Krustys...

It was a lovely winter afternoon when three crazy women, yours truly included, decided to catch up at Krustys. We had heard lots of good stuff and were eager to try it out. The first thing I noticed was how clean, airy and bright it was. The staff was also polite and attentive and Atish, their manager, was extremely knowledgeable about the food they served. That is a big plus for any food establishment. 

For drinks, my diet conscious friend chose a Watermelon and Pomegranate mocktail, while two of us decided on the Chocolate Hazelnut Shake. From what my friend told me, the mocktail bordered on the tangy side. (Oh you sure as hell won’t catch me trying it when there is a delectable Chocolate Hazelnut Shake by my side.) The Chocolate Hazelnut Shake was thick, chocolate-y and delicious! What’s to not like about anything that has a good amount of chocolate! 

There was a variety of appetizers on the menu and we selected the Peri-Peri Spiced Chicken - served with burnt garlic mayo and Panko Crusted Prawns - served with lemon caper mayo. The prawns were beautifully cooked and the Peri-Peri sauce on the chicken blew us away (in a wonderful way). The only negative: The portion sizes weren’t big enough. It would be awesome if bar-finger food/appetizers were served in ‘American’ sized portions. 

For the mains we chose, Savory Crepe, Fusilli with Grilled Chicken and Chicken Cannelloni. The Savory Crepe was served with smoked mushrooms, buttered onions and Parmesan cream sauce. Ideally, I would have preferred a thinner crepe because crepes are meant to be that way. However, had it been thinner, the filling within would have seeped through the crepe; hence, I overlooked the ‘slightly thicker’ crepe, more so, because the dish in its entirety was delicious. The mushrooms still retained their bite and the crepe by itself, without the filling, was spot on in taste. Perfecto! 

The second main dish, Fusilli with Grilled Chicken was served with lemon parsley butter sauce, garlic and grated Parmesan. It was cooked to our liking (not al dente; oh bite me!) but I did not enjoy the rest because I found it too acidic. We split the portion between the three of us. Even though I ate a small portion, I found the dish too tart. I dread to think how I would have finished the entire dish had we stuck to individual plates/portions. Request to the chef: Please tone down the acidity.

Our third main dish Chicken Cannelloni was chicken and Ricotta cheese filled tubes, baked with shaved Mozzarella. This is a dish I can return to time and time and time again. As the server set the dish at our table, the cheese gently and deliciously bubbled. Superb is an understatement for this one. I truly loved it as did my friends. While taking our order, Atish asked us if we would like some Garlic Bread to go with the pasta. We said, ‘yes’. His next question was, ‘with cheese?’. Three ‘cheese crazy’ women at Krustys shout out ‘YES’ in perfect unison. (Well, nearly shouted out. :-) ) The garlic Bread was cheesy, warm and fresh. Just the way bread should be! 

Everything we ate was beautifully plated and except for the finger-food, the portion sizes were adequate. We skipped dessert because we were stuffed to the gills and sharing even one dessert was impossible. We took a rain check on the desserts though; I can’t wait to try them. The words Panna Cotta, Eight Textured Chocolate Cake and Orange Centered Dark Chocolate Mousse (especially so), keep reverberating in my mind. 

Our total bill, for the three of us, was Rupees 2821/-. The one question is ask myself when I review a restaurant is; will I come back for more? The answer in regard to Krustys is… Definitely, and soon!

Ambiance: 3.5/5

Service: 5/5

Food: 4.5/5

Address: G-101, Ground Floor, KP Annex, Kapila Matrix, Mundhwa, Pune

Tel No: 020 65201490 / 020  60202252