SPICE LOUNGE

Any good food needs ‘spice’ to enhance the flavor, aroma, taste and distinctiveness. There are terribly few foodsthat include no spice in any form. The use of the word as a theme point manages to attract a pretty extensive clientele, that succumbs to the exotic undertones in its usage. There is a quite a unique medley of Indian and Oriental cuisine at Spice Lounge. The ambience and the menu are completely contrasting, but the description of the food mentioned in the menu and actual food brought to the table are thankfully not. Though they have a well stocked lounge bar, their soups are even more inviting. Manila Sinegong is a soup with stir fried vegetables and diced chicken along with a poached egg. It comes in a nice coffee like mug and the taste is simply brilliant! It’s simplicity lies in the limited usage of unnecessary sauces and thickening agents. The tempura and chicken satay are true to their roots, while the mushroom cheese tikka is quite different and pretty appealing as well — the cheese is stuffed in the pocket of the mushroom and covered with a piece of capsicum, onion or tomato and spiked with spices. The Vegetable Saigon Hakka Noodles are flat noodles prepared similarly to the way normal hakka noodles are, with the only noticeable difference being the use of turmeric. Korean Star Anise Rice is another must try for — the rice is sautéed with star anise and cooked to give out a unique flavour, served with a sauce preparedfrom soy, chilli and oyster. I suggest you not try it with the prawn combination like I did, since they, along with the oyster sauce, overpowered the aroma of the star anise. Apart from the above, the Murtabak (veg stuffed pancakes), Kung Perrini salad, Peppercrusted Escabecha Pomfret, Mutton Stir-fry Bumbu and other Indian preparations also sound like some good options. Quantities served up are great, as is the price which shows no compromise on the quality. Inspite of it being averagely priced, one can find an ample use of exotic vegetables. Another suggestion would be to ask for your preparation to be made less oily, as you'd probably want the flavour of the spice to remain and not be inundated in grease. A four course mixed me al for two could amount to Rs 750.

SPICE LOUNGE

34, 35 Akshay Complex Off Dhole Patil

road, Pune-1

Tel no 020-26138941