YETI AND THE MONK - Khadki — Restaurant in Pune

Overview : Heard a lot about this place from friends and family and finally decided to try it out, based on the suggestions, i was asked to go there early on weekends as the place gets pretty crowded quickly and there will be waiting of 30-40 mins by 8 PM, so following that i reached the place around 6:50 PM , the place opens at 7 PM, and to my surprise there was already a line of people waiting for the place to open up. But you can get a table easily if you are coming a big group this will be the ideal time to come. An overall score of 7/10 for this place in my opinion.

Location : The establishment is situated close to the main road, but is not visible easily due to the market and vehicles parked on the side, so better follow the maps and then ask the locals. Decent parking space for two wheelers, no four wheeler parking available , so you have to park on the road side which might be a task, as the market place is always crowded. It's a decent size restaurant, with 5 two seater, 5 four seater and two large 6 seater tables available, the interior is simple and nice inspired by the north, music is soothing and makes you feel calm

Food : Spicy Thukpa (Chicken ) : 8/10 Its there version of Tibetan thukpa, comes with noodles, spciy broth with topping of your choice can be chosen from Tofu/Chicken/Pork. The Thukpa was delicious, just the right amount of spice and the presentation was good too, quite filling meal so consider that if you plan on having other dishes too.

Darjeeling Steamed Dumplings (Chicken): 9/10 The Dumplings were spot on, juicy, flavored packed and loaded with meat, served with spicy chutney. 6 Medium size dumplings will come in each order, which can be a meal in itself, so better order if you are sharing it with others on the table

Vietnamese Pho (Pork) : 7/10 This was one dish i was planning on trying for the longest time, having heard about it a lot and never tried personally before anywhere else, this was a pleasant experience. the quantity is lot and will suggest to finish it till it's hot, else you'll find it difficult to finish the entire thing. It is served with flat rice noodles in a long simmered umami rich broth ( they mentioned it to be 6 hours broth), topped with chopped coriander and spring onions, you will also get a small serving of bean sprouts , lime wedge and some basil leaves which can be added as per your taste. The only thing i wish i could change was to reduce the broth quantity, at the end when the noodles and pork pieces were finished, there was still substantial amount of liquid broth left, which was a task in itself to finish, too much liquid for my liking, so watch out for it if you are like me who don't want too much liquid while having food.

Drinks: Lemon Grass Iced Tea : 8/10 as the name suggest pretty straight forward drink, i specifically asked them to make it less sweet, and glad i did, the lemon grass flavor for refreshing and they gave a lemon grass stick in the drink as a stirrer which was a neat touch. Nothing to complain about.

Vietnamese Hot Coffee : 6/10 Strong brewed coffee served with condensed milk, never tried one before so no set bar of expectations was in place, not too sweet and had a distinct strong...

Yeti and Monk, shop no.2, patil complex, ambedkar chowk, next to hdfc atm, Khadki, Pune, Maharashtra 411020

#customerexperience #mustvisit #worthit

Yeti and Monk was on my bucket list for very long time but I never got a chance to actually go and visit the place as my friends don't prefer pork meat. Somehow In December month I saw a post on PEO and decided to visit the place.

I visited the place on Friday evening, they've done some major changes in the interior and the restaurant looks more lively now. You won't feel dull or something while seating and hogging on your favourite food.

Things we tried -

Darjeeling Steamed Dumplings [ Pork - 250/- ] = These juicy looking medium-sized dumplings comes in a medium thick coating and are packed with juicy minced pork meat which is again seasoned with in-house spices. The meat was super juicy and you get to have the flavorful broth in the inside which is the best thing I've ever had. Last but not least the dip you get with the dumplings is something you won't find anywhere else. #Musttry

Vietnamese ICED Coffee [160/-]- One of the best Vietnamese Iced coffee I've had in a very long time. I had the Vietnamese coffee at same place when the place was run by Vietnamese people named as Smiley House. This one is strong and I mean it. We had 2 drinks each and we couldn't sleep till 3 am. The coffee really tastes good and have balanced flavours which will make you have more.

Spicy Thukpa [Pork 350/-] = Then we had their famous spicy thukpa , which is more than enough for two people. It comes in a heavy huge bowl which is packed with lots of things. The broth is a real deal , the flavor profile of the broth is on another level which is then accompanied by pork meat and I will suggest you guys to go with Pork meat only as its the right choice. Definitely have it.

Pork Chops with Rice [600-800 rs] - You don't get this dish on weekdays and you need to make prior bookings. Luckily when we went they started the dish on Friday as well so we get to try the legendary dish. The Pork chops were cooked to perfection and when you try to take a bite the meat was literally falling apart from the bone. The meat was so juicy and flavorful that you just can't stop at once bite. The dish is so heavy that we had to take the parcel and after having it after 3 days the taste was still the same or i'll say it was enhanced. So you can imagine how perfect they've cooked and seasoned the meat. #musthave.

The prices are definitely not on the pocket-friendly side but if you really want to try the best Asian food then you must visit this place. I was shocked and blown away by the food and I think the amount we paid was...

(Food review): We started off with the Vietnamese iced coffee (those who love expresso- or a strong coffee taste will love it). For starters, we ordered the Chilli Garlic Chicken Dumplings & Pork steamed momos. We ordered some chicken pho? And some pork noodles and some Spicy chicken Thukpa which was anything but Spicy or flavourful 😂 The main course was a joke as everything was either bland, burnt or tasteless. Look wise, yes definitely deceiving. It looks sooo tempting and wonderful. Lastly the Pork chops with Rice(we had this on a previous visit), OOOFFFF!! The meat was so tender and shredded so wonderfully. We were left speechless. Unfortunately this time we went (on a Sunday at 12:45pm), the staff mentioned that this dish was out of stock, which was so disappointing as that's the best dish available there :( and why on earth can't they make arrangements accordingly!?

We had the tart & vanilla icecream for dessert, again, decent, with compound chocolate chunks in between the moussey tart. We also ordered some rice/lemongrass dessert which tasted like oats porridge.

Service: Pathetically disheartening this time, as it was our second visit, and we got along with us 11 more friends to try out this place. The Staff was extremely rude and hostile. Since there are NO RESERVATIONS allowed strictly over call, 2 of us rushed to catch ourselves a table, after which they kept pressurising us to call our friends soon or else they'll take away the one table that we had caught. The manager or whoever he was, was extremely impolite, and kept talking to the staff about throwing us out, right in front of us. Our friends arrived 15 minutes later, and that's when they gave us the tables. Then too, they just wanted us to get done quickly (because of a long waiting line, we do get that and understand), despite us just having received our food and while eating it they're asking us what next. Lastly, we were a huge group of 13 people and it was obvious that we'd make a little louder noise (which I do understand isn't acceptable socially) but the manner in which the manager told us to be quiet was extremely curt and rude. We didn't feel like we were being treated as human beings. There was absolutely not a hint of kindness in the staff members.

I have given 2 starts, one for the Ambience/decor and the other for the Pork & rice dish that we luckily got to try the first time we visited this place. Never again are any of us going to visit this place. It was a complete waste of...