Madeline, Shivaji Nagar, Pune Fast Food Italian Restaurant

Restaurant Name: Madeline, Shivaji Nagar, Pune
Phone: +919168686945, +919607065678
Address: Block-D, 1, Modibaug, Narveer Tanaji Wadi, Shivajinagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411005 India
Time: 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 700
Cuisines: Cafe, Fast Food, Beverages, Sandwich, Italian
Facilities: Home Delivery, Takeaway Available, Desserts and Bakes, Outdoor Seating, Work Friendly, Indoor Seating, Wifi

Madeline, Shivaji Nagar, Pune: Overview

Madeline is a chain of quaint and beautiful cafes in Pune owned by entrepreneur Harshita Chatterjee-Deshpande. I often visit the Kothrud outlet which has become a go-to place to meet friends or colleagues. This week, I visited the Shivajinagar outlet.

Decor:

The cafe is housed on University Road. The beautiful decor is one of Madeline’s USPs. From outside the place looks like a quaint Parisian café complete with glass windows that allow a glimpse inside the café. The seating is a mix of comfortable sofas and golden metal chairs with pink cushions. The use of soothing pastel colours mixed with gold gives a classic yet contemporary look. There is a glass display for the cakes, baked goods and desserts which add to the ambience. Madeline is one of the most Insta worthy places in the city.

Madeline, Shivaji Nagar, Pune: Food

The beverage menu at Madeline is quite elaborate and includes a range of coffees and infusion teas. When they launched, they also had nitro coffees which they have discontinued. We started with their signature artisanal lattes and tried the activated charcoal latte and the Madeline velvet latte. The activated charcoal latte was an acquired taste, but delicious. The cold-fashioned is a cold brew coffee drink inspired by the old-fashioned cocktail where the whiskey is substituted by coffee. So you have a coffee cocktail with freshly brewed black coffee with orange. This was quite refreshing and tasty. From the food menu, we started with the Bombay butter chicken sandwich. The butter chicken filling was spot on. Slightly spicy, it tasted great when sandwiched between toasted bread. We also had the paneer version in the form of the Bombay butter paneer wrap which was delicious too. The wraps and sandwiches were served with potato crisps, but I would have preferred French fries or potato wedges on the side. While their mezze platter isn’t very innovative, all the elements were delicious. The baba ganoush and hummus were great, and so were the accompanying falafels. From the pasta section, we tried the penne arrabbiata. The tomato and basil sauce was flavourful and fragrant and the pasta was cooked well. For desserts, we tried almost all flavours of the mini cupcakes and got some of these bite-sized cupcakes to go. They pack these nicely in a box made for cupcakes and it makes for a perfect gift. We also tried the multi-layered, espressoinfused and sinfully delicious Opera cake. Ofcourse, I don’t miss Affogato when it is on the menu. The coffee-to-ice cream ration in the affogato was just right here. We ended our meal with the palette cleansing and fresh Franconian peppermint tea.

Plus & Minus:

For the range and quality of coffees, teas and desserts they offer, Madeline is a great value-for-money option. Owing to this and the attractive, Instagram-worthy décor, Madeline has become quite popular among youngsters and college students. The staff is courteous and friendly, but the service is slow, patchy and has room for improvement. Being a cafe, one might expect them to start slightly earlier than 11 am.