212 - Cafe and Bar

Chocotini

Another addition to the list of awesome joints in Pune. Once you enter the cafe, you hardly realize that you're in a mall. The staff is well trained and very courteous. I loved the place so much that I visited it twice in one single week, the first time on 5th Dec and then again on 8th Dec. 

Espressotini

They have an indoor as well as an outdoor seating area. The alfresco area opens into the central courtyard area of the Phoenix mall. Last Sat there was a Jazz music fest on and we're lucky to have chosen to dine there. Live music simply added to the overall experience.

I tried a Chocotini - Dark chocolate laden martini. Loved it!

Chicken skewers

We ordered a portion of Seared Chicken Skewers - It was a version of chicken satay served with a tangy tomato based sauce. The chicken pieces were very succulent and the flavorful sauce went very well with the chicken. 

Masala Omlette

For mains we went for a Masala Omlette with toast and a Chicken Caesar's Salad. Very basic items and very well done! Thumbs up to the salad!

Chicken Caesar's salad

Cajun spiced baby potatoes

Penne with Sundried tomatoes and Creme

The other day my vegetarian friend and I ordered Cajun Spiced Baby Potato and Penne with Sundried tomatoes and Creme. We loved the crispy jacketed flattened baby potatoes. Absolutely crunchy on the exterior and very flavorful.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Dessert - Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. This is the best carrot cake I've had till date. Well plated and taste equally well.

Ambience - 4/5

Food- 4/5

Service - 4.5/5

Value for money - 4/5

Verdict - Must try if you haven't.

Box8 - A new chain of fast food in town

Box8, a successful fast food chain in Mumbai has opened 12 outlets in Pune. Box8 packs fast food in neat boxes and delivers home, pretty much on time! It's rather interesting that they claim to deliver food in 38min flat! No complains on service and timely delivery.

Charcoal grilled chicken salad - A cold salad with generous chunks of charcoal grilled chicken pieces on a bed of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, capsicum, baby corn, jalapenos, olives(lots of them) and an overpowering mustard dressing. I loved the salad, except that I wished the mustard dressing was a little less. The salad itself is quite filling and refreshing. All ingredients seemed to have been sourced fresh. Thumbs up to this one!

Chicken dum biryani - I really liked this version of the dum biryani. Must say I'm a bit picky when it comes to biryani. Nevertheless, I liked this one. I usually prefer the catering kinds of biryani, the more authentic ones. But given the comparison of this biryani with similar packed and portioned biryanis from other restaurants, this one is quite a value for money. For a price tag under Rs.200, I think it's quite good. There were generous pieces of chicken - well cooked and flavours well infused. The rice itself was also quite flavorful and overall, the dish worked for me. It came along with a portion of raita. Raita was thick, creamy and had hints of jeera powder, just the way I like it.

Chicked tikka biryani - This certainly didn't have the same bed of rice used in the previous dish (Generally restaurants reuse the same rice/curry as a base for similar dishes-quite a turn off!). This one had a distinct taste. Really appreciate this endeavor!! The tikka chicken was exactly what it was supposed to be. Very subtly spiced, yet very tasty. It also came along with a portion of raita.

Gulab jamun - several small gulab jamuns neatly packed in a tiny box. Looked too pretty to eat! They tasted quite ok and were delivered warm. Appreciate that they had bothered to warm the jamuns before packing the dessert for home delivery.

Moong dal ka halwa - I liked this one better. Not too sweet. Very flavorful and almost tasted home made!

Taste - 4

Portion size - 4

Service - 5

Value for money - 4(based on their menu. My dinner box was complimentary)

**Review conducted based on a promotional food parcel I received from Box8

Bhog - The temple cuisine of India at The Eatery - Four Points by Sheraton

India is a land of festivals and has a rich cultural heritage. This is reflected in the temple food served across various Hindu temples of India.

Vola! It's that time of the year when it's raining festivals in India. And what better way to celebrate than gorge on some delicacies, especially to usher into the festivities! FPBS presents Bhog-The temple cuisine of India for a limited period of 13th - 22nd Oct for dinner, all at Rs.675+ taxes. For the variety and the heavenly taste of this fare, I would say it's value for money.

Right from the decor to the presentation of food to the taste, all represent the festive mood of the season.

Matris, Karanjee, Patra, Aloo Kachori, Khandvi, Dhokla were some of the dishes that we started our dinner with. All being quite authentic in taste reminded me of the times I spend at my native place during this part of the year. My favorite pick out of these is Aloo Kachori and Patra. Dadhojianam reminded me of my roots in Andhra Pradesh. It's kind of tempered curd rice preparation, which is made using broken rice and is mildly spiced. The Dahi Wadas were quite fluffy and tasty. I added some tamarind chutney to my taste and it tasted even better.

As welcome drinks, we were served a portion of Papaya Panna and MuskMelon Panna. I liked the musk melon panna for it's delicate cardamom infused flavor and it's smooth consistency and light body.

A few warm starters were served on the table - Paneer Tikka, Hara Bhara kebab, Masala Potli. All this came with a tamarind chutney, green chutney and a dry fruit powdered chutney.

For the main course we had a choice of authentic curries to choose from - Delicately flavored pumpkin curry Elliserri from Kerala was my favorite. Loved the delicate flavors of coconut and mild spices. Methi Palak, Kache Kachalu(Loved this one too!), Thoran, Pakori Rassa, Moong Dal Khichdi are some other options. Patal Rassa and Aloo Dum reminded me of the kitchens of Odiya temples. Quite authentic in taste. We had these curries with a selection of Bajre ki Roti, Poori and Chapatis.

Desserts section was quite impressive and thank heavens I still had some room in my stomach for them. Nei Payasam, Battasha, Revri, Safed Pedha, Boondi, Besan ka Sheera, Jalebi, Besan Barfi, Modak were highlights of this section.  One has to try each one of these to appreciate the variety in the temple cuisine of India.



Each part of the country has it's own unique temple cuisine and this festival is just a reflection of the same. A must try for all who want to try some traditional food, inspired from the famous temple kitchens from length and breadth of the country.

International Beer Day at The Best Brews - Four Points By Sheraton

International Beer Day(8th August) was celebrated in style at Best Brews, FPBS. Lots of beer cocktails and a master class with Chef Sanjay Mitra and Chef Michael Swamy on doling out amazing dishes out of your kitchen, using beer! A few bloggers and people from the media were invited to the event.

It all started with their star bartender Abhishek presenting us with a welcome drink - Badge of Honor. It was quite yummy, considering that it was beer infused with Murphy's, passion fruit and caramel, with some vanilla foam, served in a shot glass. It was quite a bold attempt of adding vanilla and caramel flavors to a beer shot and it did work wonders!


We were later presented with some more interesting beer cocktails -some infused with fresh fruits, ginger, star anise and other spices. I'm not quite a beer person, so trying out these quirky cocktails shots worked for me, But I doubt if serious beer lovers would go for any these beer cocktails. :) Nevertheless, it's a good attempt by Best Brews to showcase their innovative side when it comes to serving beer and it's variations. My pick out of the ones we tried is The Bud Twist - Budweiser infused with some fresh orange, thyme and cinnamon. I loved the hint of orange and cinnamon in the drink. It was quite refreshing, to say the least.


The master class was started by Chef Sanjay Mitra cooking a dish called Drunken Beer Butt Chicken. The end product itself looked gorgeous. It had whole chicken, except the neck, marinated in some special seasoning mix. A entire beer can is used for marination and the empty can is shoved into the chicken, bottom up, before grilling it away to perfection. Vola! Drunken Beer Butt Chicken is ready to savoured with
some sauce.

Chef Michael Swamy illustrated another exquisite dish - Ale Cooked Lamb. Marinated lamb chops cooked and served with a colourful couscous of coloured peppers. The marination mix was quite an intersting mix of ale, garlic, grapes, pomegranate juice and some fresh herbs.

We also had some popular dishes from The Eatery - Ajwain Paneer Tikka, Chicken Kolhapuri, naan and some pasta. I savoured the paneer tikka in particular.

All in all it was a fun evening with lot's of conversations over good food and beer! Cheers!
(PuneFoodiez were invited for the event)

Hotel Gavran Kolhapuri

I must admit I'm not a big fan of Kolhapuri cuisine, thanks to my average experiences until I visited Gavran Kolhapuri. Some of my work colleagues highly recommended this place and I finally made it on a Friday afternoon.

As was advised, we booked a table in advance. It's a tiny home run joint, very close to the EON IT park. This place is quite a hit amongst the IT crowd of EON. A Kolhapuri family run this tiny joint from their verandah! The family is completely involved in the cooking process of all the dishes on the menu, hence the homely touch to all their food. The masalas are home made.

It's a tiny garden-verandah kind of alfresco area with 4-5 tiny tables, neatly and sufficiently spaced out. We went for a veg thali and a chicken thali. The chicken thali came with a choice of 2 'bhakris' or 3 'chapatis' and rice alongwith egg masala, Kolhapuri style chicken,' tambada' and 'pandhara rassa'. We were also served some complimentary onion-lemon salad. The veg thali came with a rustic style dal and a chana masala.



The chicken curry was quite impressive. The masala had a burst of Kolhapuri flavours but was surprisingly not too high on the chilli content. Lots of coconut and authentic Kolhapuri masalas blended into a thick gravy with lots of succulent chicken pieces. How I wish they had used country('gavran') chicken instead! 

All my previous experiences of Kolhapuri cuisine made me believe that Kolhapuri food means highly spicy, oily and hot food. But this lunch certainly changed my perception completely and introduced me to some authentic food from the region.  The 'Sol Kadhi' that we ordered for, was served chilled and went very well with the food. I loved the Sol Kadhi! The 'tambada rassa' was bright red in color and was quite rich in terms of flavors and spices. The 'pandhra rassa' was it's milder cousin - white in color and very subtle in taste. The egg masala was pretty average and tasted too much of masala. It consisted of boiled egg halves in a thick spicy gravy.

Overall the food was pretty good. For those who like Kolhapuri cuisine and work/live in this part of the city, do give this place a shot. For others, you may drop by only if you're in the area. It's not worth a drive from distant places. Nevertheless, once you're here, be rest assured of home cooked taste :)

"Thalitalia" at Dario's

Dario's is probably one of the most popular European joints in Pune. When it comes to Italian food, they have enough competition in Pune - The Little Italy, Squisto, Prego etal. Nevertheless, they seem to excel in doling out amazing vegetarian Italian fare out of their kitchen.

Chef Dario Dezio is the owner of Dario's and hails from Sicily, Italy. He certainly knows authentic Italian food quite well. The food served at this joint is as authentic as it can get in Pune!

Nestled in one of the by-lanes of lush green Koregaon Park area, adjacent to Osho ashram, it is definitely well-located. They have an indoor as well as an alfresco dining area. There are a lot of peacocks in the garden and their voices certainly add to the overall dining experience at Dario's. We were seated in the garden area.

A unique take on Italian set menu has been conceptualized at Dario's. They call it "Thalitalia" and it draws inspiration from the Indian thali. It consists of 5 starters, 2 salads served with assorted bread, 3 pastas, 2 pizzas, 1 risotto and 2 desserts. Well that's quite an elaborate meal at Rs.590 only! This menu is available only on weekdays i.e Mon-Fri, 12 noon to 6:30pm.

The starters were all served in a single plate, at a single go - Bruschetta, Polpette di lenticchie, Crostini, Arancinelle, Pate di ceci.

Crostini with the bell peppers topping was quite a let down. It tasted sour and appeared as if the peppers were not very fresh. Bruschetta with the tomato-onion topping was quite good. The use of herbs like basil was bare minimum and was thankfully not overpowering. The starters were served with a generous helping of yummy hummus(standard version) and a salsa based tangy dip. A basic tomato salad and a Mellucci salad also came alonger. The Mellucci salad consisted of some greens and sliced butter beans. Without any frills salad, yet so refreshing! The portion was large enough to more than fill you up.

The main course consisted of a variety of pastas, a risotto and pizza slices. Surprisingly all were served in a single plate, where the pizza slices, risotto and pastas blended together into an 'Italian Khichdi'. Not to my taste! The pizza slices of a Siciliano and a Margherita are my picks form this platter. Penne Arrabbiata, Gnocchi ai formaggi and Fusilli Fiminati were rather very average. The Risotto(Al limone and rucola) was the black sheep of this plate. It was milky and not creamy, lacked flavor, body and had no lime whatsoever, unlike what the name suggests.

Two desserts were served - Tiramisu and a classic chocolate mousse. The mousse was quite good - smooth and just like a choco mousse is supposed to be - delectable. The tiramisu was nowhere close to my favorite dessert - a Tiramisu! The cake was way too dry and they obviously hadn't used mascarpone and used a rather very grainy home made cheese. The dessert barely tasted of coffee and it's bitterness can't be attributed to the presence of coffee. It was probably because of the cake/cheese used.

I judge an Italian joint by it's Tiramisu and based on this factor, "Thalitalia" was an average experience for me. Nevertheless, a statutory warning to all you food enthusiasts out there - The portions of  "Thalitalia" are quite large and it's tough to polish it off, all by yourself. ;)

Overall an average experience. Try it only if you're really adventurous/curious!
(Review conducted on invite)