Effingut Brewerkz... Deliciousness Defined!

One afternoon, on mum and dad’s recent, semi-annual, visit to Pune, we decided to visit Effingut Brewerkz. Mum and dad had heard me rave about the place (rightly so) and were very eager to give it a try.

Dad tried the craft beer samplers and opted for a Trus Brust IPA. I’m not into beers, hence I have no clue what the particular blend means but I did see dad contently sip on his brew. 

The three ladies in tow (yours truly included), opted for a mocktail. Having had this mocktail umpteen times (it happens to be my favourite), when the two ladies asked for recommendations, I immediately suggested April Lady. It’s a blend of mango juice, coconut syrup and vanilla ice cream. I’m a diehard fan of this drink and now mum and Anu, join the same fan club. It’s just delish!

For starters we ordered, Singapore Black Pepper Prawns, Mustard Prawns, Potato Corn in Honey Chilli Sauce, Prawn Tempura, Fungi Agli Olio, Potato Wedges, Jalapeno Cheese Crackers and Fish Mahi Tikka. Most of these dishes are repeats that I absolutely love and have already reviewed them earlier. I wanted mum and dad to try those dishes hence re-ordered them. To cut a long write up short and to do justice to the food served, I will say, they were all made to perfection (AS ALWAYS) and did not disappoint at all! 

Only two dishes from the ‘starters menu’ were new to me: Fungi Adli Olio and the Fish Mahi Tikka. Both the dishes were superb! The Fungi Agli Olio was mushrooms in a delicious creamy sauce, served with Garlic Bread. It was a superlative dish!! The Fish Mahi Tikka was delectably delicate in flavour. Absolutely yum! All starters were a perfect 10/10.

Having eaten so many starters we chose to limit our main course to three dishes. We ordered, Pork Ribs, Kari Kapitan Prawns and Indonesian Grilled Fish.

The Prawn Kari Kapitan was prawns cooked in a superb coconut flavoured curry. For dad, this was the dish of the day. He loves the flavour of coconut and according to him, the flavour came through wonderfully. I have to agree: it did! 

The Indonesian Grilled Fish was also a beautiful dish. This fish was subtle in flavour and the Indonesian curry slathered over it was equally nuanced in taste. It showcased the fish flawlessly!

I had requested the server to ensure that the Pork Ribs be served in ‘fall off the bone’ texture. The chef was kind enough to ensure they were. We wanted to dig into a few desserts hence requested our server to parcel the pork ribs. We ate them for dinner that very night and I have to say, they figure in the ‘Top Five’ list of Pork Ribs served in Pune restaurants.

Everyone in my family has a sweet tooth. Okay, okay, let me rephrase that. Everyone in my family has sweet teeth. Tooth would be an understatement, teeth sounds apt. :D For dessert our choices were, Caramel Custard, Sizzling Brownie and Hot Gulab Jamun with Ice cream. This is a write up for Effingut, do I even need mention how fabulous they desserts were?? I must mention, though, Mum and dad, loved the drama that ensued at our table for the sizzling brownie flambé.

It was a weekday afternoon hence we availed their wonderful 40% discount. Another wonderful moment, for me, was that I finally got to meet Manu; ‘da man’ who heads, nurtures and guides his baby ‘Effingut Brewerkz’ (and his Team) with zeal and passion to ensure none of the patrons leave disappointed.

It was a blissful afternoon spent in the company of family; with excellent food, clubbed with attentive service in a wonderful ambiance made memorable with evocative retro music. It does not get any better than this!!

Team Effingut Brewerkz, each time I visit the restaurant I’ve always been a very well looked after patron. This time, what touched my heart, though, was that the servers were extremely kind, patient and very attentive towards my dad of 75+. My heartfelt thanks to you all; it was an extremely pleasurable luncheon experience!

Food: 5/5

Service: 5/5

Ambiance (music and music decibel, included) 5/5

Address: 21/A, Plot No 389, Lane No 6, Serene Bay, Koregaon Park, Pune

Tel: 020 30189858 

Some more photographs...

Mother’s Day Out... at Malaka Spice!!

 On a wintery afternoon, on Boxing Day two beautiful mums and one very angelic daughter (yours truly :P ) decided they needed to nurture themselves with some nourishing food. We initially opted for an Italian restaurant but unfortunately it was closed as it was a Monday. I believe destiny had another cuisine planned for us and so ended up walking into that marvellous place; the one we all know as Malaka Spice.

What can I say about Malaka Spice that hasn’t already been said umpteen times? Oh what the heck, I’m going to write about it anyway. :P

As we sat down the first thing we ordered were our drinks: two Virgin Pina Coladas and one Fruit Punch. All very well made!

For starters we chose the Crab Rangoon Dumpling (fried), Vietnamese Roasted Duck and Prawn Crispura.

The Prawn Crispura is something we always order. I guess that clearly conveys how much we enjoy the dish. The dish comprises of beautiful batter fried prawns served with an awesome mango sauce. We can never get enough of it! 

The Vietnamese Roasted Duck unfortunately was a letdown for all three of us. The duck was tough and we had a hard time cutting and chewing it. I did give immediate feedback to our server with regard to the same when we he came over to enquire if everything was to our liking. The sauce served with the duck and the flavour of the duck was, however, wonderful. If only the meat wasn’t tough, it would have been such a superb dish. 

The Crab Rangoon Dumpling; was the star of the afternoon. The dish was excellent! The dumpling covering, though fried, was ever so light and the crab filling was so delicately flavourful. I could go down on my bended, arthritic knees to beg for more. I earnestly request Team Malaka Spice to incorporate this dish into their year round menu. I truly do not want to wait for another winter season to have this.

For the mains we chose Lamb Bulgogi and Laos Prawns in Coconut Cream with our all time favourite, Roti Jhala, as accompaniment. 

The Lamb Bulgogi was beautifully cooked. I usually refrain from ordering lamb at restaurants as they tend to undercook it but the lamb for this dish was cooked to perfection. 

The Laos Prawns was a mildly-spicy dish, with perfectly cooked prawns in satisfying coconut cream gravy. After all, this is Malaka Spice. I have never known them to get prawns wrong. Roti Jhala served as a perfect accompaniment to both our mains.

We were quite stuffed by the time we finished the main course hence opted for a light dessert of ice cream BonBons. Bonbons are bite-size pieces of vanilla ice cream coated with chocolate. They used to be a very popular ice cream dessert in the 70’s and 80’s. Mum and our guest had these after years and were ever so thrilled to bite into these babies.

I don’t write reviews every time I visit a restaurant but I keep an eye out for what needs to be looked into. This is something I noticed on my last three visits to Malaka Spice. I need to make a mention about the service. This time, when we walked into Malaka Spice at 1 pm, barely two tables were occupied. As time went by crowds began walking in and by 3 pm nearly all tables were occupied. I have noticed (on this and previous visits) that the servers, regardless of whether the restaurant is at full capacity or nearly empty are often inattentive because they are either talking among themselves at the kitchen door or near the bar at the back. Often, they fail to catch the customer’s eye even as they pass by the table. This is a recent problem that I noticed during the last three visits; it was not so earlier. Another issue that needs looking into: some of the servers need a wee bit of training with regard to serving food to each patron at the table in correct proportion. We had once ordered a dish that had 8 pieces, (I apologize, I don’t remember what it was). We were four people at the table. The server gave three pieces to my dad, two pieces of mum, two to me and finally one to our guest at the table. I do understand the server would not know host from a guest at a table, but ideally, should have been trained to serve two pieces per plate. As a host at that table this was, truly, a tad embarrassing. Did I make a mention of it to the head captain at the time? Yes, I did.

I need to make one more request to Team Malaka Spice. Years ago they had a dish on their menu, which were large sized, crab and prawn balls. They took it off the menu years ago but I’ve never ever forgotten the taste of that wonderful dish. Every time I walk into Malaka Spice I crave those crab/prawn balls. Along with the Crab Rangoon Dumpling request, please reconsider bringing the crab/prawn balls back on the menu. Please, pretty please! :)

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon spent with 2 beautiful, charming ladies. Both happened to be mums of angelic daughters named Kainaaz (my mum and Kainaz Nunes’s mum, Keroo). Ahem!! *wicked grin*

Team Malaka Spice, except for the tough duck meat I could find no fault with the food served. The rest of the dishes were excellent! Thank you for retaining the wonderful consistency of the food you serve and rest assured this greedy foodie will soon be back for more.

Food: 4.5/5

Service: 2.5/5

Ambiance: 4.5/5

Address: Lane 5, Opposite Oxford Properties, North-Main road, Koregaon Park, Pune

Tel: 020 26151088

Bagban... Dil Garden Garden Ho Gaya!!

When a Bawi (Parsee) sees Bheja Fry on a food forum post, at Facebook, the craving gets so darn bad that she has to have it for her very next meal.

When my buddy said, ‘ghar aa raha hu, khana kya khaogi?, I knew exactly what I wanted to eat, and from where. I requested him to pick up Bheja Fry and Butter Naan for me from Bagban. As he does not eat Bheja (except mine :D ) he got Mutton Tawa Boti and Mughal Roti for himself.

The Bheja Fry was a tad too yellow, but delicious! A bit more ‘fry’ on the bheja would have made it even better. They also need to go a bit easy on the turmeric powder. It felt as if the chef at Bagban had been possessed by Keith Floyd. (Those of you who have ever watched Keith Floyd cook on TV will know exactly what I’m talking about – evil grin - He usually pronounced 'turmeric' as 'toomeric', probably because he used too much of it) The Mutton Tawa Boti was also superb, but veryyyyy spicy. Luckily, we both love spicy food. Yes, I did flick 2-3 teeny-weeny botis from his plate. How else could I write about it. ;)

The Butter Naan was soft and buttery. No complaints there but they have a board at the restaurant that says something to the effect of, ‘Try our special Mughal Roti’. We did, but the Mughal Roti was a simple Tandoori Roti sprinkled with sesame seeds. It’s just a shade softer than the regular Tandoori Roti. No great shakes. I’ll take my Butter Naan over it any day.

P.S: The photograph is very badly clicked; in incorrect light. I did not bother to switch on the correct lights to get the shots as we were very hungry. Took one random photo and attacked the food hence please excuse the shoddy click.

For this meal:

Food: 4/5

Service: NA as the food was parcelled home

Ambiance: NA as the food was parcelled home

******

Bagban - Part 2

No, no, the Chopra’s are not making a sequel to their first movie. But chali chali phir chali chali.. Non-veg khane ke ishq ki hawa chali.. sans The Bachchan. :P *My friend, Priyadarshini, is going to slaughter me; she 'lurrves' The Bachchan*

Consider my food review scene fast forwarded to Day 2.

Having ordered Bheja Fry and Mutton Tawa Boti, niggling at my mind, the next day, was another dish I had seen mention at the Bagban post by the same friend. Torturer!! :P :D The dish I was craving: Kaleji Fry.

This time my buddy and I ordered Kaleji Fry and Kheema Fry. The Kaleji Fry was a combination of kaleji and gurda (liver and kidney). I love organ meat hence at the dinner table sat a very happy Bawi! The Kaleji Fry was on the spicy side (thank God) and cooked just right. As for the Kheema Fry, the chef had again gone a tad crazy with the ‘toomeric’ (read: turmeric) but not as much as he had with the Bheja Fry. As for taste, the Kheema Fry was really good but, I have to admit, I have had better. Also, you cannot miss out on potatoes and eggs and expect a Bawi to be happy. I would have loved a garnish of fried potato chips and wedges of boiled eggs with the Kheema Fry.

As this Bawi and her ‘Ardho (half) Bawa’ buddy were craving Brun Pau, we chose not to order any Rotis. Brun Pau it was from Imperial Bakery, Poolgate, Camp. The best Brun Pau, ever! These are the wonderful, hard Brun that, when cut, do not crumble and make your kitchen counter seem like a bomb explosion site. Brought these babies home, cut each of them into four and warmed them in an oven at dinner time. Perfect oven-fresh Brun Pau was ready to be served with Kaleji Fry and Kheema Fry! Sinful! 

Sorry, I’ve used the same bowls as last time for the ‘photographic quickie’. I promise to use different crockery next time. ;-) 

For this meal:

Food: 4/5

Service: NA as the food was parcelled home

Ambiance: NA as the food was parcelled home

Address: Opposite Victory Theater, East Street, Camp, Pune.
Tel: 020 64001174 / 020 26362233