When you’ve been to Shisha’s four times in two weeks, you know the place has got to be pretty good. You can find this gem of a restaurant in the complex of ABC Farms located at one end of Koregaon Park. It’s the second restaurant on your left as you walk in, just past the Swiss Cheese Garden. The large number of couches littering the sides of the restaurant creates a comfortably intimate yet laid back atmosphere pleasing to all crowds. Soft jazz music continues to soften the atmosphere with some nights even hosting a live jazz band (adding INR50 as an entry charge).

Given such a great atmosphere, you’d think that the food and drink would be a secondary concern. Fortunately the food and drink on offer continues to add to its bonus points with a large variety of different foods. Being based on Iranian foods, they offer plenty of grilled kebab type dishes though they also offer plenty of Indian (biryanis, curries, naans, rotis, etc), at least four different types of salads and some continental foods as well. They also offer a number of desserts though I can’t really recommend many of them (we did try quite a few of them!).

Given it’s name, you’d be pretty disappointed if you couldn’t actually smoke a Shisha and luckily for those who smoke, they don’t disappoint. I’m not sure how much each one of them cost, but they have the usual variety. Some of the people I ate with had ones including orange and mint.

Details: Shisha Cafe
Found at: A.B.C. Farms, Koregaon Park, Pune
Highlights: Chilled atmosphere with comfortable couches. It also offers different flavoured Shishas (also known as Hookahs). A decent menu includes some curries, some kebabs, salads, sandwiches and some continental foods. Other than the standard beer and spirits, this place also offers a number of relatively decent local wines. The downstairs area is much more suitable for large groups and has better lighting. They also offer Jazz on some nights.
Room for improvement: Upstairs is quite dark despite the candles at the tables.
Cost: Snacks start at around INR50 with mains ranging between INR125-INR250. Small bottles of beer cost INR70 while a bottle of wine will set you back INR800. If you’re drinking, budget at least INR600 if not more.
The Kua Rating: 8.5 out of 10