Restaurant review - Momo Cafe, Courtyard Marriot, Pune

Location - Hinjewadi, Pune.

Ambiance - ****
Menu options - ****
Taste - *****
Service - *****
Price - ***

Overall - ****1/2

Momo Cafe is in Courtyard Marriot located on the Hinjewadi main road in Pune. There is an open air part to the cafe that is open when it's not raining.

The ambience is pleasing. The tables are not too tightly packed in the restaurant area, though I must say there's nothing too fancy about the decor. The very open feel to the restaurant is very good.

We had gone there at lunch time so there was an option of having the lunch buffet or a ala carte. Since there were three of us, we did both. The buffet menu was quite good. Both Indian and International delicacies along with a lot of pickles and chutneys were available. There was also a live Mongolian grill. They also served some amazing chicken and fish starters on the table along with lemon iced tea that was complementary. We had ordered Nasi Goreng along with the meal and did not have to wait much for it. It was also quite good and enough in quantity for one person.

The desserts were delicious, especially lemon cheese cake. Absolutely stunning. The fruit rabdi was slightly bitter which we mentioned in the feedback, and even before we could pay the bill, the head chef was at our table and apologized for it and removed the dish from the menu right away.

The bill was around 2000 INR for 3 people. But they do have corporate discount of 20% which brought it down considerably for us. The service throughout our 2 hour stay there was impeccable. No undue interferance from anyone but someone was available to attend to us whenever we needed.

Overall it was an amazing experience. I have been there earlier, and I am sure to go there again.

Recipe - Banana Bread

Ingredients -

1. All purpose flour - 250 gms
2. Melted butter - 3 tsp
3. Milk - 3 tsp
4. Sugar - 2 tsp
5. Active Dry yeast - 1 tsp
6. Egg - 1
7. Water - 3 tsp
8. Ripe Banana - 1 medium, mashed

Method -
1. Warm the milk and butter and mix together along with the sugar.
2. Put the mashed banana in the flour and mix well.
3. Warm the water a little and put the dry yeast in it. It will start becoming frothy. That's when it is ready. Put it in the flour and start making it into a dough.
4. Put 3/4th of the egg into the flour and then put the milk mixture in it slowly while kneading. You may not need all of it.
5. Make sure that the dough is soft. It will be a little uneven because of the banana pieces.

6. Take a clean bowl and sprinkle some semolina or the all purpose wheat in it. Put the dough in and cover the bowl using cling film. Keep it in a warm place for 45 min to an hour. The yeast should make the dough become twice its size.
7. Then take the dough out, knead it a little more to flatten it and brush the top with the remaining egg. Again put in the bowl and seal using cling film. Keep it for proofing for another 45 min.

8. Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius.
9. Take a bread baking pan or any other baking pan and sprinkle some semolina or flour in it. Put the dough in it.
10. Bake it in the oven for about 30-35 min. Once baked, check if it's cooked by inserting a knife at the center of the bread. If it comes out clean, the bread is cooked.

Note - If you want to put any salt, put it around the edges only after the dough is made. yeast doesn't work well with salt.

Recipe - Chicken curry homestyle

Ingredients -

1. Chicken - 500 gms
2. Curd - 100 gms
3. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
6. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
7. Salt - 1.5 tsp (or as per salt)
8. Onion - 2 medium
9. Green chilli - 2 medium
10. Chana daal (split chikpea) - 2 tsp
11. Khaskhas (poppy seeds) - 1 tsp
12. Dry coconut - 4 1 inch pieces (optional)
13. Green coriander - 1/2 cup
14. Chicken masala - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
15. Oil - 1 or 2 Tbsp

Method -

1. Wash the chicken pieces well.
2. Mix the curd, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, Cumin powder, Ginger garlic paste and Salt.
3. Marinate the chicken in this mix and keep it in the refridgerator for an hour.

4. Dry roast green chilli, khaskhas, chana daal, (dry coconut) and onions separately. Cut and clean the coriander.

5. Grind the roasted green chilli, khaskhas and chana daal together to make a dry mix.
6. Make a rough paste of the onion and coriander in the grinder.

7. Heat oil in a pan. Put the dry mix in the oil. Let it cook for 2 min on low flame.
8. Put the onion/coriander paste in the pan and let it cook for about 5 min.

9. Put the chicken in the pan and mix well. Let it cook for 2-3 min. Mix well again.

10. Put chicken masala in it and also pour a cup of water.
11. Cover the pan and let it cook till the chicken is tender and cooked.
12. Serve with chapati and raita

Restaurant review - Zikomo, Baner Pune

Location - Baner road, Near Orchid school, Pune.

Ambience - ***
Menu options - ****
Taste - **
Service - ***
Price - **

Overall - **1/2

We went to Zikomo because we wanted to try out a new restaurant and on searching on google, we found this. It had a huge menu which gave us the chance to try out a new dish.

The restaurant was easy to find. It is a multi level restaurant. First level is the bar. As you climb up to the next level for the restaurant, there are three lounge areas which can seat about 8 people each. You can have a good relaxing time there with friends, though it is not that private a place.

Zikomo menu

The service was good. They serve only mineral water. the drinks menu is also limited, though you would get all the usual cocktails and mocktails and some of the usual hard drinks as well. The local wine menu is pretty much a one wine menu and there are no imported wines. They did have JD on the list but didn't have it in stock so had to go with Ballantine which, for any JD lover, is not a good thing.

The food menu is quite good. Lot of options. We didn't go for the Indian menu went for international section instead. Ordered Hungarian Goulash and Fish & Chips after crusty wheat chicken soup. The food came pretty quickly, which was good. The taste wasn't all that great. They serve only Basa fish which, according to me, is not the best tasting fish. The presentation was good, but the taste of Goulash wasn't good. Too much of tomato and black pepper. The lamb was also quite chewy.

All of the dishes are slightly overly priced. Given the taste, definitely not worth the money. But I am still willing to give it one more chance. Just one, and try out Indian food to see how they make it.

Recipe - Amboli

Ingredients (makes about 8)

1. Rice - 150 gms
2. Udad daal - 50 gms
3. Salt - 1 or 2 tsp

Method

1. It's a 24 hour process. So plan ahead.

2. Wash rice and udad daal and then mix and put in a bowl.
3. Put enough water in it to soak it - water level about 1 cm above the mix.
4. Keep it like this for 12 hours.This will soften the rice and daal.
5. Put it in a grinder and grind it to get a medium thick batter. If it is too thick, put some water in it.
6. Put the salt, mix it well and then keep it overnight to ferment. About 12 hours.
7. Once it has fermented, heat a flat pan or tawa. Use a thick tawa.
8. Take the batter in a small flat based bowl or vati. Pour it at the center of the tawa and then using the base of the vati, start spreading it outwards using a circular motion.

9. Flip it over once the bottom side is cooked.Should take about 1 minute to cook depending on the hotness of the tava.
10. Serve with a chutney (tomato chutney or coconut chutney)

Recipe - Tomato Chutney

This chutney goes well with absolutely anything. It has a pretty strong taste that can be enhanced by putting more chilli if you want :)

Ingredients

1. Tomato - 2
2. Curry leaves - 10
3. Green chillies - 2
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
5. Asafoetida (hing) - small pinch
6. Salt - as per taste
7. Oil - 2tsp

Method

1. Chop tomatoes and chillies.
2. Heat oil in a small pan/wok. When hot, put the cumin seeds.
3. When they pop, put the curry leaves
4. After about 10 seconds, put the green chillies. Let it cook on slow flame for about 30 seconds
5. Put hing, and put the tomatoes in. Mix well and put salt. Let it cook till tomatoes are soft.
6. Let it cool down and then grind it in a mixer.