The Irani Cafe... A Bawi’s soul satisfying experience!

I had heard of this new kid on the block and was itching to visit it. I finally got to visit it twice within a span of ten days – once with a friend and soon after, with a small group. This review is a ‘combo pack’ of both the visits.

During the first visit my friend and I chose the Toast Cheese Omelette Sandwich, Grilled Cheese Bun, Chicken Kheema, Chicken Kheema Ghotala, Sheekanjbeen, and regular Irani chai (tea).

As this was my first visit to Irani Cafe I requested for a regular chai. It was slightly strong for my taste. The next time I will make sure I call for a lighter version.

The Toast Cheese Omelette was very good. The quantity of cheese was satisfying and it oozed out of the omelette. What a marvellous sight that was! The egg-y bites that had cheese in them were PERFECT but the bites without cheese lacked a bit of seasoning.  I’m guessing they went easy on seasoning the egg as cheese is salty they did not want to end up with an over salted omelette. This was evident to both, my friend and me. We would have also preferred more butter on the toast!. Over all, I’d give this dish an eight on ten. Had there been more butter on the toast (don’t blame me – blame my Bawi genes) and a wee more salt in the egg, the rating would have touched a 10/10.

Cheese Grill Bun

The Grilled Cheese Bun was awesome. Grilled to perfection; packed with lots of cheese and served piping hot. What could go wrong with that? I had died and gone to Cheese heaven! It was only later that I read on the menu that they served the same bun with cheese and BUTTER. I mentally kicked myself real hard for missing that one on the menu. 

Chicken Kheema

The Chicken Kheema was the sautéed kind. It was spicy and delicious, although it lacked the meaty flavour that is so much a part of mutton kheema. But it made up for that by being well seasoned and well spiced. I enjoy spicy food hence had it without pau  or bread. I’d happily dig into this plate all over again. 

Chicken Kheema Ghotala

The Chicken Kheema Ghotala was just that. Ghotala (mix up)! It was Chicken Kheema with scrambled egg added to it. The added egg toned down the flavour considerably and hence it fell short of glory. If only they had added adequate spices I’m sure it would have been a ‘Ghotala’ of the good kind.

Sheekanjbeen is concoction of sugar syrup, mint, honey and grated cucumber topped with water or soda. I had read up about Sheekanjbeen on Google and I knew it contained cucumber (making an urgghh face) and honey (not too fond of honey either). I ordered the Sheekanjbeen but requested our server, Shafiq, to leave out the cucumber. I opted for soda instead of water. The drink was unbelievably refreshing and delicious. I would never have thought a drink sweetened with honey would blow me away. I was hooked! A massive 10/10 for the Sheekanjbeen!

For the second visit my choices were Sunny side up eggs (in Irani Cafe lingo, half fry) and a Grilled Cheese Maska Bun and a tall, chilled glass of Sheekanjbeen.

If any of you grew up with Bawa (Parsee) friends then, surely, you are familiar with our undying love of eggs. A perfect sunny side up with that brilliant yellow yolk puts a sparkling smile on my face. I have often gazed on such a beauty with pure adulation and greedy desire! I dipped my perfectly grilled cheese maska grilled bun (the added maska/butter definitely enhanced the flavour of the bun) into the yolk and as I took that first bite, I was immediately transported to another world... where eggs cheese and butter exist in perfect harmony.

Grill Cheese Bun Maska

The Sheekanjbeen was just as delicious and refreshing as it was on my first visit; I happily polished off two glasses as we sat there and gabbed for two hours.

I had chicken Chicken Kheema Samosas parcelled on my first visit and they were DELICIOUS! Another bull’s eye on taste! A 10/10! On our second visit, too, I again had them pack half a dozen Chicken Kheema Samosas. When I reached home and bit into the first one, it turned out to be a vegetarian samosa. Filled with cabbage! How could anyone do this to a carnivore Bawi! (Weeps – I’m overacting, of course) I called the Irani Cafe to inform them of the mix up and the owner Kaseem Noorie told me he would check and get back to me. He did and that too, within 5 minutes. Commendable! He agreed to the mix up and apologized with a promise to deliver chicken samosas to me the next day. I told him it wasn’t necessary as I had just called him to inform him of the mix up but he insisted. He even refused payment when I tried to pay for the samosas and all but ran away when I kept insisting on paying. I finally accepted the complimentary samosas. (Thank you Kaseem – it was indeed very sweet and kind of you to have done that). Clearly shows how committed you are to your work and to your customers. 

Irani Cafe has a cute list of rules mentioned on a card beneath the table glass; a few of which we broke. Two rules mentioned in the list are ‘no sitting long’ and ‘no talking loudly’. On our second visit we were a gang of five ladies. Try telling a gang of girls not to sit around long, gabbing or not to talk loudly! Is that even possible?? (Evil grin) I must also confess that we flirted with the cashier on our first visit even though it is explicitly stated in the list of rules... No Flirting with cashier. We couldn’t help it; he was cute! (Giggles)

Everything at The Irani Cafe is perfectly priced and total value for money. As they do not slather the breads/buns with butter, it would be great if they can incorporated ‘double maska’ in their menu. They can price it accordingly and people like me, who visit restaurants like Irani Cafe for such sinful stuff, would get their massive dose of maska (no pun intended). Would I visit Irani Cafe again? I definitely will!

Ambiance: 2.8/5 *it’s a simple no-frills cafe*

Service: 4/5 *thank you Shafiq for always serving us with a smile and a BIG thank you Kaseem for those samosas*

Food: 4.5/5 *Kheema Ghotala was bland - everything else was GREAT*

Address: Shop No 2, Turning Point Unit-2, Opposite Rosary School, Viman Nagar, Pune.

Tel: 020 30189278

Shahnoor’z… Unfortunately not enough ‘Noor’

I had read a review of this restaurant last night which is why while out this afternoon I suddenly decided to drop in at Shahnoor’z. Ideally, I would have preferred an air conditioned place, but as I was in the locality, I decided to brave the heat and give this restaurant a try.

Shahnoor’z is a tiny joint, quite like a dhabba. The small veranda of the restaurant is lined with approximately 6 tables with benches flagging them on both sides. The tables had a jug of water, a tissue paper stand and light-weight plastic glasses that kept flying off as it happened to be a windy afternoon.

Having walked out of home in the morning on a mere cup of tea I was famished and parched. I requested our server to quickly give me a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of Thumbs Up. Having dealt with the parched side of me, I turned my attention to the menu as my tummy was sending me signals; the likes of which would be rude to pen in a review. *trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably* :D

We ordered the Chicken Shawarma (of course sans cabbage shreds and vinegary pickled vegetables), Lucknowi Chicken Tikka, Makrana Kababs, Tandoori Chicken (half) and Gajar Halwa.

The Shawarma was very well made! The pita bread was freshly baked and it nearly melted in the mouth. The hummus in the shawarma was smooth and well flavored and the chicken was delicious. All in all, I’d definitely give an eight on ten for the Shawarma.

The Lucknowi Chiken Tikkas were spicy, succulent and appetizing. I asked the server the difference between the regular tikkas and the Lucknowi ones. He mentioned that the Lucknowi Tikkas were spicier than the regular ones. They, indeed, were and I loved them!

Next we had the Makrana Kababs. Alas! These just did not tickle my palate. Having had Makrana Kababs which pack a punch of flavor, these lacked ‘oomph’, both spice-wise and taste-wise. I was expecting them to be as good as the ones I’ve had in other restaurants, but unfortunately these were not.

The Tandoori Chicken was just as good, well flavored and moist, as were the Lucknowi Tikkas, not as spicy, though. No complaints about the Tandoori Chicken.

We decided to end the meal with Gajar Halwa. I have had the most awesome Gajar Halwa from places like Geeta Bhavan (Navjeevan Society, Mumbai), Kailash Parbat (Mumbai) and a few other places. I also, often, replicate their Gajar Halwa in my own kitchen. The Gajar Halwa served by Shahnoor’z, lacked mawa (a BIG minus) and the cashews sprinkled on top were raw and slightly stale. If they planned to serve slightly stale cashews they should have had the presence of mind to sauté them a wee bit to hide the staleness and to add the necessary crunch. Unfortunately, I would not recommend the Gajar Halwa to anyone.

The establishment serves decent food but no dish was a six; hit over the boundary line and out of the stadium. The innings had a couple of fours and a couple of singles after which this umpire raised her hand to declare the last player out! The ‘stadium’ staff (server and chefs), were extremely polite and helpful, though, I must say the server was a tad nervous. I wonder why: considering, I am such a demure, non-intimidating soul. ( :P evil laugh)

Ambiance: Bola na dhabba jaise hai.. Kahe ka ambiance?
Food: 2.8/5

Service: 3/5

Address: KP Annexe, Mundhwa, Pune.

Tel: +91 8698750666 / 020 32427871

Marrakesh… Mashallah!

This review is not only long, it’s long overdue too. It’s a long review because I have compiled one review for having ordered from Marrakesh five times.

I had heard a lot about Marrakesh. For some reason I could never make it to the restaurant. Luckily, a food ordering app I had downloaded had Marrakesh as one of the listed restaurants. Without waiting any longer I placed my first order with them. Since then, I have used that app to order from them time and again. I guess that does tell you I LOVE the food they serve!

To begin with, for my first order, I had called for Dajaj Shawarma Roll and Murgh Reshmi Tikka. My first reaction was disappointment, as they had added pickled vegetables and shredded cabbage to the roll. The carnivore in me refuses to eat raw stuff and there are NO exceptions to that. I picked out all the cabbage and the pickled vegetables and found the roll to be delicious after that (except for the stray cabbage shreds that wandered into my mouth.. urghh!), as was the Murgh Reshmi Tikka. The outside of the Tikka had a lovely char and the meat remained succulent from within. It does not get any better than that!

My second order with Marrakesh was Dajaj Makhani Roll and Chicken Chops. These were recommended by fellow members of a Facebook food group. There was spicy chicken in each and every bite of the Dajaj Makhani Roll and the Chicken Chops, too, were very well made except that I would have preferred to have a bit more cheese over it. There can never be enough cheese for me! (Rahul Majumdar / Priyanka Anand, heartfelt thanks for the recommendations)

I also decided to go along with some other suggestions and tried something new for my third order. This time it was Makrana Kabab, Lahm Paya Shourabat and Dajaj Tikka Roll. The Makrana Kabab: what a recommendation it was! Succulent chicken drumsticks, slightly charred from outside, perfectly spiced. It had a few semi-crushed peppercorns pressed into the drumstick that lent a wonderful peppery bite once in a while. It was MINDBLOWING! I have ordered the Makrana kabab many times since then and they never disappoint! I truly go bat-shit crazy over them. The Dajaj Tikka Roll in the Rumali Roti had too much rumali roti around the chicken and that did not make my taste buds jump with joy. Having had such good food from Marrakesh this was a big disappointment! The Paya Shourabat (soup) was delicious! It was a semi-thick soup but extremely flavorsome and hit all the right spots of my foodie soul. I would have preferred it to be a tad peppery, though. (Hasan, many thanks for the Paya Soup recommendation and once again, Rahul, thanks a million for introducing me to the Makrana Kabab) 

One evening, I re-ordered the Dajaj Shawarma Roll and this time informed the restaurant not to add pickled vegetables and shredded cabbage. They complied. OMG! I was in raptures with each bite, probably because I did not have to draw sword and battle with raw cabbage shreds and pickled vegetables. :D Seriously, it was fantastic! I had also ordered for a separate serving of hummus and pita bread. I must make a special note here to say that I have had hummus at numerous places including five star hotels, but Marrakesh makes the meanest hummus of all! It was perfectly balanced with just enough lime to enhance the taste and not overpower the other flavors of the hummus! I was in ‘hummus heaven’ that evening. *happy – contented puppy sigh*

I normally stick to ordering from the starters menu, except the time when my buddy was visiting. (He had heard me praise Marrakesh many times and wanted try out their food.)  This time we ordered from the main course section: Bhuna Gosht, Butter Chicken, Garlic Naan and Murgh Achari Tikka were our choices. The Bhuna Gosht, Butter Chicken and Garlic Naan; were all well made, but there was nothing exceptional about them. What stood out were the Achari Murgh Tikkas. They were succulent with that perfect balance of achari masala. I loved them!

The tiny negatives: Their Hadapsar Branch never had any Baklava. Not once! Very disappointing!! Another time, for my 4 pm order they told me that they could not give me Nalli Barra or Makrana Kabab as they put coals in the oven at 4 pm only and thus could begin serving tandoori stuff at 7 pm. I found that odd because they have delivered Makrana Kabab to me at 4 pm before. Twice! I guess the chef was in a lazy mood that day. He’s human too, so won’t hold that against him. We’re all entitled to a lazy day. ;-)

Positives: The quality of their food is fantastic and consistent! The prices are reasonable and the food is value for money. Do I even need to say anything more? 

Team Marrakesh, rest assured, as long as you retain the quality of food, I shall order from you guys time and time. Someday I hope to have the baklava that I have heard so much about. Please keep up with the good food.

Note: As food from Marrajesh has always been home delivered, all photographs have been clicked, at home, on a simple dinner set - Seedhi baat, no bakwas! :P

Ambiance: Food from Marrakesh has always been ordered in hence cannot comment on ambiance

Food: 4/5

Service: 3/5 *over the phone*