ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Restaurant Name: Kaka Halwai, Aundh, Pune
Phone: +912025893343, +912040098393
Address: Shop A 157, Abja Pavilion, Opposite Union Bank Of India, DP Road, Aundh, Pune, Maharashtra 411007 India
Time: 8:30am – 9pm
Meals for two: Rs. 300
Cuisines: Mithai, Street Food, Desserts
Facilities: Breakfast, Home Delivery, Takeaway Available, Vegetarian Only, Desserts and Bakes, No Seating Available
In Pune, Kaka Halwai is synonymous with sweets, as their shops have been around for decades. The current owners from the Gadve family are the sixth generation since the time they started their first shop in 1892. They are a mithai speciality brand with four manufacturing units and more than 20 retail outlets in Pune. Apart from their variety of mithai, Kaka Halwai in recent years is popular for their namkeen range and of course fresh, hot snacks served at their outlets. I visited their Baner outlet to try their famous mithai, namkeen and snacks.
Kaka Halwai, Aundh, Pune: Food
Kaka Halwai products have been a part of numerous joyous occasions in my family particularly their pedhe, barfi and Bengali mithai. On my visit to their Baner outlet, I tried a variety of their signature mithais, specialties, snacks and namkeens. Among their mithais, almost everything that we tried was of top quality and expectedly delicious, I particularly enjoyed the mango malai barfi, anjeer malai barfi, kaju katli and my all-time favourite, the sakhri pedhe. Like me, Punekars travel from far and wide to get their angoormalai and rasmalai packed. Both are creamy, perfectly sweet and absolutely delicious. Along with these we also tried their remaining range of Bengali mithai – rasgulla, rajbhog, cham cham and malai sandwich. The rasgulla and rajbhog were pillowy soft and lightly chewy. Their Bengali sweets are one of the best in the city and at par with any Bengali sweet shop. The one thing I never miss when I visit Kaka Halwai is the matar karanji. It has been consistently good for the last many years. The covering of the karanji is perfectly thin and it is filled generously with a tasty filling of peas, coconut, coriander, chilies and spices. On my visit, we got a chance to try their other Maharashtrian snacks like kothimbir wadi, pudachi wadi and the alu wadi. I am now waiting for the upcoming Ganesh festival, when I can pick from their varieties of modak, particularly the traditional ukdiche (steamed) and talniche (fried) modak. Their ukdiche modak are excellent. The outer rice flour covering is perfectly thin and the coconut, jaggery and cardamom filling is very good. I visited on a particularly busy day, but even through all the crowd, the staff was polite, courteous and the service was prompt.
Kaka Halwai, Aundh, Pune: Plus & Minus
Maintaining the quality for more than 120 years is no easy feat and Kaka Halwai has managed to do this successfully. With more than 20 outlets in the city, the brand is growing. Along with the quality of products, it will be crucial to maintain the consistency and same level of service.
