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Mocha - Pune, India

Mocha is a cafe in Pune, a small chain in the metro areas of India, that caters to a western taste of traditional coffee, chocolate treats, unique combinations but with a hooka Indian twist.
A colleague and his wife brought me here on our day off, India's Republic Day holiday, to enjoy some coffee. This place is cool with loungey seating and delicious drinks. I had the Choco-latte which was two shots of espresso with warm chocolate syrup, a huge dollop of whip cream on top. If you want a lounge feel or good coffee, check out Mocha.

German Bakery - Pune, India

In the Koregan Park area of Pune is the Osho meditation resort, beautiful green patches of trees surrounding some of the most ostentatious homes I've seen in Pune. One of the unique culinary stops in this area is the hippy haunt of vegetarian, German styled, health food. I wasn't at Osho for more than five minutes before I had multiple people mention this place.

While the chocolate cake type of dessert was amazing, the rest of my meal was only average, and I would say it's only worth the trip if you're looking for bakery items, need a break from Indian food and/or want to people watch the eclectic clientele.

India's Selfless Being

As I depart Pune and embark on the last few days of my India journey in Bombay, I can't escape the feeling of love and true genorosity Indians have for others. A culture that is emotionally connected to food often can appear the opposite with it's opinions until you scratch beneath the surface. There you find a deeply caring, selfless people that lack the trappings of the western worlds materialism. Sure this is changing quickly, and my fear is the new influences to consume will impact them, but for now it's a wonderful thing to experience that inspires me to be a better person, to care for friends, family and new acquantances before my own needs, to commit to living this life in every moment, to being engrossed in the now.

Sarjaa Restaurant - Pune, India

Food is an important staple of every culture, it defines people and is the highlight, in my opinion, of traveling. Today brings a new day of culinary exploration as I eat my way thru India, loving every moment of it. Today's lunch is at a neighborhood spot called Sarjaa. It serves chicken, fish & lamb so it's more of a north Indian restaurant.

I ordered up a coke, partly to compensate for my lack of sleep (only 4 hours) but also b/c I'm addicted to the natural sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, version that is difficult to find in the US. I also ordered up butter roti, chicken tikka masala and a spicy chicken kebab to fill me up.

Saijaa is a sit down, restaurant that feels like a hotel lobby of a national, two star chain but it's more charming, with all the hosts in full suits, and wait staff in matching formal uniforms. If you're in Pune, on ITI road, this place along with Taareef are must stops.

Indian Honking

One very annoying pervasive Indian trait is honking as a way to warn fellow drivers, pedestrians and bikers of their existence is to honk. This would be fine if it occurred infrequently but it's used constantly, resulting in a choatic melody of horns on all streets. Drivers use it often because there seems to be no road rules, or nobody follows them. Thus drivers will use both lanes barely slicing back into their own before a collusion, or they will honk when coming upon any intersection no matter how small as an alert to anybody near.

This results in a lot of noise pollution, near accidents (I would love to see accident statistics on a per motor vehicle basis vs. The western world) and a chaos that makes me want to try Xanax.

India Street Walking Tip

This is a small thing but important. If you're ever fortunate enough to travel to this beautiful country, and want to walk while in any urban area, remember to walk facing traffic. The reason is there aren't any real defined lanes or seemingly road rules. So when you're facing on coming traffic you can be aware of what's headed you're way. At a bare minimum this will save your nerves from the incessant honking in your ears and at best ensure you don't get inadvertently hit, which seems likely once you've experienced a single day of walking around a city lackibg sidewalks or road rules.

Shiv Sagar Restaurant - Pune, India

I hiked it, walking 60 minutes across Pune, something I'm beginning to realize no self respecting middle class Indian does, to lunch at a place recommended to me by several folks called Shiv Sagar. It's a South Indian restaurant with Chinese dining options that only serves vegetarian dishes.

I felt a bit strange being the only foreigner in the place and my self consciousness probably was playing tricks on me.

The food was good, I had a potato masala flavored dosa (think thin Indian style crepe) to start, a vegetable concoction kebab, garlic naan and their veg special dish that was a combi of items, like a platter. I also had two cokes and the final bill was 300 rupees or $6.50.

I definitely recommend this place, I'm fat and happy, & jm sure you will be too after eating here.

Shiv Suga Restaurant - Pune, India

I hiked it, walking 60 minutes across Pune, something IM beginning to realize no self respecting middle class Indian does, to lunch at a place recommended to me by several folks called Shiv Sugar. It's a South Indian restaurant with Chinese dining options and pure vegetarian.

I felt a bit strange being the only foreigner in the place and my self consciousness surely was playing tricks on me.

The food was good, I had a potato masala flavored dosa (think thin Indian style crepe) to start, a vegetable concoction kebab, garlic naan and their veg special dish that

Indian Tea

Tea, and drinking lots of it, I'm told is a tradition the British left their former colony India. Since I've been to England on numerous occasions I know this makes sense but the Indians have made one huge variation on this habit, which is to add hot milk to it making it more akin in taste to a caffe latte than tea.

In our office there are a couple admen (literally men) who make at least three or four rounds of Indian tea each day for what I can tell is everybody. That walk around passing out little cups and if you're not careful a day can go by where you consume lots of hot whole milk.

I've taken to this custom quickly which is dangerous because I'm trying to maintain my girlish figure :)

Taareef Restaurant - Pune, India

It only took a day to find a go to restaurant in Pune. A colleague took me here yesterday, now I'm back solo for a late lunch. Located just across the street from our office (on IT road), this place is a spot for kebabs, biryannis and other Indian BBQ fare.
What makes it special and a delicacy in my opinion is the perfect mixture of spices and grilled time. My first bite of chicken last night tasted like a tender, medium rare piece of beef filet but it was thoroughly cooked, melt in your mouth chicken. To be sure I wasn't even hungry when I got here after snacking on somasos earlier in the evening.

I will do my best to venture out but Taareef is my go to for the next nine days while i'm in Pune.