Sunday, November 29, 2009

The foodie comes to Pune...


When I came down to Pune from Delhi... one thing that hit me the most was the change in food! Not so much the everyday food, but the Junk Food!! All of a sudden my world was devoid of shahi paneer, paneer ke pakode, bhalle papdi, aaloo chaat, falooda kulfi... even the samsoa's, jalebi's, dal makhani, gol gappe, bread pakode and patties tasted pathetically different! The sambhar was sweet, there was dahi on samosa and no dahi in raita, nothing was served hot... and a frown was all I got when I would ask for it! But then, I have explored and experimented and thankfully discovered some really good places to treat my taste buds with, and in the process I have stumbled upon and enjoyed some cool maharashtrian delicacies as well!

I thought I would share my list of favourites and 'why'...
If you have been to some of these places, do share your experience with me; if there are any good places that I have missed out, do let me know (please excuse Vaishali and Marjorine, I find nothing special there other than a needless hype)! If you are a north indian, new to Pune... this just might save the day for you! The list is in no particular order... so chill!


(*) Hot Dosas at Kadhai... In the basement of Ozone Super market in Aundh, amongst a motley of food joints... selling chaat to chocolates... one chubby guy prepares the most awesome crisp dosa's, right before your eyes... and serves them piping hot with two flavours of coconut chutney! The dosa here beats every other dosa I've had... by miles!


(*) Puran da dhaba at Hotel Pride... a wonderful dhaba ambience, live music usually playing ghazals or old hindi songs... and a buffet that serves everything from gol gappe , to a variety of tikka's, to kullad waali chai, to sarson ka saag, to meetha paan! This place is expensive, so come here when you have plenty of time, plenty of space in your stomach and it's not your birthday!

(*) Home Restaurant's... usually found at the base of most trek's to Shivaji fort's around Pune! The food is good, hygienic and super duper hot (lots of chilly) ... and I love it! :-) Here I first learned the words bhakri, pithala and matki usal...

(*) Chaitanya... most people come here for it's over-sized and half-cooked paranthas... I bet these people have absolutely no idea of a what a parantha is! Chaitanya is good for it's baigan ka bharta and bhindi served with normal sized plain paranthas! If you got the appetite you can also order a big peg of amritsari lassi! That said, this place is unhygienic, over crowded and is painfully short on serving staff, so I am not going there anymore!

(*) Manmeet... is more popular for it's chaat, but I go there for nothing but it's spicy, greasy north indian food! Another thing worth a try is the tri color falooda kulfi!!

(*) Goodluck... this shabby little eating joint renders it's name to one of the most busy chowk's in Pune! Bun maska ani chai and life is good at Goodluck! There's nothing else worth a try though! In my days of ignorance, I also enjoyed the scrambled egg's served here!

(*) Kalyan Bhel... for everything from pani puri to SPDP, please don't waste your time at any other place in Pune! Even if is means... you have to travel down half the city... it is worth it! :-)

(*) Kwality on MG Road... one of the very few places where the food tastes like it tastes in Delhi! You can order pretty much anything and you will not be disappointed! One interesting speciality is stuffed shimla mirch curry!

(*) Little Italy or La Pizzeria... is Italian and it's vegetarian! The food is awesome and does absolutely no malice to the stomach! The mock tails are the best I've had, and that combined with a very descent ambience make for a near perfect dining experience! Some people die for the desserts here, umm... I am not a big fan of them! They serve good food, and they charge good money for it!

(*) CCD at Baner Road or Hinjewadi... now CCD's are everywhere, and the one's at Aundh and Camp suck big time! The boys at Baner Road and Hinjewadi know their coffee... it's been a few months I've been to either of these places and I am not sure if the same guys are still there... but I am all willing to take a chance! :-)

(*) And more... places like Ice cream Magic popular for CAD-B, the coffee stall on the road opposite E Square, Horn Ok Please, Naturals ice cream and Mayur are alright too, but not worth a discrete mention!

Disclaimer: The above mentioned food is mostly unhealthy and is to be consumed at your own risk ;)

1 comment:

Abhisek Sinha said...

Interesting... Well I may suggest you some more... Try joints at Dwarka Lord's, Pimple Saudagar . You'll not repent. :)