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
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