Bistro – The Italian Experience!

Bistro – The Italian Experience!

I had been to a restaurant at Oakwood Premiere a couple of years ago. The experience is hardly worth a mention. We decided to give the hotel another try and we honed in on another restaurant at Oakwood Premiere. The restaurant we chose this time was ‘Bistro’. We opted for a 5 course limited menu option through a ‘fine dining experience’ website. 

Bistro is done up with candle light on the table, wine bottles, cute EVOO-Balsamic dispensers, salt-pepper mills and stem glasses. A very elegant set up! There were gourmet items for sale in a large display against the wall. The restaurant was not very brightly lit hence did not check out the stuff for sale but, from a distance, I could see huge jars of green olives, packets of prunes and more. Awesome stuff!

Our server (a beautiful girl from enchanting North-east India) handed us our special ‘limited option menu card’ and politely gave us time to make our selections.

For drinks we chose Fresh Lime Soda (I’m the eternal teetot) and they were served in Mason jars. I so loved the idea of drinks being served in them. The drinks were very well made. A perfect balance of sweet and sour with fizzy soda.

Fresh Lime Soda

Our first course was a choice between soup and salad. I won’t be caught dead chewing leaves hence I chose the Chicken & Barley Broth. My bestie who loves ‘greens’, and eats enough to make up for all the salads I steer clear off, chose the Chicken Caesar Salad. I ignored the greens and flicked a crisp crouton and a teeny-weeny piece of chicken from her salad. Both the soup and salad were well seasoned and flavorful. An A+ for both the dishes.

Chicken & Barley Broth

Our second course comprised of appetizers and our selections were Assorted Crostini and Grilled Paprika Chicken Kebab. 

Assorted Crostini

The Crostini’s were crisp and the toppings were tomato (which I steered clear off) and mushroom. I chose a Crostini topped with mushroom. It was nice but on the dry side. I drizzled a bit of EVOO and voila! It turned into an appetizer that I could not get enough of. The Kebabs, served on a skewer with potato wedges, were also very nice.

Grilled Paprika Chicken Kebab

Our third course was ‘Pasta’. While my bestie chose Penne Alla Sorrentina (tomato based with mozzarella), I chose Fussili with Chicken, Onion, Jalapeno in Alfredo sauce.

Penne Alla Sorrentina

We all have our quirks in regard to how we want our pasta cooked. My bestie prefers it ‘al dente’ with a wee bit of sauce coating the pasta and I am the exact opposite. I prefer my pasta two-three shades softer than ‘al dente’. I can see the gourmands rolling their eyes. *Oh! Bite me!* We mentioned our individual pasta preference to our server and the dishes served to us were spot on! The Penne in tomato sauce was quite the regular type but the Fussili in Alfredo sauce blew me away. Creamy, cheesy and oh! It hit all the right spots. I’m a Bawi (Parsee) who loves cheese; resultantly the Bawi in me experienced a cheesy gastronomic orgasm in the mouth. Ufff! That sounds very dirty! *evil grin* But it was not. It was sheer heaven! :-) 

Fussili with Chicken, Onion, Jalapeno in Alfredo sauce

For our main course my friend selected Chicken Scallopini, Capers, Olives, Spaghetti Aglio Olio E Pepperoncino, while my selection was Herbed Grilled Chicken Breast with Mushroom Jus. The Chicken Scallopini was very well made, no complaints at all.

Chicken Scallopini, Capers, Olives, Spaghetti Aglio Olio E Pepperoncino

The Herbed Grilled Chicken, though, was overcooked and very dry. I must mention, though, that the mushrooms served with the chicken were to die for! Beautifully sautéed and beautifully seasoned! I would have happily dumped the chicken and opted for a plateful of those awesome mushrooms.

Herbed Grilled Chicken Breast with Mushroom Jus

Our fifth course would have been dessert but by the time we finished our main course we were stuffed to the gills hence informed our server to skip dessert.

Our dining experience was priced 800 per person, all inclusive. They were kind enough to include a fresh lime soda for each of us hence we only paid for one extra drink (the third one).

All in all, it was a fantastic evening. It was an evening of great company, very good food and, intermittently, good music. We couldn’t have asked for more. Oh okay, there is one thing we could ask of them. They should stick to good retro music. ;-)

A Special Mention:

After I clicked photographs of both the mains, we requested the server to re-plate the dishes in a way that we could equally share both the mains. They were extremely accommodating and very politely agreed to do so. Agreeing to these small, though cumbersome, wishes of a customer to keep them happy is the making of a good restaurant. A BIG BROWNIE point to Bistro for customer service!

Ambiance: 4/5

Service: 4.5/5

Food: 4/5

Address: Oakwood Premiere, 81, Mudhwa Road, Koregaon Park Annexe, Pune.

Tel: 020 26747474 / 020 67257788

Shengdana chi Gavarfali – Cluster Beans cooked with Groundnuts

Shengdana chi Gavarfali – Cluster Beans cooked with Groundnuts 

You never know when you get to learn a new recipe. Vinita, Anu’s sister happened to stay with us for a couple of weeks last year. (As most of you already know by now, Anu is my daughter from another mother). When it comes to regular home cooked food, Anu cooks great food for my family but what I did not know was that her sister too is a fabulous cook. I’ve never been fond of cluster beans (Gavarfali) but Anu was craving to have some and requested her sister to make it the Maharashtrian way. When it was finally served Anu and Vinita, both, requested that I have one morsel and give it a try. I loved it! As I sat eating this deliciously cooked vegetable Anu and Vinita looked on, at gluttonous me, with a big grin on their face. Seriously, I was hooked! I'm quite sure you will be too. 

Ingredients:

250 grams gavarfali / cluster beans (buy the tender ones)

75 grams plain groundnuts

2 medium onions, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons kanda-lehsun masala powder (onion-garlic masala powder)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt, to taste

2 tablespoons oil (a wee bit more, if you need it)

Method:

1. Dry roast the peanuts on a griddle, on a low flame. When done allow to cool and remove the outer covering of the peanuts.
2. Halve the peanuts with your hands or if you wish to have smaller pieces, pound them very lightly in a mortar-pestle or under a rolling pin. Keep aside.
3. Remove the end bits of the cluster beans and break into one inch pieces. Keep aside.
4. Heat oil; add the onions and fry till golden brown.
5. Add the tomatoes and sauté till soft. (Feel free to add a wee bit to water to help them soften quickly but ensure that the water dries up.)
6. Lower the heat to a medium flame, add the kanda-lehsun masala (onion-garlic masala powder), turmeric powder and salt. Sauté well but do not burn the spices.
7. Add the cluster beans and give it a good mix. Sauté on medium flame for about 2-3 minutes.
8. Add the halved / pounded peanuts (retain a few for garnish) and sauté for two more minutes.
9. Turn the flame to the lowest setting, cover and allow to cook till done. Stir carefully, occasionally.
10. Cook till vegetable is done but don’t allow the vegetable to turn mushy. If there is moisture in the vessel when the cluster beans are nearly cooked, cook the vegetable uncovered for a few minutes on low flame till done.
11. Garnish with remaining peanuts and serve with hot chapattis.
    
    

Chef Notes: 

1. Please use tender cluster beans because thick over-aged ones are bitter and aren’t good to taste.
2. I had used 75 grams peanuts because my family loves the crunchiness it adds to the dish but you may reduce the quantity to 50 grams or less depending on your preference.
3. Please do not allow the vegetable to go mushy. Dry up the excess moisture, if any, as this dish is of dry consistency.
4. Leave a few halved/pounded groundnuts for garnish, if you so wish, I did.
5. Groundnut and peanut are the same. Some countries call it peanut and some call it groundnut. The Indian names for groundnut / peanut is mungfali (in Hindi) or shengdana (in Marathi).
6. This vegetable also goes very well with plain dal and rice.
7. Kanda-lehsun masala (onion-garlic masala powder) is a spice blend that hails from the Maharashtra state/region in Western India. If this spice blend is not available to you feel free to go with regular spices like chili powder, a wee bit of garlic powder, a wee bit of onion powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. The taste will differ, surely, but that is as close you can get to the actual Maharashtrian spice blend.
8. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

Legend ‘wait for it’ dary….. Vohuman, but of course!

Legend ‘wait for it’ dary….. Vohuman, but of course!

So much has already been said about Vohuman that I never felt the need to pen about it... until now. This time, though, was very special as I had gone to Vohuman with my kindergarten ‘chaddi-buddies’, hence penning the review.

I was a Mumbaite as a school and college going kid but now after 29 years in Pune, I am a total Punekar. This weekend when my school friends came down to Pune for a weekend reunion, where else would I take them (directly from the station) for breakfast, except for Vohuman. Except for one gal who was a Gujju we all were Bawis (Parsee) so ‘eda’ (egg) for breakfast was a given. As soon as we got out of the car the whiff of delicious omelets flooded our olfactory system. The gals were like, ‘Oh gosh! We can’t wait to dig in, jaldi se table dhundho’. Sab saale bhukkhad, me included. ;) 

As usual nearly all tables at Vohuman were occupied except for a big table at the far corner, near the back door, where two people were already seated. Hormuz Uncle told us to head to that table. We headed to our table where we plonked our heavy duty butts and with the amount of commotion we created with our ‘bak-bak’, the two guys sitting at the table quickly finished their brekkie and ran away. *very evil grin*
(For those of you who do not know Hormuz Uncle, he is the owner of Vohuman. Sit a wee bit longer to jabber and he will glare at you and tell you to push off once you're done eating. Then again, he is also the ever charming gentleman who when time permits walks over to your table to tell you a naughty joke *typical Bawa humor*).

Hormuz Uncle et moi!

We ordered bhurji/s, single anda cheese omelet/s, double anda-double cheese toast sandwich (mine, all mine.. sigh!), toast butter, bun maska and tea/s. My friends were aghast (in the most wonderful kinda way :D ) at the butter applied on the toast and the amount of cheese in my double anda-double cheese omelet. We troubled our server, Satish, every few minutes for more glasses of tea and our re-union weekend began with wonderful memories created at Vohuman.

Double Anda-Double Cheese Omelet Toast Sandwich

As for the prices, everything served is under a hundred buckaroos and our total bill for 5 people was approximately 640 rupees, if I remember correctly (tip for Satish, extra).

I’ve clicked a few photographs at Vohuman (posting old and new ones) and I expect you all to be very grateful (just kiddin’) that I took the time to click them because as everyone who has ever visited Vohuman knows, when at Vohuman, once the food arrives at the table one just cannot help but dig in immediately.

Bottom line: Vohuman truly ROCKS!!!

Ambiance: Seriously, with the fantastic food they serve, who gives a f*** about ambiance. I know i don't!
Service: 4.5/5 (Satish does his very best to run around attending to everyone)
Food: 5/5 (But of course!)

Address: Opp Ruby Hall Clinic, Next to Jehangir Hospital, Sassoon Road, Pune.