Street Food Festival at Crowne Plaza –Reviewed!

What: Street Food Festival
Where: Mosaic, Crowne Plaza, City Centre, Pune
When: 23rd June to 2nd July 2017
Cost: Rs.1175++

There is no place in the world where you don't get street food. No one would deny the love for it. I too love street food. There is certain charm to it. After shopping, while chatting or even a long time meet would end up with a chai at tapri or with a plate of pani-puri. That chatpati chaat, sweet cupcakes, warm chai, piping hot bhajiyas, you name it and can have it on the streets. Big brands have taken the street food to a different level. Few days back, I had attended a street food festival at Four Points by Sheraton, then at World Street Food at Seasonal Tastes, Westin and Asian Street Food at Spice Kitchen, JW Marriott.

Crowne Plaza, City Centre has also come up with the 10 day Street Food Festival started from 23rd June 2017 at Mosaic, their restaurant at the lobby level. The festival is headed by the Executive Chef Ritesh Negi. Apart from the regular buffet, the festival showcases different variations of street food mainly from North India, especially Delhi. You can see the Chaat Counter, China Counter, Kulfi Thela, Changezi Counter and Tea Corner.

We started our evening with my and I am sure everyone's favourite, Pani Puri and Papdi Chaat. Served in the leaf bowl, the puris were filled with goodness of spiced potatoes along with the small jar filled with spicy, tangy paani. Loved it. Papdi Chaat too was yum with the balanced taste of sweet, savoury. I bet you can't have just one. How can I forget the tangy chatpata chana or chana jor garam. The bowl was just too yum.

Veg Thukpa from the China Garden was warm and comforting. It could have had more flavours but overall it was good.

Starters were served on the table. Paneer Tikka was tad oily but the paneer was just melt in mouth. Marination was balanced and medium spiced paneer was grilled to perfection. Paneer was succulent and it tasted good with the mint and coriander chutney.

Soya Chaap came next. Not a big fan of this dish. Substituted for meat for vegetarians. Soya was nicely marinated, found bit chewy though. Taste was just the dilli style, the one you get on the streets.

Next served on the table was the main course, which had the classic Dal Makhani and Malai Kofta. Went well with the butter roti. Though I have had better version of Dal Makhani. Malai Kofta was a usual sweet affair. The gravy was rich and flavourful.

Desserts had the Kulfi and Falooda. I opted for the rose falooda. The dessert beverage had layered sabza seeds, vermicilli, rose syrup topped with milk and icecream. Heavy, rich and delish.

Overall, it was a very good experience. This was one of the first festivals at Crowne Plaza and I must say, they did a great job. Enjoy some more photos...:)