don’t let the name fool you – the spice level is low enough for the meekest of intestines. A dash of their inhouse chipotle sauce and a few slices of jalapeno are all that give it the ‘spice’. The patty it self, in addition to the mild seasoning from the classic pork burg, also has a teensy weensy bit of chilli flakes, just to add a bit of oomph to the perfectly cooked burger. And did i say it has crisp fried bacon?
The Spicy Pork Burg
The BBQ’D Pork Burg
On the other end of the spectrum is the BBQ’D Pork Burg. The bacon is glazed in the same bbq sauce that lathers the pork patty itself, lending a lovely sweet n savory flavour to the hole bite. That being said, I could have done with something to cut through the overwhelming sweetness of the overall package (maybe a slice of jalapeno?) This one is perfect for the little ones.
The BBQ’d Pork Burg
The Massive Porky Lucy
The last one up to the table was the Massive Porky Lucy. A Take on the classic Juicy Lucy, this had a blob of molten cheese right in the middle of the monstrous patty. As you bite into it, the molten cheese oozes out, leaving behind this feeling of awesomeness that only molten cheese can bring to you. Cooked in the classic ‘steaming’ style, the patty is beautifully balanced with the cheese.
The Massive Porky Lucy
Salads? Really?
They have also introduced a bunch of salads. Now, this is one territory I strictly stay out of, coz of my general aversion towards raw food. But one particular concoction stood out for me, and that was the Chef’s Special Salad.
The Chef’s Special Salad
The Chef’s Special Salad consists of thinly sliced beetroot, glazed in balsamic vinegar reduction, with toasted walnuts, feta cheese and an olive oil/parsley infused dressing. There are few words in there that kind of put me off, including ‘beetroot’ and ‘salad’. But this was a revelation. The beetroot, due to the balsamic vinegar glaze, completely transformed the root vegetable. The sweetness of the beetroot and the balsamic vinegar, along with the seasoning, the crunch of the almonds, and the fresh veggies, resulted in a mouth feel like no other. For possibly the first time in my life, baconbaba is recommending a salad!
The Chef’s Special Salad
Guys, if you are looking for a pork burger, this is the place to head to. #baconbaba approved!
The Kolhapuri Lavangi – A tiny little chili bomb local to this area.This is the flavor that defines Kolhapuri cuisine. But is it really?
There is a saying in Marathi – ‘Tikkhat manjhe swadisht naahi‘ (spicy doesn’t mean tasty). So which is it? Tikkhat? Or Swadisht? That’s what I was craving to find out.
As I had an opportunity to spend a day in Kolhapur with a good friend (who, incidentally, is a local of this city), I had to eat my way through this city. Here are some of the best spots I hit:
Hotel Parakh: Special Mutton Fry Thali
We landed in Kolhapur just around lunch time. The drive form Pune had left us ravenous, and we totally looking forward to our first meal in Kolhapur.
Hotel Parakh is a simple, no frills place with a basic menu – they do what they do best.
One of the best mutton thalis I’ve had in a long long time. Hotel Parakh, Kolhapur puts out this gorgeous plate of meat with perfectly cooked mutton fry and a lovely mutton kheema. 250/- for this plate of awesomeness is a steal!
But the showstopper here are the twin rassa bowls – Tambda and Pandhra.
The Pandhra rassa is a lovely white mutton stock base, lightly spiced. Dunk your bhakri and mutton fry to oomph up the flavors, or drink it up as a soup.
The Tambda rassa is spicy, but not what you expect. Cooked in mutton stock, you can see bits of Mutton fat floating around, giving it a bit of richness that only fat can give. It has a spectacular back of the throat hit, without putting your palate on fire. You can happily chug a few bowls of this fiery looking gravy without feeling numb lips or burning your throat. If anything, it triggers the taste buds, taking this lovely thali to the next level.
Chappal Alley
A whole lane dedicated to Kolhapuri Chappal stores? This one I could not miss!
The best Vada Pav in Kolhapur?
Right at the bustling Rankala lake sits Mr Ramchandra Patil, owner of Priyadarshini Mobile Canteen. What really set this apart is the MASSIVE vada served with a slice of bread and coconut chutney. The jumbo vada pav is delicious, very different from what we get in Pune/Mumbai, and the chutney truly makes it a delicious experience
Will the real All India Bhel please stand up?
All India Bhel is one of the iconic spots of Kolhapur. Affectionately known as ‘Raja Bhau Bhel Center’, this was set up in 1965. Over 50 years, they have created their legacy, and defined the street food scene in Kolhapur. The entire street where this is located is lined with food stalls, with the maximum crowds gathering around Raja Bhau Bhel Center
They work at lightning speed, preparing your bhel, customized to your liking (dry/wet, spicy/medium) in less than 30 seconds. Take a look:
The bhel itself is delicious – sweet, spicy, sour, with hints of raw mango, garlic chutney and chillies.
The funny part is the number of ‘All India Bhel Center’s that have propped up. I counted about 15 of them in a line at Rankala lake. All of them serve great stuff, no doubt, but the original is undoubtedly the best 🙂
Dinner Scenes – Mutton at Opal
Another one of the iconic food spots in Kolhapur, Hotel Opal was set up in 1968. Today, about 50 years later, they continue to carry on the legacy. The food here is excellent. Must try the mutton thali (tambda-pandhra rassa, mutton fry, mutton curry and bhakri). Do not miss the solkadi to cool down the senses.
Dessert Feels – Imperial Cold Drink House
Imperial goes beyond being called a legacy. Set up in 1910, this centurion is Kolhapur at its finest. Do not miss the Imperial Special Cocktail (with cake). Ice cream, milkshake, tooti fruity, jelly, dry fruits, fresh fruits (if u r lucky, u’ll get mango bits too) – this has it all. This is an absolute must after the spicy tambda rassa!
Basundi Chah
We noticed this board on the way to Imeprial, and HAD to try it out. It is exactly as the name suggests – hot basundi, mixed with hot tea. The taste? Well, imagine drinking tea with condensed milk – super sweet, dessert-y, thick, creamy, with a flavour of tea. Definitely worth a try. You’ll find them lined up along Shivaji chowk after 5PM in the evening.
Misal Scenes!
You can’t leave Kolhapur without eating Misal! Breakfast the next day is Misal at the oldest Misal joint in Kolhapur – Hotel Bawada Misal.
Established in 1923, they serve a form a misal very different from what we get in Pune. The tarri is a lot thinner, and contains a blend of matki, chana and potatoes, topped with shaved coconut and dahi. And contrary to popular belief, it isn’t burn your mouth spicy. It is a very balanced blend of spices, that will keep you craving for more.
One day is not enough to explore the true beauty of the food that this lovely city has to offer. But what I experienced in these 24 hours provided me enough fuel to go back on another gastronomical excursion to further explore this city. #baconbaba will be back!
One of the swankiest pubs to hit baner in recent times, Orion certainly has what it takes to make it big in the competitive food circuit. With a formidable cocktail menu, Orion brings a whole lot of gorgeously plated food to the table. #thebaconbaba was invited for a bloggers’ tasting table, and man, did I have an amazing time! Here’s a quick run down:
Three Mushroom Liquid with Melba Crisp
This was a fabulous start to the meal. This is a lovely thick, creamy mushroom soup, lightly seasoned, allowing the flavors of the mushrooms to shine through.
Indian Spiced Pumpkin veloute
Probably one of the prettiest looking pumpkin soups I have had in a long time, this one tasted absolutely delicious. Roasted pumpkin seeds added a bright little bite to the overall mouth feel.
Chicken Shorba
This tasted more like a butter chicken gravy, than a soup. I would have happily lapped it up with a butter naan. However, I believe this is the type of shorbas served in the Kolhapur / Vidharbha area. It was delicious, so no complaints!
Garlic Bread with Red Onion Jam
This has the potential to be a kickass dish. However, it was let down by the lackluster jam, and the soft bread. The toast needed to be toastier, and the jam needed so more ooomph. A bit of salt and 30 seconds more on the grill maybe?
Orion Special Kabab
This was a good indian chicken kabab. Order this if you are looking for a “chicken tikka” or a chicken reshmi kabab”. Good flavors all round.
Country Style Maple Wings
While these look absolutely gorgeous – that perfect sticky shiny coating, it ended up being way too sweet for my palate. It definitely needed more zing. The gentle coating of chilly flakes didn’t help.
Makhmali Roll
These caught our eye the moment it landed on our table. The pink foam on top is truly a wow factor in the dish. It turned out to be a perfectly rolled chicken roulade in a beetroot foam. Beautiful textures, lovely presentation, an all round great dish.
Bangkok Chicken
This one is for all the ‘tapri’-Chinese lovers out there (your’s truly included!) A crisp fried chicken in a crispy noodles “nest” – a wacky take on the ever-popular Chopsuey. Super yum – perfect for munching with drinks!
BBQ Chicken Pizza
A standard chicken pizza on a hand rolled base. Nothing to write home about.
Black Lasagne
This was another dish that really got our imagination running. The lasagna is black in color. While it looks super theatrical, and funky, it does not add much to the flavor. A normal tasting, cheesy, gooey lasagna. Not that it’s bad by any means!
Mezze Platter with Baba Ganoush , garlic Hummus & beetroot Hummus
A gorgeous looking dish, mezze platters are the current craze of the city. Every chef worth his salt is serving up some form of hummus/pita dip combo contraption. Does Orion do enough to stand out from the competition? Maybe the addition of the chicken and paneer fingers does add some level of difference to the over all presentation, as does the baba ganoush. Honestly, the Baba Ganoush tasted a lot more like baingan ka bharta. They do need to tone down their spices, if they plan to make it more authentic.
Chocolate Cigars
Do NOT leave this place without ordering up a plate of Chocolate Cigars (or 3, like we did). The cigars are freshly fried, and dipped in vanilla ice cream, coated with a lovely hot chocolate sauce. We asked for ours to be customized with chocoloate shavings, instead of the colorful stuff you see in the pic above, resulting in an absolute chocolate mouthgasm! The crispy outer layer, the hot molten chocolate inside, the cold ice cream and the bits of chocolate shavings on top – absolute pleasure. You HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO order this!
Cocktails
They have a formidable list of cocktails. Each one we tried stood out from the previous one. their freak-shakes are worth a try as well. you can’t really go wrong there – go, get sloshed, have fun!
Overall, Orion is a great place, with super chill vibes. Great food, killer cocktails, and ample parking (yes that’s important!) Totally worth the trip!
Omlette! Perfect breakfast, ideal lunch or a light dinner – the one size fits all meal!
Cabaret, with its slick interiors and black n red furniture screams class. Its diverse menu with an emphasis on east asian food has been taking baner by storm over the past few months since its opening.
They have started an Omlette Festival this month to add a few interesting eggy delights to their menu. I was invited with my family to try out some of these preparations.
Baked Western Omlette:
Baked Western
In all honesty, this was a regular cheese Omlet, with all the bells and whistles. A generous amount of cheese, topped with veggies, the baked omlette is fluffy, and delicious. Served with garlic toast and baked beans, this is one Omlette that you can’t go wrong with.
Morroccon Omlette:
Moroccon Omlette
A sunny side up, topped with cherry tomatoes, this does have a hit of spice to it. Chilly oil and chilli flakes made it spicy. Not one for the faint hearted, this one a definitely worth a try.
Japanese Omurice:
Japanese Omurice
The Omurice at Cabaret consists of Chicken fried rice topped with an omlette and barbecue sauce. The bbq sauce was a bit too sweet for my palate, but the fried rice was yummy, leading to this being an excellent brunch item.
Opening hours for Cabaret Baner are 7am daily, making this the perfect breakfast place. Priced at 200/- a pop, the omlette Festival items are at par with all other similar joints in the area.
Definitely one to visit in the near future. The Omlette Festival is on till 28th of Feb. This menu is available at all the Peter Donuts outlets as well.
Last week at the 11 ESB PEO tasting, Prashant Kunjir and I caught up, and he proposed going out on what he likes to call a #MisalTrail. Plans were drawn up, and Pashan was selected as our first hunting ground. D-day arrived, and we met at sharp 9:30 AM (to be perfectly honest, the agreed time was 8:45 AM, but, well IST), and set out taking down some amazing joints in the area. Here’s a quick run down
Tapkir
The Special Misal. About a year back they shifted to Pashan from Sus-gaon, but they continue serving the same “thali”. Its an elaborate setup with taak, dahi, misal, pav, and a gulab jamun. Not too spicy, quite tasty.
2. Shrimaan
This one is at the other end of the road, with its entrance tucked away in the corner of a grocery shop. The tarri here is quite tasty, though I found the ratio of matki to farsaan off. Wayy too much farsaan in the initial serving. Also, the tarri and the matki had clashing flavors, so adding the matki later didn’t work out. Totasted pav added some nice flavors though.
3. Avdhut
I had tasted this at the Misal festival a couple of months back. However, trying out the fresh batch early in the morning, right off the gas was amazing. Very delicious, with just the right amount of burn around the lips. Toasted pav. Full marks for this one.
4. Someshwar
This on was on Pashan main road, on the way from Sai chowk to the highway on the left side. Another delicious medium spicy misal, served with toasted pav. This is literally an ‘everyday’ misal, i.e., I would be happy to eat this everyday!
The tarri had a nice bit of zatka, and a flavor of star anise was noticeable, adding a lovely flavor to the misal.
Someshwar
5. Shiv Malhar
Located across the highway towards Sus gaon, this is quite a “well developed” place with a large variety of misal types. With a lot of indoor and outdoor seating, this place has a nice view as well. Coming to the misal, we had options of Puneri and Kolhapuri Misal. We quickly figured out the only difference between the 2 was that they added som spicy tarri on top of the sampal for the Kolhapuri one. Wel,, names aside, this was also superb. We were full with the previous 4 places, but couldn’t stop lapping up some more. Definitely worth a weekend visit – lots of space for kids to run around, and the Puneri misal is low on spice.
Shiv Malhar
PS: This is not an attempt at ranking any misal place. Each place had its own flavor, and we just want to appreciate each of them, while trying to understand what sets them apart.
More to come 🙂
I have waxed eloquent about how Murphies, KP, Pune is elevating the humble aloo-bataka in one of my previous blog posts. Recently, they did up their upstairs section, converting it into a swanky, yet chilled out bar section. #TheBTeam was invited to sample some of the offerings on the bar menu
Coconut Prawns
With a new bar, comes new food! Well, to be honest, the Coconut Prawns is not a new item – they did have the Coconut prawns on their menu. And if I remember correctly, the original recipe tasted more like a coconut ‘peda‘ wrapped around a prawn.
Well, the chef at Murphies seems to have got it spot on this time. Coconut shavings, and a mustard sauce lend themselves beautifully to the dish – making the prawn shine through. Reminded me of the Sorse Bata Chingri – a Bengali preparation involving prawns and mustard sauce. Absolutely delectable!
Fried Chicken Murphs
Not to be left behind were the Fried Chicken Murphs. Bits of fried chicken (similar to popcorn chicken from a KFC, if that makes sense), drowning in melted cheese and the potato jacket – doesn’t get any better.
Barbeque Pork Crisps
And my favorite dish from this bataka menu – Barbeque Pork Crisps: A dish that had me drooling like the pig! Beautiful slivers of barbeque pork, with sweet sticky sauce, over crisp salty potato crisps, served with a tart yogurt dip. Sweet, sour, salty, crispy, gooey… Flavor and texture heaven. Perfect balance. Spectacular dish.
Mushrooom Rissotto
The vegetarian side of things isn’t too bad either. the Mushrooom Rissotto is arguably the best variant of this Italian dish (often described as the death dish in Masterchef Australia) Al-dente rice, loads of cheese and cream and butter, and that lovely delicate flavor of mushrooms with parsley – this dish was so good, we reordered it – correction – I reordered a veg dish! Its a buttery, cheesy, creamy, flavorful, mouthful of ecstasy!
Also, worth a mention were the Beef quesadillasand the Chicken Strips.
The Grilled Fishserved to us was pretty good – though I personally preferred the prawns. There was a disagreement at the table on which was better. Its up to you I guess – if you prefer mild lemon butter sauce flavors of the fish or the strong mustard-coconut flavor of the prawns.
As this is a bar, drinks are a given. Do no miss the Chocolatini! A chocolate based liqueur cocktail, this was so damn delicious! All you Baileys lovers out there will trip over this one for sure!
The new Murphies menu has a lot going for them. They add on to an already impressive line up, and continue taking the humble aloo to the higher echelons of gastronomy!
212 All Day Cafe and Bar has launched a number of new items on their exhaustive menu. #TheBTeam was invited last night to try out some of the brilliant stuff on offer.
We started off with a round of mocktails. The Good Morning Bombay – a teetotaler’s version of the Bloody Mary, packed a punch. This chilled tomato based drink was loaded with pepper and Tabasco – to the point of tasting more like a Gazpacho than a mocktail. Delicious and refreshing, nonetheless.
Among the other mocktails on the menu, the R&R – a strawberry lemonade, was particularly good.
First up to our table were Mrs. Beaton’s Eggs – masala scrambled eggs on a buttered bun pao, with potato slivers and a tomato hollandaise. Scrambled eggs and buttered pao is a match made in heaven, and the cheesy hollandaise added a lovely creamy note to this pairing. A must have, if down here for a snack!
Mrs Beaton’s Eggs
Curried porridge, (aka dalia khichdi) was well made. The garnish of peanuts and edible flowers did add some sophistication to this homely meal.
Curried Porridge
The Egg Plant Bruschetta was definitely the highlight of the vegetarian fare at 212. Caramelized onions merged beautifully with the egg-plant mash, with the figs and brie adding some lovely overtones of sweet and sour flavor.
Giving us company through this whole tirade of food were two innocuous looking dishes – the 3 Hummus Pita and the Trio of Chips and Salsa. The huge bowl of tricolored chips with the array of dips was munch heaven, and the three types hummus (Beet, edamame and burnt garlic) with the crisp pita was just perfect. Definitely order one of each for a nice long chat session here. You wont be disappointed.
3 Hummus PitaTrio of Chips and Salsa
One dish that you MUST NOT MISS is the Poutine. 212 dishes out an absolutely fabulous version of this French Canadian street food. Cheesy french fries, topped with sour cream and a delicious lamb mince gravy, corn and peas (or caramelized onions, mushrooms and corn for the herbivores) was easily my favorite item on the menu. I could eat buckets of this. BUCKETS!
Shephard’s Bowl Poutine
There were two versions of prawns served to us. The Grilled Tiger Prawns were highly Instagrammable, though the tangerine sauce could have used a bit of oomph. It was underwhelming, at best. The Chettinad Prawns, on the other hand, were a revelation. The crisp coating had hints of chettinad masala. Fried with red chilli, and served with a spiced mayo, this is another highly recommended dish at 212.
Chettinad PrawnsGrilled Tiger Prawns
They have also added to their range of burgers and pizzas. While the Monster Chicken Burger is a sight to behold, the Chettinad Cottage Cheese Pizza with its combination of basil, curry patta and chettinad masala was quite unpalatable. The Roast Chicken Sandwich (Panini) was rather lovely, with a generous amount of melted cheese and caramelized onions.
Chettinad Cottage Cheese Pizza
Roast Chicken Sandwich
Cajun Spiced Chicken Pizza
Monster Chicken Burger
For dessert we thoroughly enjoyed the Tiramisu Eclairs. The choux pastry topped with the airy Mascarpone and coffee dust proved to be an absolute masterful dessert for coffee lovers. Its deceptive – this dessert is one of the lightest I have ever had.
Tiramisu Eclairs
Overall, the new menu items add some lovely Mediterranean and Latin influences to the already diverse menu at 212.
This Sunday evening saw #theBTeam heading to the newly inaugurated Bombay Diaries at CityPoint, DP Road. This is located right next to Mainland China, where Oh! Calcutta and Bombay Brasserie used to operate a few years back.
Bombay Diaries runs on a very Mumbai oriented theme. With waiters dressed as Mumbai taxi drivers and the captains managing them dressed as traffic police officers, it has a very fun vibe overall. Completely open air, they also have live music playing on a daily basis. Beautifully lit up, the decor feels pretty chilled out for a nice evening with drinks and dinner.
Waiters dressed as Taxi Drivers and the Captain is the Traffic Cop!
Bombay Diaries is the brain child of Chef Deepu Alamchandani of the Cafe Mestizo fame, so great tasting food is a given! The surprise here are the range of cocktails – super innovative, with an excellent price point (all between 150-300 for cocktails). The cocktails are served in quarter (180 ml) sized ‘desi daru’ / ‘tharra’ bottles, and salt rimmed chai glasses, leading to a very cool feel
Cocktails : Chulbul and Chikni Chameli
Going with the Mumbai feel, the drinks are Bollywood themed. The collective favorite, Chulbul (150/-), a grenadine, lemonade flavored vodka based cocktail, with a strong flavor of jaljeera – felt like a kala khatta soda and was brilliant. Multiple rounds were ordered for this one.
Giving Salman company was Katrina, as Chikni Chameli (150/-), a strawberry, cucumber vodka based cocktail. This was lighter, but just as enjoyable.
Cocktails: Drink Master Gogo
Drink Master Gogo (150/-) came to the table with a ‘Dhakki Chiki Dhakki Chiki Dhakki Chiki Dha!” This took us back to the Andaz Apna Apna era with a Rasna flavored vodka mix! My personal favorite, this is a must have!
Cocktails: Bombay Thumakda
The Bombay Thumakda was a surprise for me. It is described as Strawberry, Roohafza, milk concentrate, vodka. I am not a fan of rooafza, but this was superb! Almost on the lines of an Irish Cream, this truly proves that – Doodh hai wonderful, pi sakte hai roz glassful! 😉
Cocktails : Paaji ka Panja, Bol BacchanCocktails: Desiwala MojitoCocktails: Rangeela Driver
The other cocktails we tried were also pretty innovative and delicious. Each cocktail is also available in a mocktail version, so the sole teetotaler was happy too.
Mocktails
Giving excellent company to the drinks were a whole range of delicious starters
Mutton Seekh Lucknowi
Mutton Seekh Lucknowi – This was my favorite! Boasting some beautiful smoky flavors, these tender skewers of mutton were a delight to eat.
Smoking the Seekh KababsTBD Special Murg Tikka – From the Diaries
TBD Special Murg Tikka – Succulent kababs of chicken, stuffed with chicken kheema and melted cheese. Absolute delight to eat! Break open one and you can see the cheese oozing out. Sigh….
Stuffed Paneer Tikka (From the Diaries)
The stuffed paneer tikkas are, in simple terms, a bread pattice with extremely soft paneer tikkas. An excellent option for the herbivores inclined
Murgh Seekh Galafi
The Murgh Seekh Galafi is a chicken seekh kabab, served on a wooden truck! The kababs were succulent, though slightly overpowered with elaichi
After the heavy barrage of appetizers and cocktails, we finally mustered the courage to move on to the mains. We started of with the Dal Bukhara. Dal Bukhara, the grand-daddy of the Dal Makhani, is a creamy, slow cooked black dal with rajma / black bean. It is characterized by the smoky rich flavor it carries due to the traditional coal fires it is cooked on. The Chef at Bombay Diaries managed to incorporate the smokiness into the dal using a chulha, giving it a near-authentic flavor. This is a #MustTry at Bombay Diaries.
Dal Bukhara
Paired with the Chilli Cheese Garlic Naan, the Dal Bukhara was at another level all together.
Chilli Cheese Garlic Naan
Another spectacular vegetarian item I tried here was the Kurkuri Bhindi Masala. Crisp fried Bhindi over a layer of delicious thick gravy – this is a must for every bhindi fan!
Kurkuri Bhindi Masala
One dish I had my eye on was the Nalli Nihari. And I was not disappointed. Perfectly cooked mutton, rich, creamy, thick sauce, chock full of a pure mutton flavor. You could distinctly taste the flavor of marrow in the sauce.
To end this glorious evening, we were served some delectable soft sexy voluptuous Gulab Jamuns and some surprisingly not too sweet Gajar ka Halwa, putting a perfect end to a kickass dinner!
This write up is based on my experience at a Blogger’s table invite. The Usual Disclaimer applies.
*Bombay Diaries is operational from 5 pm onwards, with live music on a daily basis.
Upwaas or Fasting is a willing abstinence or reduction from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. Fasting is synonymous with most religious festivals in India.
Today marks the holy day of Maha Shivratri – an annual festival celebrated in honor of Lord Shiva. A lot of people around me (including my wife) are fasting today, mostly from sunrise to sunset. Some are fasting completely – ie, only water. Some are on a ‘fruits-fast’ i.e., once fruits and water to be consumed. Others have different modes – only vegetarian food or “Upwaas special” food like sabudana khichadi and suran chips.
Sabudana Vada – Image courtesy google imagesSabudana Khichadi – Image courtesy google images
We see a similar divergence in customs during Navaratri / Durga Pujo. While both the festivals are synonyms of each other in all intents and purposes – both being celebrated in honor of Maa Shakti (called Maa Ambe in Gujarat and Maa Durga in Bangal), the food habits are poles apart. Navaratri sees nine days of complete abstinence from non-vegetarian food, Durga Pujo sees people hogging down some of the best chicken moglai, kosha mangsho, and other bengali non-vegetarian dishes at the stalls lining the puja pandal itself.
Kosha Mangsho
This lead me to question – who decides this? Who decides the time of the day to start and end the fast? Who decides what can or cannot be eaten? What defines “upwaas ka khana”?
Usually, its your parents. Who were instructed by their parents. And so on. Rituals, while being religion specific, are also mended by each family.
Unlike other religions, Hinduism doesn’t really have strict rules per se, its pretty open to interpretation. Traditions vary from region to region, family to family. They usually trickle down the generations, morphing their way through time. I’m sure our grandparents couldn’t even dream about pre-packaged upwaas khakhras and farsaan!
Image courtesy Google Images
However, there is a scientific basis to fasting as well. This was explained to me by the priest who officiated my wedding.
So, when we eat, our natural digestion process takes over. Obviously, gases are passed, from both the orifices. Some may be loud, some silent, some are odorless, while others may have the power of a tear gas shell. But I digress.
The idea is to maintain an aura of cleanliness. Passing gas halfway through a prayer ritual or a satyanarayan katha, or on the wedding alter isn’t the best idea. That is one of the primary reasons to fast on the day of an important ritual.
Another thought suggested by a wise man (my father-in-law, hello!) is health. Upwas is a necessity for the body for detoxification.Giving it the name of a ritual, faith, Dharma and service to God helps in ingraining this very valuable bit of advise into people’s minds. It has also been observed that maintaining a fast does result in higher concentration and health.
Seeing the number of fad-diets around detox and liquid diets these days, I think our ancestors had it down!
That being said, it isn’t always an ‘abstinence’. For many, a fast does turn into a FeAST! See below an example of an “upwaas special thali”, image courtesy desijam.in
At the end of the day, do what your heart tells you to. Eat to your hearts content, and fast as per your personal values and beliefs. Or when you feel like. Or when mom tells you to. Coz, you know…….
PS: I do not mean to hurt or insult any religious or personal sentiments here. These are my personal thoughts, and I hope to hear from you about what you feel. If, by chance, I did end up hurting your feelings, I apologize. I assure you I did not mean to.
PPS: Apologies for the overuse of memes! It’s too much fun!
Barbeque Ville opened their doors at Kaspate Vasti, Wakad on Valentine’s Day. In just 1 week, they have managed to capture the imagination of food lovers in the area.
Location: Kaspate Vasti, Wakad, Near Hotel Ambiance Excellency (Google maps)
#baconbaba was invited for an exclusive tasting last night, and the sight of a jam-packed restaurant on a Wednesday evening was testament to the fact that BV has tasted early success.
Barbeque Ville, in their words, is a ‘Grille-on-table’ restaurant. We have a few other examples of these restaurants, where you have a coal-pit on your table, with meats brought on skewers and grilled right there. What sets them apart, is the competitive pricing – the Non-Veg buffet costs a very reasonable 550/- INR! This includes all taxes, service tax, VAT etc.
The decor follows more or less the same ‘template’ as other similar barbecue restaurants. Large open space, grills on the tables, bright lighting, and excellent service. At this price point, this place is perfect for corporate parties and team outings – it should fot most corporate team budgets.
The grilled section includes Chicken, Fish (basa), Prawns, Mushroom, Paneer and my ‘guilty pleasure’, skewered Pineapple 🙂 All the grilled items were delicious, my favorite being the basa fish. Crisp on the outside, soft inside – perfectly cooked.
On the downside, I found the prawns slightly overcooked. Also, apart from the green chutney, the dips served along with these didn’t really go with the Indian flavored barbecue meats. I wish they had included a couple of more Indian style chutneys to compliment the kababs.
The Maratha Tangdi is a rather innovative way to serve the Tangdi kababs. The chicken legs are served, skewered across a sword! Juicy, beautifully coated with mild spices, perfectly grilled.
Maratha TangdiMaratha Tangdi
They also have a chat ‘thela’ serving pani-puri, dahipuri, sev puri, bhel and spdp. Once specialty is the Pineapple puri – pani-puri with pineapple juice inside. I personally found it way too sweet.
Pani-PuriPineapple Pani-Puri
The starters also included a Chicken or Veg sizzler. I didn’t really care too much for this as the chicken just missed the ‘sizzle’. It was more of a pan tossed chicken starter thrown onto a leaf of lettuce on a sizzler plate. The steamed veggies served along-side were delicious though!
Chicken Sizzler
By the time we were done with the starters, we were almost full! However, we moved on to the mains. And I was captivated.
The Mutton Paya Shorba was quite tasty – lightly flavored mutton stock, with a nice spice hit – exactly how a shorba should taste! The Malwani Fish curry and the Chicken Kadai – overflowing with pieces of fish and chicken respectively and the mutton Rogan Josh with bien cuit chunks of mutton went perfectly with the soft naans.
Chicken Kadai
Mutton Rogan Josh
Malwani Fish Curry
But the magnum opus of this gastronomic symphony was the Mustard Crabs. Aaah, the mustard gravy – exactly like a bengali ‘shorshe-bata’ curry. The mild spice hit of the ground mustard sauce along with the generous amounts of crab was just sublime.
Mustard Crab
The mains also had Barista Pulao, Steamed Rice, Veg Mushroom Noodles, Salads, Dal Rajma, Dal Palak, Thai Yellow Curry, Aloo Lasooni, Paneer Badashahi, Veg Makhani and Veg Garlic Soup
Paneer Badshahi
Veg Makhani
Aloo Lasooni
Salad bar
Rice / Noodles
Barista Biryani
The Aloo Lasooni and the Dal Rajma were my personal picks among the veg items
Aloo Lasooni
By this time, we had almost no space for desserts! But I simply cannot pass up a gulab jamun or caramel custard. Ended having 2 of each, and bits of the other desserts.
Caramel Custard
Punjabi Phirni
Besan ke Laddoo
Chocolate Barfi
Assorted Pastries
The Dessert Range
Overall, Barbeque Ville provides an excellent dining experience, at almost half the rate of other more ‘established’ chains. To serve such good quality sea food at these prices is what gives this restaurant a super-duper-double-decker high-five! Definitely a must visit if you are in this part of town!
I was invited to try the buffet. While the buffet I was treated was the same as that provided to the general public, The Usual Disclaimer applies.
baconbaba 