Verdict: A peaceful and comfortable setup, the Italian café serves an unassuming menu and is well stocked on imported gourmet items. Good brunch option.
Rating: 4/5
Table for Two: Rs 1500-2000
Address: Oakwood Premier, Opp 1 Lounge, Mundhwa Road, Koregaon Park
Bistro is a café and deli. Not too brightly lit with just enough lighting at each table. Wooden furniture. One side’s a glass wall overlooking the alfresco seating which is covered by an awning, the other side’s lined up with racks stocked with imported gourmet products. The food and beverages menu is simple, doesn’t overwhelm you and includes a rotating daily menu as well which finds its way back in a cycle of 45 days.
We started with an Iced Caramel Latte and a Musk Melon & Cardamom smoothie – both to the tee, with the smoothie having a well-balanced flavour. We got an assortment of bruschettas – Tomato & Basil, Goat Cheese & Zucchini, and Cream Cheese & Salmon. While we could with some more goat cheese on the respective bruschetta, the cream cheese & salmon option was a lovely combination of delicateness and crispness.
The BBQ’d Chicken Wings were an absolute delight – well-glazed, hint of sweetness amongst the charring, though slightly bigger wings would’ve nailed the dish as one of our favourites. The Calamari Fritters, served with sweet chili mayonnaise, were standard and are a good option as starters as well. Both preparations go well with light beer.
A 12” assorted pizza – chorizo, smoked chicken, shrimps with melted tellagio – none of the ingredients over-powering each other, crisp towards the edge and supple towards the center, just enough for you to comfortably hold a slice by the palm and enjoy it. After initial suggestions from guests, none of the pizzas use mozzarella now.
While there a good selection of sandwiches – we’d love to try the tuna, cucumber and dill mayo in focaccia, the smoked chicken, scarmoza and gherkins in focaccia, and the slow roast beef and blue cheese in focaccia – we skipped directly to the mains.
We tried the Wild Mushroom Risotto and the Saffron & Seafood Risotto. The risotto is creamy and is served at just the right kind of warm for you to start digging in immediately. The mushroom risotto has a very strong taste and we’d only recommend it to you if you really love mushrooms. A mix of steamed fish, shrimps and calamari are used in the seafood risotto.
The dinner ended with a helping of the New York Style Cheesecake and Tiramisu. Both easily are one of the best prepared in the city. We’d put them on par with what’s served at the Marriott’s Pune Baking Co, which are the benchmark according to us. If only we could get our choice of toppings for the cheesecake.
Photos by Madhur Dutta