PETER’S PAN-“EAT LIKE A KING”

 PETER’S PAN-“EAT LIKE A KING”

The moment I opened the door to Peter’s Pan, I was engulfed by the smell of freshly made waffles and pancakes – perfect because I was in no mood for a typical Indian breakfast. 

Compared to the majority of eateries in this area, the interiors of this place are like a breath of fresh air with playing cards on the wall as part of a purple and yellow colour scheme. 

Although the premises is not too large, the restaurant can accommodate 20-25 people.

The menu is short and crisp and consists of waffles, pancakes and omlettes along with a selection of hotdogs. 

I decided to go with the sweet smell in the air and ordered some blueberry waffles instead of the savoury ones. 

The moment I digged into it, I was like “oh wow”!!! They were the best waffles I’ve had in a long time. 

The only thing that comes close to this are the waffles at Taste restaurant at Westin Hotels. And for this price, the waffles at Peter's Pan are a great bargain.

The waffle at Peter’s Pan was served with a generous helping of blueberry sauce along with whipped cream. Gosh,I’m already salivating just writing about it! 

The best part is that since the dishes are eggless, I can bring along my (picky) vegetarian friends to try the excellent waffles and pancakes. The cook deserves a huge tick from my side. 

Since I am an egg kinda girl (err...I was craving for something savoury and non-veg), I ordered for bhurji which came along with some toast and french fries. 

The bhurji was nice and filling but just a little overcooked for my liking. Next, I ordered a cup of masala chai. Unfortunately, this is a big no-no. I would prefer having some tea at a roadside stall instead. 

By now I was so stuffed that I couldn't possibly eat another bite. A bill of Rs 150 --- is not that bad.

However, the same evening, I decided to make a little trip to Peter's Pan again and try the very delicious sounding caramel banana pancakes. 

Oh my, did they ever live up to my expectations! Topped with fresh bananas and some caramel sauce along with whipped cream, they simply melted in my mouth. 

For refreshments, I decided to play it safe and ordered a lemon iced tea that turned out to be a tad too sweet for my taste. 

I paid Rs 130 and before leaving I promised the manager that I will be back to sample the rest of the menu with a few of my friends the next time.

You can expect quick service at Peter's Pan as the food, though freshly prepared, is served swiftly. Full marks for presentation as the dishes I tried not only tasted good but looked tempting. 

The menu is a bit overpriced but at the same time you are sure to get your money's worth as portion sizes are generous. Peter Pan’s tag line states, “Eat like a king” and I truly did.

Ambience:4/5

Food:4/5

Service: 4/5

Price:3/5

Overall ratings:4/5

Address: Peter’s Pan, Shop no.16, Green Valley,Wanowrie, Pune-40

Phone:9226408478

SHEETAL ARC

SHEETAL ARC

Recently,I had friends visiting me from Chandigarh during the holiday season and soon enough they were starting to feel homesick.

 Since,the demand from the two was to have ghar ka khana plus vegetarian food.I knew instantly that sheetal arc’s the place to go.

Being a hardcore non-vegetarian myself ,Its certainly a difficult thing to get me to eat vegetarian food but when I was introduced to sheetal arc,I was bound to change my perception.

  Sheetal arc has been operating since 2007 and has quickly made its way into many hearts.
This restaurant seats around 100 people at a time and is also available for marriages and other functions on prior intimation.

 The ambience of this restaurant is basic but its spacious and not crammed up.

We were really hungry,so we ordered some starters like pani puri,delhi chaat,masala papad,paneer tikka along with some beer.
The orders came to our table within no time despite rush hours and the service here is spectacular.
Both the pani puri and delhi chaat are like little burts of flavor in the mouth and that made me keep wanting for more.

The pani puri here is made with mineral water and that takes care of the hygiene part besides that the pani puri was yummy,it had the right balance of flavours in both the sweet and spicy water.Masala papad was a must have since we were having beers,the papad was topped up with spiced up onions and tomato with lemon.

 

Paneer tikkas too was absolutely delicious,it had the right amount of spice and kick to it.

After all this,we still managed to save some space for the maincourse and so next we ordered some shezuan noodles,fried rice ,paneer Manchurian,malai kofta,dal tadka,tandoori rotis,one deluxe thali and one tomato soup as a special demand from my friend.
I managed to taste all the dishes but the thali shone the most among all.

Ordering up a deluxe thali is the best bargain one can get here.i absolutely adore the thali here,it’s the best in fact.The deluxe thali comprises of dal makhani,mix veg,aloo mutter,paneer makhani,pulao,2 parathas,raita and gaajar halwa.

The dal makhani has a distinctive earthy flavor to it and the cream adds to its richness.The veg preparations keep changing here depending on the availability and so this time I got to taste the aloo mutter and mix veg.Both the dishes were well made especially the mix veg as the veggies were cooked to perfection.

The malai kofta gravy had pieces of pineapple and cherry in it which was a bit unusual for me and it made the gravy a lot on the sweeter side but the koftas were just melting in the mouth with all the creaminess coming from the paneer in it.

I must say that sheetal arc makes really good dal preparations as the dal tadka too was delicious.It wasn’t like you could only taste the tadka but the dal flavor too came out beautifully.

In Chinese,the shezuan noodles were al dente.Surprisingly it wasn’t that spicy which was good for me but the good thing about the noodles was that it dint have any red food colouring added to it,as mostly seen nowdays.The paneer Manchurian was a bit unusual for me as I had never eaten one with paneer,it tasted alright but I would still prefer the traditional veg Manchurian over this.
I’m not a big fan of soups especially tomato soups as most of my experience with it was horrifying.In the name of tomato soup,I was most of the time served a cross between tomato ketchup and puree with a generous amount of water added to it.But the soup at sheetal arc changed my outlook,it was tangy and at the same time the cream added to its richness and it was topped with perfect crisp croutons.

In desserts,the gaajar ka halwa is a must try.I must say its not for the faint hearted,as its made in pure ghee.One might question its preparation as it comes in a pool of ghee and every spoonful is dripping with ghee but ones you eat it you know your in pure bliss.
By looking at the contended faces of my friends I knew that the dinner was a huge success plus the food was economical as well,as food for 4 cost around 1240 INR(excluding beers).It was a decent amount for the quantity of food we were being served.i would say that sheetal arc is a hard to miss place and is definetly worth a try.

 

Ambience:4.5/5

Food:4.5/5

Service:4.5/5

Price:3.5/5

Food for 4: 1240 INR

Overall ratings:4.5/5

Address: Virwani Plaza,East Street, Besides 11East Street Cafe, Camp.

 Pune - 411001

Phone: 020 41045533, 020 41045544

11 EAST STREET CAFE

11EAST STREET CAFÉ

The word café 
instantly instigates the feeling of being pampered in a relaxed atmosphere either alone or where one can round off the day perfectly with some friends over some drinks or a cup of coffee.11 east street café on east street probably defines a café in the best possible way. 

The décor of this café is inspired after the London streets and every corner of the café suprises you with different elements instilled from the streets of London. The entire cafe is modeled with designer mini shops,street lights,an elaborate water fountain,statues and live kitchen as well as a confectionery live bakery where you can see your cakes being made right infront of you.

11 east street café  has two levels,the upper level is the shamiyana or the hookah lounge which resembles a typical Iranian cafe. 

The café seats around 120 people at a time but I noticed that the tables are pretty much closely packed due to space restrictions.The menu will leave you speechless as the café offers almost everything you could ask for from Indian,Italian,amercan,Chinese,middle eastern,greek cuisine and more-but sadly they have restricted timings on different cusines.

Their bar too has a good collection of beers,liquors and also some fancy cocktails. 11 east street offers quite a lot offers like Thursdays are grill it nights,daily happy hours between 12pm-6pm but on further inquiring I was informed that its only applicable on drinks,Tuesdays being ladies night where every lady is given a complimentary drink on the house 7pm onwards and on Fridays there’s live bands playing 8pm onwards.since,I never had tasted schnitzel before so I ordered their panfried chicken schnitzel.

Traditionally,a schnitzel is coated in breadcrumbs and then fried but the panfried version here is a much healthier one.The schnitzel had a beautiful aroma coming from the oregano added to it and the sauce too had a distinctive cheese flavor.The pickle mix had a nice zing to it but it was not really necessary for the dish.

Next,I ordered the yemista from Greece which consisted of grilled stuffed peppers and tomatoes served with paprika sauce.The sauce was the star of the dish and really lifted up the dish to a different level.The stuffing was made of rice,mushrooms and fresh herbs but i could not get much flavor off the rice as the sauce was too much on the plate and everything eventually got mixed up.

The chicken shawarma could do with a little bit of improvement as the pita bread was a little thicker than usual and the chicken filling was dry as well as the sauce served with it had too much of garlic in it.

The menu here is certainly expensive as the entire bill was around 700 INR but its reasonable enough as they serve quite a lot of unique cuisines.The service here tends to slow a bit down at times.I would say that 11 east street café is best for its ambience and for its varieties of food offered.Do visit the café to experience the streets of London in our very own pune.

Ambience:4.5/5

Food:3/5

Service:3/5

Price:3.5/5

Food for 2: 700 INR

Overall ratings:3/5

Address:Virwani plaza,east street, 11East Street Cafe,Camp.

Pune - 411001

Phone: 9960617811, 41045511