Ultimate guide of Eating Out in Pune

I am born and brought up in North India but am living in Pune for last four years. This is the place I call home. I love eating out and on various occasions people keep asking me about my favorite eating places in Pune or where they can find Best Punjabi or best Biryani in town. So I thought let’s make a list of my favorite places to eat in Pune so that it can be a reference to someone searing for some good food options.

Before starting my list, I am making few confessions to help you understand how I made the list.

• Let me clear you that it totally depends on my taste. People taste differs and it can happen that you don’t like a place where I love to eat.
• It’s also not correct to say that I have eaten at all places in Pune and then I am making a list out of that.
• I am not a fan in eating at those five star restaurants and only visit them when it is sponsored by someone else.
• I will not include any chain restaurants or places which I think is not Puneri.
• I am a teetotaler and don’t eat Bacon. So, my list will not be including any such dishes.

The list is categorized on the basis of regional and meal types. I will include any new entry from my time to time basis.

Maharashtrian 

Veg - Pune is considered the cultural capital of Maharashtra and serves most authentic Maharashtrian food. My favorite place is Poona Guest house on Laxmi Road. It serves some of the most outstanding Maharashtrian food in town. Must try would be their Gramin Thali. The next option would be Sabree on FC Road, which is a fine dining restaurant. I would also like to include numerous small stalls on Sinhgad fort which serves Pitla – Bhakri and truly makes a Puneri experience.

Non Veg/Coastal – Maharashtra being on Western coast of India, Sea food is part of the staple diet of the locals. My pick would be Fish Curry Rice in Narayan Peth, Nisarg in Erandwane and Satkar Rice plate house, Sinhagad Road.

Bengali

I love eating fish and no one makes it better than the Bengalis. Khadki area in Pune has a significant amount of Bengali population and so we can find quite nice Bengali places to eat there. My favorite is Deep restaurant in Aundh road, Khadki. After that Babu Moshai is probably rarest place in Pune to find authentic Bengali sweets. My other favorite Bengali eating places include Rocking Adda in Viman Nagar and Food and Snax in baner.

Chinese

 There are quite good places which serves real good Chinese food. My pick would be Chinese room on East street. Uncle Chinese in KP and China grill in Wanowarie.

Asian 

With growing Metro culture in the city, many restaurants have been opened which serve dishes from Pan-Asia. My all time favorite in this category would be Malaka spice, Koregaon Park. Other picks would be Maroo , Aundh which serves Korean food and Smiley house, Aundh which serves Vietnamese food.

Pure Veg/Brahmin 

People who prefer Pure Veg restaurants, the city has some very decent options for you. I will pick Kalyani Veg in Kalyani Nagar, Cream Corner in East Street and Radha Krishna in MG Road.

Keralite

From all the southern states of India, I think Kerela has most diverse and tasty food options.  With a decent Malayali population, Pune has some very interesting food options. My pick would be Curry leaves in baner and Kerela fast food in Khadki.

Udupi/South India 

My best Dosa place would undoubtedly be Vaishali and Wadeshwar on FC Road. The 7 am breakfast in Vaishali is kind of a thing that no one should miss.

 Punjabi

Punjabi cuisine is such a widespread cuisine across India that almost all restaurants have that in their Menu. So, it’s quite difficult to pick your favorites from these many options. I will pick some places based on their dishes.

Mona food in Camp serves best Chole-Bhature in town while Amritsari Machchi in Kondhwa has authentic fish recipes straight from Amritsar. I also love Happy Singh da Kitchen in Baner as I find its taste very close to real Punjabi food.

Thali places

I am a Sukanta, Deccan loyalist as I am eating there since the time I have came to Pune. However, there are many other great places and serves mouth-watering food. Some of my other favorites include Bhagat Tarachand in Laxmi Road and Bhoj Restaurent in Sadashiv Peth.

Parsi/Irani

Pune is a blessed city as it has some of the most awesome Parsi and Irani joints. Some of the most legendary food places in Pune are owned by Parsis. My all time favourite is Café Good luck, FC Road and Vohuman Café, Sasoon Road. Dorabjee in Camp is also an iconic plate for authentic Parsi food.

Street Food 

Veg– Street food is the best medium of discovering a place. Pune’s culture can also be searched in the small lanes of old city. As far as street food is concerned, the legends are Garden Wada pav center in Camp, Bedekar Misal in Narayan peth, Durga café in Kothrud and Supreme Pav bhaji on JM Road. I also love simple breakfast in Appa chi Canteen, Deccan.

Non-Veg – It’s not easy for a Meat eater to find taste in Non-Veg street foods but once he does find such a place nothing can replace that love. My favorites include some places which are opened all over the year like Hotel Madina near Poona college and Mancho fries, Camp and there are some places which are opened only for sometime of the year like Imdadi Caterers which serve food only in the month of Ramzaan. 

Breakfast

I am not a morning person so generally my breakfast timing is not perfect but Punekars like their breakfast on time and should equally be perfect. My favorite breakfast places are Yogi Tree, Koregaon Park and German Bakery, koregaon Park. But if someone wants to start their day with some meat then Diamond Queen in M G Road should be tried for their Keema pav.

European/Western/Continental

I am not a fan of Western food but have figured out my picks. Some of them are Burger barn café in Koregaon Park, Shisha Jazz café, ABC farm and High Spirits,KP.

Non-Veg/Awadhi/Biryani 

I will not pick many in this list as some of them have already been included earlier but if there is one place where you should try Non-Vegetarian food then that should be Baghban , East street. There food taste reminds you of legends around the old lanes of Delhi and Lucknow.

Biryani in Pune is kind of Marathwada biryani as spices used are different that of Delhi and Lucknow. I like the way they cook in Hyderabad, the dum style of biryani and it is best found in Blue Nile, Camp and George in East street. Apart from these iconic places, there is a very small place in Hinjewadi called A-1 biryani which is kind of my favorite.

Deserts

Pune has some of its very own deserts which are 100% Puneri. They are born and nourished here in the city and hold a cult status. The deserts like Mastani which is best found in Sujata or in Gujjar Mastani are authentic Puneri. The other Desert worth mentioning is CAD(B) and CAD(M) which are only found in Pune.

Food Souvenirs 

Just for someone not from Pune and wants to take some food souvenirs from the city, you should try for Shrewsbury biscuits from Kayani bakery, Bhakarwadi from Chitale Bandhu and Wafers from Budhani Wafers.

I hope the list helps you in some or other form and if you have any suggestions or recommendations for me, do let me know.

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