The French Window Patisserie – Tres Bien!

This write up should, ideally, have been written a month and a half back but I had too much on my plate (literally and figuratively 😊), hence the delay. But, better late than never, eh?

When a little birdie (Crystal) got back from Brazil after three long months, we simply had to catch up for our ‘me’ time. We chose The French Window Patisserie (TFWP) as our ‘catch up’ destination.

While I chose the Lemon Ice Tea, my friend chose the Basil Smoothie. The Lemon Ice Tea was cold and very refreshing. Please do not ask me about the Basil Smoothie; I refuse to put my hands on anything so ‘green’, let alone allow it to touch my palate. *wicked grin* My friend did sip it was great pleasure, though. 

While we sipped our drinks, we needed something to munch on hence decided to order the Poutine (with crispy bacon, but of course). The cheesy fries with the crisp bacon was heaven in a bowl. Sigh!

For the main course, my friend ordered a Mango Walnut Salad. If eating a couple of walnuts from the salad can be construed as ‘eating salad’ then, I did. (giggles) 

I chose the Christmas Pulled Pork Du Pain. This was superbly cooked pulled pork on crisp Crostini/s, topped with cheese. This was then put under a grill to allow the cheese to go the ‘molten’ route. Sounds super delish, doesn’t it? It was! 😉

Take a closer look ;-) 

There is no way Crystal and I will skip dessert hence we decided to share some Macarons (Orange, Dark Chocolate and Tonka) and a Dark Chocolate Berry Mousse. 

The Macarons were stellar! On touch, I immediately experienced the delicateness of the light, smooth and crisp exterior which went on to be a tad chewy from within as soon as I bit into it. Absolutely perfect! As for the flavours we tried, we liked the Tonka but, as it is an acquired taste it did not blow us way. The Orange Macaron was really very good but, it was the Dark Chocolate Macaron that totally blew us away. I could easily polish of a dozen of those beautiful babies. *I sound like a wicked, hungry ogre*

As for the Dark Chocolate Berry Mousse; it’s decadent and sinful! If you love chocolate as much as I do, then put this on your ‘must-must eat’ list.

Towards the end of our meal it began raining heavily. Most tables at TFWP are ‘all’aperto’ but the seating is covered during monsoon. After dessert, while my friend sipped a flavoured coffee I sat, peacefully, enjoying the cool breeze and the lashing rain. It was an afternoon of serious and crazy discussions, giggles and mad laughs (touch wood).

Our damages in total (including GST) for the afternoon was INR 1962. They levy no service charge, but the servers are so sweet and friendly, I promise, you’ll happily shell out 10%.

My thanks to Babita and Team TFWP for allowing us the liberty to sit and while away time at TFWP and of course, heartfelt thanks for the wonderful food served.

Food 5/5

Ambience 4/5

Service 5/5

Address: Bungalow 4, lane 5, Koregaon park, Pune

Tel: +91 9766644202 / 020 30586643

The Saturday Dim Sum Luncheon at Koji – A Class Apart!

Exec. Chef Pavan Kumar Chennum invited a few of us from Team #FoodProwl for a tasting of ‘The Dim Sum Luncheon’, at Koji-Conrad. 

Every Saturday afternoon, Koji has an unlimited dim sum luncheon available. On offer are two types of menus; vegetarian and non-vegetarian. This was Koji, my favourite restaurant in town hence, I skipped brekkie that day as I wanted to do full justice to the food served. *greedy grin*

The first dish sent our way was the Chicken Wanton Soup. This was a thin, clear soup served with a chicken wanton. While the soup was very flavourful, the wanton in the soup disappointed. It was too doughy. We did inform the chef and they promised to look into it.

Once we were done with the soup our dim sums were sent to the table. The first was Chicken Bao. These babies were beautifully steamed and the filling within was yum! 

Prawn Dumplings, Scallop Shumai, Chicken Shanghai and John Dory & XO Dumplings were then brought to the table. 

The Chicken Shanghai was pan fried and the texture of the dim sum casing was a tad crisp. The difference in texture was a nice change for my palate. 

Taste wise, I couldn’t find fault with any of the dim sums. Also, there is no way I can point to any one of them say, this one was the best. Each and every one was superb! I expected no less, after all, this was Koji!

They also served us a Xiaolongbao. If you cannot remember its name, simply call it a soup dumpling.

The Xiaolongbao is a dim sum filled with soup (sometimes it is filled with soup and a bit of pork meat/crab meat/etc). This one was filled with a delish chicken stock. There is a certain way to eat them. Use chop sticks to pick up these delicate babies from the tip of the dim sum to ensure you don’t break them. Dip the dim sum in light soy sauce (or the extra soup, if served by the restaurant) and then place it in a Chinese soup spoon. You can then bite off the top of the dim sum and slurp some of the soup. When a wee bit of soup remains in the dim sum, eat the dim sum with the remining soup. Never put the whole Xiaolongbao in your mouth. The soup inside is, usually, hot and can burn your mouth. Also, never put a Xiaolongbao on a plate and cut it with a fork or knife. That’ll be the death of this gorgeously delicate and delicious dim sum.

We also tried a couple of vegetarian dim sums and they, too, were beautifully done. Chef Tenzin is a dim sum chef par excellence. Actually, I’d much rather call him an artist coz I’ve been following his work for quite a while now and his dim sums, truly, are a work of art!

The last savoury dim sum, Cheung Fan, served to us happens to be my all-time favourite! With all my heart I believe, no dim sum compares to a well-made Cheung Fan and this one was supreme in quality. We tried the veg and the non-veg versions. Both were excellent but, no prizes for guessing that this carnivore preferred the non-veg one. 😉

We finished our meal with a sweet Custard bao served with Mango sorbet. The piping hot bao with the sweet custard filling was heavenly. I loved the Mango Sorbet as a stand-alone dessert but paired with the Bao, they both kinda fell flat! They did not complement each other. Do not eat them together. Eat each of them by themselves and I promise they will stand tall and shine.

This unlimited Dim Sum meal is available at Koji, every Saturday afternoon. The unlimited Dim Sum menu is priced at 1699 + taxes for the vegetarian menu and 1799 + taxes for the non-vegetarian menu.

What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon! A scrumptious dim sum lunch set in the elegantly outfitted Koji. Life doesn’t get any better or any more luxurious than that!   

While this Dim Sum Luncheon menu is curated for Saturday afternoons, I have just received news that Koji is about to commence a weekday luncheon; ‘The Koji 45er’; an express lunch for busy weekday afternoons. More on that soon! 😉

Address: Koji - Conrad - Pune, Mangaldas Road, Pune.

Buzz: 020 020 71967158

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Big Belly Canteen – Perfect For My Belly! 😉

Yesterday, I was itching to have Indian food hence decided to order Rara Chicken (INR 320) from Big Belly Canteen (BBC). I'd heard very good reviews about it. I have to agree with each and every positive review ever written about BBC's Rara Chicken. 

The gravy was delish, and the chicken was juicy and tender. The Butter Garlic Naan (INR 35) that I'd ordered, as accompaniment, was also very nicely done.

A couple of months back Jitin bhai had called to say he was opening a new delivery kitchen at Viman Nagar; Big Belly Canteen (BBC). He mentioned he wanted to send over a few dishes for me to try as he wanted feedback for the same. I tried the food and gave him honest verbal feedback, as requested.

As I'm penning about last night's dinner, I've decided to pen about the dinner Jitin bhai sent me a couple of months back. So, read on... 

At the time he'd sent me Khandeshi Chicken which was spicy as it had special ground Khandeshi masala added. The light bitter aftertaste of Javantri (Mace) came through delicately and beautifully. 

He also sent Veg Butter Chicken, Dal Gheewala, Jeera Rice and Lachcha Paratha.

While I loved the robustly spicy Khandeshi Chicken, the Veg Butter Chicken did nothing for me with regard to the overly sweet gravy. The Soya Chaamp in the gravy were nice but the sweet gravy was a letdown. Having said that let me add with honesty, mum cannot handle spicy food hence this was the dish of the day for her. (Such a perfect example of 'taste is subjective'). 

The Dal Gheewala was fabulous, and they weren't at all stingy with the ghee. It was yum! The Jeera Rice was also superb!

Next, I need to try their Chindian food. I'm told they do a mean Chilli Chicken. 😉

Please note: Big Belly Canteen is not a restaurant; it’s a ‘Delivery Kitchen’ based at Ramwadi, Viman Nagar. They are (soon) opening a second branch at Baner.

To order, you may call them on +91 8669994001 or you may order via Zomato, Swiggy or Dial-A-Meal.

Some more photographs...