Munching Monk Finals: The Goodluck Kheema

I’ll tell you later about the tastiest yet, not quite pretty bowl of Mutton Keema that I had for lunch today at The GoodLuck Cafe, but first let me tell you all about how I got in there and finally secured a table for myself. This Irani Café-Restaurant has been standing in Pune, on Fergusson Road for more than a decade now and is quite a popular spot, always! After brainstorming with a friend regarding what restaurant would be ideal for this review, we settled on this one. After reaching the café, we had to wait for almost 30 minutes for a table, which wasn’t much of a hoot as it was sweltering hot outside, but made us realize how much everyone loved this place. Finally, we were ushered inside by this old man, who apologized for the long wait.

Comfortable in my seat, under the cool breeze of the fan, I reached for the menu card and scanned all the dishes. Everything listed sounded delicious and my stomach ached for the taste of something good. I settled for the humble combination of Mutton Keema and Rumali Roti, which I figured would also take less time to prepare. I was right! I saw our server, a few minutes later, walking up to our table with a tray full of food. As he, approached I noticed the bowl of Mutton Keema which did not look very appealing on first sight, but smelt like the food of the gods sent down to Earth. I was quite ravenous at this point, so I thought maybe my stomach was affecting my other body parts, but as I took the first bite of the not-so-pretty keema, I fell in love. I fell in love with the way my Rumali roti tasted like a piece of a cloud that had fallen down on my plate and melted the minute I put it in my mouth. I loved how the keema wasn’t really dry nor did it have too much gravy, but was just perfect. The spicy mutton keema, paired with the soft roti made my tummy do cartwheels in joy. This humble meal provided me with a certain satisfaction that I don’t always get from eating at fast food joints or the new ‘It’ places in town.

After the most satisfactory meal, it was time for dessert. I took our server’s suggestion and ordered Caramel Pudding, as I was told ‘ye toh humari specialty hai madam!’ And I am thankful indeed, that I listened to him. The pudding tested my capacity as I was way past my limit of stuffing my face. After eating 3 rotis and the entire portion of mutton keema, supposedly enough for 3 people, I managed to finish off the entire pudding (I was very thankful I decided not to wear denims at this point) with no help whatsoever from my friend. The glazed caramel top and the soft, perfectly set pudding, made it evident after one bite as to why this dish was their specialty. Finally we gathered our bags, thanked our server and paid the princely sum of Rs. 400 each and walked out into the heat, with our stomachs cursing us for pushing them to their limit while our hearts begged us for just a bite more of the heavenly food that was presented to us at The Goodluck Café.