EATMOSPHERE

The cafés in Pune are now not anymore an orthodox one. It has started to evolve especially being concept driven. Though there wore big giants entering this leisure café segment almost a decade back, now we witness stand alone cafés run by young and dynamic entrepreneurs. Also the stuff served usually in star hotel’s 24 hour coffee shop now finds place in these cafés.

Eatmosphere is one such, with the atmosphere being very unique. The interiors are fabulous and have been done in homely way. Cane furniture, wooden sittings; make shift curtains, and cushions. The menu is sleek and westernized. They have a few on lists as for now, consisting of sandwiches, coolers, salads, soup for the day, crepes and new variety introduced in cafés, as baked jacket potatoes which qualifies as fillers. Those are skin on potatoes having various fillings inside topped up with normally cheese or creamy sauce and baked to perfection. Among sandwiches there is Cheese Factory sandwich having 2 swiss cheeses grilled in three breads and sticking to their name. Other varieties in sandwiches are turkey, chicken salami and tuna. Then there is lettuce wraps which has warm filling inside and crispy iceberg lettuce as wrapping. We have seen refined flour wraps or commonly denoted as roomali roti, as the covering till now. So these wraps are completely healthy.

This neighborhood already have handful of cafés. This one is a fresh entrant (a week old), seems promising due to its innovative menu content and atmosphere oh! Eatmosphere!

Eatmosphere

Shop No. 4 Ashwini Place, Kedari petrol pump lane, Next to Hite bar,9967514019

ABA CHA DHABA

This review was duly awaited. I was reluctant to visit the place which has made a revolution. A cuisine which existed in bottom list of a typical restaurant menu card which had mis-lead people to be the only spicy preparation they had to offer. I am talking of Kolhapuri cuisine. By far the famous purepur kolhapur, has already taken the cuisine to a next level and in a right direction, making me nervous to criticize. This place is its sister property, which has different preparation on the list. It has been re-vamped freshly a couple of months back. The interiors are minimal with maximum seating capacity provided. The menu is just the same as you get at a dhaba. Meaty things maximum on the block followed by variety of egg preparation and summing it up with vegetables and the specialty – the dum biryani! Solkadhi happened to be a strong one, with the zing of garlic almost killing the flavor of coconut and kokum. Moving forward with the chicken sukka and paneer butter masala I noticed that all the dhabas around India love one thing to add in its preparations – the color red!- When enquired here out of curiosity for why it is being used abundantly, the owner clarified that at this dhaba the color comes from the chillies which they use to make the ground masala. Any how you have your fingers colored any ways! The paneer was not so soft has it has to be. The chicken was good enough and also had some gravy which was more tasty. The style in which the dum biryani served here is something to go for. Firstly the rice is soft having the smoky flavor for they serve it in earthern pot with a live coal placed at the centre, the grounded masala being perfectly balanced in terms of flavor and texture and lastly the mutton being succulent and not chewy to disappoint you when you are having the last dish for the night. Also one thing is noted, the biryani is served as a biryani and not like a tri colored pulao served elsewhere and proclaimed as a dum biryani.

The meal at this urbanized dhaba (read urbanized for the hygiene) the meal for two would cost you less than 350/- which delightfully satisfies all your corners! Only drawback would be the waiting, as even on a Tuesday night, this 40 seater dhaba was packed!

MY OVERALL RATING: 7/10

Aba Cha Dhaba

Next to Kulkarni petrol pump

Near Alka Talkies chowk

Laxmi road, pune

(020) 32418877

9921735078 / 9552526347

BOHEMIAN

Usually we visit a new restaurant a few weeks after the opening, however this is the first time we are doing a preview of an upcoming restaurant. Bohemia, managed by the Oasis club, is a Mediterranean cuisine restaurant scheduled to open next month. It is currently carrying out a trial menu, with the chef compiling a new menu everyday, which comprises of starters, pizzas, salads, a main course and dessert. The ambience is in sync with the theme — clay pottered tableware, vibrant varied designs and colors. The starters include Polenta (corn meal) Sandwich, Mezze Platter among the veg and Bombay Duck Fritos, Creole Style Grilled Prawns for meat eaters. The vegetarian food is very authentic and true to their roots and the meats are worth trying too. Among the salads, the Cous Cous and the Balsamic Marinated Beetroot salads were tantalizing. The best thing about the Cous Cous Salad was the contents that justified the name. The pizza’s base was a little unauthentic however its toppings, pesto with olives, were good enough. In the main course, the Charmoolah (four spiced marinade) Grilled Fish was tangy but succulent. The Spanish Veg Paella was the most appealing dish of the evening with its soft distinct flavor of tomatoes. The Apple Crumble was cooked just right and the Lemon Cheesecake had a balanced flavor of lemon and cream. The service was knowledgeable, for every preparation being served was backed by a detail description. As these trails often cost Rs 500 per person, with a complimentary glass of either wine or beer, I can’t really comment on the price. However, even if you do find it a costly affair to dine here, one thing is for sure, the preparation and the menu compilation is the best and it offers authentic Mediterranean cuisine. If they manage to remain consistent after the opening, which only time will tell, this could become the place to visit to enjoy a Bohemian life!

MY OVERALL RATING: 8/10

Bohemia

Club Oasis, NDA Road,

Chandni Chowk

NEBULA

It’s actually quite an old place for a review... However whenever I used to take this road (NDA-Pashan Road) this place used to catch my eye. Mainly because of it’s name. The entire building is a restaurant as the name suggests. Despite the heat we chose not to dine in A/C comfort but on the rooftop simply for the cool, cool breeze. The well stocked bar is situated right in the centre giving open air dining the right appeal. To add to it was the screening of IPL match! The menu is more of Indian along with Chinese. Here I would say upgraded Chinese. The reason for this is that gone are the days when a Chinese menu used to be dotted with fried rices with names of Chinese cities, like Hong Kong Fried Rice, Singapore Fried Rice, etc. Now-adays, we find good aut h e n t i c Chinese food with lots of options. The credit goes to the procurement of different varieties of sauces available in the market, which actually adds to the taste. Now that does not mean the Indian food is not good. It was good indeed! Especially the Fish Rara Masala prepared with Basa fish which comes from Vietnam seas tasted good. Paneer Malai Kabab and Noodle Bhel were good too. The dessert section made me happy. The choclate mud cake and the sizzling chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream are must haves here. The service needs attention: We had to actually wave out to the staff for orders. That can be slightly irritating sometimes. Also I found the ratio of cost to quantity to be slightly unbalanced, when the bill finally came in. Otherwise it is a good place to dine-in and recommended to couples who want to spend a quiet evening starwatching.

MY OVERALL RATING : 5.5/10

NEBULA,

NDA-Pashan road,

Bavdhan

22952073

GRUBSHUP

If I can possibly find out in advance, I try to find out the details of the place I’m going to visit. So, when I browsed through the menu on the website of Grubshup, I was impressed with their concept and the content of the menu. The place, a youth hangout, goes an extra mile to provide quality food at affordable prices. The ambience is like a semi-lounge, with wooden box-like seaters instead of cushy chairs or sofas, best suited for collegegoers, but could prove to be a pain in the wrong place to people of other age groups. My first impression was that the menu was very contemporarily compiled, which it actually is, the only drawback is actually understanding the mix and match of the food items. It serves mocktails, breakfast, set lunch, ala carte mains, snacks, finger foods, ‘pitawiches’ (sandwiches made with pita bread) and desserts. All served strictly by the clock! I ordered by matching the available timings in which they are served. A unique method is adapted here to make your own meals, from the given choices. It was confusing, initially, to get the right stuff. I failed to understand the category of “stuffings” served separately in a bowl, and why kathi roll was mentioned in the same section. There was a Vegetable Manchurian on the list but noodles were no where to be found. Neither were the desserts, as only a couple were available. I won’t comment too much about the service, as annoyingly, I was denied a table for four, when the entire hangout had merely three tables out of twenty occupied. As for the taste, Lemon Iced Tea, Paneer Kathi Roll and Chicken Saiboo were disappointing, as the description clearly mentioned dumplings, while we got shreds of chicken. The Kathi Roll was over doused with filling and a flavour of ajwain remained in the after taste. The Po Boy Chicken Pita was good, as it is a normal chicken mayo filling while the Mint Caiprioska was fantastic! And so was the Brownie. One particular element which is mandatory for a hangout place, a glass of chai, was next to perfect!

MY OVERALL RATING: 4.5/10

GRUBSHUP

Law College Road – Canal Road

Pune. 9552510426