You must be wondering, why is a food blogger talking about mines? Well I just realized that the mining community has a cuisine of their own and I did not know about it till I experienced it lately. Pune restaurant scene has seen the advent of conceptual restaurants, one of that lot is Mineority. Derived from the words Mine and Ore, the concept celebrates the life of the mining community in the world. From the décor to the food you will find everything carved around miners here. The cuisine here is heavily influenced from the North-Eastern and Eastern belt of India. This here is my experience of an evening spent at this place with quirky decor with the mining theme for its food. Read on to know more
First up the Mining Club Cutlet, well this one is #Highly Recommended dish here. The mining club cutles are perfectly crumb coated cutlets made of beetroot and ground peas served with a smear of kasundi along with a tangy tamarind chutney. Made me reminisce the beetroot filled veg chops in Kolkatta.
Next in line was the Kalimpong Cheese Rolls that were authentic till the last bite. I have spent quite a lot of time in Kalimpong and I know that Kalimpong cheese is quite pungent, the way the chef has mellowed down the pungency of the cheese and derived spring rolls out of it is noteworthy here. Another #MustTry
You also have to try the charcoal specialities at Mineority, try the Black Chicken Skewers and yes don’t get bogged down with the Black color and savor the flavors here, You can definitely thank me later for this. Perfectly grilled skewers with black sesame paste and served with traditional flat bread and coriander chutney with that smokiness.
The Dehati Fish & Chips – Then came along Betki Fish wrapped in colocasia leaves and was fried crip along with a mustard drizzle, tamarind dip and chips. Well at first I was thankful that the fish was betki and if that is cooked well you get a happy me
The Odiya Chania Mania Fish – This dish was a downer, I am an odia and quite close to our indigenious cuisine, though the fusion was the Bor with the mustard fish, This one didn’t really work for me with overtones of overcooked mustard that gave the dish a bitter feeling
The Hyderabadi Nizam’s Mutton Seekh – The charcoal grilled mutton mince kebabs served with traditional flat bread and kasundi. A brilliant dish here and again #MustHave
I washed all this down with the following:
Pomegranate Caipirojka- This tart and tangy caipiroska combines pomegranate, vodka and lime to create the ultimate pink drink. Servde with pomegranate seeds for an extra flavour pop. This is one of the best ones that I have had in Pune.
Mango Ginger Margarita – made with real mango, lime, spicy ginger and tequila this cockatiel was pretty as a picture
Up came the desserts then
The Tres Leches Cake – Latin American three milk cake of soft vanilla sponge, condensed milk and heavy whipped cream was a stunner and surprisingly not overtly sweet. Full marks there.
Jurassic Cheesecake made with burnt chenna poda topped with guaja flakes. Inspired by the oldest cheesecake of the world from Orissa, well not authentic to the core. The gauja could have been better but the chenna poda surely had been overbaked.
Overall, this place is a great to enjoy the tastes that have hardly been discovered before, a decor that makes will make you cheerful and relax after a hard day’s work.
