Deliciousness and Laughter- Fat Cat's Cafe

This weekend has been the best one that I’ve had this year. Catching up after months, re-visiting old memories, and a whole lot of bonding over good food- awesome weekend was awesome. Laughter and good food have been the highlights of the weekend, and why not? A place like Fat Cat’s Café can only guarantee deliciousness and laughter, duh! 

We planned to meet up for a coffee, and ended up spending the whole evening here. Similarly on Sunday we stopped by to eat a red velvet pastry (we all have our cravings) and ended up eating a lot more (as soon as you walk into the café, I think the aroma clouds your judgment, and you end up ordering all that’s on display. It’s not a bad thing) So here’s a summary of what you might have missed if you didn’t come over to Fat Cat’s this weekend ( :P)

Bacon Cheese Quiche

Crab Melts

Coffee Cake

Red Velvet Pastry

Apple Pie

Baked Raspberry Cheesecake

Cold Coffee

Here’s what it went like (warning- pictures might make you drool)

Bacon Cheese Quiche

A soft creamy blend of bacon and cheese, complimented by a delicate flakey crust that enhances the flavor. Take a look at the inside of this-

The red bacon with the creamy cheese is sure to make one drool. And it tastes better than what it looks like. And I doubt you’d get any other place that would be so generous with their bacon servings.

Crab Melts

One word when you bite into it- “mmm” You don’t even want to take some time out to say “It’s awesome”. The name is self explanatory- the crab melts in your mouth.

Also, it’s one of those rare occasions where you’ll find such authentic and tasty and FRESH crab anywhere in this city. If you’ve missed this, I feel bad for you.

Coffee Cake

Melanie (the baker/owner) continues her magic with baking. I’ve had the red-velvet cake, the baked cheesecakes, and now the coffee cake. And I think I have found my favorite (yes, imagine something better than the red velvet cake. Imagine.)

The flavor of the coffee, the frosting, the chocolate- I’m drooling while writing about it. You get the point.

Red Velvet Pastry

Everyone’s heard of the red velvet pastry here. Everyone. I don’t need to say anything about this, it’s found it’s niche.

"It looks like Christmas!!" 

Apple Pie

Autumn at grandma’s place for a family re-union- this is what the apple pie will remind you of. Of laughter, memories, nostalgia, sweetness, and good food, this apple pie will remind you of a happy childhood.

Baked Raspberry Cheesecake

I’ve had the blueberry cheesecake and absolutely loved it ( the red velvet cake was even ignored for a couple of minutes while I drooled over the cheesecake last weekend) Hence the decision to try out this new flavor. I personally prefer the Blueberry cheesecake, but I feel even if they come up with a plain cheesecake I’ll love it. Magic, that’s what it is.

Cold Coffee

Yes, even the cold coffee deserves a mention. And I love the way they are served chilled with ice, it’s like the stuff you see in ads. Reminded me of the days I used to come back home after my evening games, and mum used to have a glass of cold coffee waiting for me at the table. Good thought ^_^

So if you don’t know what to try out here, come along, have a cup of coffee, read a book, eat a red velvet cake, and experience magic.

Cos I eat Dessert for Breakfast - Peter's Pan

Being a morning person, I have always enjoyed breakfast scenes. Call me at 7:00am for a breakfast meeting, and I will be there 5 min before time. Scientifically proven, the breakfast must be the heaviest meal of the day...plus after killing myself at the gym every morning I could eat enough for 2 people. So you get the drift. Meet me for breakfast, and you'll never really regret it. 

I met a school friend after ages- yes sadly it's that point in life when all the close ones are all over the world. Meeting someone for even a day now gets me excited, and meeting someone who is equally excited about breakfast and chocolate and FOOD made this even more special. 

We went to a small cafe in the neighborhood- Peter's Pan. It's been here for quite some time, and I have gone here a bunch of times for pancakes and well, pancakes. This is one good thing about this place- it's been so long, and they have maintained the quality of their pancakes (maybe even got better!) So yes, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out that pancakes was part of our breakfast. 


This is what we had-

Vanilla Cinnamon French Toast
Banana Caramel Pancakes
Coffee

(All for 230 bucks, hell yeah!)

The verdict-



French Toast

Three thick slices of toast, covered in caramel sauce. The sight of the dish gave me a sugar high, I kid you not. Here, have a look-

One bite of this beautiful dish, and I couldn't STOP. I ended up eating 2 out of the 3 slices (I must learn some self-control) There is not too much egg, which is good (I once had a bad experience with French Toasts when the egg was a little too much, and it ended up smelling a little stale once it got cold) and the flavor ended up being almost perfect. What was missing was the cinnamon- there was absolutely no hint of cinnamon in the bread, when in fact it was one of the main reasons I had chosen that particular option (They had Jalapeno and Cheese French Toast too, but well, blame my sweet tooth for ordering desserts for breakfast) Vanilla cinnamon did sound a little more interesting..so yes, I was a little disappointed with the missing cinnamon. But that was probably just in the initial 3-4 bites...after that I think we were too busy catching up to even bother about missing cinnamon. 




Banana Caramel PANCAKES

This has been a personal favorite here. I have my moments once in 3 months when I come over for banana caramel pancakes. It pains me to see how people don't think banana, caramel, whipped cream served with pancakes cannot be a good thing. I agree, not everyone is ambitious when it comes to trying out new food and flavors. Here I am, assuring you that you are going to love this little change, and that you might want to shift over from chocolate too. 

Do give it a try. The pancakes are soft, fluffy, and filling. One plate contains 3 pancakes, so maybe you could come over and try it out one fine evening. Just a little food experiment :) 


The service is a little slow, you might have to wait a little too long for your order to be ready, but in the end it's all worth it. 

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!

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.