Restaurant Review: Yolkshire, Kothrud, Pune

Calling 'Yolkshire' a restaurant might be pushing things a bit, but if you aren't too fussy about ambience and space, then this cutely-named eatery in Kothrud is sure to make you (and your tummy) smile.

Located among the row of shops in front of the Karishma Housing Society (by itself a landmark- tell the auto guy "Karishma" and he is will take you there with no mistakes),Yolkshire is a tiny place with 2 tables squeezed indoors and 2-3 tables breathing in relative freedom outside.  But what the place lacks in space, it makes up for it in the large-ness of the menu.

As evident from the name, Yolkshire is devoted to all dishes egg-y. Apart from the pasta, salads, sandwiches and burgers sections (a move I guess to appeal to non-eggetarians), every dish is an ode to the humble egg. (An aside- eggs, in the Western world at least, have become humble only in the last half century or so- in the late 1800s and early 1900s they were considered 'rich', a rarity that poor folks couldn't afford)

From various types of stuffed omelettes and fritatas and egg-white omelettes to scrambled eggs and savoury French Toasts and Eggs Benedict/Mornay to Scotch Eggs to Eggs made to order to combos of the above with juice/salad etc - the multi-page menu covers all egg classics. There are even exotic egg dishes from Thailand and Lebanon. And they give you a choice of how hearty you want your dish too! (2/3/5 eggs)

Frankly Speaking- Egg White Omelette draped around frankfurter in tangy sauce, Rs. 155

We tried the Frankly Speaking (egg white omelette draped over a frankfurter and filled with tangy sauce), and as our side dishes, chose the olives and parsley potatoes. The omelette and the sauce were tasty, but there was something odd about the too-soft frank- or maybe I would have just preferred a heartier, meatier, more toothsome and more spiced sausage inside. Served with 2 toasted-and-buttered slices of white bread, this breakfast was filling enough for one, especially if accompanied by tea/coffee/hot chocolate. And at Rs. 155, its a good deal.

Chicken and Cheese French Toast, Rs. 140

Next we tried the Chicken and Cheese French Toast (Rs 140) which was kind of underwhelming- a sandwich of sorts made up of French Toast (under-seasoned) swaddling a filling of shredded chicken and cheese in white sauce (also under-seasoned). You can give this a pass, especially when there are other dishes like Khagina (Parsi Burji) and Scotch Eggs on the menu!

Last we tried an omelette from the  "meal omelette' section, the Omelette Reve (Rs 130) Your standard-issue omelette, stuffed with diced chicken in a tomato-ey sauce, served with baked beans and toast, was, well, middle of the road. The chicken, while nice, could have been tastier/better spiced!

We ended our brunch with glossy dark hot chocolate (yummy! Two thumbs up) and the Yorkshire Tart (sweet and light but no marked taste other than that of the maple syrup it was served with)

Will I visit again? Undoubtedly. There's pages and pages of the menu I need to explore, the prices aren't a deterrent to my culinary explorations, its located in a nice accessible location AND its open for breakfast. Yolkshire, here I come again!

Weekend Getaway: The great food and wine escape!

Recently, I attended a food-and-wine weekend getaway at Nasik, as a guest of the Wandering Foodie. While not having to pay WAS a sweetener, the weekend was so perfect that its perfection would not have been marred even if I had to pay for it.

What made the weekend different from the usual wine weekends was the emphasis on food- equal to, if not more than on the wines. And what raised the uniqueness quotient even higher was that the food wasn't sophisticated French or Italian or even modern Indian....it was rustic, true-blue Khandeshi food.

Khandesh is a belt in northwestern stretch of Maharashtra, and while Nasik is 60km from Khandesh, the local cuisine is heavily influenced by Khandeshi flavours and tastes. Khandeshi food is high on spice and resonant with complex masalas and gravies, a real treat to the tastebuds.  I was really curious to see how this hearty peasant fare would pair with summery wines from the vineyards around!

The weekend began with a 4-4.5 hour bus ride (very comfortable) from Mumbai to Nasik. We (Agent J and I) were picked up at the bus's drop off point by Wandering Foodie's car and taken 40 km out of the city (towards the famous Tryimbakeshwar temple) to E&G Green Valley Resort. The resort is an oasis of modern convenience and luxury in the midst of a rocky, lonely landscape dotted with a few trees. Yet the surroundings don't look desolate or arid, but mystical.

The resort is well maintained and welcoming with large rooms (and villas if you like) that are well furnished and well-equipped, like any good 4 star hotel.  After freshening up after our long journey, J and I headed to the villa the organisers had rented for a quick round of introductions to the rest of the group and a delicious lunch on the lawn of the villa, featuring Khandeshi specialities like the combo of Batti+Dal+Vangyachi Bhaji (baked flour balls with dal and aubergine subzi) and the amazingly tangy-tasty mutton curry, served with sides of bhakri, sliced tomatoes and onions and the tongue-numbing thecha- a brilliant combination of roughly-pounded green chillies, garlic and salt. Each dish was paired with a suitable wine from the nearby wineyards. For example, a full-bodied red wine accompanied the mutton curry, and the pairing worked really well, with the wine emphasizing the umami flavour of the mutton. What was even better, was how this happened was explained by Rahul, one of the founders of Wandering Foodie- the tannins in the wine draw out the meat's taste. Super! For dessert, there were thick, sweet puran polis paired with a sweet dessert white wine. Brilliant!  Sugar, wine and sun....the perfect ingredients for a happily buzzing afternoon!

Mutton curry, bhakri, thecha, - mutton paired with red wine

After an hour or so of rest in our rooms, we assembled in the lobby to be ferried across in cars to the Zampa Grover vineyard, approximately an hour's drive away. The route was scenic to say the least with astonishingly straight and sheer cliffs rising dramatically against the cloudless sky.



The sun was setting as we reached the vineyard, turning the sky into a blazing riot of pink and coral and orange. One of the most glorious sunsets I have ever seen! Especially when seen from the top of One Tree Hill, a small hillock on whose slopes the wines stretch in straggly rows. 


 



Our guide at the vineyard took us around the wines and the factory and explained the wine-making process. That by itself wasn't so interesting, maybe because we visited when the factory had shut for the day and we didn't see the actual live production in action.

 
But we soon came to the piece de resistance of the evening- our guide led us into the pitch-dark Barrel Room, ostensibly to show us the casks in which the vintage wines are aged....and then flicked on a switch to illuminate a long, polished dining table, laid out with elegant table settings of wine glasses (3 apiece) , flowers and plates of cheese and crackers. Oh so elegant! The table was lit only by small overhead hanging lights, giving an intimate and luxurious feel to the room. At every place was a booklet introducing the various wines of Zampa Grover.
 
And so we began the tasting! Truth be told, very few (if any!) of us really got the nuances of the 8 (yes, 8!) wines that we tasted that evening. But the sophisticated, beautiful setting and the heady wines were enough to make us all happy-high as we drove back to our resort under the starry night sky. That drive, with its cold night breeze, music, and all those stars remains one of the highlights of the weekend.

Day 2 began leisurely with a relaxed Maharashtrian breakfast of Misal Pav and some Wade, made of a mix of pulses and cereal. Yummy! 



After breakfast, we split into teams of two, with each team selecting one dish that they would cook, from the plethora of Khandeshi dishes we had sampled so far at lunch, dinner and breakfast. Needless to say, Agent J and I chose to try our hands at the lip-smacking mutton curry!

Each team of two had a small cooking unit, consisting of a gas stove, utensils, ingredients for their dish all laid out, aprons and recipe books. 



Within record time our 5 teams had churned out a veritable feast consisting of:

• Mutton Curry
• Vangyacha Bharit
• Dal Batti
• Kadhi and Green Chilli Thecha
• Puran Polis

 

Our Mutton Curry - finger-lickin' goodness!

The icing on the top was a tray full of flutes of rose sparkling wine carried in by Rahul to celebrate our culinary success!

After a hearty lunch consisting of a taste of all the above (all of it was delish, we all proved to be Master Chefs! :P) and simple fare like bhindi subzi, dal-rice, it as time to pack up and leave for home.

What a super one-and-a-half day break it was! Brilliant sunset, bracing cold weather, great food, amazing people….surely a weekend to remember!