1430 hours, December 11, Sunday, Seven Bungalows
The Prelude:
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Pabrai’s, with an eight-year-old legacy in the natural ice cream segment, is a new entrant in the city. The brand is a brainchild of two brothers, Kunal Pabrai and Nishant Pabrai of K N and Company, and in Bombay, the franchise has been ushered in by one Ms Laxmi Manjeshwar from Pune. Barely 26 days old here, it is already creating ripples, partially due to the premium location and partially due to the premium quality content.
The Picture:
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It's a fairly large space with vibrant colours. Ample seating space, glass décor and bright lights. Multi-hued quaint seating arrangement. In the news cuttings on the walls. A glass wall carrying post it stickers with accolades transcribed by visiting customers. Uniform decked attendants. Lots of pictures. No chaos.
The Personality:
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We were hosted by Abhay Pandit, a family member of the franchise owner. Abhay, along with his cousin Rohan, handles the management of the place. He seems unfazed by the stiff competition in the vicinity. So much is the buoyancy that they are already contemplating expansion townside.
The Pleasure:
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I was offered a bite-sized tasting of their flavours, and the highlights are as below. A caveat here, the samples were tiny and also offered in rapid succession, such that they got little time to settle on the palate and leave a distinct impression.So there is a possibility that the opinions might be slightly different from those who have individual scoops.
Tender Coconut (4 / 5): Green coconut ice cream with pieces of tender coconut inside. The difference here seemed the absence of oily texture which is ubiquitous elsewhere.
Ginger Honey (4 / 5): Honey taste at first, and then the Ginger twang hits you. I like both honey and ginger, and this combo suited me.
Anjeer (4.5 / 5): Commonplace flavour true, but this one seemed to have comparatively higher anjeer content.
Bubble Gum (3.5 / 5): With bits of actual bubble gum. A decent affair, but I am not a bubble gum type of person. Might gel more with the teenage crowd.
Chocolate Chips (4.5 / 5): Made from only the naturally processed cocoa, which incidentally acts as a natural anti-oxidant. An emphatic yes.
Chocolate Macedonia (4.5 / 5): With nuts imported from Australia no less. Definitely premium stuff.
Rose (4 / 5): With natural rose petals. Fair flavour, something which would appeal only to people with the inclination towards that taste.
Chandan (4.5 / 5): One of the best amongst the lot. Leaving an after taste of sandalwood flavour.
Mascarpone Cheese and Candied fruits (4 / 5): With actual cheese imported from Italy.
South India Coffee (4.5 / 5): With a delicious, freshly roasted coffee bean flavour. Again a unique offering.
Masala Chai (4 /5): Ice cream made of original Darjeeling tea, with added chai masala. Kadak and neat.
Wasabi (3.5 / 5): Wasabi? And ice cream? Yes. Without the kick, albeit. This might have only the most discerning lot approving this.
Black sesame (4 / 5): Again a unique flavour, and apt to be around during the forthcoming Sankranti season. Ice cold gooey chikki like.
Kolkata Meetha Paan (4.5 / 5): The original Kolkata Meetha Paan ice cream with seventeen rare ingredients. The fare uses the Jagannathi betel leaves, found only in Kolkata. And this was not the usual saunf ice cream which is doled out in the name of Paan ice cream elsewhere. In fact, they have a separate Saunf flavour as well to distinguish between the two.
Nalen Gur (3.5 / 5): Their signature offering, in fact their own creation. Ice cream made with date palm jaggery, found only in Bengal. To add to measure, you have liquid jaggery syrup poured over it. Grainy texture, on the sweeter side and a distinct flavour of gur. To be fair, with all the hype built up around it, this affair came across as a bit of an anti-climax. And again to be fair, I even purchased a 500-gram pack to carry back home, and it met with the same reaction with others as well.
The Postlude:
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The brand proudly tom toms its premium-ness. Fresh fruits, imported ingredients, high-quality standards, and an exotic range – that’s what the brand is all about. Their Vanilla ice cream is made up of imported African Vanilla pods where most others use the artificial option – a chemical compound called Ethylvanillin. Their sugar free range is made of the costlier and safer Fructooligosaccharide as against its cheaper and more controversial option Aspartame.And the core of the stuff is pure cream and milk – you would find it easy to scoop it out despite being chill refrigerated – there is an absolute absence of formation of ice crystals.
On the flipside, their flavours are priced much higher than the competing brands, they ARE sitting amidst two giants, and they are way too late entrants in the city. So it's going to be interesting to watch how events fold out for them.
The Prescription:
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a) Indulge in lots of low scale marketing and propagation of information.
b) Consider tie ups with Nearbuy, The Little app or similar such.
c) Increase offerings beyond the standard ice cream scoops and an occasional sundae.
d) Display pricing inclusive of taxes, as others do.
e) Display the menu card on Zomato.
f) Consider maintaining of variant wise statistics.
g) Consider offering Loyalty programmes.
i) Test price sensitivity on priority basis.
The Parameters:
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The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4.5 / 5, Food Choices 5 / 5, Food Portion 4 / 5, Food Presentation 4 / 5
The Other Determinants: Location 4.5 / 5, Cleanliness 4 / 5, Warmth 4 / 5
The Hygiene Factors : Ambience 4 / 5, Space quotient 3.5 / 5, Delivery time 4 / 5
The Conclusives : Food Price 3.5 / 5, Overall Experience 4.5 / 5, Will I Visit again 5 / 5
The Ps:
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