Sizzling Yana!

Yana's superb! You may think I am referring to the fantastic performances of Yana Gupta on the sets of Jhalak Dikhla Ja, which this year feathured none other than the indefatigable Madhuri Dikshit as judge. Of course they were sizzling too.. as well those of Chang and Sushant, and many others.

Yana is the restaurant in Pune that offers Sizzlers and Wok. For a long time Touche in camp was probably the only place that served sizzlers in Pune. Now we have Kobe on Law College Rd which is another autentic Sizzler resturant. For those who haven't been there, Yana is at the end of the Fergusson College Rd opposite to Hotel Lalit mahal. Yana has a big menu for sizzlers with Cheese, Mushrooms, Noodles , Rice , Corn, and Veggies and other interesting stuff mixed in various proportions to get many variants. The salads are pretty good too and so are the soups. We tried the Onion Cheese soups which was quiet different and well made. The ambience is a bit casual, prabably keeping in the mind the tastes of the young crowd that frequents the place. Spend - approx 250-400 per person.

Since coming back from Singapore we have sort of emabraked on a culinary expedition. On dasara we went to Thaat Baat, which is the new Rajasthani restaurant in Kothrud. The ambience is typically Rajasthani, and waiters wear traditional village attire to match. The silver vessels add to the rustic feel. The food is more customised to local tastes, many punjabi style vegetables along with daal baati and malpua. Good value at Rs.180 with unlimited sweets.

Janseva on Deccan was more of a "khanaval" , where people could have there everyday lunch at affordable prices. After upgradation it has totally changed its look. The food remains excellent, with a home-like taste. Thali includes sweet dish (again excellent homely taste) and spicy items like dahi Wada or small samosa/kachoris or kothimbir wadi types. At Rs.120 on weekdays and 180(multiple sweets) on Sunday, its a steal.

Many more restaurants to explore..

Dreams come true..

For some reason I have a grave fear of driving the four wheeler. I have been trying to learn to drive for a long time now. So when I enrolled in the driving school refresher course none of my family members were impressed. “You drive so slowly even the cyclists will overtake you”, my wife pitched in ‘enthusiatically’. So it was like.. now or never...!

“Have you ever driven a rickshaw (3 wheeler / auto) ?”, asked my driving teacher half mockingly. “Of course not, but I have sat in it many times”, I retorted. “Then you should know how they negotiate the traffic”, was his reponse , “if you are so cautious, you can never drive in Pune”. Well there i was , coming back from Singapore where the traffic is as methodical as every aspect of its life and my driving instructor was telling me that method was madness on Pune roads. “You have to learn to squeeze you car in, and use the horn often and scare the other guys a bit. You have to assert yourself on the road”. Phew!

So the next logical step was to buy a car myself so that while I do not forget how to drive again, we can also go out for a trip once in a while. I told my thought to my wife. “Get as old a car as possible, and don’t spend too much money on something you may hardly use”, was her polite advice. I evaluated various options - small, not so small, then there are petrol ones and diesel ones. Diesel ones don’t have a good pickup. That should not matter, considering that I will use the brakes more than the accelarator.

Finally I gave settled for an old Alto. I am yet to take it to office. Its too crowded in the evening at the time of returning, and I don't want to take a chance with anybody's life. Besides in Pune the two wheeler rules the road and no one dare mess up with them.

When I mention the long drives to my wife, she gives a strange look..but never mind.. dreams do come true..even if they may take a little longer ..