ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Phone: 080 46971488
Address: Shop 6-8, D Building, Park Grandeur, Balewadi High Street, Baner, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Time: 12 Noon – 1:00 AM
Meals for two: Rs. 1600
Cuisines: Italian, Continental, Salad
Facilities: Home Delivery, Wheelchair Accessible, Full Bar Available, Table booking recommended, Bulk Orders Accepted, Available for Functions, Catering Available, Resto Bar, LGBTQIA Friendly, Luxury Dining, Smoking Area, Desserts and Bakes, Celebrity Frequented, Live Entertainment, Nightlife, Valet Parking Available, Live Music, Variable Menu, Kid Friendly, Disabled Friendly, Pet Friendly, Group Meal, Lunch Menu, Free Parking, Live Sports Screening, City View, Craft Beer, Outdoor Seating, Indoor Seating, Free Wifi
After the success of their Senapati Bapat Road outlet, Tales & Spirits opened another outlet in Baner opposite Balewadi Highstreet. Originally launched as a vegetarian-only all day diner and bar, they recently added a non-vegetarian menu and rebranded themselves as Tales & Spirits Hunters Bistro.
Tales & Spirits-Hunters Bistro, Baner, Pune: Decor
The indoor section has a contemporary and cozy ambience. The colour scheme throughout the decor is soothing with gray and beige tones interspersed with ocean blue. The seating is comfortable and the natural wooden tables elevate the ambience. The outdoor and garden sections have an eclectic mix of seating ranging from comfortable chairs, to high chairs to private sofas. This is perfect for an afternoon or evening out with friends over drinks. While the indoor section is cozy and comfortable, the outdoor section has a fun, hip vibe.
Tales & Spirits-Hunters Bistro, Baner, Pune: Food
We started with two refreshing mocktails perfect for a sunny afternoon. The guava and pomegranate Mary was rightly sweet and spicy and the strawberry ginger mule was tangy and fresh.
The menu is well curated with a great balance of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. There is a wide range of appetizers, grills and starters to choose from. So we decided to go heavy on the appetizers and light on the mains. To our surprise a few popular dishes on the menu were not available, which was a tad bit disappointing. After much deliberation, we started with the cracking stuffed cremini mushrooms served beautifully on a wooden board. The ricotta and thyme filling was delicious and the crumb coating was crunchy. The cheese corn Vol Au Vents were filo pastry puffs filled with corn and cheese. Even though for Punekars this means khari biscuits topped with cheese and corn, the puffs were light and crunchy and the cheese filling was warm, gooey and tasty. The roti pe boti is a desi take on the soft-shell tacos. Succulent pieces of lamb, spiced and cooked to perfection were served on soft khameeri roti. This was a delightfully messy dish to eat. The glazed pork ribs was another messy and delicious dish which, in my opinion, should be enjoyed without a fork and knife. The ribs were glazed in a sweet and sticky honey barbecue sauce and the meat was juicy and falling off the bone. The sprinkling of sesame seeds was the right garnish. The Puneri tangdi chicken was chicken leg pieces marinated and grilled in a tandoor and served with thecha. The tandoori chicken was great, but the thecha did not add anything to the dish.
There are a lot of options in the pizza section. We picked the BBQ veggies pizza. The crust was thin and crispy and the pizza was loaded with vegetables and cheese. After some great appetizers and starters, we ordered the Parsi delicacy sali ma murgh or sali chicken. This hearty chicken curry cooked with mild spices, topped with sali (fried potato strips) and served with brown rice was the right dish to end our meal.
Of course the meal technically ended with a round of desserts and ice cream. The puran poli ice-cream in the gourmet ice-cream sampler sounded exciting, but failed to deliver the unique and distinct flavour of the puran poli. The guava ice-cream was the best among the lot. Our server insisted that we try their most popular dessert purple ombré. We were served a huge slice of mousse cake with perfectly defined layers of varying colours (hence the name ombré). Each layer (purple sponge, dark chocolate mousse, white chocolate and citrus mousse and vanilla cream) was distinct and added a different dimension which made it light and decadent at the same time. Highly recommended.
Plus & Minus:
The innovative and well curated menu at Tales & Spirits Hunters Bistro impresses. The taste of the food is complimented by beautiful presentation. Some popular dishes which use basic ingredients were not available on the day we visited, which I hope was a one-off occurrence and not a regular feature.
