Beef Steak Burger

Yay to another feature being published!! DNA, Pune, Page 2 :

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=61713&boxid=34941&ed_date=2014-03-24&ed_code=820040&ed_page=2

What seems like a millennium ago, a phenomenon called Burgers (previously known as Burger King) arrived in Pune. Back then, Pune Camp (M.G. Road) was populated with a cosmopolitan crowd; a mix of foreign students, Christians, Parsis and the elite. The crowd went wild for this place, and for someone who had started this as a small experiment, it ended up being a main business. 25 years since this phenomenon hit this town, Mr. Shapoor Irani, the man behind the burger joint, is still coming to terms with the fact that this place is one of the most famous burger joints in Pune.“I am an MBA graduate, I had nothing to do with this field when I decided to open this joint. I recognized the need in the market for burgers, had an empty space lying around back home, and decided to give it a shot. It’s become such a big hit, it’s not easy!”  

Considering it’s esteemed competition, this joint is surprisingly low-key.  Orders are taken over a small counter , while the cooks prepare the burgers in the background. While the orders are competently prepared, the options are straightforward- burgers, fries and drinks.All the customers are loyalists, and word-of-mouth publicity has got it this far.  If you are in Pune, looking for a fast-food quick-fix, you know where to go.

The Beef Steak Burger has established itself in the competitive market. Mr. Irani went on to tell us how people from Mumbai and Goa come over on weekends to get a taste of the special beef burgers. “On weekends, it’s maddening. There is a long queue of customers waiting to order, and the guys in the kitchen work at the speed of lightning. All the beef burgers are sold out EVERYDAY, there are people who settle in for the chicken burgers because the beef ones are over. I feel bad, but there’s nothing that I can do. I want to continue providing good quantity of quality food, at inexpensive rates.” On quizzing him about the daily sales he smiles and says- I can make 200 burgers, and I can make 10,000. Depends, you can never say. But we are always well prepared.” Does he wish to expand the business? “No not as of now. I have a tough time handling this, how much can one man do? Everything here is freshly prepared, I do not sell frozen patties. The shelf-life automatically decreases, so I can’t be looking out at franchises. I want to give my undivided attention to the 2 stores, I don’t want to compromise on quality, quantity, prices, or my attention” Mr. Irani’s passion for the business is reflected in the way he tells us how a burger is made, describing each step in detail while preparing a burger by himself. 

The store has 2 branches, one on East Street and the other one at Koregaon Park. The stores open at 11:30am and close down by 10:30pm, and are always buzzing with customers.  A beef steak burger is priced at Rs. 80. The customers know what they want, and they know they can get it here- cheap, filling, and most importantly, consistent. Majority of the customers are students, and that is something that has not changed since the store opened back in 1988-89. “The foreign students would come here for the beef burgers, you’d get the loyal AFMC guys coming in every evening, and every Sunday you’d find the NDA chaps occupying the whole place, all throughout the day. Pune has been very kind.”

A good burger is a beautiful thing, almost like an unimprovable piece of art- a satisfying messy presentation of ketchup, cheese, mayonnaise, beef and of course the custom-made buns. If you're looking out for messy American burgers that remind you of Jughead while you eat them,  you will definitely enjoy this place. And if you are lucky enough to get Mr. Irani to spend some time with you, you’d not want to leave.  

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!