Holkar Bridge Pune: A traffic story

Its been something I have always wanted to write but was too lazy to do so. While in general Pune traffic is brain dead and traffic cops useless there are a few exceptions. If you take the Nagar road from Aundh to Yerwada, you will have to cross the Holkar bridge near Bombay Sappers. Its a place where a 6 lane road encounters a 2lane bridge and there is no alternative. The bridge at one of its end has a trisection to compound misery.
However this is one place where I find traffic cops and wardens always present during peak times and managing traffic. And the traffic is actually managed. The jams happen only when a vehicle breaks down near the bridge else the traffic moves. Which is not to say that its a breeze. When traffic merges, 3 lanes of oncoming traffic into 1, and Pune road sense there are bound to be hurdles. However it is ensures that the traffic keeps moving. Still during peak times having a kilometer long line of vehicles is comming.
Recently a new bridge is approved and work too started. But since its a government job we can expect the 100m or so bridge to take 4-5 years to build. So i still dread peak times where 1/2 a km of my 10 km ride takes 1/2 of my total commute time.
While last couple of weeks of December had almost no waiting at 10, I thought it was because of the holidays. Come January the traffic cops made one of the turns a no go and in the process eliminated the tri-section. Now its 2 weeks into January and the traffic is still a breeze. It maybe the truckers strike or it may be this change in usage that is the reason. I also find the traffic density a lot lot less. while maybe it is because there is some road somewhere that is maybe closed and hence people are not taking that road it looks unlikely since as far as I know that bridge is a must crossed.
Anyways one must count ones blessings. That 1/2 km stretch now takes abt 1 minute to cross and lets thank God for that. If you are looking at getting from Viman Nagar/Yerwada/Koregaon to Aundh/Wakad/Khadki/Mumbai during peak times, these days you can simply avoid the traditional city route and get onto Nagar Road. City route will take an hour, Nagar road will take you 20 minutes to reach Aundh. Yeye!

Rajdhani Vegetarian thali@Lifestyle Mall, Mulund Mumbai

Rajdhani is a joint that goes in for the traditional. Their USP is their vegetarian thali which is a gujrati style thali. Serving starts with a guy getting you some metal contraption to help you wash hands while being seating on your table itself. The waiters use hand signals to communicate with each other so the noise level is a bit lower than other places. Guests ofcourse are free to holler.
Thali comes in with a choice of breads and rice/khichhdi etc. The servings have options so you can pick and choose what you want. I found the Gujrati khadhi a bit too sweet, much sweeter than my earlier experiences of of it at other places. The couple of other sweets were similarly too much on the sweet side for my comfort. But the Aloo sabzi and daal etc were pretty good. The breads also were true to the traditional tastes. The buttermilk had bhuna jeera that was obviously burnt to fault and did not therefore taste that well. The waiters will sometime take their sweet time to come but overall they feed quite well in the traditional style.
Overall its an interesting experience and I hope some of the things were maybe one off accidents. But if you into the traditional thali experience its not a bad place overall.
Paan comes in the end.
Prices: 200/- thali
Location: Lifestyle Mall Mulund

Setting up Place: Ishanya Pune

Setting up one's own pad is hard work. Apart from figuring out how it should look is the question of figuring out where to get the stuff from. Commute in a city like Pune is anyways a harrowing affair.
I was therefore pleasently surprized to check out the Ishanya Mall. The mall is essentially a design mall with outlets catering to designer products and services and cover almost the entire gamut of things one needs to setup a home. The outlets range from the staple Homestore, @Home etc to boutique designer shops. And while the designer shops are not cheap by any stretch its still very useful to have all shops in one location where one can look for ideas and do some comparison shopping.
Besides being somewhat out of the city its not crowded like most other places which makes is possible to actually look around and talk to sales if one wishes. There are only a very few eating outlets in there which is one grouse I have since shopping especially for home stuff is a long drawn affair.
All in all Ishanya is a good addition to Pune

Utsav: Hiranandani Mumbai

Among all the eating joints in Hiranandani, the one that impressed the most is Utsav. 2nd kitchen to some friends it serves good Indian stuff and for Hiranandani at a quite reasonable rate.
I especially like the khicchdi Kadhi there and there vegetarian starters are pretty good too. While I have not tried the Chinese menu there, some friends recommend that too.
Prices: 100-150/dish
Location: Opp Hiranandani School, Powai, mumbai 25705356/7

Mainland China: Hiranandani Mumbai

Hiranandani has a new food destination in Mainland China near to the Galleria. Will do well to reserve a place before landing in as the place is usually crowded like everyplace else in Mumbai.
While I've had good memories of the eggplant dish from the Andheri outlet, the crackling spinach here I found too oily and not really crackling. Servers took pains not to come around when you wave but once someone stood up, walked around and got a captain in person in a minute, they did become attentive.
The assorted vegies schwezwan style that they gave complimentary after the walk to captain was good but that was all. The other dish I tried was again some veggies with red peppers schwezwan style was a bit too bland and I could not really see the peppars.
Chicken too disappointed the folks. So I suggest stick to the eggplant dish or else check out the Andheri joint for some more time.
Prices: around 200-250/dish
Location: Near HSBC, near Galleria, Hiranandani, Powai
http://www.mainlandchinaindia.com/

Ku De Ta

Bali the land of beaches and charming temples has a lot to offer to tourists and residents alike. One of the primary attractions of the island is the beach side resturant of Ku De Ta, definetly its most famous grub place.
Book a dinner table and plan to reach before sunset, asking them to reserver a lounger. The highlight of the place is to watch the sunset from a lounger while sipping whichever is your favorite poison at the moment. The site is glorious and the cocktails heady (tip: don't go there alone ; ) ).

(shot in dark by shaky hands)

The food is great though for a vegetarian like me, the menu is pretty restrictive. Try the potato based starter, its very very good. The prices are on the steep side, a meal for 2 with drinks will cost atleast US$100/- What steps the place apart is the setting and the sunsets.
Prices: US$50-100/person
Location: Seminyak Kuta

Food Sensualist's Guide to Pune Eateries

Most of my favorite resturants are in Koregaon. I guess it is the presence of lots of rich and fine living people around that area. People paying the kind of money and used to good things in life expect good taste and that shows.
Arthur's Theme
If there is one place that in my experience has managed the consistent quality of food, its Arthur's Theme. As the name suggests the resturant is inspired in some ways by the story of King Arthur. The decor in a wee bit and the names of the dishes is patterned on the ancient Kings and Queens.
The wine menu is not too vast but if you ask them they can tell you what liquor and few wines they have. Not the best place for those on liquid diet. But if you want good food the menu offers plenty of options. There is pasta, there are mushrooms and potatoes and then there is all sorts of meat including roasted turkey (might be the only place in Pune serving roasted whole turkey). Food tastes good, is not very expensive with most dishes under 200/- when I last visited some months back.
What really endears me to the place is that a dishes tastes pretty much similar to what it tasted the last time you order. Not those cases like - sorry our regular cook is away this week so this thing you ordered tastes something not quite entirely unlike what you ordered yesterday that sometimes happen in other places.
Prices: ~200/-
Location - off North Main Road Koregain, take the Pizza hut turn, right next to Malacca Spice.
http://www.arthurstheme.com/
Indyaki
My late favorite used to be Indyaki. I found their service to be 3rd rate for any joint forget something aiming to be upper crust still their cook esp for continental food made the place worth it. Infact I almost invariably ended up scolding the floor manager for the soups that will arrive after finger bowls, Wine that will never arrive and Rotis that will be found to be over after you get the curry on the table. Then the place vanished for a while. Some time ago someone told me of this new place called Indyaki which apparently was the old Indyaki and I comandeered a friend and headed to check it out.
The place is now reburbished and apparently has a new owner. The service quality has improved quite a bit bordering sometimes of being a bit too friendly. The dishes are good, I quite liked the kebabs. The menu has also changed. Its now primarily Indian fare with no signs of continental. I miss the continental but overall maybe its a change for better and thats a loaded statement coming from a foodie who now like the food a lil less than that of old but the service levels now belong to human world.
Prices - ~200-300/- dish
Location - on South Main Road Koregaon. Coming from the Residency side, keep a lookout for a decorated tree on your left and thats the place.
020 26055116
Nawab
This is apparently a Lucknawi joint serving all sorts of North Indian/Pakistani/Afgani fare. I was told about this by a friend come down from Mumbai and wanting to visit. I had never heard of it but managed to find out. The place is quite a revelation.
Weather permitting and prior reservation can get you a place on the terrace which is much more fun with its sofas. The wine list is huge though count on most of it being 'out of stock' (its a new thing I notice in lots of resturant these days. The choice of drinks will be 10 pages but actual availabile drinks might be 10 brands in total). Still you can get decent drinks.
The food shines. The Afganistani\LucknowiPeshawai kebabs and they have some vegetarians ones that are probably better than meat ones, ask the server for help make a trip worth it. I often take my European guests over and they find the food not overloaded with spices you can safely take Paredesi folks there when you need to. The rice and roti stuff is good too.
Prices: around 200/- a dish
Location - Opposite Pune Club, next to Blue Nile, look for a shabby place with music and then look up the first floor which is where this is
020 25675625