Having been meaning to visit the Speciality Mall Ishanya managed to do so on the recent visit to Pune.

A lovely Mall, with ample of space, set in one end of Pune near the golf course is a very nice piece of architecture. And there ends the good things.

Some points that one notices….

• Directions are a bit vague if you go from any other road
• Security is a bit lackadaisical
• Lots of Parking
• Mall seems to be only 1/3 full

Desperation seems to be evident, because renting out the space in the atrium to churan stalls & some low competition is just not happening.

Yes, the recession can be blamed but there is a lot of catchment driven activity that the mall authorities need to undertake now especially to make it happen for the tenants.

Saturday evening in Viman nagar, Pune - absolutely not happening & had to wait to pickup my daughter from Symbiosis test.

With a bit of asking around on twitter, found Zara - The Tapas Bar.

Directions were a bit lopsided, however reached there quickly. Drizzling, we were happy to find parking, peaceful with OK music, something we were looking for.

Zara, the chennai based new Spanish restaurant, tries to look exactly like you expect with photos of matadors, flamenco dancers adorn the walls. Menu pretty nice, but not quite there, maybe we did not order extensively though it serves nachos, lasagna, Stroganoff. Service was attentive without being intrusive.

We ordered Queso Frito Con Salsaq Pica; Vegetable Nachos & found all of them equally good.

A total of Rs. 1300/- for all of this.

AND yes definitely on my to visit place when in Pune

Lunkad Skycruise , Near Symbiosis International School, Off New Airport Road, Viman Nagar, Pune Tel:40159511

A lovely location; right across the road from Gold Adlabs, is a fairly large place, but the AC section is comparatively small.

Standard Shetty stuff with quick service. Tried out a bit of south indian & north indian.

The mocktails were pretty decent to begin with, but the starters were not too happening. The rava sada dosa was crisp, with good chutney & hot sambhar.

The Amritsari Chole could have been spicier but Dum aloo kashmiri was pretty good. It went just right with pudina & methi paratha.

All in all a nice place to have quick lunch/dinner, but parking can prove to be a nightmare; though the Pay & Park guys can be of help with a tenner.

Fortaleza, Opp. Gold Adlabs, Kalyani Nagar, Pune Tel: 64004965

During my recent visit to Pune, staying in Kalyani Nagar, where I did not see too many restaurants & more so who would do home delivery. However, having seen this a couple of times en route to Symbiosis Campus decided to try it out one night by ordering Home Delivery:

Channa Masala
Lachhedar Paratha
Aloo Cheese Roll
Egg Roll

Delivered in 20 minutes; HOT & amazingly fresh. The order was perfect - where without onions - was remembered, et all.

Try it out because it is surely now on my redial list for my visit to Pune.

Shop No 12, Hermes Paras, Opp Fortaleza, Kalyani Nagar Pune Tel: 020-65226806

You must have read about my travel on the expressway to Pune here. However the action over the two days is recorded in this post.

Immediately on entering Pune, we had to drop off some stuff at Neil’s aka Colonel sister’s place; but we decided to stop by Marz-O-rin on the way for some nice cold coffee (not cold but still tastes just as good) & chicken sandwiches (why O why can bombay not learn). Upon completing reached her place, woke her up from her snooze, delivered the stuff, chatted for a while before reaching our final destination Sunil Rogers (Neil’s Nephew) at Mudwa Road; Next to Magarpatta City. It was nearly 6.30 pm by then, so opted for a snooze before getting up at 8.00pm ready for some action. Since a couple of more friends were already there, opted for some kolhapuri food from Kaveri (unfortunately closed that day) so had to settle for some butter chicken & naans from another place preceeded by some Haig & budhani wafers & samosas. All in all good stuff. During this time, had got in touch with CNB aka Freegeek who introduced me to the Visa system in Bombay. And so cajoled him also into coming over.

The next day, Colonel had wanted to go on Satara road for some misal & vada, but was over ruled. We slept a little late & then on his insistence finally left for Post 91 where the Pune Jazz Club was meeting. Reached there much before time & except the projector plus the speaker were there. However, soon it started picking up with the who is who of Pune joining in (photography was frowned upon) but managed to get a couple of them.

At nearly 3, with Colonel buzzing thanks to Koch insisting on one more beer, we made our way to ABC farms. The idea was Sheesha - where jazz lovers meet up. Lovely place, though pathetic service - we had to get everything replaced with fresh stuff - they were keen on the firangs rather than serve us. And back home, via a dekho at Magarpatta city interiors. A power nap & we were ready to rock & roll again. Freegeek had called up to plan out something, but visitors had landed up, so had to communicate regrets.

However I had not counted on Colonel & Sunil his nephew, who managed to clear up the house by 8pm. Then pushing me to drive rushed to Kaveri to pick up Kolhapuri Mutton Rassa & Chicken Fry. On the way Freegeek was also asked to report quickly. And the evening commenced. Keeping an eye on Freegeek & Sunil’s age we called it a night early by 1 (the previous day was 3 am & Freegeek had gone to office straight:))

Monday dawned bright & early. With a list of things to pick up from Praveen (some achaar, masala); Budhani; Marz-O-rin; Kayani & bruns from some other place & we were ready to hit the Expressway!!!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend called up & on the spur of the moment left for Pune, a city that I like but have not visited since the past couple of years.

We left at around 11 am on a Saturday, quickly passing chembur & hitting the expressway before hunger hit us. My friend claiming to be a Puneite though he has been staying in Bombay for the past 35 years guided me to the petrol pump after the toll for some refreshments. The first stop was for some good Sev Puri at 1.30 in the afternoon, followed up by Dabeli (not too happening) & super Vada Pav, we continued our journey reaching our destination.

After spending 2 nights, we returned on Monday, stopping at the food plaza, where we had some amazing Pohe & Vada again (also carrying some back home)

What was definitely noticed by me was the better quality of food at the food plazas; cleanliness of facilities (OK sponsored by HPCL but whatever).

But the civic sense of people is still pathetic:

• Spitting & throwing junk inspite of the signs & waste basket placed.
• Speaking on the cellphones at the fuel pump & lighting cigarettes
• AND stopping on expressway to use it as a loo or picnic spot.

For our two days in Pune read here.