Chinese it is - Tsaai Shen Yeh

Pouring rains and the accompanying chill on a Sunday evening meant we had to go out to avoid the evening blues but definitely not to a too loud, bright place that would completely wash out the comforting lazy spell that the weather had woven. So we headed to our comfort hangout – Pagdandi. We spent some time at this cheerful, cozy café browsing books and reading out to my little one. Since she invariably gets severe hunger pangs in this café, we ordered a hot chocolate for her and settled in for some time. I love the complete recharge that this café offers. Then some more time pottering about the Art studio and Enlit kids and we’d a usual, chilled eve out.

We decided to opt for an early dinner. Monsoon usually means severe cravings of hot hot hot soup and steaming momos. Since Tsaai Shen Yeh is bang opposite Regent Plaza and we’d read great reviews, it was a natural choice

It’s a small place with limited seating. About 6 cross legged tables and basic chairs. It’s a cozy fit and you’ve to adjust your chair into the niche created by the chair and table right behind you. In spite of being outdoors, there were no mosquitoes. So +1 there! It took quite some time to get the waiters attention. There is only 1 waiter who takes orders, the others redirect to him. We ordered chicken noodle soup, tom kha chicken soup, dragons of heaven (chicken lollipop) and steamed chicken wontons (they were out of momos L ).

The soups arrived in reasonable time and were just what the doctor ordered. Steaming hot and delicious! The little one slurped her portion of chicken, noodles and broth without a word. The Tom Kha soup was yummy too – great coconut flavors with the right touch of spice. We were looking forward to sampling the starters.

This is where the wait began - 15 minutes and 2 reminders but no sign of the starter. In the same time, we heard another table complain that they’d been waiting for a bowl of noodles for over 1 hour. The guest angrily charged up to the kitchen and then the billing counter only to find out that the order had never been conveyed to the kitchen. This gave us the heebie-jeebies and we rushed to the counter to check on our starters. We were not in such a bad soup (pun intended) and the starters were being made in their own sweet time.

After this outburst from the customers, our starters arrived quickly. The wontons were great – a tiny portion of chicken stuffed in the wontons but sautéed in babycorn, carrot and other veggies, the taste was great. The dragons of heaven were another story. A bit on the sweeter side and in the hurry to get the order (I think), not fully done. You could taste the dry corn flour on the lollipop and this completely put me off. Luckily, I’d a wonton left over for the last lingering taste to be just right.

The other niggling part to an otherwise great evening was not Tsaai Shen yeh’s fault. The restaurant itself is non-smoking. But there are 3 eateries stuck close together in that line and the eatery next door – Café F5 I think, had a bunch of smokers at most of the tables. Since the only thing separating the tables in these 2 places is a line of potted plants, this was definitely an inconvenience. Which brings me to this, isn’t there a smoking ban in public places in Pune and do restaurants with outdoor seating not come under this category?

For summing up Tsai Shen Yeh, great food – absolutely delicious but definitely slow. So Tip #1: don’t go when you’re very hungry and in a hurry. Tip #2: double check that your order has been placed. We’ll definitely go back to sample some more fare.