Kangan at The Westin Pune has recently launched Nouvelle cuisine wherein the emphasis is on authentic food which is completely personalized yet stylish. The décor is simple with just a few coloured matkas, twin chandeliers which resemble entwined bangles and an open kitchen. The crockery also has a very earthy look to it.The first starter was kurkuri karela with fig chutney. It was deep fried karela chips with the tangy chutney accompaniment. Karela- good grief- the one vegetable which doesn’t enter my very own kitchen. My expression must have been priceless, nevertheless duty called and I gingerly took my first bite expecting the worst. I have to admit that all though I am still not a complete convert it was quite nice & I even had a couple of more bites.The next dish was arbi ke tukde. Wow my second least favorite vegetable. This was turning out to be a very interesting meal. The dish was a complete surprise. Believe you me had I not been told before hand that the crunchy bits were arbi, I would still be playing the guessing game. It was superb. Ajwain fish tikka was awesome- the flavor of ajwain really shone through each bite. My personal favorite had to be murgh tarkash ki seekh. The dish was sensational with moist chicken stuffed with cheese & bell peppers. I polished it off in minutes.Chef Narayan Salunke, the Chef de cuisine had made quite an impression with the starters. I was really all geared up for the mains. Nazboo paneer lababdar was thankfully not your usual paneer chunks in some tomato gravy being passed off as paneer lababdar. Nazboo happens to be the urdu word for basil and the addition of this one herb completely elevated the dish making it spectacular in taste.
Dhabewali kukad curry was tasty and a treat worth relishing with the amazing naans be it the saffron til naan or the garlic naan. Plates were wiped clean. Can a chef get a bigger compliment than that? Dal kangan was yum as well. No matter how stuffed I may be, for me to walk away without savouring dessert is the ultimate sin in my book. No surprise then that I ended up sampling not just one but two desserts which knocked my socks off. Gulab patte ki kheer was smooth and creamy without any irritating rose petal bits spoiling the taste. The piece de resistance had got to be the paan flavoured kulfi- a creative and delicious twist to end the meal at Kangan.The Westin Pune Koregaon Park36/3-B, Koregaon Park Annexe, Mundhwa Road, Ghorpadi,Pune 411001Tel: 020 6721 0000By Sanaea Patel
Disclaimer - This review was done on an invitation from the establishment. Views expressed in the review is entirely ours and without any bias. Pictures of the dishes are not the standard portions, they are sample portions.
