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’.