Cuisine: Modern Indian
Making waves all over India is Farzi Café. It is a trendy, modern Indian concept with contemporary décor and an even more contemporary twist on classic Indian dishes. Familiar flavours don’t change but the presentation does…..drastically. Be prepared to be amused, excited and even shocked. The man behind this is young Zorawar Kalra, son of the erstwhile impresario Jiggs Kalra who can be credited with the renaissance of dum pukht and Awadh cuisine movement 30 years ago. Zorawar has taken his business school background seriously and is now at the helm of brands like Farzi Café, Masala Library and Pa Pa Ya which are almost pan India already.
Mini Raj Kachori
Mixologists at Farzi have completely nailed the extraordinary cocktails. Do try the Farzi Tina with fresh muddled fruit, kaffir lime and vodka. Also delicious is the Farzi apple Foamantini made with granny smith apples and elder flower syrup and served on dry ice. I kind of expected great non-veg but was astounded by the enormous variety of really creative veg starters which begin with the mishti doi spheres, sail through an amazingly light mini raj kachori topped with a chutney foam to the dal chawal arancini- a twist on the famous Italian left over risotto dish. Don’t miss the mini achar papad and chutney on top. The karela calamari coated with sweet and sour mango chutney and fried with a tempura batter is definitely going to be a winning bar snack and of course has nothing fishy about it except the shape. The asparagus and water chestnut kurma served on a fresh appam is a great vegetarian main course option. Of course in non veg you have a melt in the mouth pork belly, a tandoori chicken quesadilla, chilli duck samosa and a CTM (chicken tikka masala) to rival anything in the UK which is where this dish originated. For desert the dark chocolate panjiri tart is a must as is the Farzi paan bhujiya where a dehydrated paan is stuffed inside a candy floss coating. Although the food is clearly a priority, don’t be surprised if this turns into a popular lounge bar and chill zone with music to match. The ambience is certainly stunning but do try the food, there is nothing quite like it in the city.
Karela Calamari
Address: Level 1 and 2, Fortaleza Complex, East Avenue, Kalyani Nagar, Pune
Tel: +91 8805843333 / +91 8805853333
020 65224433 / 020 65229933
Timings: 12pm to 1am
WOW FACTOR – 9
WATCH OUT FOR – The party crowd. if you are interested in a quiet dinner go early
PORTION SIZE – Good
ALCOHOL – Yes, yes – stunning cocktails
VEGETARIAN – Yes. Some dishes even outdo their meaty counterparts
And…… dramatic décor with partitions which move