Krusty’s - A passion to please!

A few weeks ago our girl gang decided to visit the newly opened branch of Krusty’s Bistro & Bar for our monthly AGOG meet. For those of you who are wondering, AGOG stands for Angelic Gang Of Girls. (Evil grin)

Krusty’s was not a new restaurant for us. We were regulars at their Mundwa branch before it relocated to the World Trade Centre, at Kharadi. Via an exchange of messages with Rohhan (owner of Krusty’s) we made our reservation and on the decided day set off for our meet. 

As we stepped into the bright and sparkling interiors of the restaurant we couldn’t help but notice how nicely the natural light washes over the entire restaurant giving the place a beautiful, open feel. The restaurant displays a collection of curios selected by Rohhan’s charming mom, Vidhya. The bright yellow sofas near the window lend that perfect ‘American Bistro’ charm. The details of the decor all come together in wonderful harmony. 

Once we sat our butts down, we ordered our drinks and starters. The mocktails we ordered were: Muddled Orange Fresh Lime, Orange Passion Fruit, Kiwi Green Apple, Pomegranate Iced Tea and Orange Basil. I tried a sip from each of them and they were all great-tasting and refreshing. I have to admit, I am a tad partial to citrusy drinks hence of the entire lot my favourite were Muddled Orange Fresh Lime and Orange Passion Fruit. I loved them!! 

I need to make a mention of something special that I noticed when the drinks were served. All the garnishes used for the mocktails, sliced fruits or mint leaves, were fresh. Not once through the entire afternoon did I notice even one drink with wilted mint leaves. I think that says a lot about the attention they pay to tiny details. I truly appreciate restaurants that do that. I’m one of those people who notice these fine details when I dine out. 

For starters we ordered, Herbed Garlic Bread with Cheese, Potato Wedges, Nachos with Bean Chilli & Mexican Salsa, Assorted Tapas Platter, Panko Crusted Prawns, Stuffed Potato Skins and Crusted Chicken & Corn. 

The Panko Crusted Prawns were the kind that I could have made a whole meal of. They were gorgeous prawns; plump and juicy from within with a beautifully crusted exterior. 

The Stuffed Potato Skins, Nachos with Bean Chilli & Mexican Salsa and the wedges were also very decent plates of food. The only starter that did not shine as bright as the others was the Crusted Chicken & Corn. The chicken within was succulent but the cornflake coating was simply too heavy on the palate. The dish did not work for any of the carnivores at the table. 



The Herbed garlic Bread was warm, fresh and cheesy. Just perfect! What I especially loved was, the manager, Atish, remembering, from our last visit, that we enjoyed the bread with cheese. When we said, ‘One Herbed Garlic Bread’, he, with an all knowing smile, completed the sentence for us by saying, ‘with Cheese, right?’ For him to remember our choice after an interval of so many months was amazing. 

We politely chatted a while before placing our order for the mains. Emphasis on the words, ‘politely chatted’. (Trying an angelic smile) Oh, eff it! Who am I kiddin’? :P After a while, we decided to order the mains. We chose Cheese and Buttered Onion Stuffed Seared Chicken, Shepherd’s Pie, Barbeque Ribs, Vegetable Au Gratin and Smoky Mushroom Risotto. 

Of the mains the only dish that did not work for most of us was the Vegetable Au Gratin. The white sauce was perfect but the vegetables were a tad too crisp for a ‘gratin’. The dish also simply did not come together as it should have. 



My friend and I are crazy about pork which is why both of us attacked the Barbeque Ribs as soon as we finished clicking photographs of it. The Barbeque Ribs were delicious morsels of full-flavoured pork! Soft succulent meat, falling off the bone and melting on the palate is how I would describe the dish. Have you ever tasted something so beautifully made that it moves you to tears? This was that! Numero Uno! 

Another clear winner was the Smoky Mushroom Risotto. The Arborio rice was cooked to perfection: creamy without being gluggy and with the right amount of bite to it. The smoky mushrooms lent the right amount of flavour and texture to cut through the constant creaminess of the dish. It was sublime!

I tasted the Cheese and Buttered Onion Stuffed Seared Chicken and Shepherd’s Pie. Both the dishes were good and flavourful but they lost out to the two beauties we checked out earlier. The ribs and risotto had long stolen my heart. Sigh! 

One would think, having had so much food, we gals would skip dessert. Ah well, think again. There is not a hope in hell of that! We ordered Tiramisu, Eight Textured Chocolate Cake, Panna Cotta, Belgium Chocolate Fudge, Hot Chocolate and an Espresso. 

What’s to not like about desserts? ;) They were rich, decedent and everything that correctly depict the words ‘food porn’. My favourite of the lot was the Panna Cotta. It had a ‘spot on’ wobble on the plate and a velvety texture on the palate. It was perfect in every sense of the word! 

When the people you eat with are the fabulous kind (touch wood); the hosts, caring and attentive without being intrusive and when the food touches the very core of your ‘foodie soul’; one cannot help but look skywards and send out a humble ‘THANK YOU’ His way. 

I don’t write about them every time I visit but I have been to Krusty’s many times and I can honestly say that Krusty’s never disappoints! They serve their patrons with a passion to please! Rohhan, Vidya and Atish: Thank you ever so much for your generous hospitality!

Food: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 5/5
Service: 5/5

 Address: Ground floor, City Hub – Tower 3, World Trade Centre, Kharadi, Pune
(They also have a branch at Kothrud)

Tel: 020 30162209



Some more photographs and videos...

Seafood Mould

Certain recipes have memories attached to them. This is one such recipe. As a child I used to stand in Jeroo masi’s kitchen and watch in awe as she churned out the most amazing dishes. Masi wasn’t a run-of-the-mill home cook. She had Rita, a gem of a lady, in the kitchen to make regular everyday fare for the family but come the time for a party or a get-together and Jeroo masi would take over the reins of the kitchen with gusto. She at times served this dish as a cold salad and at times as a hors d’oeuvre, gently nestled over warm canapés or vol-au-vents. Be it as a salad or a hors d’oeuvre, I could never get enough of it. When I began cooking and experimenting in the kitchen at the age of 13, I requested masi for this recipe and she happily parted with it.

The first time I made Seafood Mould, was the early 80’s. I was taking baby steps in the kitchen of a household where mum never cooked (she hates cooking – no judgements – didn’t make her any less of a wonderful mother and... she’s still the best! Touch wood! <3 ). Our kitchen drawers held no measuring spoons and gelatine was something I had only heard of when Granny made Bluebird Jelly. No surprise then that the first time I gave this dish a try I fell flat on my face. I used three times the amount of gelatine that I was actually supposed to use. *very sheepish look*

I learned my lesson since; the very next month I used all my pocket money (and some more – mummy zindabad) to invest in measuring spoons and some basic kitchenware. I was now on my way to mastering this recipe and many others thereby making lesser faux pas in the kitchen. ;)

I haven’t made this recipe in years and a few days ago decided to recreate it. How, then, could I not share it with all of you? I hope you all recreate this dish it in your kitchen with as much joy as I do when I make it in mine. Jeroo Masi, with all my love, always, this one’s for you! <3

Ingredients:

List A:

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 (half) cup tomato sauce/ketchup
1/2 (half) cup Maggi Hot & Sweet Sauce

6 level teaspoons gelatine powder

1 cup water

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce

List B:

2 hard boiled eggs, finely diced

1 onion, finely diced

2-3 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 capsicum, finely diced

¼ kilo fish steaks - boil in lightly salted water, drain, remove skin/bones and flake the fish meat

12-13 medium sized prawns - boil in lightly salted water, drain and chop into tiny pieces

Method: 

1. Melt gelatine powder in 1 cup water over gentle heat. When melted, take the liquid off the fire and cool it, stirring all the time.
   
   
2. When cool mix mayonnaise, tomato sauce/ketchup, Maggi Hot & Sweet sauce, juice of 1 lime and Worchestershire sauce into the gelatine.
3. Mix well to ensure all ingredients come together nicely and evenly.
4. Add fish, prawns, hard-boiled eggs, onion, capsicum and celery.
5. Mix well and spoon the mixture into a bowl to set.
6. Put in the fridge and allow to set for 4-6 hours.
   
   

To Serve:

Serve as a cold salad, directly, from a large bowl in which the dish has been set. You may set the bowl, in which the salad is set, over a larger bowl of ice if it’s a buffet meal.

Or

Once set, serve as a hors d’oeuvre; a spoonful over warmed canapés (I used store bought ready canapés and merely warmed them in an oven for 2 minutes). Fill the canapés neatly or rustically, whatever rocks your boat. Alternately, you may also serve it in freshly baked vol-au-vent puffs.

Or

Serve as tiny moulds overturned on individual plates; each mould garnished with a tiny boiled prawn and a few specks of celery. Sounds gorgeous, doesn’t it? ;)

Store bought Canapés - Warmed for 2 minutes in a pre-heated oven

Chef Notes:  

1. Please do not use gelatine sheets and, please, do not ask me whether you can substitute sheets for powder because my answer will be a firm, ‘No!’; more so because I will not be able to guide you in regard to balancing the proportion of powder by sheets. 
2. The original recipe uses 1 cup tomato ketchup/sauce but i prefer that slight hint of chili hence have used half cup ketchup and half cup Maggi Hot & Sweet Sauce. 
3. Any regular white fish (e.g. King fish-Surmai or Indian White Salmon-Rawas) will work fine for this recipe. Please avoid using fish that have a strong fishy odour. 
4. I would strongly advise the use of measuring spoons to ensure this dish turns out as it should.
5. The mayonnaise used by me, for this recipe, is the one I make at home. I never use store bought, bottled mayo. The recipe of the mayonnaise used by me is on my blog under the name, ‘The Never-Fail Blender Mayonnaise’. 
6. No Instagram filters have been used on any of the photographs; I prefer you get to see the end product in its natural colour. Having said that, the dish appears a tad orange in certain photographs, instead of the peach colour that it actually was, because I have clicked those photographs during sunset, near the kitchen window. 
7. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   
   
   

The Brownie Love Affair....

Ever since my ‘brownie-quiche gal’, Kainaz Nunes, immigrated to the UK I have been searching for the perfect brownie.  I have to say, having had brownies made by Kainaz, the bar is set very high. (Kainu, you will always be my ‘brownie’ girl <3 ) I happened to see a review for brownies at a Facebook group and decided to give them a try. After a Facebook Messenger interaction with Fadila, (the lady who bakes the brownies), I confirmed my order for two varieties: half a kilo of Chocolate Brownies and another half kilo of Chocolate Walnut Brownies.



The Brownies arrived, before lunch, at 1330 hours. They were packed in a simple cake box but, the box was beautifully done up with a bow and a card. I wanted to dive into the sweetness immediately but stopped myself as I needed to photograph them. Clicking photographs when all one wants to do is dig one’s teeth into the product is the toughest thing we food critics have to endure. Sigh! But it was worth the clicks as they turned out to be ‘write up’ worthy. :)

As soon as I was done photographing, I decided to skip lunch and go straight to dessert. I gently picked a walnut brownie with all the love and tenderness that I could muster and lovingly bit into that warm, exquisite yumminess. After months I was, once again, back in brownie heaven and all was right with my world.

The brownies were decadent and sinful. Actually both adjectives are bloody understatements. They were all that and more! The chocolate frosting, liberally, slathered over the brownies was a sheer delight. Most bakers tend to over bake the brownies which makes them dry and lifeless from within. These were not so. They were moist, gooey and fell into the category of, ‘There is no way I am stopping at one’. I then picked up the Chocolate Brownie. This was just as ambrosial as the one with the walnut. I do prefer brownies with walnut, though, because they lend an intermittent crunchy texture and also help to cut through the constant richness that permeates the palate. These babies are a must-try for chocolate lovers!

Fadila’s Brownie venture is known as ‘The Brownie Corner’. My understanding of the name is a tad different, and for that reason I feel the venture is aptly named. The deliciousness steadily 'corners' our hearts, leaving us wanting for more. I asked Fadila whether she was planning to extend her menu and venture into the realm of other bakery products. She mentioned that she planned to stick to what she knows best: Brownies. I love it when home chefs are confident and grounded enough to know what they excel at and stick to what they do best; as a ‘Master’ rather than a ‘Jack’.

Fadila, I cannot thank you enough for the fudgy decadence. It made my day! I wish you the very best in your ‘brownie venture’. May the Brownies corner the hearts of all those who bite into their goodness with as much love as the love with which you bake them.

Fadila can be contacted on: +91 8408978652