thekua.com@rest

Walking down back alleys sometimes bring you some surprises, and Toscana, located next to Soho’s is one of those pleasant ones. Toscana, if you can’t tell the name of it, offers a wide selection of Italian foods. Although like most Italian restaurants in India, they also bizarrely offer tex-mex cuisine despite the countries being continents apart.

I really enjoyed the dining atmosphere. It’s all alfresco dining with a small number of tables under shades provided by stretch cloth. Given that it doesn’t rain that often, you’ve a pretty good chance that you’ll be okay. They string many hanging lanterns around the entire place, adding to the light mood with just enough ambient lighting. Tables are grouped in different areas, providing plenty of privacy – even for large groups. The rest of the open area is split up by plenty of greenery and taking away from the dusty surroundings that remind you that you’re in Pune.

They only offer small bottles of beer, and I think they had a decent selection of wine though it tends to cost a lot in India. Our calamari starter with some aioli tasted very fresh – light and crispy without being overly cooked. The pizza – what a pizza it was – big enough to almost feed two people or one very ravenous person that barely stayed on the plate. Condiments at the table included balsamic vinegar, olive oil, chilli flakes (that are actually spicy!) and oregano leaves. The pizza had a nice and crisp base and this restaurant offered plenty of options including ham and bacon that is sometimes difficult to find. Several of us split a dessert, the strangely delicious sizzling brownie with ice cream. Imagine a hot sizzling plate with a large brownie, a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and then a hot chocolate sauce poured on it all when it reaches the table. It actually seems to work as well.

I’d definitely come back here although I think I’d stick to the pizzas rather than the pasta’s since they didn’t look as appealing. Toscana offers a great atmosphere that easily catered for our party of 18.

Details: Toscana
Found at: Tucked behind Bishop’s School in Kalyani Nagar (on its right) and situated right next to Soho’s.
Highlights: Huge pizzas, great alfresco dining room.
Room for improvement: Like most places they tend to push for foreign wines (and appropriately charge a fortune0
Cost: I I think this averaged about INR700 each with starter, main, dessert and beer.
The Kua Rating: 8 out of 10

Located off the main road in Koregaon Road in Pune, this pan-asian restaurant serves a vast menu of pan-asian foods. With a small area for al fresco dining, Malaka Spice appears popular with locals and foreigners alike. Each table is lit with a clever floating candle in water device with enough light to add ambiance without hindering anyone’s ability to see. They serve a variety of alcohol and although I don’t remember any specific music here, had a low-key enough atmosphere to have a great conversation and still feel like you’re still around a lot of people.

One of its unique properties is the art work they advertise all around the place. The tables have mugs you can buy, the walls also hanging art for sale and I think they offer cartoon characterures on specific days as well. It’s not grossly in your face as many other places can be and before we even knew it, most of the table centric ones had disappeared (probably more so to stop them disappearing into any bags than anything else).

Service here is brisk and it’s pretty easy to flag down a waiter if there’s any need. The quality of the food is pretty decent although they managed to stuff up some of our orders with a couple of starters coming with the main dishes. On the other hand, they didn’t hesitate to keep asking us if we wanted to get a top of our of pitcher of beer.

We all had a pretty enjoyable night and I’d definitely come back here again. We had some great seafood dishes and there’s plenty more to try.

Details: Malaka Spice
Found at: Vrindavan Apartments, North Main Road, Koregaon Park, Pune – 411 001
Contactable on: 020 26136293
Highlights: Wide selection of pan asian dishes in a popular al fresco dining atmosphere with generally friendly service.
Room for improvement: Getting the food out on time would have been nice, without the need of being excessively pushy with drinks.
Cost: I can’t remember exactly how much we paid, but I think it was in the order of INR600-800 for starters, mains with rice/noodles, and beer.
The Kua Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Sigree’s is another restaurant that offers pretty much the same dining experience as BBQ Nation. Pits of charcoal sit in the middle of the table whilst fresh kebabs are brought (both veg and non veg) to the table. A whole buffet (veg and non-veg) awaits the diner although I would say its spread is definitely not as generous as the the one we went to Bangalore (especially in the desserts).

On the plus side, we sat outside on a number of wooden tables that fit our big party on. The night was warm enough and the ambience just perfect to have a very enjoyable evening.

If you’ve been to BBQ Nation, the dining concept is exactly the same although I think Sigree’s ended up a little bit more expensive (those Lychee martinis probably didn’t help!)

Details: Sigree
Found at: End of City Point (walk past Mainland China to the end) on Dhole Patil Road, Pune
Highlights: Great fresh coal-fired kebabs. Modern dining decor.
Room for improvement: Could offer more variety for veg and in their buffet.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

When you’ve been to Shisha’s four times in two weeks, you know the place has got to be pretty good. You can find this gem of a restaurant in the complex of ABC Farms located at one end of Koregaon Park. It’s the second restaurant on your left as you walk in, just past the Swiss Cheese Garden. The large number of couches littering the sides of the restaurant creates a comfortably intimate yet laid back atmosphere pleasing to all crowds. Soft jazz music continues to soften the atmosphere with some nights even hosting a live jazz band (adding INR50 as an entry charge).

Given such a great atmosphere, you’d think that the food and drink would be a secondary concern. Fortunately the food and drink on offer continues to add to its bonus points with a large variety of different foods. Being based on Iranian foods, they offer plenty of grilled kebab type dishes though they also offer plenty of Indian (biryanis, curries, naans, rotis, etc), at least four different types of salads and some continental foods as well. They also offer a number of desserts though I can’t really recommend many of them (we did try quite a few of them!).

Given it’s name, you’d be pretty disappointed if you couldn’t actually smoke a Shisha and luckily for those who smoke, they don’t disappoint. I’m not sure how much each one of them cost, but they have the usual variety. Some of the people I ate with had ones including orange and mint.

Details: Shisha Cafe
Found at: A.B.C. Farms, Koregaon Park, Pune
Highlights: Chilled atmosphere with comfortable couches. It also offers different flavoured Shishas (also known as Hookahs). A decent menu includes some curries, some kebabs, salads, sandwiches and some continental foods. Other than the standard beer and spirits, this place also offers a number of relatively decent local wines. The downstairs area is much more suitable for large groups and has better lighting. They also offer Jazz on some nights.
Room for improvement: Upstairs is quite dark despite the candles at the tables.
Cost: Snacks start at around INR50 with mains ranging between INR125-INR250. Small bottles of beer cost INR70 while a bottle of wine will set you back INR800. If you’re drinking, budget at least INR600 if not more.
The Kua Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Found in the midst of MG Road opposite The Leather Lounge and in the basement of the Wonderland complex, Toons is a popular Pune joint for college students playing a wide variety of rock music. At least during the weekend (when we went) a cover charge of INR300 gives you credit you must spend before leaving. Fortunately their prices are reasonable with beer costing around INR80 and an average selection of foods including burgers and Chinese at very reasonable prices. Of course, I should tell you this is more of a bar with food rather than a restaurant with music.

Toons is decorated with a number of kitschy items ranging from large scale cartoon drawings that look like they came directly from a Mad magazine to a large Manchester United club flag though pretty relevant with football playing on a number of small TVs around the room. A DJ sits in a booth taking requests and plays a mix of old and very modern rock. The line of people waiting at its entrance indicates its a popular hangout. The crowd is noticeably large groups of guys, though the women to men ratio was much higher than a number of other bars I’d been to.

Be prepared for noise if you do go to Toons. The volume levels are pretty high requiring some pretty loud voices to talk to the people close to you. It’s also a place where group Karaoke is very popular with the DJ turning the volume down during the chorus of some songs and the entire bar sings, or more accurately shouts, the chorus. I remember a couple of songs from Green Day and Linkin Park where this occured.

Details: Cafe Toons (The Lager Café Down Under)
Found at: 26 Wonderland, 7, MG Road, Pune, India
Contactable on: Tel: 26136879/66011942
Highlights: A selection of rock songs from a wide variety of eras (there will be something you’ll probably not enjoy). It has a buzzing atmosphere from its popularity and is worth the experience.
Room for improvement: The place is pretty dark and the music tends to be quite loud, making it sometimes difficult to have a conversation with people across the table.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10