Explorer of Experiences

Size Matters It is news when in a real estate-crunched city like Pune you have a restaurant that’s bagged a space that spans 15,000 sq ft. It is rare still to walk into a restaurant that is that big; a restaurant with an indoor section, a huge outdoor dining area and even an amphitheatre. Without an intention to compare, when you walk in, Classic Rock feels like High Spirits v 2.0, mature and mammoth-sized. Its sprawling premises promises to easily harbor about 1500 revelers. And where they score over lots of restaurants is their parking lot that can accommodate almost 200 vehicles. Obviously, their manning is huge with 80 people on the payroll. Cocktails & Coffee At Classic Rock, they take both their coffee and cocktails very seriously. Let’s talk Arabica first. They source their coffee beans from Kerala and even have a glistening silver roasting machine on site. Beans are roasted and grinded, so you’re guaranteed a freshly brewed Cappuccino (Rs 140). If you’re int...

Many times I have been recommended a restaurant that is super popular in the city, but after dining there I tend to walk out feeling disappointed...it was good, but not that good. Pune has a few restaurants that are deemed a must-visit for outsiders. My theory is that these popular outlets were good at one time, but once they gained popularity and the footprint, somewhere along the way, the prices sky-rocketed and the food quality suffered. Nonetheless with some PR machinery backing them up, they do get their desired footfalls.  Sometimes, the best restaurants turn out to be the ones very few have heard of.  One such not-much-talked-about place is Soy. My sister discovered it two years ago when severe sushi cravings drove her on a city-wide hunt for a restaurant that serves decent ones. Sheltered on the ground floor of Le Royce Hotel, the chefs at Soy dish out some remarkable Chinese and Japanese food.  Their menu has good range and better still, vegetarians will not...