We headed out for breakfast.
We also wanted to go to KP ( Koregaon Park)
We went to German Bakery Pune.
We were at Pune at my brother in Laws place for a short trip and to revisit the memory lanes which Madhushree and I had taken while we stayed in Pune for 4 years and Tugga was still a concept or topic (the young couples always avoid the topics of a baby till as much as possible). On this Sunday, when we planned to go out for breakfast, the dilemma was between whether it should be some place that we know, some place which has come up in the recent years or some place which the hosts prefer. As the love for egg in the breakfast, that too a Sunday breakfast is one of the rare things that my brother in law and I agree on any given day, so we planned to target Prems in Koregaon Park for their eggs Benedict.
While we stayed in Pune we stayed in Wakad and coming to Koregaon Park for breakfast was not an easy affair. So the food that we often tasted and devoured upon was for late lunch and dinners with one or two odd exceptions of breakfast. By the time when all of us reached Prems, the breakfast time was over and with a 4 year old kid tucked in, we had to quickly look for alternate options. There couldn’t be any other option. There could be only German Bakery.
The name German Bakery always brings in a diff set of feelings for Punekkars. We were in Pune on that fateful night of 13th February 2010 when the blast happened. Still remember we were scheduled to go for My name is Khan in E square when the blast happened and how things were never the same before. There were glimpses of sweet comfortable food memories from German Bakery coupled with always overcrowded place and waiting for your turn to get a table. The memories post the blast were horrifying as the place once buzzing with visitors and food, fun and laughter stood there like a ghost, the lanes adjacent to it looked deserted and it was almost like a different chapter of history had started for the bakery.
On a Sunday noon almost (yes I mentioned Sunday breakfast right?) when we entered German Bakery, we had to wait briefly for our turn. Coming back after almost 6 years, there was a positivity around. Inside the main restaurant, we finally managed a place in the waiting room on the 2nd floor. We were famished and as soon as the menu came up we jumped. argued, reconciled and ordered. Only person who had no say was Tugga (although he makes his likes and dislikes clear these days). We ordered spanish omlette, japanese omlette , egg benedectine, chipotle cheese chilli dog and spiced pepper and chicken salad. The spanish omelette didn’t have potatoes inside it, which is perhaps considered as the key ingredient in Spanish omelette. Eggs benedictine, a spin off from eggs benedict, tasted good although while ordering we forgot to mention the yolk should be runny hence we did not get it. The soft japanese fluffy omlette was clearly comparable with the omelette they serve in breakfast menu at Air India flights (Madhushree and I have been a fan of this since we started flying). The spiced chicken and pepper salad had strong influence of tikka masala but the portion, fresh vegetables and chunks of chicken is perhaps what exactly you will like to order on a Sunday late breakfast. The chipotle cheese chilli dog with abundant chipotle sauce and cheese was a mouthful. The size was little big to be managed single handedly. The star of the show was ofcourse the grilled german sausages. We ordered two of them and between the five of us (yes, Tugga loved them too), they vanished within seconds. We had to end with desserts, so we ordered a rainbow cake which was moist and was fun eating it and an apple pie, which I have to say was a big big disappointment.
One of the main things which have changed in German Bakery Pune is the entrance. They now have couple of security guards standing at the side of the O hotel and you are only allowed in after being scanned. One of the after effects of 2010. The menu is still almost the same as the last time. The place still remains filled throughout the day, almost as we saw and enquired from the service attendants and there is an atmosphere of positivity around as it used to be. Anyone coming here for the first time won’t realise what this place had gone through. This is more than a food story, this isn’t a review, this is the story of a turnaround, story of faith and courage and like a jewel on the crown of Pune – German Bakery still shines.
Since time immemorial when I had the camera there has rarely been any holiday which has been without camera but this time it was without a camera as the tour was planned hurriedly and I had to depend on my Samsung A5 for the pictures of this tour (no this is not a promotional post). Let me know how the pictures have turned out to be.
Oh yes this was Tugga’s first visit to German Bakery Pune. As a dad as I take him through all the good and bad then why not on food trail also ? Tugga wishing you many many more of growing up years with German Bakery.