Every city has a link to the old world through its
restaurants, places that seems to have been untouched by time. Tables and
chairs that look as if a century earlier someone like you might have enjoyed a
meal there. The atmosphere replete with the charming memorabilia, old
architecture or very simply a no-nonsense attitude to service.
Places that take you back in time from the glitzy,
neon-lit, cram-as-many-as-you-can arrangement, fake smiles and serve you
delicious food without you having to worry that the bill will cause you to give
up any thoughts of buying that useless-unnecessary-piece of junk that you have
an eye on (don’t we all have something like this, currently mine is DRLs).
Thankfully Pune hasn’t lost all of its set of such
wonderful places. There is still the Burger King (more on that some other
time), the George, the Blue Nile and of course Touche Sizzlers. The correct
name is “The Place, Touche the sizzlers” but let me stick to Touche.
This place has been around for ever and has been as
famous all the time. Since I know of Pune from only up to 14 years back, I can
vouch for that period. As the name suggests, this place is well-known for its
sizzlers, ones ranging from paneer to mix-veg (sigh!) to chicken, pork, beef and
fish with preparations from different regions to include chinese, goan influences too.
I have been visiting this place for around 12 years now
and I have to say the sizzlers today are as good as the ones that I ate the
first time.
Don’t be fooled though into just looking at the sizzlers,
they serve some really good starters like the malai kabab and for people like
my wife who think of potatoes as God’s gift to humanity; they have a very good
example of mashed potatoes. Yummy! Both of them and completely worth a try, the
mashed potatoes go well with any sizzler as a side.
Our favourite sizzler is the Chicken Cordon Bleu which is
chicken stuffed with ham and cheese, topped with a rich meat sauce and comes
with crumb fried mushroom, mashed potatoes (now you know why the biwi likes it J ) and steamed
vegetables on the side. It’s yummy and big enough for the both of
us. On the plate it looks as if a UFO (the one from comics) just landed on the
plate in between colourful (but bland) veggies on one side and the pale looking
(but very tasty) mashed potatoes, bringing the mushrooms along.
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| Yummy! |
The different elements in the plate go well together
(although I don’t know why there are cabbages ) and work together to make a
complete meal. The UFO is crusty and hard(ish) but
break into it and you have the cheesy, soft, fleshy chicken and salty ham. The
mushrooms are crunchy because of the crumbs and the sauce is just perfect. Paet
full, Dil houseful :D .
This time around we went on the first day of the new year
and they were still serving Xmas pudding. It’s not available on the menu (duh!)
but was put up on the specials board. We decided to try it and once I had it I
was sure that my new year had started off brilliantly. It’s looks deceivingly
simple, a brownie with a cherry on top and a sauce around it, that’s it. But
bite into a spoon-full and it makes you look at the dish again wondering if
it’s the same thing that went into your mouth. Don't let looks alone decide which woman you fall in love with, someone smart mentioned once. The same applies to food.
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| Xmas pudding |
It’s soft and gooey and has the perfect mix of raisins and
brandy. You don't chew it, it just melts into an explosion of taste in your mouth making you want to check how much you can prolong the experience with each bite. But mind you it’s heavy and after having cleaned up the UFO landing site
we were glad that we ordered just one of it between us. I am waiting for next Xmas now.
I have had many such memorable gastronomical experiences
at this place and like Morpheus said in the Matrix, “some things never change…”. Let’s hope it stays the same for many more
years and if you ever feel like having some sizzlers in Pune, do remember “The
Place”. Touche
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