Chingari — Restaurant in Pune

Chingari - Sheraton Grand

A Luxurious Awadhi Feast by the Poolside

When it comes to fine dining, the perfect balance of ambiance, service, and flavors can elevate an evening into a memorable experience. This restaurant, with its poolside seating and dimly lit dinner setup, offers just that—an intimate, opulent atmosphere where every detail is carefully curated to indulge the senses.

Ambiance & Service-

Stepping into the restaurant feels like entering a regal retreat. The soft glow of lanterns reflecting on the water, the gentle rustle of the evening breeze, and the soothing instrumental ghazals playing in the background set the tone for an exquisite Awadhi culinary experience. The service is impeccable - attentive without being intrusive, with the staff offering insightful recommendations and ensuring every dish arrives at the perfect temperature.

Awadhi cuisine is known for its slow-cooked delicacies, rich textures, and intricate spice blends. Here, the menu stays true to its roots while adding a refined touch.

Gilawat-E-Chingari – A melt-in-the-mouth masterpiece, the gilawat kebab is perfectly spiced and seared just enough to hold its shape. The subtle smokiness enhances the richness of the lamb.

Bhattiyar ke Jhinge – Plump, succulent, and charred to perfection, these prawns carry a beautiful balance of spice and citrus, making them a delightful start to the meal.

Chenne se bhare Kumbh – A vegetarian marvel, the delicate chhena filling inside meaty mushrooms offers a surprising yet satisfying texture contrast.

Minced Chicken Kofta – Tender and juicy, these koftas are subtly spiced, served in a silken gravy that complements their delicate texture. Onion Stuffed Kulcha – Buttery, flaky, and generously stuffed, these kulchas pair beautifully with the richer gravies.

Lamb Shank Biryani – The star of the evening. The rice is fragrant with saffron and whole spices, while the lamb shank is slow-cooked to fall-off-the-bone perfection. Every spoonful is a testament to the art of dum cooking.

Jamun-E-Nazaakat– The perfect finale. These were easily among the softest, most pillowy gulab jamuns I’ve had, drenched in a saffron-infused syrup that was just the right level of sweetness.

Cocktail Experience

The cocktail menu is equally impressive, featuring a blend of classics and inventive creations: Negroni – A well-balanced pour, with just the right bitterness from the Campari and a smooth finish. Indian Spice-Inspired Cocktails – The standout was a kesar-infused concoction, where the saffron’s delicate floral notes played beautifully against the warmth of Indian spices, creating an aromatic, well-layered drink.

This restaurant masterfully blends royal Awadhi flavors with modern refinement, all while offering a visually stunning and serene dining experience. The poolside seating, dim lighting, and stellar service make it an ideal choice for a special occasion or an indulgent escape into heritage cuisine. If you’re looking for an evening of elegance paired with soul-satisfying flavors, this is...

Ambience: A great ambience with proper lighting that matches the ethos of the cuisine will totally have you mesmerised. Good music for the ears, the right colour combinations for the eyes and furniture in good material for the touch can really make this restaurant stand out among the rest. Dimly lit restaurant is nice. Good food, great service and an awe-inspiring ambience of restaurant are the ingredients to the recipe of this perfect restaurant. Chefs:Under the helm of chef gulam querishi this food will leave u awe-struck. Food what we had👇 Moongdal tikki: Moong Dal Tikki is perfect recipe for this cold winter season. This version of deep fried tikki is cooked with some water till just firm but cooked and then drained and mixed with spices and then is shallow fried till crisp and golden with coating of crunchy peanuts. Tandoori Broccoli is a fusion recipe you must try for a salubrious diet. This tandoor recipe is prepared by marinating Broccoli in a mixture made with hung curd, kasoori methi and chaat masala. Bharwan Paneer tikka is a Grilled Indian cheese paneer marinated with yoghurt, turmeric, ginger and spices with a mint chutney filling Bharwan tandoori mushroom are filled with bell peppers and cheese and coated with a creamy base marination and cooked in tandoor. Pudina paneer tikka:They add fenugreek leaves, ginger paste, garlic paste and chaat masala powder. Blend this and then add the green chillies and blend it for a second. The pudina marinade is Set this aside for two hours.They skewered Red paneer tikka:This had a marination with hung curd ,cream, chop, mint, chop coriander, broken cashew nut, salt, deggi chili powder at last add mustard oil. Main Courses:👇

Arbi Kaliyan: Traditionally kormas do not have any chillies or chili powder. Have added a touch of chilli powder traditionally, tomatoes were never used in this cuisine. The yogurt gives it the required tanginess.

Baingan Bharta Recipe – A delicious avadhi flavored roasted aubergine sabzi cooked in onion & tomato gravy with aromatic Indian spices.The smoky flavor of aubergine is really amazing for any Indian food lover.

Kofta Nafes: Koftas are served with a rich, delicious and creamy gravy.

Sabz Biryani:This rich biryani haf ghee,onion,cumin seeds,clove,cinnamon stick,mace,nutmeg,ginger paste, garlic paste,vegetables and long-grained rice.Zaikedar!

Dal Chingari is Black Dal: Creamy and buttery Dal Makhani is one of India’s most loved dal! This dal has whole black lentils cooked with butter and cream and simmered on low heat for that unique flavor. It tasted best!

Price Factor for 2:2500₹ all inclusive. Should u visit? Are u celebrating life?Then Yes Please...

The first striking facet you notice about the place is its absolutely stunning open air ambience as you make your way from the grand lobby of the Sheraton grand, take up a lift to the top floor and there you’re transformed into a cozy, dimly lit ambient open air place next to the swimming pool and if it’s a cool evening then you’re in for a treat as we were when we were here for a meal that promised so much, read on to see if it indeed deliver :)

The ambience is one of the best you will find with your loved with those “love is in the air” vibes which when combined with their awesome Awadhi + Mughlai cuisine, it may become a meal / night to remember for ages !

The meal started with an awesome serving of Galawati kebabs, melt in the mouth is a term loosely used for kebabs these days but this was 100% as authentic and as melt in the moth Galawati kebabs these days you will ever find in your gastronomical journey, this was by far the best of the evening - “Chef Ghulam Quereshi special” and not to be missed at any cost while you’re here. The best item was Nalli Nihari that was less spicy, more on flavours (as is the case with Awadhi cuisine) while the mutton biryani, many people may find it as close to being bland but that’s really how the lucknawi preparation goes for a typical biryani so no complaints there at all.

As far as some innovation was concerned, they did play around with Chicken Makhana kebabs that seemed like your typical chicken shami kebabs with a twist of makhana that gave these kebabs a crispy texture and crunch and I thought it went well overall and I did enjoy this innovative preparation despite being old school with my kebabs preparation style & technique :)

The accompanying drinks were pretty good with Rose petals based Pina Colada topping the charts followed closely by spiced guava preparation.

The service was pretty good and this experience was one of my most memorable ones when having Mughlai food in Pune, a good 10 minutes conversation with the Food Wizard himself that Chef Ghulam Quereshi is - was more enriching than all that great food itself and I am grateful to have spoken to have spoken to him in person and discussed a few nuances about kebabs and Awadhi food in general, all in all an unforgettable and memorable...