Baconbaba in Kolhapur!

Tikkhat Manjhe Swadisht Naahi!

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!

Orion Baner – A galaxy of awesomeness!

Orion, Baner

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!

#baconbaba khush hua!

---

Unwind, Pune – Chill scenes

The latest entrant to the KP night-life scene – Unwind, Pune, brings with it a superb experience for patrons. Located right next to Hard Rock Cafe, Unwind spreads over 3 different areas, an open-air AL fresco/live music area, a night-club and a bistro, with wooden tables, high chairs, sofas and an overall chill vibe.

I was invited for a tasting at the Al fresco area with #TheBTeam.

We started off the evening with a few cocktails. Once that truly stood out was The Hugo. Traditionally made with Prosecco, Elderflower and Mint, this version at Unwind uses white wine. Truly a delicious concoction, this is one drink you must order when in this neck of the woods.

The Hugo

They also make a pretty good Cosmo. And you really can’t go wrong with Mojito!

Cosmopolitan

Mojito

Brocoli isn’t something you would see very often on my plate. Surprisingly enough, the Malai Brocoli makes it to my must-order list at Unwind! Perfectly grilled broccoli, with the soft cream – super delicious!

Malai Broccoli

We tried 2 different types of sheek kabas, Murg Anari Sheek and the Indo Thai Sheek. I personally couldn’t detect much difference in either – given a choice – I would take the Anari Sheek – purely for how pretty it looked.

Murg Anari Sheekh

Indo Thai sheekh

The Barbados ka Zhinga are grilled prawns with a dark rum flambé. While the theatrics were impressive, the result of the flambé was a dry and overcooked prawn in a pool of watery-rum.

Zafrani Murg Tikka are a good option, a simple no-nonsense chicken tikka – well cooked, served with a cream sauce topped with zafrani spices.

Zafrani Murg Tikka

We were also served Chilli Garlic Fish as a starter. The dish that appeared had a lovely sweet and sour sauce – I would love to dig into this dish as part of the mains, along with a serving of Butter Garlic Fried Rice

Chilli Garlic Fish

Among the mains, I particularly loved the Thai Red Curry. Perfectly balanced curry with a generous amount of prawns.

We ended the meal with a Chocolate Mud Pie. Sadly, this was more of a cake than a mud pie – it was dense and was missing the crumbly chocolate crust you would associate with a mud pie.

Chocolate Mud Pie

Overall, the place has good vibes, great cocktails, and a decent array of food to go along. Open air live music, partying in the club, or chilling with friends, Unwind has it all.

---

I was invited to be part of blogger’s table. The Usual Disclaimer applies.

---

Aur Irani Chai – West Pune meets Iran!

Aur Irani Chai, Aundh

Irani chai is ubiquitous with old pune. Vohuman, Good Luck, Kohinoor, Diamond are some of the classic age-old Irani chai joints. This was something the residents of Baner, Balewadi, Aundh, Wakad, PS etc. were sorely missing. Aur Irani Chai does well to fill up that gaping hole.

Nestled away in a corner across Nagras Road, near Rahul Restaurant, Aundh (click here for G-Maps), Aur Irani Chai is a cozy little joint with brick walls and stone tables. Shaded by trees around the perimeter, they do a surprisingly good job at isolating the noise from the very busy junction just outside. Apart from the huge menu board, its a very chilled out atmosphere.

 

Irani Chai and Bun-Maska: An obvious start to any meal at an Irani Cafe. A typical Irani chai – light, sweet and milky. Super soft bun. Gloriously lathered with butter. I was dipping the bun-maska into the chai, and had the time of my life. My chai-loving wife ended up drinking 3 cups!

PS: The bun-maska found on the streets of Vadodara or Ahmedabad are far more generous in terms of the maska. But then that’s Gujarat!

Bun Maska

Bread Butter: 2 slices of bread, generously buttered. What more can you expect?

Bread Butter

Bun Cheese Omlette: You can’t go to an Irani Cafe and not have the Omlette! Oodles of cheese trickling out! Super soft bun, lots of butter, loads of melted cheese.

Bun Cheese Omlette

Kheema Pav: The pièce de résistance. Light, flavorful, perfectly cooked mutton kheema. Not overloaded with spice or oil. Absolutely perfect for breakfast (or any meal!)

Overall, I love this place! Nice ambiance, good service, and excellent food. The trifecta of a great restaurant. Oh, and to top it off, entirely budget friendly. The entire meal cost us less than 300/- bucks!

Definitely a place I am going to be visiting again and again.

#baconbaba khush hua!!!

Cafe Mestizo – The Brew Bar

So, last week a close friend from Singapore pops in and says ‘I want to try something “different”‘. She is a “part-time vegetarian” (someone who eats chicken “sometimes” – meh!) so something like Flying Duck was out of question. That also threw mutton specialty or seafood delicacies out the window.

Had been eyeing Cafe Mestizo for a while now, and this evening seemed to be a good one to head there.

Cafe Mestizo has this urban chic decor, with white metal chairs and bright psychedelic walls. Loved the coffee clock on the wall!

1. Butter Chicken Pizza: Yes! Butter chicken on a Pizza! Dreams becoming reality? Husband being a number one fan of butter chicken , trying the pizza version was a must! I, personally, loved this butter chicken pizza. Thin crisp base, yummy butter chicken and topped with generous amount of melted cheese. I can go back just for this dish if not anything else. Husband wasn’t a fan of the thin crust. Butter chicken needs something soft and absorbent, so a normal / deep dish base might have been better. But overall, this is a super hit. For 300/- its worth it.

2. Mestizo Gave you Wings: I LOVE Chicken Wings (who doesn’t?) so thought of trying out their version. The menu says “Chicken wings dipped in Teriyaki Sauce”. The description was deceiving. It turned out to be chicken wings coated with a mix of some Indian masalas with a strong hint of basil. Desi masalas and Basil do NOT go well, as was evident with this dish. The teriyaki sauce as a dip was a bit of a savior. However, give this a miss.

3. Create your own pasta: So they give you this list of options, and you can merrily select what you want in there. Our friend was on the cautious side, and went with a safe cream (white) sauce (though I really wanted to see what a pink pasta would taste like!), with Penne, chicken, olives, seasonal vegetables and mushrooms. The sauce was nice, and creamy with loads of cheese. Generous portion of chicken, well balanced, served with a rather tasty warm garlic bread, this was a lovely all-round well prepared dish.

4. Mocktails: Here’s where they really earn the “BrewPub” title. Cafe Mestizo boasts of an impressive variety of beverages, ranging from tea and coffee to shakes and smoothies.

-Green Apple Cucumber Cooler : The salad-hating Husband ordered a cucumber drink! And was surprised! Give me all salads in this form, I’ll be happily “healthy”!

Green Apple Cucumber Cooler

-Watermelon & Mint iced tea : Mint and Watermelon is a match made in heaven. ’nuff said.

Watermelon and Mint Iced Tea

-Hot chocolate : I’ve had better. Pass.

Overall, they do have some very interesting offerings on their menu. Next time round, I intend to try their egg dishes as well as the Kheema Baguette. Definitely worth a visit!

PS: Dessert craving took us to Oh So Stoned just across the road. And this was wow!!
Ordered the ‘Charlie’s chocolate factory’s & ‘American pie topped with caramel sauce’. Both the ice creams were Oh-So-Good!! Going back again to try other stuff here for sure. Drool on!

Charlie’s chocolate factory

American pie topped with caramel sauce

Polka Dots – Bistro & Bar – Old wine in a new bottle

Polka dots – bistro & bar, Westend mall, Aundh
A couple of days back Polka dots started their much awaited Bistro at Westend mall. Located next to Shoppers Stop in the GF section, this is a huge step up from their original site. Swanky, classy, high end are words that pop into your head as you walk into Polka Dots Bistro and Bar. Do not get mislead by the term ‘bar’ – they serve only mocktails for now.

While they have retained their ‘Polka Dots legends’ like the Gescnetzetes and Paprica Chicken, their expanded menu boasts some amazing sounding dishes.

We started off with a White Orchid, a guava and lime based mocktail and a lemon iced tea. Both were beautifully made, refreshing to the core.

Lemon Iced Tea

White Orchid

For starters, we ordered the Thai pork Balls – mince pork balls served with a light fish sauce. I wish the minced pork had been a tad more moist.

Thai Pork balls

Fish and chips were excellent as always, with the tarter sauce playing the perfect accompaniment. Pihu wiped it off.

Fish n Chips

Main course included the Bratwurst with Onion relish – delightful presentation, sticky sweet onion relish, classic as always

I ordered the Buffalo Tenderloin Steak. All i say is I am still looking for a chef in Pune who has the guts /talent to cook a medium rare steak. Here again the steak turned out slightly tough and medium well. I could possibly blame the quality of the meat though. Served with and onion jam, veggies and a cheese covered baked potato, the accompaniments were excellent.

Buffalo Tenderloin Steak

We ended the meal with the absolutely phenomenal Philadelphia Blueberry Cheese cake and a rather runny Red Velvet Lava Cake.

Philadelphia Blueberry Cheese Cake

Red Velvet Lava Cake

While Polka dots has a new avatar, it retains its old charm,with familiar faces to take your order. Stick to the old favorites. The new items, while beautifully plated, are a hit n miss.

Thai Pork balls

Twenty Nine – All day dining

Club29 is a recent entrant in the growing list of restaurants in Wakad. This is a standalone building that houses an entire sports club, a roof top Indo-Persian restaurant, 3 halls, a hotel as well as an all day restaurant called Twenty-Nine

#FriendsOfTheBTeam had been invited for a food tasting at Twenty-Nine, as they have recently started off with a new buffet menu. I did not know about the existence of this restaurant cum clubhouse located in Wakad-Kalewadi area.

Coming to the food, lucky to get invited on Christmas day, we got to try the beautiful dessert spread designed especially for the festive day.

The buffet spread was huge and varied in both veg & non veg. We started off with salads and starters.

Started off with cream of broccoli soup (tasty, even people who do not quite like the vegetable, might end up relishing this).

We were also offered a glass of Fratelli wine as part of the buffet menu

Salads had 3-4 different kinds, out of which I found the Turkish Calamari salad pretty interesting and creative. Tasted great as well.

Calamari Salad

Salads

Moving on to the starters:
Veg Shammi kebab- Were okay-ish. I found then a bit too dry.

Paneer Honey chilli- This was well made. Beautiful paneer pieces tossed in yummy honey chilli sauce.

Murgh angara – Succulent pieces of Chicken in a fiery coating of Indian masalas. Loved this one.

BBQ Chicken Wings – The BBQ sauce was superb , sweet & sticky,exactly how I like it. However, the Chicken were a bit under-cooked. Wish the Chicken was cooked to perfection, and this could be a cracker dish on their menu.

Starters done and dusted. Time for the main course.
Moroccon Lamb Stew: I have a love for stews, so I digged straight into this one. The stew itself tasted really good with all the meat and the veggies. However, I felt the lamb pieces needed a little bit more cooking, I found them slightly chewy.

Steamed fish Ala Greque: A very light soupy preparation with big chunky fishes and vegetables. Very mild continental flavors.

Butter Chicken : This was good, but could have been better.

Fish Santa Fe: A different kind of fish preparation, mildly flavored, decent taste wise.

Dal Makhani: This was really good. Licked the last spoon off my plate completely!

Veg Au Gratin : This dish, even though veg, is worth a mention. I personally relished this one. It was perfectly cooked veggies in a yummy cheesy sauce topped with a beautiful layer of cheese. Delicious.

Now it was time for the desserts. Since the time we had entered, my eyes were all on those yummy looking , super inviting dessert section.
So yes, I jumped like a kid towards them at this moment.
Mango saffron cheesecake: Looked so pretty. Tasted good too. Just that the cheesecake needed to set a little more for that perfect texture.

Plum cake: This was topped with a layer of whipped cream, could have done very well without it too. Decent taste wise, but I have had better.

Yule log: Lovely looking again and pretty decent tastewise. I have to give these guys full marks on the presentation for sure.

Indian desserts: Moong dal halwa and mini gulab jamuns dipped in rabdi kind of a rich milky base. Both tasted superb!

Last but not the least, most inviting looking section was their Christmas special dessert spread. They were soooo pretty I wanted to eat everything up. Yes, the kid in me said so! 😀

A variety of cookies, with colorful decorations on them, brownies,choco balls, apple pie, cupcakes, red velvet… I know I know, the list really is long..! Mini Apple pie was wow!

More or less, pretty much liked their spread as everyone will get their fair share to choose from.

The buffet is priced at 650/- plus taxes. I think it’s decently priced.

Also, the restaurant is just a very small section of this huge club. They have a beautifully done up roof top restaurant , with live music and middle eastern theme food.
Pub/lounge with bowling alley. Fun place to spend time with friends.

Lots of sports activity areas like squash, tennis, video game zone, shooting zone (yes, with real guns) ,swimming pool, gym, private party area, hall for rent and much more. Many of these facilities are for only members to avail. Anyone who is interested can take a tour and look at the club packages.

We enjoyed the hearty meal and came out happy
Thanks Club 29 for hosting us and for the amazing service. Good luck!

 

 

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!

Rastaman

The food truck

Satya!

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.

The passionate chef

The owners on the left

Their menu seems super inviting and absolute VFM

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.

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

Cheezy Paradise

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.

The Asian

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!

The Rastaman Chicken Pasta

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

The passionate chef

The view from his kitchen

Satya!

The food truck

Cheezy paradise

The Asian

Effingut Brewerkz, Baner – Pork ribs heaven!

This is going to be short.

And sweet.

And sticky.

And delicious!

I’ve been visiting Effingut Brewerkz, Baner at least twice a week since it opened. My usual order? Strawberry cider and bacon wrapped prawns. And the jerk chicken, if I’m hungry. And, the chicken khow suey, if I’m super hungry!

Khow Suey

Bacon Wrapped Prawns and Sausages

Strawberry Cider

Yesterday i tried the pork ribs and man it was mind blowing!

Meat falling off the bone. Sticky sweet spicy sauce. Mashed potatoes. Veggies. And the fat…

Oh the fat

Melts in the mouth, super soft, absolutely perfectly cooked. So well cooked, that you can cut it with a spoon!

All you pork lovers out there must have this! Arguably the best pork ribs in town!

Effy-B rules!

The ‘tasters’

Vohuman Cafe – The fabled Irani chai

Vohuman Cafe

-Sangeeta Majumdar

---

Pune has its own share of Irani and Parsi food establishments such as Goodluck cafe, Kayani bakery, Dorabjees, Blue Nile and George restaurants. Vohuman cafe along with its bun-maska, chai and cheese omelette are a long lasting part of this illustrious list – a bite out of Pune’s food legacy.

This was my first visit to this iconic eatery (thanks to my dear friend Payal who literally kidnapped me at 6.30am to drive there for breakfast!)

We started off with the double cheese omelette and toast butter. The omelette was yummy! I liked the distinctive masala that they used in the omelette, plus who doesn’t like cheese!

Cheese Omelette

Toast butter – generous enough with the butter!

Ordered the fabled Irani chai – nice and light. This was round one.

Then we ordered the double cheese toast, and another round of chai, both of us being chai lovers 😉

The Irani Chai

The double cheese toast had a thick slab of cheese sandwiched in between the slices of toast and I gobbled it down it by dipping it in the hot tea, guess that is the right way to have it. My only gripe – I wish the cheese was melted instead. The cheese slabs made it a tad dry

Double Cheese Toast

Mounds of ‘maska’

At the end of this all, we were quite full. but yet, we had to have another round of chai. Or maybe just an excuse to sit for a bit longer at the legendary place…

Double Roti – Reinvented!

Double Roti is a rather popular name in Gurgaon and Chennai, known for its wide offerings of “Awesomeness between breads” – sandwiches and burgers. Last Wednesday, they unveiled their ‘new avatar’ with the launch of their bar menu at their Viman Nagar, Pune outlet.

The place itself is designed beautifully, with al-fresco as well as closed seating. Wooden tables, colorful stools and a beautiful decor make up an excellent venue

Sporting some very interesting GoT themed cocktails like Wildfire,Winter is coming Kings landing and my personal favorite, Danaerys’ Charm, the restaurant is also introducing delicious bar snacks, that will complement the cocktails and other range of spirits, wine and beer offered.

Game of Thrones inspired cocktails!

As #FriendsOfTheBTeam were invited for an exclusive tasting, here are some of my favorites:

Chicken Meat Balls – Chicken mince with paprika,worcestershire,onion powder,oregano,thyme and pepper – These had a definite kick! Perfect for the spice-loving Puneri palette!

Bruschetta: The caramelized onion and feta bruschetta was my favorite vegetarian starter. The sweetness of the caramelized onions along with the tart feta cheese had me going back for more – extremely rare for a vegetarian starter to do that to the carnivore in me!

Caramelized onion and feta Bruschetta

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta

Mushroom bites – deep fried battered mushrooms topped with a spicy mayo – another perfect vegetarian bar snack!

Mushroom Bites

Chicken tikkas coated with masala, served on a skewer – moist, tangy and easy to eat

Their specialty ‘Awesomeness with Bread’ items were also pretty damn good. I LOVED the Mobster pizza – loaded with bacon and pepperoni, on the perfect hand rolled thin crust base – I was in heaven!

Mobster pizza – pepperoni heaven!

The Sicilian – chicken and basil

Cheesy Bacon Fries. Those 3 magic words. Sigh.

Nachos!

Their Chipotle Chicken Burger – Juicy,spicy,flavorful chicken burger served with melted cheese,lettuce and mayonnaise was absolutely gorgeous!

And to round it all off, desserts included Blondies and Brownies served with Vanilla ice cream, caramel and chocolate sauce. While the flavor of coffee in the blondies was top notch, I would have liked the blondies to be gooey-er. The brownies were pretty damn good, best eaten warm!

They’re also offering a 2 plus 1 on all drinks through the day and a special combo offer for lunch.

The outlet has live music on most evenings, paired with affordable prices, making it quite a destination for a lazy brunch or a chilled out evening with friends. Doors are open 9 AM – 11 PM on weekdays and 9 AM – 1 AM on weekends