Cafe Arabia - Kothrud — Restaurant in Pune

When someone speaks about Arabian food my mind easily diverts towards Lebanese food and Hummus. If I have to summarize Arabic food in one sentence it would start and end with Hummus. Being a big fan myself i was super excited when Café Arabia came near my place in Kothrud. Not much of a big fan when it comes to delivery outlets coz of the multiple experience of poor delivery service in India from multiple service providers. Café Arabia delivery outlet in Kothrud had a surprise for my not so high expectations. The package was superb and very well packed. It was a flat package and it was carried flat. All the ingredients inside the package were well contained in their respective compartments and there was absolutely no spill over.

Coming to what I got delivered. Mezze Platter- I was expecting a Baba Ganoush inside the platter but there was none. A small disappointment for my heart. But the rest made it up for it. Two pieces of grilled chicken with their skin intact and loads of spicy marinate had my attentions straight away. To help the chicken I had lettuce, olives, jalapenos and capsicum salad. They had included picked beetroot and carrot along with the dish. There were two deep fried patties which were pretty dry but tasted fine along with the hummus. Unfortunately the hummus wasn’t that good. Too much of spice and salt. Hummus would have just won it all for me but unfortunately it was an off day for Café Arabia. Shredded chicken shawarma pieces were juicy and went well with the regular Shawarma combo.

Baklava or Balaclava was the best of the lot. Sweet, nutty dessert topped with caramelized sugar and loads of flavor. It was a perfect snack post a heavy spicy dinner. Usually Baklava is served with coffee and I made myself one to enhance its pleasure.

Overall- I was pretty impressed by the packaging of Café Arabia. With such a promise I am looking forward to ordering more from the place. I have tried their Shawarma roles at Aundh branch and they were good. I expect I get the same from Kothrud branch. Hoping they nail the hummus next...

Whenever I think of Middle Eastern food , the first thing that pops up to my mind is Café Arabia.

They started off as a small joint in Kalyani Nagar, Pune and are now successfully running more than 4 branches overall Pune.

Recently they have opened up a new branch in Karve Nagar which is a delivery kitchen. So now that it’s near my home, I am sure they are going to get a lot of business from me.

As a part of their tasting session , they delivered some bestsellers to me.

Mix Mezze Platter – Hands down the best mezze platter I have had till date. The platter consists of 2 falafel bullets , chicken shawarma strips ( obviously) , grilled chicken , garlic tourm, harissa , hummus ( because that’s the best part) , whole wheat pita bread and pickles. Every bite gave out the exact flavours I was expecting. The chicken was well marinated and well cooked. The hummus and pita bread were perfect too.

Baklava – A Baklava is one of the most consumed desserts in the Middle East consisting of layers of filo with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey or syrup. The Baklava served by Café Arabia was not too sweet , not too bland. This one of its kind dessert was surely a winner.

The taste has never been compromised under any circumstances and they have always made their customers happy.

I was ecstatic to see the personalized note along with the delivery. That proves they respect their customers and believe in offering them the best.

I highly recommend it to everyone in the vicinity. I would just deduct 1 point for a bit of a delay in delivery.

All in all, I want to say one thing -...

It was only until recent that I tried Middle Eastern cuisine. Well this wasn't my first time though. Long ago when i had tried shwarama for the first time it didn't please me much. But recently I have started having great liking for shwaramas & hummus. But Pune has very few joints that serves good shwarama and Cafe Arabia is one of them. And having Cafe Arabia's delivery kitchen close to my home has helped me satiate cravings for some delicious middle eastern cuisine. So recently tried their Mixed Mezze Platter and here's my verdict. The Mixed Mezze Platter which has Fattoush, Falafel (2 nos.), Grilled Chicken (2nos), Chicken Shawarma strips, Hummus, Garlic toum, Harissa, Pickled veggies & Grilled Zaatarpita came in a well packed and spill proof box. Fattoush (salad made with lettuce, capsicum and olives) was fresh and light. Falafel was perfectly deep fried and wasn't oily. Grilled chicken was tender and lightly on the spicy side but tasty. Chicken Shawarma strips/shredded were good but I found them a bit dry. Hummus, Garlic toum & Harissa went perfect with the Zaatar Pita & the Chicken Shawarma.

The only con i found was that the chicken tends to get cold and the Shawarma chicken feels a bit dry else everything was good &...