| Locality | Camp Cantonment |
|---|---|
| Landmark | Opposite J Williams Showroom |
| Place Type | Cafe |
| Food Type | Brownies, Multi-cuisine, Coffee, Mughlai, Punjabi, Pasta, European, Indian, Pastries, Continental |
| Timings | 11:00 AM to 11:30 PM |
| Price |
|
first reviewed by raymasky
May 20, 2008
Reminiscing nostalgia you enter, and transformative imagery occurs almost immediately - from the dusty streets of Pune to, well, a street of British regalia or at least portrays the vanity it seems to exuberate - when you enter 11, East Street Cafe. Designed to replicate a sidewalk in England (flanked by props of shop windows like Marks n Spencer, Posh Spice etc), a life-size Red Bus greets you. A thorough selection of delicious pastries and breads are ensconced within this air conditioned bus. Walk further past, and a dumb woman - the maitre de refuses to seat you on a table of 6 if you are a group of 3 (irrespective of the how less the number of inhabitants currently occupy the tables!).
A widely elaborate menu consumes most of your time - prompts you to scavenge through the rummage of alphabets to pick your options, in that it houses a medley of English food, Italian food, Lebanese food, and Indian food.
From bangers and mash to the colloquial fish and chips to portions of chicken served up in a wide array of sauces and accompaniments, to the routine shawarma and grilled chicken, to pizzas, pastas, Indian punjabi food and dal, its comprehensively thought about and indulged in.
#1 - the pizza (Rs. 170/- for 10") was decent, but then again, you cannot go wrong with cheese sitting atop bread!
#2 - English chicken in barbeque sauce (Rs. 195/-)
Experience no. 1 - served in 5 mins flat - was raw, had to spit it in a tissue!!! - called the manager - took it back - came back after 5 mins - said that I was right - the chicken was undercooked!! - the acceptance was a first for me outside of a 5 star hotel!! - that bit of honesty definitely earns some stars.
Experience no. 2 - served the same dish - properly cooked - but nothing to write home about - served with the measliest portion of fries and garlic bread - ordered more garlic bread (Rs. 28/- for 6 tiny portions) - was served plain toast instead!!
#3 - cheesey pasta with mushrooms (Rs. 165/-) was severely cheesy and sticky!!
The too many exclamation marks on the negative note referenced above rather sums up a negative food rating.
The irony of my tryst with this destination lies in the fact, that I long to go back for more - coz I am almost sure that my 'pickings' were wrong; maybe because I refuse to believe that such a good place can be undone by such un-alluring food. I rest the benefit of doubt with them.
The marriage between the east and west in a by-lane in Pune seems most enthralling and immediately attracts attention - to devour its offerings.
Puneietes have a thing to brag about on this one. Alas!, its not food on this count.
Interesting Trivia: Check out their huge glasses in which they serve water - must be a kilo in weight, to say the least!
Jan 06, 2008
Like raymasky said, the ambience is really cool, open but without an A/C. They even have a double decker bus at the entrance that doubles up as a waiting area and a dessert station - the kids just love it. They have created faux shop windows and entrances to keep up with the street-cafe ambience. This cafe also boasts of a hookah bar sort of thing on the first floor and an exclusive vegetarian joint at the back of the cafe is going to added soon.
Now, the food. Excellant food, didn't have a single bad point except the service. Most of the staff was just running around and everything looked a tad chaotic. Then again, its a new restaurant, hardly a month old so I think things will be better soon. The food though is excellant and they have a great dessert selection as well. Everything we ordered was great.
Try the English ratatouille and the amazing Irish coffee mousse.
A definite thumbs-up kinda place.
Dec 19, 2007
The first thing you will notice about this place is the wonderful British-sidewalk style ambiance. The decor is done up in such a way that it resembles a British street cafe. There's a great amount of finer touches given to the interior and it all looks very classy.One more thing to note is that since the interiors are pretty open ...there are no A.C's. The list of items on the menu range from stuff like a typical English fish and chips platter to the Mughlai Raan gosht , which left me quite surprised coz i thought that this way a typical coffee bar. They also have a well stocked up bar. The Price range is a bit steep ..and a typical meal for two with a pint of beer , starters, and the main course would cost around Rs.700-800. But the whole experience is worth every penny.