Uncle's Chinese — Restaurant in Pune

We had dinner at this restaurant a few days back based on the Swiggy dineout and google reviews and here's what I thought about it...

The restaurant was not crowded, there were just two parties, maybe because it was a weekday. But they had an endless number of online orders coming in which speaks to it's popularity among locals.

They have a small open parking space in front of the shop where you can park two and four wheelers.

Service was quick. Staff is very welcoming and accomodating. They asked us about the taste of the food, answered questions about the menu, made suggestions, and were nice overall.

They had a basin for hand wash and a unisex washroom which was very clean considering that it's a public space.

They have different types of offers running all through the week. Like BOGO Wednesday, happy hour combos etc.

They menu is varied but pocket friendly. In addition to veg and chicken options they have a lot of pesceterian options as well.

We tried the chicken manchow soup which was quite good, the dry chicken lollipop which was not so good and the uncle's special chicken rice which was the best dish of the night.

The portion sizes were generous. If you have a smaller appetite be mindful of how much food you are ordering. We were already stuffed by the time the main course arrived.

The soup was good, at par with any decent chinese restaurant. The chicken lollipop was a letdown, the batter coating was too hard and under-seasoned, the Schezwan chutney did not taste as good as it looked, the chicken pieces were chewy and dry instead of being tender and juicy. They may have added some cooking soda to the batter as well to make it airy as we lost our appetite and our palates felt tired and drab after having a few bites of the lollipop. The uncle's special chicken rice was the best dish among the three. The amount of chicken was very good, the portion size enough for two people, it had gravy and rice wrapped in an omlette so the dish had some theatre/ an element of surprise to it. The taste was also very good. Would recommend this dish if you visit.

They accepted payment through Swiggy dineout which was a pro.

However, one of the things that really muddied our experience was that they served house brand mineral water on all the tables and that bottle had printed MRP of 15 rupees. However, they charged us 30 rupees for the bottle in the final bill. When we highlighted this to the staff they just said that the bottles are mislabeled and 30 rupees is the correct price and that they will take this feedback and get the print of the bottles corrected. They did not change the amount on the bill which to me atleast...

2/04/25 1.30 A.M. We went to place an order late night for a parcel which was worth ₹500 and after making the payment we reminded the person at the reception about a ₹20 sprite that they had forgot to include in the last parcel we took. Also we did not ask for sprite on the last order but still the employee told us about a offer in which we will get the sprite free so we said ok. However the sprite was not included. After reminding the person on the reception he said that he will confirm with the person who was present during our last order and include the sprite when we come next time... luckily we had a video of the parcel which we showed him after which he gave the sprite and had the audacity to say that its included as if he did a big favor for us. I don't think the receptionist knows how to give good service when it comes to customer satisfaction. Food is good and the other employees are very nice and humble but the person at the reception has no idea how to retain people by providing...

Chinese uncle has proven it's quality over the years. Now they have opened at Vimannagar. In order to save on Swiggy charges, they deliver. But it is atrocious. I had ordered at 7.03 PM. When I checked at 8.10PM, the rider was waiting for more orders in our area. I reminded the person about my order at 8.40PM. He said, the rider will start immediately. I received a call from the rider at 8.55PM asking me the directions. He delivered at 9.10 PM.

Lesson: DO NOT TRY TO SAVE THE MONEY FOR THE RESTAURANTS, GUARD YOUR INTEREST.

Why I did not follow my own advice?

BECAUSE OF STUPID SWIGGY. I opened SWIGGY and searched for Chinese uncle, Vimannagar. The APP said it is too far, some 13.6 km (it is less than 4.0 km), and I will be charged 200++ bucks. I then tried Koregaon park, which could be about 5.0 km. I received a message that Koregaon park restaurant does not cater to my area. Hence, I was forced to order to Chinese uncle,...