Plancha, located at East Street – Pune, is a new baby on the block. The interiors are simple yet charming. Plancha is the brain child of batch-mates who passed out from IHM, Goa. They invited Team #FoodProwl for a tasting and we were pleasantly surprised with all that they served us that afternoon.
We began the tasting with three drinks, Watermelon Mojito, Apple-grass Iced Tea and a non-alcoholic Malt Beer. While the mojito and iced tea were very refreshing what I liked best was the Malt Beer.
At the onset of the meal they brought us Crème Dubarry soup. It was a cauliflower soup seasoned with curry powder and garnished with crisp strands of onions. Not for a second did the soup emanate that typical (read: urghhh) cauliflower smell. It was creamy, hearty and downright delish! This carnivore sets the rating for this vegetarian soup at an impressive 10/10.
Our starters were, Asian Inspired Wings, Loaded Nachos, Bhoona Mutton (Lamb Burger), Peri-peri Chicken Burger and Cheese Chili Toast.
The wings were re-fried wings served with scallions, Sichuan pepper and topped with peanuts and sprouts. I, of course, ditched the sprouts and dived directly to the wings. *wicked grin* These succulent delights were tossed in delicious sauce and made for excellent finger food.
The Loaded Nachos did not impress me much. They were good but I felt they could have been better; the toppings could have been more flavourful.
The Bhoona Mutton for the burger was cooked to ‘medium rare’ doneness. Do I need to say anything more about it after having said the words ‘medium rare’? *Satiated soulful sigh*
The Peri-peri Chicken Burger was another juicy baby. The peri-peri spice in the chicken patty can, ideally, be increased a wee bit but other than that, it was superb! Both burgers in terms of freshness of bread and overall juiciness would score a very high 9/10 on my burger meter.
The Cheese Chili Toast was served as a sandwich which skewed the bread to cheese ratio making it too bread-y! Ideally, it would have been way better had they served it as an open sandwich.
For mains we were served Hand-cut Tagliolini in pesto, Frutti di mare, Pomfret Recheado and Roast Chicken. The pesto and the tagliolini are made in-house. They use a combination of pine nuts and cashews for their pesto and the nutty flavours come through gorgeously. Those delicate strands of al dente pasta are tossed in classic pesto sauce and topped with shards of Parmesan. This simple dish had all the makings of a Masterchef dish!
Next we tried the Frutti di mare. This was hand-cut pappardelle tossed in a pink sauce made with seafood bisque. Once again, the pasta was cooked perfectly and that pink sauce delicately enveloped the pasta and the plump prawns nestled beneath.
The Pomfret Recheado was excellent; the fish was fresh and cooked perfectly and the recheado masala that coated the fish was yum. The only teeny-weeny drawback to this dish was the steamed rice served with it. The fish was a yummy, no-gravy pomfret hence the rice served with it was totally out of sync. Pan-grilled onion rings and fries would have been better accompaniments to this dish.
The Roast Chicken with that silken mash, herbed butter, mushroom puree and jus was to die for! The portion size was generous and the flavours of the chicken and all the other elements on the plate complemented each other perfectly!
Plancha also serves a dessert of the day but we weren’t lucky enough to try it that day. I’m guessing that’s a marvellous excuse to re-visit Plancha.
The young chefs who envisioned Plancha know their food and know it well. They are the future of the culinary industry and everything we ate that afternoon revealed that if they persevere thus in the pursuit to serve good food, they would be forces to reckon with in the food industry.
A few words of advice for Team Plancha, if I may, please!
Chef Ajinkya / Team Planche, you guys know your food really well. The thing to do, now, is to ensure each dish is perfect every single time. Treat each dish that gets sent out from the kitchen, to the table of the patron, as if it were being sent out for a standing ovation. If Team Plancha can dish out a perfect plate of food every single time, I promise you shall have happy patrons who will return to your restaurant time and time again.
Plancha has a wonderful brunch planned for Sunday, December 31, 2017 and January 1, 2018. For more details please check out their Facebook page.
Address: 2407 East Street, Near Corporation Bank, Camp Pune 411001
Buzz: 020 30189716 / 09860580412
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