CASA LOLO - Kamal Nehru park

Street food has always been popular, no matter what part of the world the cuisine is from. The taste of these quick-moving items is unbeatable and cannot be recreated in lavish kitchens. In Pune too, street food from across the world is available in different parts of the city. This week I decided to take a look at Casa Lolo, which specialises in Lebanese street food. As Haka noodles are to Chinese cuisine, shawarma is to Lebanese. I have always loved this vertical barbecue, for the way the spit whirls the meat around non-stop. The grilling apparatus itself is a nice display; it’s fresh and gives the feeling of (relatively nutritious) fast food and the flavours that waft through the air with the smoke, immediately ignite hunger. There’s not too much to choose from the menu. Your options are basically the Shawarma Roll, Falafel, Grilled Arabic Chicken (similar to the tandoori chicken but marinated with different ingredients) and Hummus Plate. Casa Lolo also serves pizzas which are made made home-style, but it has a thick, toasted base. Maybe the reason behind this is the double cooking that the base undergoes in a makeshift electric tandoor. Anyway, the place is best visited for its shawarma, hummus and pita breads. The taste of the meat here is mild, with the flavour of onion and tomatoes. It also tends to cool pretty fast, making it a bit chewy. The day I visited, the machine was not revolving properly, which resulted in the same meat being cooked at different temperatures. This also holds for the pita breads, as they are held in front of the fire merely for few seconds and tend to become hard soon after they are placed on the table. The base of lettuce or cucumbers or cabbage (the way other joints make the shwarma) was missing. This is substituted with pickled beetroot and carrots. If there’s any vegetable you’re used to in your shawarma that this place doesn’t serve, don’t worry — the hummus and garlic mayo fills up all gaps. Falafel here is well flavoured with coriander and garlic along with raw chickpeas which are deep fried. And the hummus (which is made from chickpeas blended well along with tahini paste), I felt was lacking olive oil and tinge of lemon. Casa Lolo is a good place to grab a wholesome middle-eastern experience at any time of the day. Not at all heavy on the pocket (average price is Rs 60 for a meal for one) it is definitely a fulfilling experience. The best part of this street food is that you don’t have to rub shoulders with the crowd while eating — you can sit back and savour it!

CASA LOLO

Off Bhandarkar Road

Opp Kamala Nehru Park

Also at Aundh DP Road and

off NIBM Road

DE KATTA

Written in devnagari script, yet serving English deli preparation is exactly supposed to be up-class “katta”. Having comfortable seating and spacious yet closed out mezzanine gives yet another hangout a different breather. The whacky life-sized painting which depict single dimensional art of a typical college katta, where there is this dude lighting up the stick sitting on cemented blocks, or a havaldar sitting at the entrance enjoying his usual nap, or a normal day to day life scene. Any which way, the art steals the attention. It’s a place where every table is complemented with a three pin socket, suggesting it to be a laid back place. No fusses about early orders, or frisking of guests as soon as you’re done eating.

Opened a few months before, this katta is a bit shaky on its food menu. Serving grilled sandwiches, salads, some more variety of bread preparations and coffee. The content is same old stuff but with some interesting additions being Egg Building (which is a three layered toasted s/w each having scrambled egg, boiled egg and egg omlette) or Chinese omlette (which comes with a small amount of Chinese gravy) The tossed salads are served warm overe here and it’s the blended cold coffee, hot coffee and black coffee only three sole beverages served.

This place has a strong hold of a theme which is depicted brilliantly which makes it worth visiting once. There is a lot of scope to improve on preparation style of sandwiches and variety in food section which can strengthen its weaknesses. May be the top ups in menu would be waiting down the line in coming days. Also whatever may be the reason for excluding this item from the menu which in any katta stands for; I was surely missing a hot piping cutting chai!

id k33a (De Katta,) Dahanukar colony, Main road near circle, Kothrud, Pune.

R BHAGAT TARRACHAND - LAXMI ROAD

After much adulation from colleagues, I revisited this place, but in a new location. R Bhagat Tarrachand isn’t new to me - I’ve visited this very old, pure vegetarian restaurant in the highly congested area in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar and even the one that was situated near the Talegaon toll on the Expressway. The thalis here are more famous than anything else. In spite of that a visit to this place on Laxmi Road was a new experience for me. The interiors of the restaurant are the same as the previous one at that location. However, don’t confuse the interior with the name or the theme. The main purpose visiting this place must strictly be for the food and the taste. The menu is typical, but there is the catch — the preparations have a huge difference. The taste, quantity and preparation served at the prices they offer would mortify others who give away same named preparations using additives such as khoya or thick pastes. I always crib about this ‘typical’ taste which is served all over town. For instance, if you don’t have a tinge of tomato in your Paneer Kadhai, you’ll probably be eating that thick paste which only fills your stomach but doesn’t satisfy your palate. Here, you will find more paneer pieces perfectly coated with enough gravy to give out lip-smacking taste. They also have Chinese preparations of which the Manchow Soup and Paneer Chilli was really good. Paneer Tikka, Vegetable Korma, Sarson ka Saag and Veg Pulao is almost better than what you’d consider the best! The staff is efficient and courteous. Don’t miss another signature dish of theirs – a beer bottle filled with creamy and delicious chach (butter milk). Situated on the busiest street of Pune, I spotted more of a student crowd compared to family and couples enjoying the treat.

R Bhagat Tarrachand

City Jewel, 2 nd floor, Opp Om Market

Laxmi Road (Monday Closed)

020-24457799

JAGAT BHARI KOLHAPURI

Ihave always in reviews, cribbed about two things - the authenticity of preparations and the value for money. Also, I believe in the thumb rule that taste is inversely proportional to the food items listed in the menu. The less the number of food items means a higher assurance of taste. This time, everything mentioned above was fulfilled. Jagat Bhari Kolhapuri (loosely translated to Kolhapur is the best in whole world) is actually the name of the restaurant. Its menu is probably the only one in Pune with just nine items on it. And imagine it to be a thela, or a roadside eatery. This is an 80-seater, a full fledged restaurant! The other thing that you get only here and not at any other Kolhapuri joint is masoor (whole red lentils). Jagat Bhari Kolhapuri is a masoor specialist with new preparation methods from this cuisine, that was not commercially showcased before, is served here. Other than this, you will find Khuskya Rice (translated to crisp rice, which is actually plain rice temperd with pure ghee, and topped with golden fried onions and coriander), Sol Kadhi, Tandoori Roti, Bhakari, Thecha, Dahi, mineral water and aerated water. The taste is exceptionally good and preparation is done in almost a household style because there are no trained chefs employed, apart from the tandoor chef. The kitchen is taken care by the owner and his family members. They have shown us a new face of Kolhapuri cuisine. That is what I like about the place, they have something new to offer and that too, something original and authentic. The gravy is far from the cliched Dal Makhani (which I thought initially being similar to this preparation). The service is good. They serve you a small portion to taste so that you know exactly what they have to offer. It’s been less than a month since it opened and there was wait to get in for dinner. I guess that says it all. A fulfilling meal for two will cost Rs 170. That makes me able to recommend the place to everyone. And no, unlike the Kolhapuri food cliche, you don’t need to carry handkerchiefs. The preparation here is authentic - not spicy, but very tasty!

MY OVERALL RATING: 7/10

Jagat Bhari Kolhapuri

47/1 Taware Colony, opp City Pride,

Next to Bhapkar Petrol Pump,

Pune-Satara Road

Cell no: 8087231218