ZaPalooza Pune - Flea market, music, food shopping and more

Puneri Pavsala / Monsoons in Pune

The Daily All Day now in Pune

Pune has another entrant from Mumbai and this cousin definitely gets some good news as it enters the heart of Koregaon Park. The Daily All Day with its sparkly white walls and inky black frames takes a centre stage opposite Sanskriti in Kp. Nestled along the already settled and seasoned players this new entrant is surely holding its ground with confidence and panache. It is already talk of the town and many are lining up to this Daily (pun very much intended). 

Spread across 4000 sq feet, this place sure is done up beautifully. Classic interiors with just black and white. A lovely smart bar which occupies a centre stage. Minimal setting which lets the place breathe with space and natural light. Greenery everywhere even on your table with cute plant pots sitting plumply across. The outdoor area just opens up under the blue sky with trees circling over you. The Daily is a perfect cafe throughout the day serving your favorite cuppa or a chilled juice and come night it transforms itself in a resto bar. Definitely this guy brings good news (i told you so in the starting ) literally. The Daily has always stood for providing the happiest experience to their patrons upon every single visit. Interestingly, the concept is the only good news restaurant & bar in India, with a motto of spreading positivity, joy and optimism amidst the negativity.

Now who doesn't need that... Roof of Happiness’ has frames that carry interesting news snippets from around the world and a chandelier incorporating good news titbits exudes a charming allure to the space. This whole vibe is literally great news in terms of their food. One of the places which blew my mind with the entire experience. They serve a mix of European, Asian and Continental and a wide variety of cocktails. Over here comfort dishes and bar bites rule too. A Healthy Menu which will include delicious smoothie bowls, charcoal activated idlis and nutritious juice blends, among other enticing options is in the pipeline and I am so waiting for it, I swear. 

Until then lets start with what I had this time around which was pretty awesome by it self. 

Whiplash 

4 / 5 

White rum, cherry liqueur, basil, cranberry infused tea with basil dry ice smoke.

This was a molecular cocktail priced at Rs 350 

Their cocktails are potent yet soothing and have a fresh take maintaining a taste of their ingredients individually and not just muddled together. 

Three Melon salad 

5/5 Must try! 

I have become this salad girl and love gorging on mind you GOOD AND BALANCED salads. This was perfect. So summery, so light , so healthy, so fresh and just yummy. Watermelon, musk and green melon with feta, pine nuts and lemon mint dressing. Such a simple combination and glad they kept it simple cause the primary flavours were bursting in the mouth with the mere magical pairing with each other. The sweetness of melons and cooling effect paired with that of creamy comforting feta and the crunch and that nutty flavour brought in by the pine nuts was just wow. The lemon and mint just enhanced these flavours by sometimes peeking out to give their taste too. - MAGIC 

Champagne Mushroom Fricassee 

5/5 Must Try! 

(if i could just give it more than that)

Just look at that beauty and take it all in. How can something look and taste so good.

Wild Mushroom sauteed in champagne vinegar coupled with Parmesan cheese, wrapped in crunchy filo.

What should I say ? Cause words certainly wont do justice to its flavours.

The mushroom, champagne, Parmesan somewhere just lost themselves as an identity or prime taste to create this supreme combination which was neither any one but the magic together. The notes of champagne with that mushroom essense coupled with comforting Parmesan. So so melt in the mouth and then wrapped in that crunchy filo. What a mouthful. I might have had more than one. I can actually have the whole platter. It was so good. 

Its wondrous. 

Thai Style Stir Fried Lotus Root (Vegan)

4/5 Recommended 

This beauty is actually vegan.

Firstly i always wanted to have vegan. This is my first vegan dish. I am not a fan of Lotus Root and i loved the dish. 

They import their lotus roots for this one. Its like veggies in kung pao sauce combined with mushrooms and Lotus roots. 

It had a lovely nutty, sweet and spicy taste. Would have tasted even better if it was crispy. Like all the ingredients. But then that's just me. I have a fascination with crispy fried stuff. 

Gypsy Queen

4.5 / 5 

Another molecular cocktail. Look at this beauty. One of the best whiskey cocktails i have had recently. It maintains the taste and smoothness of whiskey giving hints of peach, cinnamon infused with apple wood smoke. 

The Daily Spicy Chicken Wings 

4.5/5 Recommended for wing lovers

These babies were so pretty and yummy. Perfect wings which should be a bit on the spicy side. Missed the crunch due to the clicking sessions. Wish had them hot. 

Lemon Pepper Fish 

4/5 subtle flavours exactly the way intended

Grilled Basa marinated with parsley and lime topped with balsamic vinegar reduction.

Spicy Chicken Sliders

5/5 Must try 

This exactly literal sense and meaning of great things come in small packages. 

What packaging filled with flavour and taste which can give regular famous burgers run for their money honestly. 

Achieved perfection with this baby. Tasty, soft and well flavoured chicken with spicy relish topped with that cheddar and crispy (my fav ) perfect onion rings. The bun was equally good and soft; made in house.(which not many places master the art of making the perfect bun or bread - my complain always)

And the fries, did i forget them, no i cant. Have to stuff the slider with some no.... 

Cleansing Ginger - Chicken bowl. 

I ain't a ramen person but everyone else loved this. It was just so comforting to look at and just hold it. 

And the main course is served... 

Chicken on Fire

4.5 / 5 

Spicy chicken with sautéed onion and cilantro on a flat bread. Better than a pizza. 

Slow Roasted Roma Tomatoes with Spaghetti

5/5 Must try!

I ain't a fan of veg pastas and least bit red sauce ones but this here isn't any other common one. This is from the Eden of tomatoes. Yes you heard that right. What can go wrong when you have spaghetti cooking slowly in buttery Roma tomatoes sauce with a hint of fresh basil and throw in some olives. This classic Italian recipe can never go wrong. Perfection. Yummy .. sorry my bad. I should be saying. 

PERFEZIONE !

DELIZIOSO ! 

Moroccan Lamb 

5/5 Must try! 

Braised lamb in Moroccan spices tossed with bell pepper and carrots served with herbed rice. Simple hai na.. nah .. it was far from simple. The aromatic Moroccan curry with tje perfect medley of spices and the bell peppers and carrots went surprisingly well with the lamb. The lamb itself was so flavourful, soft and perfectly done. I loved it with the rice which just had the right flavours so as to not mess up the flavours of the lamb. It was so comforting. Loved loved it. 

Beurre Noisette John Dory

3/5 

Pan roasted Australian white fish served with plum tomato and kaffir lime risotto in a caper and butter lime sauce. 

Didn't quite like the pairing of the fish with the risotto. The fish on its own was really nice. 

Oven Roasted Tomato & Olives stuffed Ravioli. 

3.5 / 5 

Home made ravioli stuffed with oven roasted tomatoes, olives and pine nuts cooked in chive butter sauce topped with spicy tomato coulis and goats cheese. 

What went wrong for me here was the size of the ravioli which made the edges harder and stuffing less. It would have been amazing if the stuffing was more and the size smaller which would definitely take the dish notches high. 

P.S little more of the goat cheese please. 

So good... all this was over no sooner than we stopped clicking.. check the highlight for it. 

Loved everything about this place and these desserts were no different. This place guys is 💗💗

In the pic you can see - ranking according to my favorite. 

Flour less Dark Chocolate mud cake Rs 200 

Wildberry and pink peppercorn Pannacotta Rs 200

Orange and Pomegranate Pannacotta Rs 200

Ricotta cheese and chocolate chip filo with mixed berry compote Rs 225 

Yummmmmmm...

Flourless Dark Chocolate Mud Cake 

5 / 5 Must Try ! 

This is sooo muddy good that you would even dream about it long after you have devoured with crazy passion. One of the best desserts I have had in recent times. Priced at Rs 200. This baby is completely vfm and more. 

Every bite you dig in is pure blissed out muddy chocolate good.. so dense, so soft, so chocolatey and all that .. one bite with that vanilla ice cream is pure pleasure. Must try ! @dailyallday_pune has some amazing things to offer on the menu and this sure is one of their stars. Give it a visit . I insist. .

Orange & Pomegranate Panacotta 

4.5 / 5 

A fresh summery panacotta. As soon as you see it you want to sing along just love-struck by that wiggle wobble - I wanna chiggy wiggy with you. 

The panacotta was soft and had tje perfect texture and sweetness with the summer citrusy orange and the delicate sweetness of pomegranate. Karle chiggy wiggy oh.. 

Wild berry & Peppercorn Pannacotta 

4.5 / 5 

It was as good as the one above just with the difference of that sour tinge of wild berry. 

Ricotta cheese & chocolate chip filo with a mixed berry compote

4 / 5 

What an unusual pairing of cheese with chocolate chip wrapped in crispy filo sheet with that punch of berry adding that little sweet sour twist. 

This place impressed me beyond my expectation. It sure deserves all the accolades it has been getting. The ambience, service and the most important aspect food - literally sweeps you off your feet. 

Definitely a place on everybody must visit list. I see this being the city favourite very soon. Almost everything is par excellence. 

Try it out and you will know why I am ranting all about it. 

Now didn't I tell you that this was definitely GOOD NEWS!

The Daily All Day

• Address: Yoganand, Opposite SBI Bank, Koregaon Park, Pune, Maharashtra 411001
• Phone: 020 71966624

Let me know your experience and thoughts.

Until we meet again. 

Stay happy! 

Enjoy the Summer and stay hydrated. Save water and share it with birds and animals.

xoxo

Bhakti 

Food Trail 1.0 - The Game is on

Phoenix Market City a pioneer in getting the best together.
A well known Brand who has got Pune lovely names under one beautiful roof. Be it Shopping, Entertainment or the city's love - Food. So it came as no surprise when Phoenix Market city and Carpe Diem (PR) another famous name responsible for taking all the good things closer to people organised a Food Trail 1.0 for some of the best restaurants in Phoenix Market city, getting Pune food Bloggers together for an exciting event not witnessed before in the city. Exploring different restaurants in a fun way and trying unusual dishes.
So on a lovely winter weekend afternoon all the food bloggers assembled at the Liberty Square and thus started the 1st Food Trail.
All of us were supposed to pick chits to chose a restaurant and then another chit to chose one special ingredient. We were now supposed to dine at the Restaurant chosen through the chit and try out an unusual dish based on the ingredient written on it. We were given a voucher of  Rs 1500 for the same.
The air was filled with enthusiasm and excitement. All were ready to embark on this unique challenge and you could actually taste competition brewing in a friendly jovial way. Everyone was eager to start the race and so was I. Fingers crossed anxiously as I waited for my chance to pick a chit whilst others told what they got, some said paneer, someone corn and I heard chillies from another. With bated breath I picked out a chit and ....I was a happy baby I got my favourite ingredient - Prawns and as usual what followed was a little prawn dance in my head. Prawn dance, prawn dance, prawn dance, prawn dance. Well I just had to stop it and return back to the competition (sigh).
The restaurant was Cuba Libre. I hadn't tried this one yet and this indeed was my first time. I was nervous of how things will work out and yet excited.
So I rushed to the third floor along with fellow bloggers who had got the same restaurant. The entrance to the pub looked pretty small.
 I again nervous as a cat walked inside to find a huge bar I had seen in a long time. My hopes rose and I started imagining lovely pub nibbles in this plush bar.

Then started some research as I buried myself in their menu trying to find Prawn things and quite sure that I had hit jackpot.
No sooner than that I was thrown rather pushed from my cloud nine to ground zero.
They had three, exactly three prawn dishes on their menu, in their whole menu. JUST THREE. I was doomed.

Out of them one was the classic and an all time favourite Prawn Tempura. Now nothing is unusual about this dish and everyone knows it thanks to its simple, beautiful, crunchy and sweet flavours.
Now out of the two remaining it was not the case of the best but that of the unusual. One was Prawn chilli which is on their Bar signature menu ( again another favorite ). I decided to take a risk and bet my money on Oven Baked Prawns which was relatively unknown and quite unusual - if I may say so myself.
Game was laid, dice were thrown - So Oven Baked Prawns it was from their Cuban eats.
As we waited for the food to arrive, we used the time constructively in what else but click, click and more click until I ensured everything was clicked what had to be. After I was satisfied and content   there was some more time left still, so we went to trouble our fellow bloggers sitting next door and troubled them good. Competition should be fun na, now don't you agree.
Well troubling colleagues - done and here I waited for the pinky prawns.
and they did arrive. Small succulent pieces waiting to be devoured. dressed in chilli, thyme, basil, other herbs and garlic and then oven roasted to cook them uniformly and yet have that slight crunch. Dusted with Parmesan cheese and served with cherry tomatoes.

Such simple flavours but made the dish so unique and unusualness of this dish were the really simple ingredients and flavours which stood out by themselves and came together in such a delicious way.
The prawns were cooked perfectly had that crunch and yet were creamy. The garlic and chillies added a punch to the sweet juicy prawns.
Excellent Dish.
It wasn't in the rules or anything but I just wanted a prawny meal in my head and the ingredient still was prawns so I requested the chef for some creamy Alfredo Penne pasta with prawns and it was perfect. Chef also added some veggies to it and was I happy. I love my pasta with veggies and some meat and here it was just the way I like. Many people think that prawn makes the pasta smell sea food kinds but honestly when done right - its magic, the juicy sweet prawns in that slurpy creamy pasta anyday. Better than chicken honestly.

Well this was what I ordered along with some lovely mocktails (not cocktails, you see it was a competition and I needed to be sharp na,, what yaar, don't judge me now ).

I also tried their Paneer satay and Chicken bbq Pizza which were a bomb and extremely delicious. (These were ordered by fellow bloggers for the competition.)
So meal done after a lot of pictures from every angle and lot of posing and bytes for the Phoenix Market city and Carpe Diem Press ;p We were actually feeling like celebrities.
Don't forget all the teasing and troubling the rival teams had to undergo.
Amidst all this I had a fantastic time and my very first ever food trail in any form. I loved it, excited for more, much more after all yeh Dil Mange more na. (one odd prize in some category, I hope you are listening ;p) It was a Happy Fun Day.
On a more serious note a big thanks to Phoenix Market City and Carpe Diem for having me over for the Food Trail and congratulations for pulling off such a fun event with success and utmost ease.

Another big thanks to the judges for keeping up with my random rant.

Check out behind the scenes and all the gossip here -

Until we meet again.
xoxo
Bhakti

Indigo Deli in Kp

From the house of deGustibus Hospitality the first ever deli to open its door to Pune and how. After the tremendous success and love that it got Indigo Deli has now opened its second outlet at the bustling Koregaon park, Lane no 6 with aplomb. 

This all day cafe with an European bistro feel keeps up the tradition of enticing its patronage with its simple yet comforting menu designed with fresh and local produce which pulls at the right strings of the heart and belly. 

Chef Tushar Deshpande is the same man responsible for this epic journey of the taste buds at this second outlet too.

Done up in warm cozy hues with chocolate brown interiors, bold ceiling and lovely huge glass windows looking out on the busy street and the small but quaint outdoor section. The candles, setting, a bar which takes a centre stage, to the dessert counter which calls out your name,everything literally tugs at your heart.

Though this place is smaller than the one in phoenix, I personally love it more due to its setting.

Love sitting at the window in the candle light watching the world pass by whilst sipping on some wine.

Coming back to the tasting ...

I was presented with the day's special menu and even sampled some of their bar nibbles.

Lets get started then .. we have a long delicious way to go.

Cream of Peas and Broccoli

As the name suggests it was a perfect creamy soup. I am a pea lover. So I loved it even more with flavour of peas intertwined with those of the broccoli. 

This warm soup on cold nights with especially their in house yummy bread basket which i can have all by itself with some generous butter.. 

Lovely comforting soup. 

Guava and Sriracha Margarita

For the guava lovers with spicy masala. 

This baby is tequila shaken with guava juice, Thai chili sauce and a rim with the in house BBQ rub.

Kale salad 

This fresh, healthy delicious thing. 

I could have it almost every other day without complaining. 

Sliced fennel, apple batons, dried cranberries, candied walnut, feta... 

Soooo good 👍

Must Try!

Beer Batter Cajun Spiced Prawns with Aioli

If you ask me I am a complete prawns girl and whenever i get my hands on some yummy prawns I cant help but a do a little Prawns dance and for this one I was dancing hard to rhythm of prawn dance... prawn dance ... prawn dance .. prawn dance...

Loved these crispy prawns with the garlicky aioli dip. Somehow the combination of beer with prawns is always kick ass and this was no different. 

Perfect Bar Nibble 

Must Must Try ! 

Spinach, Corn and Mozzarella croquettes with BBQ sauce... 

Yummy nibble for the veggies in the house.

Bite into this crispiness to experience the flavourful croquettes with a cheesy pull. 

Highly addictive. 

Creamed Spinach, Roasted Mushroom and Scamorza 

Half and half 

No one does thin crust like Indigo Deli.

Wafer thin crust so good. 

I loved this veggie delight with such flavours coming together it was party on the house in my mouth 😋

I never knew creamed spinach and mushroom can have such a magical combination paired alongside scamorza. 

Brilliant 

Must have! 

Roasted chicken with cheddar. 

Simple and minimal combinations are the best and most flavourful.

This pizza, this deli is the live example of the same. 

All their pizzas are top notch, you really need to try them out. 

Bloody Mary Linguini ❤

Such a delectable plateful of slurpy pasta in a smoked chili tomato sauce with roasted aubergine, fried capers and fresh mozzarella. So juicy and flavourful and yet so simple.
Must have ! 

Red Wine braised Lamb Ragout

Wine when added rightly takes the taste notches higher and red meat when cooked to perfection nothing can taste better.

Can you even imagine then the flavours of this  perfectly seasoned, spiced Ragout served along with grilled beans and a perfectly charred ciabata. 

This simple yet heavenly meal was surely meant for angels. 

Spinach Risotto 

I am sure Popeye grew up on this stuff. 

This creamy risotto made up of caramelized onion, charred corn, feta and candied pecan nuts. 

Again simple food at its best. That touch of those candied pecan nuts - a bit of sweet in every creamy bite once in a while just created another drama altogether.

So glad they didn't hold back. 

Must Try ! 

Raspberry and Rosemary Mojito 

Saffron Tagiatelle

Queen scallops, shrimps, crab meat, Arugula 

For the sea food lovers definitely. 

They ran out my favorite whiskey pate 🙁 

You really need to try out this boozy dessert. 

So I had my other favorite their home made ice creams which are a bomb. I wanted to have them all but alas pet hain kuva nahi.... so I settled for pecan butter and Belgium chocolate.. if sin could be anymore sinful. It would be this.. 

Brownie vs Cheesecake 

Delectable combination of rich creamy cheesecake paired with gooey brownie...yummmmmmmm

Love the vibe of this place - like sitting in an English cafe having all that comfort food by the window as you people gaze or are just lost in your own thoughts.. romance with your date or just have a good time with friends and family.

Thanks a lot for inviting me Svetlana (carpe diem ) and team Indigo Deli Kp for hosting me.

Disclaimer : This was a food tasting on invite however the views and review is completely based on my experience that day. 

xoxo
Bhakti