Jai Maharashtra Wadawarlya Jevan - Mast Jevan at The Seafood Festival

I have passed this small eatery, at NIBM-Undri, a thousand times without giving it a second glance. Since this afternoon this eatery has earned my respect for the simple yet fantastic food they serve. I shall, from now on, humbly bow my head in its presence when I pass by.

We were intimated about an on-going seafood festival at this restaurant through a food forum and we gals immediately planned a visit. The interiors are clean and simple. Small decorations, similar to the ones in a regular Puneri house adorn the walls giving the restaurant a wonderful homely feel.

The dishes we ordered were, Rava Fry Bombil (Fresh Bombay Duck), Rava Fry Rawas (Indian White Salmon), a special Mutton Thali, a special Shrikhand Thali, Prawn Chutney.

The Bombil was de-boned, flattened, coated with rava (semolina) and fried to a crisp. It was fresh and of very good quality. The Rawas was just as fresh and fried in the same manner as the Bombil. Once again: perfection! Both, the Bombil and Rawas were fried crisp from out and yet, had retained their juiciness within.

The Mutton Thali consisted of a hearty, clear Mutton Broth, Tambada Rassa (red spicy gravy), Mutton in red gravy, Mutton Mince, Mutton Sukka, 2 chapattis and Mutton Pulav. Each and every dish on that thali was simply delicious! One of my friends found the thali a tad spicy but for me, it was absolutely perfect! They cooked the mutton so beautifully that I cannot help but say that the chef has my utmost respect for having done that. The Mutton Pulav, though was not the kind I enjoy hence I barely had a morsel, or two.

The Prawn Chutney was made with tiny Dry Prawns (Sukkat). Unfortunately, this dish fell short by miles because Anu (my daughter from another mother), makes a version a hundred times better than the one they served. This one was a big no-no for me!

My other friend had been on a non-vegetarian binge the past few days hence chose the vegetarian Shrikhand Thali. I did click a picture of it and have a spoon of the dal which was nice but with seafood in my ‘carnivore-ic’ presence there was no way I was going to pay attention to the vegetarian thali. She did enjoy the thali, so those of you who are vegetarian and can tolerate the strong aroma of non-vegetarian food, do give it a try.

We ended the meal with a couple of desserts, namely: Shrikhand and Gulab Jamun. I am not a Shrikhand person at all but my friend licked the bowl clean. Does that tell you how delicious it was? I’m sure, it does. :D The Gulab Jamuns were freshly made and were brought to the table piping hot. They lacked on the ‘khoya/mawa’ factor a wee bit but all in all were not bad at all.

We were informed they make Puran Poli on prior order. We had placed our order for the same, a day before, as a takeaway parcel. The Puran Polis, I brought home, were delicious!

They only major disappointment of the afternoon was, there were no prawns available. Boneless crab was also unavailable. No prawns and boneless crab available at an advertised seafood festival?? Waaaaaah!! That’s the sound of me bawling in disappointment! Oh yes, even Kharwas wasn’t available. *sad puppy face*

However, what they served was so good – both in taste and portion size - that we ‘bhukkhads’ (greedy people) plan to make another trip to their restaurant while the festival is on. The next time we intend on calling a few days prior to ensure they stock up on prawns, boneless crabs and Kharwas.

The Seafood Festival is on until October 30, 2016 and we shall definitely be going back for more. Hopefully, next time, they will have prawns, boneless crabs and Kharwas in stock when we visit them. Team Jai Maharashtra I hope you are reading this request. ;)

P.S: The photographs I clicked for this meal don’t do justice to it. One, the lighting was wrong because I sat in the wrong direction. I realized this after I plonked my butt on the wooden bench and I felt too darn lazy to move and two, because I was in a hurry to attack the food. (Evil greedy grin)

Ambience: 3/5 (neat and clean but no frills)

Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5 (attentive without being intrusive)

Address: 17/1, Near Mahalaxmi Vihar, Kad Nagar, Undri, NIBM Road, Pune

Tel: 020 30163540

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October 19, 2016 (2nd visit)

Additional Update:

Sea Food Festival at Jai Maharashtra Wadawarlya Jevan

I had mentioned in my first review that certain items were not available when I visited the restaurant the first time. Not one to give up easily, I called the restaurant to enquire if those items were back in stock. Halleluiah! They were and I was back!! (Doing the happy jig)

The dishes we ordered this afternoon were: Koliwada Bombil (Bombay Duck), Rawa Fry Prawns, Butter Garlic Squid, Boneless Crab Mumbai Masala, Bhakri, Chapatt and Malwani Prawn Curry-Rice. Our desserts were, Gulab Jamun and Kharwas.

The Koliwada Bombil was very nicely done. The bombils were just as fresh as they were when I visited then on October 17, 2016 but I, personally, am not a fan of that typical ‘Koliwada’ batter. I love my seafood fried in a crisp coating of semolina (rawa fry) hence this to me was a 7/10 dish. I do guarantee, though, that those of you who like Koliwada style seafood will give it full marks. 

The Rawa Fried Prawns, on the other hand, were simply fantastic. The prawns were very decent in size and fried to perfection. A perfect 10/10! I shall definitely go back for this!

The Butter garlic Squid was very different from what I was expecting. The squid rings were deep-fried in rice flour batter. Tons of butter was then drizzled over it with a sprinkling of chopped garlic. I am truly not the type to ever say, ‘there was too much butter’ but the dish felt very greasy in the mouth. Nope, I would not go back for this one. I would suggest that they make Butter-Garlic Squid the - sauté chopped garlic in butter, toss some squid rings in, add fish/prawn stock (even chicken stock works just fine), bring to a boil, thicken with corn flour, season with salt and crushed black pepper, serve – way. I always believe, some recipes should not be toyed with and if tweaked, one should ensure the tweak works.

The Boneless Crab Mumbai Masala was a delicious, spicy preparation, cooked in a dark masala. It had the Mumbai Pau Bhaji feel because of the dollop of butter on top and because the texture was similar to that of Pau Bhaji. In no way, though, did it taste like Pau Bhaji. It definitely was crab meat! (Happy puppy grin)

The Malwani Curry was also very well made and the prawns used were fresh and fairly large in size. I would have happily slurped on more of the curry if I did not have my eyes on the dessert menu. ;) However, I wish they had used fragrant Basmati Rice as accompaniment instead of the variety they served. 

The Gulab Jamuns were just as hot and delish. What could ever go wrong with freshly made Gulab Jamuns? Answer: Absolutely nothing! ;) 

The star of the afternoon for me was the Kharwas! It is extremely difficult to get colostrums from a dairy and I am perpetually on the lookout for it because I love making Kharwas at home. The Kharwas they served me was just as good as the one I make at home, if not better. I loved it so much that I had them parcel a couple more for me to eat as dessert; tonight. This one on their menu is a show stealer and should perpetually be made to play the main lead. Abso’fuckin’lutely awesome!

I am not getting into the rating and the footnote all over again to stretch out this write-up and bore the crap out of you all. :P I have already said all I had to in my first review. What I will repeat, though, is that the Seafood festival is on until October 30, 2016. Do go for the festival and come back home in a replete ‘soul satisfied-fishy-daze’. 

 

 

Kitchen Cornucopia by Cloves Catering

Cloves Catering has been on the Pune food scene for quite a while now. It is a food venture run by a husband-wife team: Parikshit and Anuja Vilekar. A few weeks ago I was expecting guests who love Biryani. Having read so much about the Biryani the Vilekars make, I could not help but reach out to them. The items I ordered from them were: Mutton Dum Biryani, Mutton Mince Patties and Kothimbir Wadi.

I had eaten the Mutton Mince Patties at a pop-up conducted by the Vilekars and had loved them then. It was no surprise that those patties were the first items we attacked when the food was delivered. Mashed potato encased the spicy mutton mince and a crisp coating of breadcrumbs held all that yumminess in. This was fried to a beautiful golden brown. Perfection in every sense of the word! I wish I had ordered for more.

The Kothimbir Wadis were not actually for the lunch menu. They were for me to nibble on as a between-meal snack. Guilty! Yeah, I do that at times. :P The Kothimbir Wadis, were not the Maharashtrian (Brahmin) ones that I was expecting. When I described them to my friend, Priyadarshini, she enlightened me about the different types of Kothimbir Wadis made by different sects. What I had received were the Paatt Wadis made by the CKP-Maharashtrian sect; a close cousin of the flattish Kothimbir Wadis that I was expecting on my plate. When I opened the food pouch in which the Wadis were sealed, I found to my dismay that the packet had moisture in it and the Wadis had gone soggy. My guess: they had been packed in the food pouch while still hot. They looked perfect, I will not deny that but I was not happy with what I bit into and nor were my guests. We barely ate a couple and the others were sent back into the kitchen. (Sad, disappointed puppy face) Also, I would have preferred a tad more Kothimbir (coriander leaves) in the Wadis. A request: please, allow the crisp Wadis to cool down before you pack them.

Fast forward by two days:.

As I mentioned above, the Wadis had been sent back into the kitchen. A couple of days later, I told Anu (my daughter from another mother) to bring them out and heat them in the microwave for a minute. (Please, no lectures about how harmful a microwave can be – everyone dies :P ) I then told her to drizzle a wee bit of oil in a non-stick pan, heat it and quickly toss in the now-hot Kothimbir Wadis in the oil until they crisped up. As the Wadis were already hot from the microwave they could be quickly crisped up without burning. Anu followed my instructions to the ‘T’.

The result:

The Wadis were as good as new. It was as if I was sitting at the Vilekar residence and they had served them straight from the kadai (wok). Yes, that wee bit of extra Kothimbir was still needed but the Wadis were a massive hit once we crisped them up. The 3/10 Wadis suddenly achieved an 8/10 status! I took away two points. One, for the initial sogginess and two, because it definitely needed more coriander leaves.

Coming to the last dish I ordered, the Mutton Dum Biryani: The Biryani was fragrant with each grain of rice separate, as it should be. I had requested Cloves Catering to add potatoes to the Biryani and they had obliged. The only drawback was that the potatoes were not the typical ‘Dum Biryani’ potatoes which, ideally, are cooked with the mutton. These had been cut into wedges, fried and then added to the Biryani. It wasn’t what I was looking for as but as I had made a special request and they were kind enough to comply, I shall let it pass. As for the mutton in the Dum Biryani, each piece was succulent and delicious but for some reason, each mutton piece after being cooked to that perfect succulence was sautéed to a dark colour (or at least it felt that way). The look of the mutton, thus, was not very appealing. I have to be honest, though, and say I could find no fault with the inner texture of the meat or the flavour. Nevertheless, we all did wonder why the mutton was so dark in colour.

Another point that I wish to specify is that the Dum Biryani on the first day was good in flavour but when I ate it as leftover (read: typical baasi biryani) over the next two days, the flavour had intensified tenfold. I kid you not! I had specially ordered a whole kilo because I love leftover Biryani as it always tastes better the next day. The Biryani tasted incredible! I just could not stop eating it! Abso’fuckin’lutely mind-blowing! (Note to self: Next time, call for this Biryani a day ahead)

Cloves Catering has a delivery system in place. They have a tie up with Dial-A-Meal to ensure your order reaches you on time. Delivery charges are levied by Dial-A-Meal depending on the bill amount and the area of delivery. The food was safely and neatly delivered well before the stipulated time. Extremely commendable!

The meal from Cloves catering was everything that it is made out to be on social media. The adulation and appreciation they get is, indeed, very well deserved. I have taken a peek at their menu and the dishes I read about made me feel like a kid peeping into a kaleidoscope. I say this because, just as a kid looks forward to turning the kaleidoscope to check the myriad frames that falls into place, I look forward to trying many more of those dishes from Cloves Catering. I know each one will bring a new and pleasant surprise to my palate.

Parikshit and Anuja, thank you for making this order a possibility. I know you guys had just returned from a short holiday that very morning. I appreciate the professionalism with which you executed the entire meal. Kudos and heartfelt thanks!

Food: 3.5/5 (This rating went up to 4/5 after the Wadis were crisped up but it was an extra effort for me and Anu where there should have been none, hence the official rating remains at 3.5) 

Service (Over the phone, package & delivery) 4/5

Ambiance: Not applicable, yaar, home delivery tha, ab tak itna toh samajh jana chaiye tha na :P

To order meals from Cloves Catering please contact Parikshit & Anuja Vilekar on +91 9822007315.

Please feel free to check out the meals and menu at their Face book page: https://www.facebook.com/clovescatering/

Baked & Wired – A Pizza (& Panna Cotta) Paradise!

Every few months our ‘gang of three’ merrily trot off for a long afternoon meal. This time, the place chosen for our luncheon was Baked & Wired. This is a small pizzeria opposite Nagarvala School at Kalyani Nagar. Once you reach Nagarvala School I suggest you slow down your vehicle or you just may miss it. The place is quite tiny. It’s actually a shop with a mezzanine floor that serves as a small restaurant. They also have a couple of tables placed outside. The place though tiny, serves the most amazing monster-sized pizzas: their largest being a 28 incher! They serve a chef’s special ‘pasta of the day’ as well and have some delectable desserts on their menu.

We began our meal with a cheesy Garlic Bread. They make their bread in-house and the quality of the loaf comes across at the very first bite. It was filled with bits of garlic and ample amount of stringy cheese. 

If I did not have my eyes on that pizza menu, I could have just made an entire meal of these babies. How many of them? Gosh, don’t ask! :P :D My bestie found the raw bits of garlic a tad too strong for her liking but my other friend and I, loved the robust flavour of garlic and felt it complemented the cheese and bread perfectly.

As only two of us were non-vegetarians we could not opt for the 28 inch monster pizza. We chose one 12 inch, half and half: Piggy Delight and Cajun Chicken and a Pepperoni 8 inch pizza. 

Our vegetarian friend tried their Deep Dish Mushroom Magic pizza with an add-on of onions and an 8 inch Roast Garlic and Onion pizza with an add-on of capsicum.

The Cajun Chicken and Piggy Delight, both, were delightfully delicious. Thin crust base which was smothered with yummy pizza sauce and topped with spicy chicken ham, bacon, pepperoni and a superb amount of cheese (thank you guys for not being stingy with the cheese). How can anything that has bacon and cheese not taste good? It was excellent! 

The Pepperoni pizza was a tad too salty. The Pepperoni (Baked & Wired uses an imported Italian variety) is salty, so is the cheese and since the pizza has no other toppings, the palate experiences a continuous hit of salt. A wee bit of a vegetarian topping over this pizza (onion, maybe) would help to balance the flavours.

I did try a bite from each of the vegetarian pizzas. The Roast Garlic and Onion was beautifully done, I could find no fault with it. As for the deep dish, it was more like a hard-crusted pie. The crust is quite hard, probably because it has to hold the fillings without breaking down. I would have preferred a lighter crust which was less hard, but still retained the capacity to hold its fillings. In addition, I felt the add-on of onion that my friend asked for marred the taste. This however, was not the fault of the restaurant. Some things should not be toyed with at first try. Would I order this again? Probably, yes, if they work to achieve a thinner crust.

We were quite stuffed by the time we finished the pizzas but nothing would deter us from trying the desserts. We did behave ourselves, though, and opted for only two, to be shared by the three of us. We chose the Flaky Apple Pie with Chantilly Cream and the Panna Cotta with Papaya Coulis and Toasted Desiccated Coconut.

The Panna Cotta and the Apple Pie were easily the very best I have ever had in the city of Pune.

The Panna Cotta merrily jiggled on the plate which made us very happy puppies. It was smooth and silken. The Papaya Coulis, though, was another thing altogether. The combination of the coulis and the Panna Cotta just did not work. The beautiful golden coloured coulis that humbly lay at the feet of that royal Panna Cotta did not do justice to it. I do know that combination is the signature of the restaurant, but, where the Papaya Coulis is concerned, I’m sorry, Team Baked & Wired, the signature was a forgery; the cheque bounced. Feel free to retain the Papaya Coulis but for those patrons, who feel this combination does not work, do give us an option of another sauce. Any berry coulis (raspberry, strawberry, blue berry – real fruit please, not the synthetic one made from a jam bottle) will do just fine. The dessert in entirety could have gotten a standing ovation from us had the coulis been different. But, I will still give that jiggly Panna Cotta a veryyyyyy well deserved 10/10!

As for the Apple Pie, the pastry crust was the lightest and flakiest I have ever had and the cinnamon-y apple filling within was to die for. The Chantilly Cream served with the Apple Pie, was delish but the Pie, by itself, was so perfectly made that it could have done without the Chantilly Cream and yet been a success on the plate and palate. (Team Baked & Wired, please retain the Chantilly Cream; I’m merely trying to convey to the readers the perfectness of that pie.)

If ever there is a dessert heaven on earth, this would be it! Sigh!! Team Baked & Wired, please, please, do not, EVER, alter the recipe of that Panna Cotta and the Apple Pie. They are ‘winners’ in every sense of the word.

My friends tried a cup of Latte each. I’m not really a ‘coffee person’ but I took a sip of the coffee, made an ‘urgghh’ face and left it at that. Both the coffee aficionados, however, sipped away with a smile.

The only thing that I need to bitch about is that the only drinks they serve are Thums up and coffee. Due to space restraints they do not stock any other beverage. They definitely need to have a better variety of drinks made available to their customers.

Someday I hope to go there with a bigger gang of friends so as to lay my eyes and my greedy paws on that monstrosity (the 28 incher). :D Until then, sweet dreams of that cheesy bacon-ham pizza, the Panna Cotta and that Apple Pie will have to suffice.

Food: 4/5

Service: 5/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Address: Shop No 3, Saniara Apartments, Opposite Nagarvala School, Kalyani Nagar, Pune 411 014
Tel: +91 8055394394