The Flour Works, Pune

Weekends. A new place to visit, a new dish to try, a new experience, a new mood, a new story. This Saturday was no different.

Albeit a little late (people and foul mood to be blamed for the procrastination) I headed over to The Flour Works for work. Situated at a quiet corner in Kalyani Nagar, The Flour Works is a café hidden away from the hustle bustle of the city life.  Though the ambiance was quite a disappointment.  I follow them on Facebook, and from the updates that I have been seeing, I had high expectations.  To keep it short and simple- I have seen prettier places. The seating arrangement outdoors is well spaced out, but they could definitely improve the presentation. Honestly, it looks like a glorified parking lot. The indoors is much better, but there’s a particular smell that didn’t quite suit my liking. I decided to sit outside, even though it’s cozier indoors.  A place one could come on a date with- white curtains, lights, seats by the windows, wine, a table for two, and all that jazz. The couples did seem lost in their own world <Valentine’s season….*super sigh*>

I chose a table outdoors, and settled down with my diary and laptop. It was 15 minutes later that I was offered a menu card- service is a little slow here, as I found out during the course of my visit. The waiters are friendly and quick, but I wish I didn’t have to keep prompting them.

The menu has an interesting choice of dishes. Starters, Main course (pastas, etc), Sandwiches, Burgers, Pizzas, Desserts, and the beverages.  I decided to order myself a Chicken Sandwich- safe choice, and easy to eat.I also ordered a Ginger Jolt, something to wash down the sandwiches with.

The sandwiches arrived within 15min, which is a good turnover time I feel.  Though the Ginger Jolt took 45 min (told you, slow service) The sandwiches looked good, and I couldn’t wait to bite into one of them.

I was dreading they’d be bland, with mayo. But BECAUSE they exceeded my expectations, I was more than overjoyed. The bread isn’t hard, the chicken is fresh, the lettuce is fresh and crispy, the onions give the perfect flavor (or else this would be a bland dish too) and the cheese is absolutely perfect. As soon as you bite into the bread, you get a generous amount of chicken in your mouth, and a hint of butter, and CHEESE. There’s just enough cheese to hold the two pieces of bread together, and to give a strong flavor at the end.  As I said earlier - perfect quantity of cheese. The sandwich is served with a small portion of fries, which is EXACTLY how much is needed. By the end of it, it got a little heavy with the butter and cheese and chicken, but on a better day I’m sure I could finish it off.  When you are too confused with the variety of choices being offered here, do consider having this sandwich. It’s a 9/10 from me.

The Ginger Jolt gets a 10/10. As the name suggests, it jolts you out of your mood (in a good way of course) A sugar rush (which is what I live ON I guess :/) a strong flavor of ginger, and a hint of lemon- this is what fixed my mood today. And it’s a strange combination of flavors, which is what’s so refreshing and intriguing about it. This is applicable to all the refreshments being offered here. Absolutely LOVED what they had to offer. I’m definitely coming back for the drinks here.

<Pssst- I heard the women on the other table talking about how brilliant the CCCV is. That’s next on my list>

It was a heavy meal, but thanks to the drink I didn’t get too lazy. By the time I finished working, the sun had already set, and the crowd around me had changed completely. There were couples on dates, young girls gossiping, girlfriends catching up…the vibe of the place had changed. It was definitely better than what it was in the afternoon, but I still feel the space outside can be made much prettier.

And since I cannot resist sweets, I managed to pick up a carrot muffin too. So yes, I’m now going to take your leave. The muffin awaits me. Happy reading folks!

P.S.- Muffin: Minus the walnuts, it would have been good. Walnuts make it bitter. 4/10.

A lazy Sunday afternoon - Brooklyn Shuffle, Pune

A lazy Sunday morning spent lazing around on the couch, watching Shrek and wondering what to eat for lunch. And before we knew it, we were on our way to Brooklyn Shuffle. You know, a change from the routine, a change of place, change of food, ambiance, mood, everything. Brooklyn's got such a happy feel to it, then why not? J

We reached a little late for lunch (2:45pm) and were surprised to see the place buzzing with people.The staff here is super friendly, and within a minute we had found a perfect corner for the three of us, with cozy blue chairs and a sun-lit table. You know, the perfect Sunday setting. 

We decided to order 3 dishes for the 3 of us, which turned out to be a lot since the place is a little too generous (it’s a GOOD thing) with it’s portions.  This is what we ordered-

1 Fried Chicken Burger

1 Chiken Banh Mi Sub

1 Chicken Mac and Cheese

Along with this, we ordered-

1 Cappuccino

1 Fresh Pineapple juice

1 Coke

Here’s the verdict-

Fried Chicken Burger

10/10 for the presentation. The fries in the bucket, the onion rings on the side, coleslaw, and the humongous burger on a wooden plate. All for you to eat. I was afraid to touch it cos it looked so BEAUTIFUL. The fried chicken patty looked juicy and tempting, the size of the burger was a bit overwhelming, and the quantity of the entire dish, along with its accompaniments, was a lot more than what I had expected.

One bite into the burger, and I was a little disappointed. People love the fried chicken burger here, is what we were told. But maybe I was expecting spices, a little flavor..a little something that seemed to be missing. The coleslaw in the burger ended up making it a little too bland I guess. I had to eat the burger with ketchup to get a strong flavor. I also had to remove the pickles and the coleslaw from the burger to get a strong taste, but it didn’t really work for me. I would suggest they added a little flavor, a little spice, so that it doesn’t taste bland.

Chiken Banh Mi Sub

Once again, 10/10 for the presentation. But again, the taste was a little disappointing. The bread was hard since it was toasted, and it made eating the whole sub a difficult process. The sub had a little tangy flavor cos of the pickles, and the chicken was well cooked, but I could have done with some spice.

Chicken Mac and Cheese

Goes without saying, 10/10 for the presentation. This came accompanied with 2 pieces of bread, and was the best dish on the table. Oh, the cheese and the white sauce- PERFECT. It tasted as good as it looked . Yes, this was bland, but it’s SUPPOSED to be so. It tends to get a little too heavy for the stomach since there’s so much of pasta and cheese to be eaten, but sit around for a couple of hours, and you can finish it off easily. And it’s worth it.

The Cappuccino was brilliant. Light, not too milky, a perfect froth..*sigh*  (Psst- I live for coffee)

The fresh Pineapple juice- MUST TRY IT. Perfect sugar rush, fresh, and TASTY.

Also, you must know that when I say I am a foodie, I mean it. So if you thought I was leaving before having dessert, you were wrong. Yes, after all that, my mother and sister were looking at me as if I had gone nuts, but hey, life’s too short to miss out on dessert!

So I ordered the Apple Crumble Pie. I have eaten this earlier, and have written about it. It was good back in December, and now it seems to have become even better. Yeah, can you  BELIEVE that? It’s warm, the crust tastes like Shrewsbury biscuits (much tastier than the biscuits actually) and the apple inside is warm,sweet, and mixed perfectly well with cinnamon. It is served with one scoop of vanilla ice cream. My sister and mother, who claimed to be too full to eat more, had half of the pie together. (OMG, this is SO yum, how do I stop? :/) Well yeah, the dessert made up for the disappointment with the burger and the sub earlier.

I’ll be coming back. This time for coffee, the pie, and some writing (the place has a quiet space outside where you can sit at a table quietly and read/write, lost in your own world)

Happy Eating!

Chung Fa, Pune - A Review

6 days- 2 reviews, 5 articles and 1 movie shoot. A hectic week was followed by a lazy (and hungry) weekend.  While everyone was getting dressed for a night of drunken revelry, I lazed around in my pajamas in front of the TV, on my couch, contemplating the various ordering in options available. After 45min of struggling with the voices in my head, I decided to try out Chinese food. And not just any Chinesefood , mind you- food that I can devour with such enthusiasm, that I’d make Adam Richman trying to eat a cheeseburger with 20 patties(Man Vs Food, for those who don’t know) look civilized compared to me. 

Hence, Chung Fa. It’s 6km away from home, I need to pay a 100 bucks extra for delivery, but WHO CARES. When there’s good food to be had, money is just another number.

I have a standard dinner order here-

Veg Hakka Noodles

Chicken Chilly (dry)

Chicken Manchurian (dry)

I have eaten the Beef Chilly and Chicken Fried Rice too, and loved it. That’s the standard lunch order J

Here’s the verdict-

Veg Hakka Noodles

This is by far the best noodles I have ever eaten, and that’s saying something. The quantity is generous. Super generous even! And the quantity of vegetables they add- pretty amazing to see how nothing has changed over the last 20 years that I have been eating here. The noodles are thin, the oil in which they are made does not taste stale, the vegetables feel fresh and crunchy.

In fact, do not add the garlic sauce to the noodles for extra flavor, the flavor of the noodles is  good enough.

Chilly Chicken

I usually order the dry one ‘cos I have this irrational reasoning (which might be true) that there is more flavor in the dry dishes, since corn flour and water dilutes it a little bit in the gravies. 

The quantity, once again, is generous. The chicken is well cooked. The corn flour doesn’t stick to the pieces, nor does it fall off (food which is falling apart is quite a turn off, you know) The chicken is fresh too (stale chicken tends to give a characteristic after taste) And it’s unlike the chilly chicken you have at other places- you won’t see capsicum and chilies, but the spring onions,garlic, and sauces get it absolutely spot on. I prefer the chilly chicken here compared to the ones at any other place. Try this. 

Chicken Manchurian

A little sweet, this one comes with tomatoes and capsicum. I repeat- generous quantity, well cooked chicken pieces, and good presentation. This time though, there were too many tomatoes and a little extra oil in the dish. Once again, the preparation is quite different as compared to what you get at other places, so I guarantee you  will enjoy this.  Do give it a try, and decide for yourself.

The night ended on a very very VERY happy note. Mean girls, good food, the couch, and I. I live for these weekends.

Do go try out the food here- if you are not comfortable with the place, you can always order in. The place is small, a little dingy, but neat. Have seen a wide variety of crowd there, but I personally prefer ordering in (because a-too lazy, and b- good food must not always be eaten in a civilized manner. I prefer being a little un-lady like at home )

Do check it out and share your feedback!

Brooklyn Shuffle- Review

Social media seems to be taking the world over by storm. So it comes as no surprise when the pre-launch activities for a new eatery start on Social Media. Must say, quite a good start at getting in touch with the local crowd through Twitter.  So yeah, I was pretty excited about going for the pre-launch lunch at Brooklyn Shuffle that weekend. The place is easily accessible. Situated right opposite Post 91 in Lane 7 at Koregaon Park, it is a cozy cottage hidden in the midst of trees.  The exteriors have surf boards, coffee tables, books, games, the works. Brooklyn feel much? Oh yeah.

The  interiors completely suit the name. Baseball gloves and bats as wall hangings, Pulp Fiction posters, colored stone walls, tiled flooring, eating booths and all that jazz.  It’s the place where you want to be away from the cacophony of sounds of the mainstream city life. Plus, you’re a part of a whole new culinary experience. You could come here at any time of the day.  Soft retro classics being played in the background, the place is divided into a lower diner area, and an upper area with tables. The seating, lighting, and even the air-conditioning wouldn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated; it’s different, comfortable, and gives you the perfect setting for a complete chilled out experience.

The first order was a Beef Chilly Steak, which in fact is a sub. I was a little reluctant about the beef, since I have never had a good experience with it before. What came to our table was enough to drive away all apprehension. The plate was beautiful; with a large sub, cut neatly into two, some coleslaw, French fries and onion rings. Beautiful! And the taste, even better! I promise you, such good beef has never touched my palette before. It’s well seasoned, cooked to perfection, in a thick sauce of the ideal consistency for the dish, completely tantalizing your taste buds. It leaves you wanting for more.

The second dish we tried was a chicken club sandwich. It came along with the same accompaniments, and tasted like any other club sandwich you have ever eaten. But nothing about the dish is ordinary- it is a beautiful mixture of presentation, taste, and ambience.

I personally preferred the Beef Chilly Steak because, honestly, nothing beats its taste. The crunchy yet juicy club sandwich didn’t disappoint us, but it couldn’t keep up to the level of awesomeness as its predecessor. The French fries, onion rings and coleslaw were the perfect accompaniments, well-cooked for both the dishes.

For dessert, we had the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. Once again, very average. But I recently visited the place again to try their cheesecake and Apple Crumble. Foodporn. Foodgasm. I can’t even begin to explain. I am not a fan of apple and cinnamon, so this coming from me must hold some truth in it. Why don’t you go try it out for yourself? If –“Beyond yum” is not the first thing that comes to your mind, change my name.

Overall, the experience was brilliant. I am thankful to my younger sister who introduced me to the Beef Chilly Steak. I would definitely be coming back for it again. And the cheesecake. And the apple crumble. The interiors are welcoming and chill. The drinks are refreshing. The food is to die for. Go ahead, for an amazing experience with friends or family, or even for a casual date (can’t WAIT to take my boyfriend here, it’s good enough to take his attention off me for a while, which is saying something); and enjoy your heart out with the great music.

My dear fellow foodies, Brooklyn Shuffle Diner has arrived.