1BHK

There wouldn’t be a food lover in Pune who hasn’t heard about 1 BHK Superbar. There has been a good buzz about this restaurant. I have been hearing lot of good things about this place. So when I went, my expectations were really high and this place simply exceeded those.

The management wanted this ‘Bar, Haute Kitchen’ to be unique and showcase high standards. And this uniqueness starts right from the name. Not only the food here is delicious but the décor also is commendable.

Rajat Grover- the Director of this place and the master curator of their menu is an experienced hospitality professional who apart from being a hospitality consultant, manages few restaurants in Delhi. He has a clear vision about what he wasn’t to offer to his customers maintain the authenticity of the dishes. 1 BHK offers preparations from all the regions of the World. You will find on their menu, dishes from countries all over the world. Australia, Thailand, Russia, India, Morocco, Arabia, Spain, Bulgaria, Britain, Americas to name a few.

There are some salient features of their menu Rajat asked us to go through. Here are those.

I was invited here for a food tasting.

Recommended Drinks & Dishes: 1 BHK Vodka Cheese Cake, The Butter Chicken Nazza, 1 BHK Prince Non-veg Mezze platter, Grilled John Dory with Almond Rosemerry dressing, Smoked Chicken & jalapeno Soup, Butter Chicken with butter garlic naan, 1 BHK Blueberry Philly Cheese cake

Drinks:

1 BHK Vodka Cheese Cake: For the first time I have seen a cocktail which has a cheesecake as a side portion. You may not feel comfortable with the combination. But trust me it worked like a charm. A cream-based vodka cocktail shaken and strained, served in a martini glass with a small slice of their signature Philly Cheese cake garnished with paper thin slices of apples and a cherry. Drink was smooth and sweetish. Cheesecake went very well with the drink and did not taste off even a bit. I would strongly recommend this cocktail.

Watermelon Mojito: Vodka and fresh watermelon juice could never go wrong. A beautiful looking drink which was equally refreshing. Vodka poured on a shaved ice in a tall glass and topped with watermelon juice and chunks with some mint and sugar syrup.

Taxi Call: A potent cocktail which had lots of rum in it. If you are a orange flavor fan, you can give this one a try.

Beer Blaster: Tequila and beer poured together in a beer glass to make this golden coloured drink which had lots of ice and garnished with mint leaves. Looked good. Tasted fine.

Food:

The Butter Chicken Nazza: Rajat informed us that they are the one who introduced Nazza to the world. He also mentioned that the correct spelling of this word is NAZZA and not NAANZZA. Order taker recommended us to have butter chicken nazza. And I must give it to him. It was the best Nazza I have ever had. Naan so soft with lot of cheese over it topped with some delightfully flavoured butter chicken pieces served with a mint chutney. Absolutely lovely. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT you miss this nazza while you are visiting here.

Samak Mashwi: This means Grilled Fish with an Egyptian Twist. Deboned Rawas marinated in Egyptian spices and grilled in tandoor. Fish was cooked well. Accompanying dips went very well with the fish. However, I found this dish a bit dry. Some flatbread or a portion of rice might have helped.

1 BHK Prince Non-veg Mezze platter: This platter consisted of chicken, fish and mutton seekh kebebs served with 4 traditional Lebanese accompaniments- Hummus, Tabbouleh, Fattoush and Baba Ganoush. It also had a pita bread to go with it. Lamb seekh kebeb deserve special mention. Perfectly spicy and juicy lamb kebabs were really delicious.

Grilled John Dory with Almond Rosemary dressing: An imported Australian fish- Jon Dory grilled to perfection. Almond and Rosemary dressing complimented this fish perfectly. Picture below shows a half portion of this dish as per our request. This dish usually comes with 2 fish fillets.

Garlic Bread with Cheese: The only not so good dish of our entire dinner. Bread was fresh and crunchy. However, the slice was too thick and proportion of cheese to bread was really imbalanced. A thinner slice of bread would be better.

Smoked Chicken & jalapeno Soup: A thick soup with hearty chunks of smoked chicken and sliced jalapenos. The base of soup was fine but the outstanding character was the smoked flavor of chicken. I completely loved the taste of chicken in this soup.

Butter Chicken with butter garlic naan: A tasty Delhi style creamy yet tangy tomato-based gravy which had boneless chicken pieces cooked in tandoor. This is not a regular sweetish and extra buttery butter chicken which is served here in many restaurants. Rajat want Punekars to taste something which is, in his words- ‘very very close to authentic recipe’ of butter chicken. If you are a diehard fan of sweetish buttery gravy, this one is not for you.

Napoli Tiramisu: A traditional Italian layered dessert. This tasted okay, not very impressive.

1 BHK Blueberry Philly Cheese cake: Amazing. Highly recommended. Rajat especially mentioned that they use Philly cheese and not mascarpone. Thickness of bottom crust was just right. This baked cheesecake was topped with blueberry sauce. Wonderful. Please try this dessert. You would not regret your choice.

Service: Very professional. Staff menu knowledge is up to the mark. You can rely on their menu suggestions.

Ambience: Out of 3 seating section they have, the one upstairs is the best one. This has regular tables and chairs, high tables, bar chairs on a bar which is open form 3 sides and even a VIP table. Rajat was telling that he personally dictated the decor and had most of the things made under his supervision in that very place. Right form the lighting to the 1800 wooden panes hanging on the ceiling has some thought behind it and it is not just a copy paste work. Even the wooden serving plates are made in-house. Here are some pics of the ambience.

Seating tables