Feast.... aptly named!

Having viewed a hilarious ‘hinglish’ comedy, we walked out from Nehru Memorial Hall and headed to Le Meridien. As we walked into the hotel we were greeted with welcoming smiles. We frequently visit their Tea Lounge hence most of the staff there are familiar with our faces. This time though, we weren’t there for late night tea and desserts. Both, my bestie and I were ravenous and we decided to have dinner at their 24 hour cafe, Feast. They have a very impressive spread laid out; Indian, Continental, Chinese, Soup (Veg & Non-veg) Live counters (pasta, grilled seafood, shawarma and more), salad bar and dessert bar. They also have a few dishes for people who are diet and health conscious. I will happily have you know, I am not one of them! :P 

Having encountered a light drizzle when we walked into the hotel, we were cold hence our first stop was the ‘soup counter’. We chose the Hot & Sour Chicken soup. It was hot, spicy and everything we needed to set the chills at bay. 

While my bestie selected ‘greens’ from the salad bar, this carnivore picked out chicken from the chicken salad (Chicken Salata). I also chose a couple of slices of Sliced Lamb with BBQ sauce, some cold cuts, a dab of flavoured mayo, some hummus and a ‘greedy-sized’ piece of Camembert. As I headed to my table I requested for some sliced baguette and knobs of butter. No complaints about anything on the plate, except the sliced lamb. It was chewy and tough! I did bring this to the notice of the Executive Chef Mark Phillipose. He listened attentively and graciously mentioned that he would definitely ensure that the lamb is succulent the next time. The baguette was fresh and tasted heavenly when topped with butter, Camembert cheese and a slice of turkey (cold cut). I love fresh bread, especially baguettes, and this bread, butter, cheese and cold cut combination put a ‘happy puppy’ grin on my face. 

Except for a couple of starters, we gave the Indian counter a miss and chose to taste from the Chinese and the Continental counters. Every dish was well made. The only dish that could have been better was the Prawn Gulin Chili. It was a tad salty. Had they toned down the salt it would have tasted much better. I must make a special mention of the Smoked Lamb Mandarin Style: it was awesome! It is such a pleasure to eat succulent lamb! 

While I was checking out the Indian food counter, Chef Mark asked if we would like a plate of grilled seafood. It would have been sacrilegious to refuse a plate of seafood hence we delightedly said, ‘yes’. ;) The plate of grilled seafood was a selection of sea bass, prawns and squid. Each was done to perfection! It was one of the best things we had that evening but humare liye picture abhi baki thi dost. The very best was yet to come. ;-)

At some point during our meal, Chef Mark introduced us to Chef Abhimanyu. He told us Chef Abhimanyu played a vital role in ensuring that the restaurant ran smoothly. As we politely chatted, the chefs told us to inform them when we were ready to have dessert because they planned to serve us something special. Inform them, we did! They brought us generous individual servings of dessert. We protested at the quantity as we both were quite stuffed by the time. We told Chef Abhimanyu we would share one to which he smiled and said that he was keeping the second plate at the table; just in case we decided to go in for seconds. The dessert they served us was Fresh Fruit Fritters with Vanilla Ice cream, Chocolate Sauce, Sliced Mango and Cherries. The fritters were banana and apple. The sensation of biting into those hot fritters with that cold ice cream, sweet mango pieces and rich chocolate sauce, was or’effin’gasmic! Stuffed to the gills be damned, we polished off both the plates. I did tell you guys, the best was yet to come. See, I wasn’t kiddin’! :-) Every time, I step in at Feast, I am going to request them to make this dessert for us. *besharam and badtameez dil* There were too many things on the menu and we did taste a few more but, if I begin to review all of them, individually, this write up will seem unending.

This dinner was the perfect finale to our wonderful evening at the theatre. I have to add that the servers were not just attentive, polite and helpful towards us after we complained about the tough lamb; they had been attentive, polite and helpful right from the start. This was something we noticed immediately. It’s such a delight to be served with a smile! I do believe their aim is to ensure the customer leaves satisfied. WE WERE! The question we asked ourselves, “Will we return to Feast for another meal?? You bet your sweet patootie, we will! :-)

Ambiance: 5/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 5/5

Address: Le Meridien, Next to Raja Bahadur Mills, Sangamwadi, Pune

Tel: 020 26050505 / 02066411111

Nawab Asia – Indeed, a feast fit for Nawabs!

A sultry Tuesday afternoon found four friends, one visiting from Texas and three Punekars, at Nawab Asia. We honed in on Nawab Asia because our visiting friend had requested Indian food. What better place to take her to?

We gave our server our order for drinks: we ordered three fresh lime sodas and a daiquiri. All well made. No complaints at all.

For starters we ordered the Karari Roti, Chowk Ki Tikki, Lazeez Tandoori Jhinga, Murg Lepeta and Kakori Kabab. 

Karari Roti: Our guest was amazed at the Karari Roti when it was placed on the table. I remember I had the same amazed look when I had seen it for the first time, years ago. It is a crisp roti in the shape of a large shallow bowl, sprinkled with spices and slathered with ample clarified butter (ghee). As always, it was done to perfection!

Chowk Ki Tikki: This is a potato-green pea tikki that sounds so drab and ordinary. It is anything but that! The Tikki is a melt in the mouth delight and I would happily eat dozens of these all by myself. *note to self: stop penning gluttonous stuff* :D

Lazeez Tandoori Jhinga: Very well spiced and cooked to perfection. I’d give it a 10 on 10 for texture and taste.

Murg Lepeta: These too were on the well spiced side. They were soft, succulent chicken kababs.

Kakori Kabab: We had ordered Galouti Kabab but were told they were, unfortunately, not available that afternoon, hence opted for these babies. Kakori kababs are kababs that one barely needs to chew on. They simple melt on the tongue in a riotous burst of flavour. A 10 on 10 just isn’t the right rating for this dish. A 11/10 sounds much better!

For the mains we ordered Kache Gosht Ki Biryani, Lalla Mussa Dal, Paneer Kali Mirch Masala, Methi Muttar Malai, Murgh Makhani and Garlic Butter Naan.

Kache Gosht Ki Biryani: Succulent, perfectly marinated, falling-off-the-bone mutton pieces gently nestled in long grained, fragrant Basmati rice. It was a dish that ignited the taste buds. Damn! The dish has me salivating as I pen this! Sigh! 

Murgh Makhani: Boneless tandoori chicken pieces in rich, creamy gravy. This one at Nawab Asia is made the traditional way. It was perfectly balanced in flavour; not overly oily, sweet or spicy. 

Paneer Kali Mirch Masala and Methi Muttar Malai, both, were white gravy dishes. What all four of us collectively realized was that both dishes were very different and distinctive in taste. It’s no wonder that the restaurant gets nominated and wins Food awards ever so often. 

Lalla Mussa Dal: It’s just a fancy-schmancy name for what is commonly known as Maa ki Dal, Dal Makhani or Kali Dal. I have had great dal makhani at a couple of restaurants, which have set the bar for taste and texture quite high. This one, too, was totally on par with the Dal Makhani I’ve had at those restaurants. 

Nimboo Murgh: This is a new dish that Nawab Asia has introduced into their menu. This chicken was served in tangy-spicy gravy. The chicken was succulent. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers tap danced in perfect harmony.. ooppsss I mean lime and ginger danced in perfect harmony on the palate. 

The Butter Garlic Naan was soft and buttery, garlicky and the perfect accompaniment to the mains we had ordered. 

We were contemplating our order for desserts when a server set down two bowls of Malai Kulfi and a glass of four Gulab Jamuns-Rabri. He told us this was sent compliments of Nawab Asia. We were stunned with the kindness and generosity shown to us. Needless to say they both were excellent!

At the end of the meal two of our friends happily took back doggy bags because Nawab Asia is not stingy with the quantity of food served and also because we had ordered for so many dishes as we wanted our visiting friend to try a greater selection. Point being: Great food – great quantity!

Whenever I pen reviews about a place I try my best to look into the tiniest of details. I don’t necessarily do this to find faults. I do this to seek out tiny positives. I don’t deny that sometimes tiny negatives also crop up when I venture this route. No matter how hard I tried, there was absolutely nothing about this meal that I could find the tiniest of fault with. Nawab Asia ensured that the meal, service and ambiance were spot on! Very rarely do I get a write a review where I find no faults with anything. Nawab Asia, take a bow and imagine my friends and I giving you a standing ovation! You rightly deserve it!

Food: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Ambiance: 5/5

Address: Bund Garden Road, Opp Poona Club, Pune
Tel: 020 65202475 / +91 9860640419

A Pie in hand (and in the mouth) is so much more comforting than one in the sky!

Sajjani Nair aka The Secret Chef informed us on a social media portal that she was taking orders for Chicken Pie and Mushroom Pie. My eyes lit up at the thought of biting into a slice of pie. Chicken-Mushroom is a combination that happens to be my favorite. I sneaked into the inbox and asked the lady whether she would consider making a Chicken-Mushroom combo pie for me. My heart gaily went bumpity-bump when she said she could definitely manage that.
Step 1 – Successful! :-)

I was supposed to collect my order from a prearranged spot at around 1730 hours but a very sweet soul (Priyadarshini) was picking up her order from Sajjani and offered to pick up mine and deliver it to me.
Step 2 – Sorted! :-) *Heartfelt thanks, luv*

I received the pie by 12 noon and when I held it, it was still warm to touch. That told me it hadn’t been out from the oven very long. I wanted to dive right in but angelically restrained myself and took photographs of the pie.
Step 3 – Finito! Finally, I could eat! :D *happy-greedy grin*

I cut into the pie and the first cut told me everything I needed to know about the crust. I cut a slice for myself and for Anu. At the very first bite we both, in unison, went, ‘ummmm’. The Crust was perfect! It was flaky, light and perfectly seasoned. I say perfectly seasoned because I’m the wacko who, at times, likes to check out each element of the dish separately. The pie filling was creamy and deeeeelicious! In ten minutes we polished off half the pie. It took us another 10 minutes to polish off the other half with evening choi (Parsee tea).
Step 4 – Full and final – Kallaas! 

Sajjani, it was one of the best pies I have had in a long, long, long time. Thank you ever so much for sharing the radiance and the deliciousness!

Note from my ‘devilish’ side: Must remember one pie does not suffice for bhukkads like me! *evil grin*
Reply note from my angelic side: Kainaaz, behave and keep the weighing scale in mind. *My angelic side is an effin’ kill-joy* :P

For more radiance and deliciousness contact Sajjani : +91 9960938121

Krusty’s... An overload of deliciousness!!

Krusty's interior gives the feel of having walked into an American bistro/diner. During the day the restaurant is bright and vibrant because of the natural light that streams in through large glass windows. The place is also adequately lit for an evening meal. It sports a semi-open kitchen and their servers are knowledgeable, polite and very helpful.

New dishes are being incorporated into the menu at Krusty’s and a tasting for the same was on offer through a social media website. I was one of the lucky few who managed to get a seat at the table for this tasting, to try the new dishes from their menu. 

As soon as we arrived at the restaurant, one of the servers asked if they could get us something to drink. They had three choices on the drink menu: Iced Tea, a Ginger-Water Melon mocktail and an Orange-Passion fruit mocktail. I chose the Orange-Passion fruit mocktail and it was so refreshing that I refused to try the other two. I was told, though, that both the other drinks were also superb!

The first course began with Stuffed Chicken Meatballs with Spicy Tomato Sauce. I usually avoid ordering meatball in any restaurants because I always end up getting served dry, hard meatballs. At the tasting I did not have a choice and apprehensively cut into one. They were perfect! They were soft and juicy, oozing with molten cheese and slathered in delicious, spicy tomato sauce. I greedily went in for a second helping. I thought to myself; ‘if this dish is anything to go by on, then this evening is going to be a gastronomic delight!’ 

Another entree served was, Chicken on Sugarcane Sticks with Burnt Onion Hickory Smoked Sauce. The Chicken, by itself, was bland but when partnered with Burnt Onion Hickory Smoked Sauce, was a perfect match made in heaven, oppppss, I mean, kitchen. 

As I sat talking and connecting to like-minded foodie-souls, our second courses arrived at the table. We were served Blackened Chicken Salad with Fennel & Lemon Shallot Vinaigrette and Stone Baked Pizza of Hummus-Grilled Zucchini-Onion Compote-Feta-Rocket. I had a wee bit of the chicken from the salad which was nice; the carnivore in me, though, refused to allow raw greens on my plate hence this is a dish that I am certainly not qualified to review. From the talk going around the table, I surmised, though, that everyone did enjoy the salad. 

Initially, I was a tad disappointed that the pizza chosen for the tasting was a vegetarian one. However, the first bite had me do a 180* turn. The thin, crisp base, delicious hummus, beautifully grilled zucchini, crumbled feta, those shreds of rocket and that sweet moreish, beautifully balanced onion compote harmonized like Beethoven’s 9th symphony in my mouth. I made up for not having salad by having another slice of pizza, as did most of the others at the table. I think it is quite apparent that it was a BIG HIT with quite a many of us. 

The third course was Smoked Three pepper Tortellini with Sage Beurre Noisette and Stuffed Grilled Chicken with Red Wine Shallot Balsamic Glaze. The Tortellini was delicate and beautifully crafted; a gentle press of the fork was enough to cut through the silky parcels. To me, that says so much about the quality of the pasta dough. Taste wise, too, I could find absolutely no fault with it. I was already getting quite full by then and had two other dishes to go through hence did not request for more tortellini. 

The Stuffed Grilled Chicken with Red Wine Shallot Balsamic Glaze was the only mediocre dish on the Summer Menu. I say this with much sadness because it had the ability to be a very warm and satisfying dish. The glaze (generously) poured over the chicken was yummy and the chicken was well seasoned but the dish was a letdown for one and one reason only: the chicken was simply too dry and overcooked. I have to say, though, the potato mash served with the chicken was simply awesome! If the chef works on ensuring that the chicken is perfectly cooked, then this dish will also be a sure-shot winner. 

The piece de resistance of the entire meal was the Cannoli of Mango Ricotta Mascarpone & Coconut. The plating of the dessert was so gorgeous that for a few moments all I wanted to do was eat with the eyes (my own and through the lens of my camera). The Cannoli was crisp and the Mango Ricotta Mascarpone piped into the Cannoli was smooth. It was sheer magic on the palate!

All through the evening Rohhan, his beautiful mum, Vidya, and the servers were extremely attentive towards their guests. Rohhan and his mum, intermittently, came to the table for feedback but they also, very gracefully, gave us our time to chat within ourselves thereby making this tasting a very, very pleasant experience. This tasting was priced at Rs 750/- per person and it was well worth the money spent.

Food: 4.8/5
Service: 5/5
Ambiance: 5/5

Tel: 020 65000232 / 020 60202252
Address: G-101, Ground Floor, KP Annex, Kapila Matrix, Mundhwa, Pune