Italy via Punjab — Restaurant in Pune

The name of the restaurant itself gives us an overview of the menu and the ambience. This place is located on the seventh floor and is a perfect place especially for dinner considering Prabhat Road’s breezy weather. The menu is curated to offer you a variety of innovative fusion dishes amalgamating the North-Indian and Italian culture as well as ample options of regular Punjabi food.

Beverages:

Lassi and Buttermilk – Both the drinks have been flavoured well. Although, the Lassi lacked the consistency and the thick texture.

Starwberry and Kiwi Mocktail – They were regular mocktails with fruit syrup and soda, nothing special.

Overall, the beverages can be considerably improved.

Starters:

Rosemary Murg Kebab – Rosemary brought a woodsy and peppery favour to this Kebab. It is a strong spice and you cannot miss it when added to any dish. The Kebabs were marinated and thereafter charred well. The Kebabs were soft and succulent.

Paneer Achari Tikka – This appetizer was truly delicious. The cottage cheese was soft and coated amply with spicy and tangy masala and was a delight to eat. They were grilled to perfection giving it a nice golden brown colour.

Gulkand aur Malai Tikka – The name and unique combination intrigued me so we decided to ask for it. It was a regular Malai Kebab with subtle flavours of Gulkand. It was good that the flavours of Gulkand were subtle, otherwise the dish would have become too sweet for my taste.

Zinga Til Tinka – These prawns not only looked tempting but were super delicious. These prawsn had a mild, sweet, spicy and a nutty flavour all in one. The toasted sesame seeds brought in that aroma and satisfying crunch.

Methi Mutter Penne – Even the thought of this Desi Pasta makes my mouth water. I was literally taken aback when I had the first bite with the soft garlic naan served with this pasta with the desi version of pasta which had the mutter paneer gravy. Loved it to the core. I loved the idea that they serve Naan with it making it more unique and admirable.

Murg Razia – This dish was similar to Butter Chicken. It was mildly flavoured with the tomato based gravy along with chicken shaving with lots of butter. It was thick, consistent and nicely flavoured.

Kebab ki Kadhai – It consisted of assortment of kebabs in the Kadhai gravy. It was a wonderful and tasty main course. I loved the concept of adding varied Kebabs in the same gravy as although the Kebab might look similar with the coating of the gravy, it tasted differently and that was the USP of this dish.

Hare Tamatar ki Paneer Makhani – This dish was absolutely delectable. It was a spicy, tangy and delicious green curry rightly seasoned with Indian spices. Adding to the innovation was the buttery flavour of Paneer Makhani. I truly relished this dish.

Dahi Papad ki Sabji – I tried this dish for the first time and it truly impressed me. It consisted of fried papad in a sautéed yellow gravy with fresh curd and strong spices. I have read that it is a popular Rajasthani dish and is mainly prepared during the summers due to the dearth of vegetables. This dish was absolutely magical and I kept having bite after bite.

Puran Poli Gelato – Having Puran Poli in the form of an ice-cream has been an enticing experience. This ‘cool’ twist which presented the traditional Puran poli in a frozn form is a delight. Many people are used to having Puran Poli with milk. It retained its traditional ingredients which gave me complete satisfaction.

Tiramisu – It was a mildly sweet dessert and made really well with a good balance of mascarpone cheese, coffee and cocoa. The layers could be seen perfectly. The texture was smooth and melted in the mouth.

Orange Firni – I am not a big fan of this Firni. This was a bit tangy for my taste as the Orange syrup was overpowering the dessert.

White Chocolate Brownie with Chocolate Ice-cream – White Chocolate Brownies are called as Blondies. It was perfectly baked and enriching. These were fudgy and excellent.

This place is extremely inviting and has a Dhaba vibe to it. It has a...

I had seen a review about this place about a year ago and the name really appealed me. I was keen to experience what twist they might have got in the Italian cuisine to get the Punjabi touch. Both of these cuisines are my favorite and are always rich in flavours, taste and texture. So I was wondering how they might have made this fusion combination a success. Over the tasting at their newly opened outlet at Prabhat Road, got an opportunity to try this unique fusion and I was in awe with what they are serving. They are balancing well between the two cuisines with respect to flavours and the core taste of each cuisine is maintained well. Their soups, starters and main course are simply amazing.

We started with two soups! *Tuscan Tomato Shorba, a tomato based soup which wasn't evidently sweet making it stand out than the usual one. It was super tangy as expected with a hint of basil. As Tuscan food is ought to be simple, this lived upto that expectations! Was pretty smooth and lightly flavoured. Loved the tanginess 😍

*Garbanzo & Chicken Soup, a soup loaded with variety of veggies like carrot, beans, baby spinach and more along with tender chicken chunks which gave it a rich, warming flavor! It was lightly sweet coupled with subtle flavours making it divinely cozy during these winter times. The tadka used in the presentation of this soup over the edges of the soup bowl gave it an unique Indian tadka touch. #MustTry

Then came the mouthwatering starters *Butter Chicken Samosa, butter chicken stuffed in a crispy patti samosa and finished with a sprinkle of chaat masala on top. That chaat was the real hero of the dish, it gave that necessary chatpata taste that I usually enjoy in a samosa. The filling was generous in amount and the cheese stuffed in gave a nice cheese string on each bite. The butter chicken stuffing was slightly spicy like the way I enjoy it. The samosas were really drained well off the excess oil so weren't oily at all on touch or bite. It was served along with the Butter Chicken Gravy as a dip which actually went well. These flavoured packed samosas were hard to resist!

*Tandoori Hummus, Indian twist to the popular mediterranean dish. It was shelled in chilli oil and served with lightly pickled veggies & naan. This mediterranean dish is my personal favorite and the texture of it really matters to me. I like it fine and super smooth on texture and they really nailed this texture. One of the creamiest, finest & smoothest hummus tasted. The Indian spice inspired hummus had subtle flavours from Desi garam masala and went well with other condiments served in the plate.

*Gulkand aur Malai ka Murgh Tikka, classic chicken malai tikka with gulkand touch and served with raita and original green chutney. I was skeptical about how it will taste as I'm not fan of tikkas made in sweet marination. They had two such things in marination which would make it super sweet (malai & gulkand). But to my surprise, it wasn't that sweet rather not sweet at all. It had a very very slight tinch of sweetness, mildly spicy, with a light flavour of gulkand and heavenly appetizing. Boneless chicken was fresh, tender, tikkas were huge in size, perfectly marinated and grilled. And best part was a pinch of gulkand topping. It added the rest needed sweetness, not overpowering the original taste of the dish.

And, came the delicious main course *Gnocchi Makhan Wala, this was the show stealer for the lunch. Best gnocchi had till date. The soft and well boiled dumpling made mainly with potato was topped with delicious & smooth makhani curry with amazing flavours from kasuri methi. The gnocchi was so soft that it was just melting in mouth, I can literally feel that taste it in my mouth right now. And the buttery makhani gravy complimented the gnocchi really well. It was served with a butter garlic naan for that extra Punjabi touch, which I actually enjoyed. #HighlyRecommended

*Kheema Mac n Cheese, Desi estyle mai Europe/US ka Mac n Cheese. This Kheema included Mac n Cheese which would soon be popular among all...

On the entrance this place has serious "pind da dhaba " vibes. The ambience is vibrant with amazing colors in the interiors along with some tweaked sitting arrangements. If you love punjabi culture then you will fall in love with this place. Copper glases, unique and colorful dinnerware is the what makes the ambience of a one of a kind place in Deccan Gymkhana. This is a roof top restaurant giving it enough natural light, you have to bring your camera with you for that grid on your instagram which you can totally show off to your friends. Lets talk about food.... This is a fusion food. Italian cuisine is paired beautifully with pujabi cuisine. They have made few things which i firstly couldn't imagine working so well on the plate. Things i loved are - Strawberry lemonade-

Baingan Bharata Bruchetta- Well bruchettas are usually grilled, then garlic is rubbed on it along with drizzled olive oil. Then there are many variations of toppings on it. In some parts if italy its even had with red wine drizzled and pinch full sugar on top. This one has amazing Baingan ka bharta ON 🔝 TOP. Who knew this would actually taste good?

Peri Peri drumsticks- Spicyyyyy, juicy and perfectly Marinated is what i can say about this. If you love spicy food then this is for you, this will definitely have you fetching for a cold glass of water for sure.

Kheema bolognese - "Aaaaahaahaaahaaa Maja Aaa Gaya! " I loveeeee pasta okay, so i said what the hell, let's give this a try. Im very very particular about pasta, it has to be cooked ""AL DENTE "" - in simple words the pasta must be chewable. Only when the pasta is Al Dente it can go well with the sauce or salad. This has kheemaaaa,,,,,,,, Whaaaaat??? I was soo skeptical ke this will definitely not taste good but at the first bite my taste buds said - bro this is yummm. Surprisingly good dish which is served with naan. Have a bite id of the pasta with the naan piece and trust me there will be a smile on your face.

Crab cakes- I have never ever ever had crab cakes in my life. But at the first bite my friend's eyes popped up 👆🏻 meaning they loved it. I personally found it interesting and starting to like it actually. Especially the sauce on the side.

Tiramisu- For me this has 3 main factors to judge it 1.mascarpone cheese 2. Coffee 😍. 3.size of the layers. One of the very best i have had. This is light,not over sweet, perfect dessert post Sunday lunch.

Overall it was a pleasant experience, got to talk with the chef and owners, came to know about their story behind the brand. Loved the place, gonna visit soon with friends and family.

Ambience - 5/5 Food 4/5 Vfm...