Restaurant Review: Raasta Cafe, Camp, Pune

Hey from EL The Cook!

We were on the look out for a trendy, relaxed place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.. Pune comes abuzz with its brunch scenes on a Sunday, with most of the famous brunch places, overcrowded, its really tough to find a quiet place to chill.

A small place in Camp to hangout is Raasta Cafe, with its airy, outdoorsy feel! Located at the basement of Hotel Shantai, Camp, Raasta Cafe is both homely and inviting.

The ambiance is colorful and with doodles of terrorists on its walls, you really wonder whether the art is distasteful or humorous! Raasta Cafe has an open kitchen and indoors sports a Foosball table which is serious fun!

It feels refreshing to enter Raasta Cafe and its a perfect place for a Sunday brunch!

JERK CHICKEN 

Succulent pieces of chicken are grilled with an jerk spice sauce reflecting the richness of Jamaican street food! The chicken is moist and well flavored, the jerk marinade has a rush of flavors like all-spice, clove and thyme. Raasta Cafe nails this wonderful Jamaican street delicacy although we would love a lot more spice as jerk flavors encompass that hot Scotch Bonnet Pepper from the Caribbean!

TEMPURA FRIED CALAMARI

A traditional Japanese airy and light batter coats soft calamari centers. The tempura batter is traditionally made with sparkling water and spices. Raasta Cafe adds a lovely crunch to the calamari with a slightly lumpy batter which helps to get that extra crunch on every bite!

The disappointment though is with the wasabi mayo, which has no taste of the wasabi at all. The dish also makes mention of a malt vinegar which is missing from the plate completely.

PENNE IN TOMATO AND CREAM CHEESE

A luscious and creamy sauce coats the beautifully cooked penne pasta. The sauce is really what denotes this as a super dish. Each bite of pasta makes you pull a stringy filament of cheese which adds to the theater of a simple dish!

The creaminess of the sauce and the crunch of the indulgent garlic bread side compliments each other wonderfully. A complete dish in flavors and textures!

BARBECUE GRILLED CHICKEN PIZZA WITH CHOPPED JALAPENOS

A gorgeous looking pizza, topped with tangy barbecue pieces of chicken and jalapenos was really good to taste on the first bite. However the chicken pieces really started to get sour after a while.

On summoning the chef we got an explanation that in his barbecue sauce he added white wine which soured the marinade for the chicken considerably. A poor choice of flavor combinations ruined a wonderful pizza.

Raasta Cafe, makes a humorous attempt at concealing the bill you have to pay, by mentioning "The Damage!"

Raasta Cafe a contemporary restaurant which serves up homely, global cuisine at a reasonable price.

With an ambiance both humorous and appalling, Raasta Cafe eases the mood to serve up great comfort food. The variety in terms of its menu is admirable.

However we felt that many dishes were a let down due to incompleteness in a serve or a disconnect in flavor combinations.

Raasta Cafe a lazy Sunday afternoon chill spot and a nightlife haunt, boasts some great cuisine, however refinement in terms of flavor and serving whats mentioned on the menu is needed to take this review from good to great!