Review: Arc Asia and other restaurant at ABC Farms, Pune

Apart from Ahmedabad, the other city that I spend most of my time in is Pune. And while in Pune, the weekends are sometimes spent scouting for 'cool' places to locate and then hang out at :)

Though I am fast disappearing from the 'cool' scene of the world, sometimes I do make a mistake and become one! I guess this sets the tone enough for the visit to this superb place called Arc Asia located at the ABC farms in Pune.

Arc Asia - the place

ABC Farm - there is quite some variety
of food joints here

I visited it recently for a very late lunch session and was completely taken in by the energy and the enthusiasm of the place. And all this while we lazed around on one of the comfortable wooden couches in the corner and devoured some Burmese food and drank some vodka infested lemonade (having recently read a book on Burma made my choice easier).

The menu card (quite a lame picture)

Part of my platter :)

Ah the dessert...this was unexpected,
and the best treat of the day :)

There was live music and often a young crowd grooving to it, even at three in the afternoon. I was tempted to go and join them, but the alcohol running in my blood stream was too low to allow such non-sid behaviour! And thank God for that, the rest of couples would have had to leave the entire space for us to man-handle and woman-handle each other!

The bar

I see beer :)

The space

I do recommend it to anyone planning to spend a laid back, yet energetic weekend afternoon in Pune. Its a paradise for beer guzzlers too (am not one of them). Go have some fun!

Update:

I have been there multiple times now, and the place has actually not just retained the allure, but actually added to it. Most of the places are pretty good, but there are some I visit more than others. I  thought it would be nice to give some more information on those.

Sheesha Jazz Cafe:
The restaurant opens at 10 in the morning with the traditional Iranian breakfast of omelettes and chai, as well as sandwiches and burgers. We are open all day to serve special brew of Turkish coffee and a selection of fine Indian and Iranian teas. The menu offers a broad choice of authentic Iranian cuisine, as well as a good spread of Indian and Continental food.

Habibi Cafe:
From the horse's mouth - 'Despite my Indian roots, I developed a taste for middle eastern food thanks to my mother’s Libyan upbringing and my Liberian birth. Being an awesome cook, my mom would prepare all sorts of dishes when my parents entertained. As I grew older I started helping out with the preparation and thus began my journey as a cook.

When I got married I discovered that my husband was quite the foodie who loved trying out new dishes. The fact that he enjoyed my food inspired me to experiment with various recipes and gave me a chance to hone my cooking skills. And then when we entertained, my guests always complimented the meals is served up, especially the lebanese and italian ones. Some of them even went to the extent of requesting me to make them my most popular dishes such as the falafels and some of my sauces.

The satisfaction I experience from cooking for others is immense. Hence when a few friends suggested the idea of venturing out into my own little catering business so that I maybe able to tickle more and more taste buds with my delicacies, I could not resist!

Curve:
Curve at ABC farms, is a Lounge cum Restaurant cum Pub and what not,you are greeted with heavy decibels of sound booming around the place, then they have this Spacious seating arrangement on the ground floor, though there is the Bar, Food the list goes on, well better visit the Place to bask in this ambience


To get there: ABC Farms is located almost towards the end of Koregaon Park, its on the main road and easily accessible. I recommend maybe trying the other eating places there as well, we had little time and could visit only one. I would love to hear feedback from others who visited the place too!

Here is a map:


View Larger Map


Here is an article in Indian Express about the place.

-- Siddhartha Joshi