ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Phone: +91 9822322434
Address: Shop 10, CTS 849, Building 1, Sheshadri Housing Society, Opposite Kheliya, Rambaug Colony, Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Time: 12 Noon – 12 Midnight
Meals for two: Rs. 500
Cuisines: Chinese, Thai
Facilities: Home Delivery, Standing Tables, Outdoor Seating, Wifi, Indoor Seating
Zillionth Bistro is located off Paud Road in Kothrud and serves ‘Chindian’ (Indian Chinese) with some additional Pan Asian dishes. It is a recent addition to the ever growing food scene of Kothrud.
Zillionth Bistro, Kothrud, Pune: Decor
Imagine a full cafe decorated using scrap material? Elements like old chairs, discarded ceramic tiles, scrap pinewood, plywood and laminate scrap, discarded bottles, old denim fabric, fan grills, and even tyres find a place in the decor at Zillionth Bistro in an up-cycled avatar. The space is small with an open-air ground floor and a mezzanine floor, but every nook and corner has been utilized cleverly. The seating on the ground floor is comfortable where the foldable chairs are made from the scrap metal from shipping containers. On the mezzanine floor, the whole length is covered with a cushioned surface covered with denim fabric from old jeans. A lot of such innovation elements will catch your eye. The bistro also doubles up as a co-working space and the restaurant is pet-friendly.
Zillionth Bistro, Kothrud, Pune: Food
Even with the fast evolving food scene in Kothrud, strangely there are only a few Pan-Asian or Chinese restaurants here. Restaurateur Saili Jahagirdar realized the potential and decided to fill this gap with the Zillionth Bistro. The menu is curated by Saili and features the nostalgic Indian Chinese street food dishes along with some pleasant surprises beyond the regular street Chinese fare.
We started with the prawn laksa soup which is a Malaysian soup with coconut milk, rice vermicelli, vegetables and prawns. The soup was rich and creamy and tasted great. I would have liked it to be slightly spicier and less sweet. The orange chicken came next on our server’s recommendation. Chicken tossed in a tangy, sweet and sticky orange sauce with bell peppers and onions and topped with freshly sliced orange sections. This one was definitely a crowd pleaser and a favorite across the table. Lotus stem is an ingredient which is often used in South Asian cuisine and currently in trend. We got the honey chilli lotus stem which was rightly sweet and spicy. The spice balance was on point, but the fried lotus stems were hard instead of crunchy. Both the dimsum (vegetarian and chicken) were made beautifully and tasted excellent. It would be great to have more variety in the dimsums. We accompanied our starters with glasses of refreshing peach and lemongrass ice-teas.
The moment I saw a sizzlers section on the menu, I asked for the hot garlic chicken sizzler pronto. The sizzler came with chicken in a hot garlic sauce served with fried rice, tossed vegetables and potato wedges. The hot garlic sauce was the highlight of this dish and it was delicious. For vegetarians we got everyone’s favorite Thai red curry which was served with steamed rice. It was refreshing to see that a small bistro would use fresh ingredients like galangal, shallots, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in the curry. This reflected in the taste and flavor of the curry which was rich, creamy and fragrant. I hope the team continues to use these fresh ingredients. There were only two desserts on the menu and we ordered for the less conventional chocolate cigar rolls. Filo pastry rolls filled with gooey chocolate and served with vanilla ice cream and an indulgent dark chocolate dipping sauce.
Plus & Minus:
The will and dedication to create an upcyled space is heartening and worth appreciating. The food served is tasty, comfortable and of course nostalgic. The Chindian dishes were great, but personally I preferred the other surprises like the orange chicken, the Thai curry and the sizzlers. The menu, at times, seems limited and some variety in dishes is recommended.
