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In the ever-popular world of fast food as thousands try to cash in on the craze, some joints are major hits while others fail to sustain momentum. Fergusson College Road in the city is one such ‘petridish’ where many have the chance to establish themselves and figure out whether their food is going to be a hit or miss with the young crowd that throngs the area.
Foodies (especially students) are the deciding factor where ‘something different’ meets the ‘value-for-money’ criterion. FC Road already stands witness today to hundreds of makeovers and takeovers of several well-known hang-outs.
Peter’s Pan, already established in Wanowrie, opened here in place of a famous chaat joint relatively recently. The restaurant serves collegians and other customers European-style breakfasts and most importantly, waffles and pancakes.
As a typically- structured Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), their menu promises waffles, pancakes, omelettes, pastas, salads, rolls and pizzas. To me, their combos looked more exciting than single preparations. These combos come in either King-size portions or Queen-size portions.
The Pizzata combo (Rs 130), for example, has a portion of pasta, a slice of pizza and iced tea with it. In it, I opted for the Penne Arrabiata, which was pretty good – keeping in mind that it had been prepared at the hands of a novice and within a QSR format, it would definitely be unfair to expect very authentic Arrabiata sauce; ideally made from skinless, ripe, equal-sized tomatoes with a hint of garlic, olive oil and red chillies.
The large slice of a pizza is a tasty relief, and the iced tea made from instant powder pretty much just completes the combo.
Another combo — the SSG (Rs 110) has soup, salad and a piece of garlic bread in it. The Minestrone soup in it was very good, the salad was a tossed salad (with iceberg lettuce, salad oil, crushed pepper, tomatoes, cucumber and onion rings), instead of the Caesar Salad they had mentioned, which left me digging around in it for Caesar dressing.
The waffles are definitely a highlight here. The Cheesy Chicken Waffle (Rs 130) I tried is pretty good, cooked perfectly. The credit for the lovely colour, texture and aroma, all goes to the batter from which these waffles are prepared.
Their innovative way of pairing these well-made waffles with meats, vegetables and even fruits is pretty great! The simply cooked but rather delicious Cheesy Chicken on top of the waffle could even serve as a heavy one-pot meal option.
The Great American hot dog (Rs 75) was average. A chicken sausage topped with mustard sauce, jalapenos and onions in hot dog bread, it wasn’t warm enough. If the sausage had been grilled some more and doused with a little more mustard sauce, it would have been good.
I recommend Peter’s Pan basically for their waffles and pancakes! A different sort of breakfast is good option here too. Service is definitely a bit average — it needs more of a vibrant, enthusiastic attitude and some of the staff needs to be more customer-friendly! Water has to be bought at the counter and isn’t served free of charge, which didn’t go down too well with me.
And now it’s over to the student crowd of the area, who are the main judges that decide whether a place will make or break.
Peter’s Pan
Shop Nos 1 and 3, Chanakyapuri, F C Road, Shivajinagar, Pune 4
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08:23:44 AM