Gather — Restaurant in Pune

Update:

I’m updating my earlier review because Gather reached out to me directly within 24 hours of my feedback — and that alone deserves recognition.

The management personally called to apologize, understand my experience, and assure me that I would be treated fairly in the future. What impressed me most was not just the apology, but the genuine effort to listen and take responsibility. Most restaurants let negative reviews go unnoticed, but the fact that they prioritized solving this and making things right says a lot.

I’ll definitely go back and hope to be treated fairly next time.

Old review:

I rarely leave reviews, but after experiencing this twice at Gather, I feel it’s important to share.

We had booked a table through Zomato by paying ₹2000 in advance, which was meant to be adjusted as cover charge. I first tried calling the restaurant directly to reserve, but no one answered despite multiple attempts, so Zomato was the only option left.

When I arrived (before my friends), I was told only two options were available: either sit inside or take a high table with bar chairs. Several regular tables were visibly empty, including a 4-seater and a few 6-seaters. When I requested one of them, I was told the 4-seater was reserved for a group bringing a pet. The manager assured me we could have it if the group didn’t arrive within 15 minutes. Twenty minutes passed, nobody showed up, yet another group was seated there while we remained at the high table. (The manager probably knew them because he was personally shook each person’s hand at the table and spoke to them for a while)

For context, I have an injury that makes it difficult to sit on or climb high chairs, so this was not a minor inconvenience. Despite repeatedly requesting another table, we were denied. The 6-seater tables, I was told, were “only for groups of 6,” yet later I saw smaller groups of 3 seated there. When I questioned this, I was told those were “reservations” — contradicting what I was told upon entering.

By the time my friends arrived, we had already been waiting 20+ minutes. Eventually, after nearly 90 minutes, we were finally offered a table on the other side of the restaurant. We’d been allotted that table, and when we got to it, two older men simply pulled the chairs and took it. We were then asked to sit at the table next to it, which wasn’t even cleaned until after we sat down. The manager didn’t say anything to them. It seemed they were treated differently, likely because they had influence with the management.

This pattern is not new — I’ve experienced it here before, and friends of mine have also stopped going to Gather because they were denied tables despite paying and ordering properly. The reality is: unless you know the manager or owners personally, it feels like you’ll always be given the least preferable seating, no matter your booking or bill size.

To be fair: the food is excellent and the wait staff are polite and attentive. But the management’s approach to seating is inconsistent, partial, and frankly unfair. For a place of this standard, customers should not feel sidelined or discriminated against despite advance bookings and higher bills than many other tables.

I hope Gather addresses this issue, because the potential is there — but as it stands, the experience leaves a very...

There had been quite some buzz about Gather so after some failed plans a group of my friends and I paid the restaurant a visit yesterday. It was pouring heavily as we made our way to the restaurant. There being a Valet just helped us not want to turn and go back home because of the weather.

We were seated to the end of the space on a table of 8. The place was full. We had a table of 4 on either sides one of which moved their table - literally because the rains started dripping on them. This surely made us a little concerned.

Coming to the service - it seemed that they had just one captain manning the entire outdoor section for orders so it was a little time consuming and we had to wait to give in our orders. But nevertheless, service was quick. The owners or partners were playing a major role on the floor making sure every table was looked after well.

Coming to the food - we started with the chip and dips. 3 dips - 1 made of hung curd , a spicy harissa and a guacamole. The chips were made in store however they had gone a little mosit due to the weather. Werent hot or crispy. The dips did pair well with them but on a rating scale i found the spicy red one to be the best followed by the hung curd dip. The guacamole was a little too sour because I think of excessive lemon squeeze. The chips if had been crisper it would have elevated the dish.

We moved onto the avocado sourdough. This i did enjoy. 2 sourdoughs toasts cut into 4 adequately sized pieces. It had some puree on it with like a creamy spread on the base which gave it a really nice flavour. Next came was the Truffle hand cut fries - they were fine to be honest. Hot crispy yes , but the ratio of truffle and parmesan was very less. In the end of the dish did i actually get some taste of the truffle oil.

The star of the meal was their charred broccoli. Charred well with that beautiful sauce. This dish truly made my meal alot better.

We did not try the mains as their vegetarian options seemed less and we were in the mood for some pasta. So we cleared our tab and left with some happy smiles and not so full but content bellies.

Overall, for a first time experience it was a...

This has recently opened in the same place as German Bakery on Senapati Bapat road and law college road junction. Great location and good ambience. They have astronaut figurines suspended from the roof. Has multiple seating options in outdoor and indoor seating. Has a nice, warm, cafe vibe. They do have tea and coffee on the menu but I'd suggest not to order it as the tea we had was beyond bad. Too milky and very little flavor of tea or masala. Even after sending it back it was pretty much the same. Coming to the food, novel items on the menu but taste wise most dishes had a sour or sweet taste. Very low on spice even after ordering a spicy dish. Very few options in rice or chapati/Nan. We tried the tempura cauliflower which was okay. The chargrilled broccoli was very sweet and sour and kinda a let down. The raw banana kofta curry was something different but still sour. The avocado guacamole was refreshing but the quantity was small. The corn chips was my favourite with pineapple salsa, avocado guacamole, ranch sauce. The black rice mushroom risotto was decent. The coffee tres leches was amazing. They had a fancy and interesting cocktail menu with dishes called " bumping into your ex with your next", "Amma out", "not single but still looking " and so on.. my friends enjoyed their cocktails. The prawns butter garlic, chicken wings, chicken pepper fry were decent. We also had the roasted prawns with sesame toast which was sweet bao stuffed with prawns and shrimp sauce. My friend called it prawns dabeli cos of the sweet sour taste. Worth trying. I really liked the Ross omlette with butter toasted poi. The chicken gravy in it was amazing! Definitely worth visiting but I wish they serve better food esp options for people who like spicy and more options in dessert. They also levy 10%...