Oh Dough: An Exceptional Dessert Safari

"I don't always eat red velvet cookie, but when I do, I make sure it's Oh Dough!" -- YG

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Self indulgent note -- My review writing mojo has been crimped for some time now. Something tells me it's time to make a comeback...

...and what a strange way for me to make a comeback than to write about a cookie and ice cream place! Seriously.

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I ain't no sugah pushin' junkie. Even my dessert preferences veer savory, read citrus or even as far left field as good fish or pork belly. 

To the uninitiated folks:- Non-sweet loving people partaking of desserts tend to love citrus because in the taste bud wars, sour-citrus trumps sweet in the signalling pathway and undercuts sweetness.

The first time I heard of Oh Dough, I heard...ODO and wasn't particularly thrilled by the initial impression but a genuinely heartwarming lunch at Thai Pav had me in a pliant agreeable way, and I tagged along for the dessert safari.

This was about three weeks ago. Yesterday was my third or fourth visit there.

Oh Dough does three things, and it does em all gosh-darned-well.

The bomb offering is their spread of artisanal ice creams. 

Usually, adding the word 'artisanal' before anything is priming the customer for a hefty bill. In this case, Ritika's ice creams earn the tag. 

The black sesame ice cream is a savory food lover's dessert dream come true. Words fall short in explaining WHY it tastes as good as it does. But taste supergood? Yes, it does.

Black sesame ice cream. Exceptional! One of the best scoops around

On the other hand, the lemon tart ice cream is a citrus lover's special. Ritika is evil genius on this one! Even as the pot of ice cream a'churning, she drops in a bunch of finely crumbled tart pastry base, and the pops of pastry work beautifully with this citrusy ice cream delight.

Lemon tart ice cream. Intense and right just for hardcore citrus lovers

The salted caramel ice cream is not everyone's cuppa, even though it is beautifully balanced. Me? I loved it!

Salted caramel ice cream. Intense but balanced

The smoked vanilla is the Ice Cream 501 advanced class to Amul's or Vadilal's 101 kiddie starter class. This has a mildly smoky aroma. Note that the ice cream is smoked and not the vanilla bean. Pair it up with a cookie for max mileage.

Smoked vanilla ice cream with red velvet cookie

Most of these ice cream flavors are so intense, you'd do well to share a scoop rather than try power through one yourself. Just sayin'!

The cookies at Oh Dough are wholesome winners too. Not the piddly dosa-thin cookies some other places tend to dole out. These are well neigh German 'Strongest Man in the World' heft and height and that's a major source of satisfaction.

The undisputed champ is the sizeable oatmeal and raisin cookie followed by the red velvet and the chocolate chip cookie. The chocomaniacs would do well to jump at the double chocolate and chocolate + orange, but those are a tad bit too much for my sugar-phobic taste buds.

(L) Red velvet; (R) Chocolat chip; (Foreground) Oatmeal and raisin

Coffee anyone? The Ohfogato is a definite reco. 

Taking a scoop of vanilla ice cream and dropping a shot of espresso in is an act of madness that only an Italian could have managed, but this madness is now reaching our shores and we're just at the early stages of the affogato-zombie-calypse.

The owners here are super personable folks, whether it be Pawan or his Dad, TT. A fun chat over a coffee and cookie simply enhance the experience.

Net net -- "Exceptional" is not common. So, when you find it, cherish it. Go visit. You're missing something if you haven't.

Disclaimer -- The writer paid for every last tasty calorie he devoured. No undeserved free-food praise here.

Restaurant review: Farmer & Sons

This new place popped on the food radar as an interesting launch; a place with a name that ties it intimately to the soil, petrichor-perfumed farm-fresh produce, images of fresh eggs being carried across the fence, from poultry to restaurant, meat from two streets away, and fish from the dock a shout away.

1.5 meals there and I can safely say one thing -- In a city where the food scene is exploding with me-toos, sons of me-toos, and me-toos of me-toos, Farmer & Sons is rock-solid substance.

There are food experiences there that would stay in the sweet memories vault long after the fat has settled around your hips and the protein has settled into your leg muscles to withstand the ever-increasing weight.

Confit duck sandwich with gruyere caramelized onions and poached orange segments

The confit duck sandwich we tried there was a hunk of caramelized onion-y gruyere-y bird-meaty heaven between two slices of fresh house-made sourdoughy heaven. Hunky slices and a thick big sandwich transported me to a sandwich place in old town Philadelphia or a grub-bar in Boston but with a salon so hispter-posh it could be in Village-Chelsea-NYC. 

It's not an excuse for a sandwich. It's actually a sandwich and I hope they keep it that way. 

Wood-fired oven cooked seafood pizza. Flavor bomb! 

Another absolute hallelujah moment was when I first set my eyes and then sunk my teeth into their seafood pizza.
By American portion standards, it's not spillin' toppins' any time soon, but it is one of the best goddamn pizzas in the city.
When people drone on and on about wood-fired oven pizzas, this pizza is what they are talking about. The real McCoy. Not some shallow pretender. Shrimp done right, squid rings, mussels, good cheese, serious quality tomato sauce. You fold the slice, land it into your mouth and waves of delicious wood-smoke-flavor overwhelm the senses into submission. It is deeply satisfying!

This is the bourbon salted caramel but also get the cocoa bean cointreau!

How do you whistle? It's simple. You simply put your lips together - and blow, said Lauren Bacall. 

A milkshake's about that simple. Milk, sugar, flavor element, whisk up. That straight. No nonsense. And, yet, F&S made a chocolate milkshake that made me fall in love, all over again, with the concept of chocolate milkshakes. 

This one's neither thick nor cloyin'

Tis' sophisticated and deeply satisfyin' 

A simple hit of cointreau and some espresso with just the right amount of dark chocolate does the trick. Who knew chocolat and cointreau paired like Bogart and Bergman?!

Panna cotta with coconut tapioca (sounds not nice, but it works!) and pineapple granita

Another example of substance is their panna cotta with coconut tapioca and pineapple granita. Shove a spoon down right, get the three layer flight, and this is a sigh-inducing dessert. High on concept and execution and thankfully low on hardsell, this is a winner.

Across the many other plates of food and drink, many do exceedingly well and please sufficiently without hitting the soaring high notes of the superstars. 

Fried sea bream patatas bravas

Like the sea bream patatas bravas... 

the mixed seafood salad... 

and the uncommon ice cream sandwich combos. But then, what is a crescendo without a decrescendo if not mumbai traffic honking at peak hour? Every high needs a mellow lull.

Some at the table hated how slowly the food came out, but I'm a slow three-hour Sunday lunch kinda guy. Unhurried, conversation-filled, laughter-accompanied small-plate food. That's how I like my weekend lunch and the pace worked wonderfully for me.

At around 6000 bucks for 4, with 3 alcoholic drinks, 4 beverages, and multiple plates of great food, the meal is well worth the money.

Order: Confit duck cheese sandwich, seafood pizza (any pizza really!), cocoa bean milkshake, panna cotta
Miss: Cocktails

Top 10 meals of 2015: At #7, 6 and 5

Numero sept - Royal China

In a food environment choked to the gill slits with Chinese food places ranging from the humble station side regdi and momo stalls to the uber China House and Hakkasan, there are few places that can lay claim to authenticity and peerless dim sum satisfaction.

Roast pork puffs. Absolutely amazing!

Duck spring rolls

Royal China is well-neigh the Indigo of the dim sum houses in apro des. 

Crispy prawn cheung fun

Their claim to fame is their surreal dim sum skin and they peddle out consistently bomb Hargao, prawn and chive dumplings, crystal dumplings, and the insanely good roast pork puffs and duck spring rolls. 

Crystal dumplings

Prawn and chive dumplings 

veg puffs

Across two of the finest meals in the last year, some of these babies have had me bleating like a goat that's being tickled pink.

And if this is not enough, guarantee a great meal by adding in the unctuous joy aka the turnip cakes.

With dim sum like that, who needs main courses and dessert?!

#6 - Bipin Snacks

A bit of a misfit in the genre of food places listed thus far, Bipin Snacks proves that good marathi snack food can shock me and make me swoon when it is done well. To note, Bipin Snacks is not a charity case mention. It just turns out high quality food and wins a spot on merit.

Batata wada pohe. Never seen that as a single dish

Sabudana khichadi + khamang kakdi

Upma

Wada paav

Also, think of an overcast morning in Pune and my Dad, for once, agreeing to go to a food place with me. So the trio (Ma, too, you know) set off on foot across the Ferguson Coll campus, across Canal rd. and to this small hole-in-the-wall outside a city hospital. The sabudana khichadi + khamang kakdi, batata wada and the pohe are some of the best I've had in the city, and the prices are almost stuck in the 90s.

What's not to love?

#5 - Cafe Zoe

You see something very pretty and assume that the Good Lord could not have been unkind to rest of humanity by layering solid substance on top of good looks. That assumption leads to an assumption of lack of substance. As it goes with Zoe, I have been unkind and more than somewhat uncharitable in making exactly that assumption.

Endowed with space, and designed by a team with actual good taste and an ability to execute, Zoe is just so easy on the eye, whether we talk bout the space and decor or the many PYTs that flit in and out the doors.

I'm no lamb lover, but their long braised lamb with fresh made pappardelle is an incredible melange of all the right flavors and textures. 

8 hr braised lamb and fresh made pappardelle

They do fish well too for their rawas in a citrus based sauce, the pan fried perch and their specials red snapper are cooked to perfection and paired with some of the most delicious balanced sauces you'd be unfortunate enough to eat. 

Red snapper with mash, citrus sauce, wilted spinach and rosemary 

Rawas in a citrus base cream sauce and wilted spinach

Pan fried perch with mustard sauce

'Why unfortunate' you ask? Because, then, most other places' Conti style fish + mash + sauce routine wouldn't cut it for you.

And, ya, they scream out some of the best fries in town. They're that bloody good.

Bloody addictive home fries

It's a great place. GO!

Best meals of 2015: The Fatty Bao at #8

The Fatty Bao has been an uncommon launch this year. It doesn't try to fit a specific 'this is hot right now' category, and possibly that's why it works. TFB doesn't try to replicate the biggest hits from the current stars' kitchens choosing, instead, to tread its own path while carefully catering to traditional and adventurous palates, alike.

With Chef Manu Chandra at the helm, TFB has created a rather interesting menu. Let's get this straight, I won't ever visit TFB for their dimsum or sushi. That's strictly military medium. 

Where TFB scores is with their interesting small plates.

Wakame and crabmeat salad

Salmon carpaccio 

The char siu pork baos are bloody finger-lickin' good and need to be on any swine lover's to-do list, 

Char siu pork baos

and only a fool vegetarian should dare miss the eggplant baos because she doesn't like 'baingan'. These are surprisingly good and always on point. Don't take my word for it. Try em. 

Egg plant bao-wows

And the duck baos. Those too!

Shenjianbaos...duck baos

Brie is not a std cheese available in apro des. It's pricey because it is...French? So a French cheese pakoda about sums it right. It's good. 

Brie tempura

The braised pork belly with miso jam (R-rated PB&J) is meant for those with a death wish or for those that have recently passed their lipids lab test with flying colors. It is one of the most delicious piggy artery cloggers you'd find in the city. 

And if you're the kind that's too cheap to spend 3000 quid eating a 150 gm portion of black cod miso at Wasabi then I have it on good authority that the TFB BCM is pretty darned close at less than 50% of the price. I have eaten it twice, and though it's very good, it's not quit the manna it is promised to be. Keep your optimism on a low flame, enthusiasm high, and order it. Life's too short not to.

On the sweet front, if you're a sweet-tooth-less person like me that loves all things citrus then just get one dish. The green tea chiffon cake with yuzu sorbet. It's fresh and sparkling. Like a splash of some terrific eau de cologne after a shave and massage. Ya, get it.

All in all, TFB is a place worth loving and cherishing.