Wicked China – Wickedly Delish!

Grey skies, a light drizzle and sudden bursts of heavier rain! That was what the weather was like on the Sunday afternoon when Team @FoodProwl walked into Wicked China for a tasting. 

Wicked China is a new baby on the Creaticity (Ishanya, earlier) block. Its owned by ‘The Chocolate Company Pvt Ltd’ which has many stellar names under their wing, namely: The Sassy Spoon, Sassy Teaspoon and Baraza Bars & Bites. 

Wooden tables with orange and blue chairs and a long red sofa at the end of the room gives the restaurant a lively look. Unique ceiling lamps and a big bright Chinese photograph/poster adds to the ambiance.

To begin with, our choice of drinks were the Kala Khatta Slush and Cheeky Linghun Fizz. The Kala Khatta Slush was good, but it could do with a bit more tang. The Cheeky Linghun on the other hand was beautifully made. I only wish they hadn’t added the limp coriander to the drink, as garnish. If a garnish is on its way to the graveyard, please dump it! Having said that, I must repeat, the Cheeky Linghun Fizz was truly a very good mocktail.

We began our meal with appetizers: Turnip Cakes with Burnt Garlic & Chillies, Wicked Filo Spring Rolls, Drunken Chicken Cigar Rolls, Crispy Prawn and Chinese Mushroom Cheung Fun, Fish & Chilli Garlic Dumpling, Prawn & Chicken Sui Mai and Sichuan Chicken.

The Drunken Chicken Cigar Rolls needs to be worked on with regard to flambéing the dish correctly as all the liquor settled to the bottom of the dish, resultantly, the bit submerged into the liquor was a tad ick-y on the palate. If they cannot get the flambé right, I suggest they scrap the ‘drunken’ part and merely serve the cigars with a nice sauce on the side. I say that because the bit of cigar that I ate, that hadn’t been corrupted by the liquor, was very nice in taste. 

A tone down on the tang factor for the Fish & Chilli Garlic dumpling would do wonders for the dish. It was the excessive acidity in the sauce poured on top that marred this dish a wee bit. I could, however, find no fault in the texture of the dim sum casing or the filling. That was excellent! 

The Filo Spring Rolls needed to be seasoned better as well. When had with the mayo foam and the sauce it was kinda good but when had by itself, it lacked seasoning.

The Turnip Cakes with Burnt Garlic & Chillies completely blew me away (that’s an understatement). They have this dish so darn right that it goes into my ‘never ever miss out on this’ category. Crisp from outside and beautifully soft from within and garnished with crisp burnt garlic and chillies; this dish was stellar! Though veg, I was totally ‘fida’ over this one. Sigh! 

The Crispy Prawn and Chinese Mushroom Cheung Fan was another big-time winner! I love Cheung Fan and the chef had done a marvellous job with it. I call well-made Cheung Fan a ‘perfect mouthful’ and it was exactly that! I could easily have polished off the platter by myself but, damn, I had to share. *evil grin* 

The Prawn & Chicken Sui Mai was delicately delicious! I say that because the dim sum casing was delicate, and the prawn-chicken filling was delish! 

The Chicken Sichuan bordered on ‘Chindian’ but in terms of flavor, I could find no fault. It was yum! I loved the crisp noodle netting they served it with. Gave the dish an added texture!

We moved on to mains and were served, Braised Lamb with Pak Choy & Chinese Mushroom, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Mushroom Pot with Oyster Sauce, Wild Mushrooms & Glass Noodles, Classic Hakka Noodles and Classic Fried Rice.

The Braised Lamb with Pak Choy & Chinese Mushroom and the Wild Mushrooms & Glass Noodles, both, were served on a large bed of glass noodles. Somehow most of us at the table felt the glass noodles took away a bit of flavor from the gorgeously robust sauces that were an integral part of the dishes. It would be great if they could do away with the glass noodles entirely. Of the two, I, of course, preferred the Braised Lamb with Pak Choy and Chinese mushrooms. That lamb was superbly braised, and the flavor shone though. 

The Sweet & Sour Chicken, Classic Hakka Noodle and the Classic Fried Rice were the regular kind and all three dishes were very nicely made.

Our desserts were the Flourless Chocolate Cake with Basil Ice Cream (the cake was good, but the Basil Ice cream was fantastic), Jasmine Tea & Dragon Fruit Mousse (this looked as if it had come straight out of a Master Chef kitchen – I could not fault it for presentation or flavor) and Lemon Grass Crème Brûlée (of all the desserts this one stole my heart as I love Brûlée – this was served with a stunning pistachio biscotti).

Waking up early and missing out on sleeping-in late on a weekend is truly worthwhile when a restaurant that invites you, serves food as good as Wicked China did. Except for the tiny changes I have recommended for certain dishes, everything they served was truly very nice. I look forward to visiting them again, this time with mum in tow as I have a sneaky feeling she’ll love the food served here.

At the end of the tasting, Wicked China gave us cute coasters as gifts. The coasters were printed with funny Chinese puns hence I’ll end this review in the same tone. ‘Miso happy coz Chow was Fa Kin Su Pa!’

Heartfelt thanks for the invite and the cute gift! 

Address: Unit 11, Pubtown Creaticity, Yerawada, Pune, Maharashtra 411006.
Tel: +91-93268 51111

Some more photographs...

 

Photo Credit: Food Prowl

Shree Caterers at The Ladies Club - An Old, All-time Favourite!

This was lunch last Monday, with Jeroo Masi, mum and dad. Shree Caterers (club restaurant), at The Ladies Club, is our go-to place for a quick-delicious meal.

Dad was in the mood for French Fries hence French Fries it was for the 78 year old bacha. 



We ordered Butter Garlic Prawns, Fish Lehsuni Tikka (they do NOT use Basa, this time they used Betki and at times they use Surmai or Rawas - thank God for that! 😁), Fish Satay and Tawa Prawns for appetizers. 



Our mains were Jeera Rice, Prawn Gassi and Appams. For dessert, as caramel custard was sold out, we opted for Malai Kulfi.

Expect no frills with regard to cutlery and crockery, after all, it's a 'club restaurant'. At times the servers, too, walk at a laid-back pace but I overlook it all coz the food served is delish!! 

Tawa Prawns

It's one of those places that never overcooks seafood or tikkas. The food set on the table is always moist and perfectly succulent! I introduced my family to the stunning prawn gassi and appams available there. They loved it!

Perfect weather to walk in for kebabs, tikkas and piping hot curries, eh? Go on, what in hell are you waiting for? 😁

Psssttt... you can walk in for a take-away or you may stroll in at evening time for cuppa tea/coffee, bhajias, bhel and stellar chicken sandwiches. 😉 

Address: The Ladies Club, Shree Caterers, Lt. Col Tarapore Road, Pune 411001
Tel: 020 26333209

UTF – The Urban Foundry – Very Hep & Happening!

This review comes in a tad late as my computer suddenly flat-lined. It took the doctor (comp tech) a while to pick up the defibrillator paddles to revive it. You get my drift, right? 😉

I had heard of The Urban Foundry but because of the 'distance-factor' I found no opportunity to visit it. When ‘The Urban Foundry’ extended a pre-launch invite to Team @FoodProwl, for a tasting at their new, ritzy Kalyani Nagar branch, I graciously accepted the invite.

The interiors of TUF are hip. The swanky bar takes up most of the front section of the restaurant and they have incorporated ‘foundry’ specifics in the cutest of ways. There are chocolate nuts and bolts in desserts, certain drinks are served in bulb shaped glasses, heavy iron doors lead to their washrooms and the overall rustic décor evoke a 'foundry feel'. Every detail has been well thought of and perfectly assimilated. I also loved the witty writings on the glass coasters.

We began our tasting with various cocktails, none of which I tasted as I’m a teetotaler. The rest of the team did try the cocktails and the common consensus at the table was that they were very well made. I chose a citrus based Virgin Margarita (frozen) and loved the sweet-tangy flavour.

We began with ‘Chote Gear’ (their name for appetizers): Edmame Ki Bhel, Tilwala Paneer, Mushroom Tundey Kebab, Asian Patrani Murgh, TUF Nawabi Seekh Kebab, Prawn Gold Coin, Tangdi Kebab, Bacon Cheese Poppers and Baconnaise.

Of all ‘chota gears’ we tried, there were quite a many that were ‘bahut bada’ on flavour. 

The melt in the mouth Mushroom Tundey Kebab (served on a thin piece of baguette toast – so darn yum!), the beautifully moist Nawabi Seekh Kebab, the delicately flavoured Prawn Gold Coin, the robust Tilwala Paneer and the unique Baconnaise which was a mix of herbs and coarsely ground bacon bits served with thin, crisp baguette toasts; all these were superb! The Bacon Cheese Poppers were also excellent; what’s not to like about cheese and bacon, eh? 😉

We then moved on to dumplings and a salad. The salad was the Chicken Tikka Carpaccio Chaat. While the carnivore in me ate (and liked) the Chicken Tikka Carpaccio, I gave the raw chaat (salad ingredients) a miss. Unfair? Yes, a bit; but my stomach cannot handle raw food and salads hence gave it a miss. 

We were served two vegetarian dumplings, Magik Mushroom and Malai Broccoli, both of which were stellar! 

The non-veg dumplings served were, Kali Mirch Chicken, Kheema Ghotala and Tandoori Chicken Momos. 

While I loved the Kheema Ghotala dumpling, I found the Kali Mirch Chicken and Tandoori Chicken Momos lacking in delicacy with regard to their dense mince filling. 

Of all the dumplings we tried that evening, I’d easily give both the vegetarian dumplings 1^st prize. I cannot stress enough, do not miss out on these vegetarian babies!! A point I must make; the casings of all the dumpling were light and silky; not merely to look at but also on the palate. A big plus to the TUF kitchen team for that!

While the @FoodProwl team enjoyed the sushi platters served after the dumplings, I gave them a miss as they contained cucumber, an ingredient I’m severely allergic to. Unfortunately, because of the added cucumber, it was the same with the delicate cold Japanese style Tuna & Truffle Pizza. I saw ‘bright green’ when I heard the team oohing and aahing over it, but I dared not touch it for fear of any allergic reaction. ☹ I did have the Chicken Tikka Pizza, though, and I loved it!

The Large Foundry Thermodynamics (main course) consisted of Dal Baati Khowsuey, Dabba Gosht – Roti/Naan, Calcutta Chilly Chicken, Egg Fried Rice and Veg Hakka Noodles. 

The Dal Baati dish is named so because it is served with accompaniments similar to that of Khowsuey. Though not a big fan of Dal Baati, I did try the ghee soaked Baati with the dal and I loved it. 

The succulent mutton, that soft boiled egg and the spicy gravy gets Dabba Gosht on the must-try list. The Chinese dishes were also well made. No complaints there.

We moved on to dessert and because of the added fruit I gave the Motichoor Sushi a miss. Most people at the table were a tad apprehensive of this ‘fusion’ dessert in the beginning but became quite accepting of it after having tried it. 

While I thought the Frozen Gajar Halwa was more like a Gajar Kulfi, I could not fault it for it’s taste. 

The quirky-yummy Foundry Cheesecake had Gulab Jamuns and a chocolate nut/bolt placed within. I thought the nut-bolt element was damn cool!

The Urban Foundry has a vibrant, young vibe which is not to say it’s not for not so young. The food (the new dishes added to the menu and the ‘fusion’ dishes) do make sense to the palate and the excellent cocktails / mocktails they serve make this new baby on the Kalyani Nagar block a very hep and happening place. Truly, a cool place to hang out at with friends and family.

Address: B-3, Ground floor, Cerebrum IT Park, Near Marigold Complex, Kalyani Nagar, Pune.

Tel: 020 71967421

Some more photographs...