Souk by Cafe Arabia, Wanowrie, Pune Restaurant

Restaurant Name: Souk by Cafe Arabia, Wanowrie, Pune
Phone: +919401162495, +919823311115
Address: Shop 5, Plot 26/27, Survey 599, Ground Floor, Simran Seashell Society, Kondhwa Khurd, Wanowrie, Pune, Maharashtra 411036 India
Time: 12:00 Noon – 11:00 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 1,200
Cuisines: Arabian, Middle Eastern, Fast Food, Turkish, Beverages
Facilities: Home Delivery, Outdoor Seating, Table booking recommended, Indoor Seating

Souk by Cafe Arabia is an extension of Cafe Arabia, a chain of quick-service Middle Eastern restaurants in Pune. Located near Salunke Vihar in Wanowrie, Souk is an alfresco restaurant with gazebos, decorated with hanging lights and wooden picnic benches. Currently, Souk is delivering a portion of their menu up to a 5 km radius from their restaurant.

Souk by Cafe Arabia, Wanowrie, Pune Restaurant: Decor

The food was neatly packed and delivered in separate paper bags to avoid overcrowding of containers. My order included platters and dishes which had sides and salads. For these, each item was packed separately in reusable, microwave-safe containers and was named clearly. This ensured that the texture and quality of each element were maintained. They had avoided the disposable foil containers or bags completely.

Souk by Cafe Arabia, Wanowrie, Pune Restaurant: Food

The menu at Souk is an unadulterated middle eastern menu. I decided to order all my personal favorites in addition to some new dishes. The hummus platter has four different types of hummus – original, beetroot, basil pesto, and jalapeno harissa accompanied by plain and zatar spiced pita bread. The texture, taste, and flavor of all the hummus variants were spot-on. This hummus platter is one of the best in the city. Moutabbal, the smoked eggplant dip is not part of the hummus platter, so I ordered a portion separately. The smoky flavor of the roasted eggplant was incredible. The nuttiness from the tahini, the tang from lemon juice and a bit of spice from the sumac sprinkle elevated this dish. After a few spoonfuls, I have saved it for later as it stays in the refrigerator for a few days. It makes for a perfect evening snack. I had ordered a falafel platter too which had falafel with a delicious garlic toum, harissa, pickled carrots and beets and pitas. The falafels tasted good, but were slightly tough. Souk boasts of an extensive kebab menu which includes Kebab plates, platters and combos. The non vegetarian mix grill kebab platter was my obvious choice. This lavish platter had four large pieces of grilled chicken, three pieces each of sumac chicken tikka, shish kebab and shish touk accompanied by pita bread, toum, mint chutney and garlic sauce. Each kebab was marinated and grilled to perfection, but the sumac tikka and shish touk were best of the lot. I would never miss trying shawarma at a middle eastern restaurant and ordered the scrumptious mushroomish shawarma. It was generously filled with roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, peppers and slathered with a garlic harissa sauce. For dessert, I had called for their signature baklava which was prepared differently than what you generally get in shops or restaurants. Using filo pastry sheets, it was shaped like a flower generously filled and topped with nuts. The rose syrup was packed separately to ensure the crunchiness of the baklava. This was a great end to our middle-eastern feast.

Plus & Minus:

Souk is definitely one of the best middle eastern restaurants in the city. My dine-in experience here has always been great and the delivery experience was equally impressive. Currently, they have restricted the delivery radius to 5 km. With more people opting for deliveries now, I hope they make other parts of the city serviceable too.