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.
