The Pune Dining Room: Pune Shuffle at The Brooklyn Shuffle Diner

From the team of the hugely popular resto-bars WTF! & Jimmy Hu, comes The Brooklyn Shuffle Diner, a restaurant specializing in the 'Classic American Diner' concept which is characterized by food like sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, omelettes, waffles, pancakes, etc., served in humongous quantities at relatively reasonable prices and huge red sofas, checkered flooring and interesting graffiti on the walls as typical decor. They graciously invited members of a food and drinks group that I'm a part of to check-out their latest offering located at Koregaon Park, Pune and generously stuffed us with lip-smacking grub and cocktails.

Shuffle is a two-level restaurant ticking every box in terms of interiors you'd expect such a restaurant to have. Floor to ceiling French windows, a communal table on the upper level that is perfect for larger groups and a good mix of retro and new-age chartbusters complete the ambiance. Thoughtfully, the diner has a bar each on both the levels which facilitates a smooth flow of alcohol service {very important for me...Haha}.

I have been to Shuffle a couple of times before and love their cocktails, some of which are made using fresh fruit juices as opposed to the canned ones. This adds a refreshing twist to the drinks and provides an added incentive to drink more because fresh fruit juices are actually good for you. Yes. We had the Cold War {watermelon, vodka, red chilli}, Third Base {pineapple, white rum and green chilli}, Harlem Shake {orange, vodka, mint}, Mojito.....and after a while beers and whisky-sours did the rounds as well. I love the occasional use of chillies {in small quantities} in cocktails because it cuts the sweetness of the juices and provides a late kick of heat when you least expect it. My favourite was the Cold War with Third Base coming a close second for it's unique concoction.

Food was a plenty as well. Chicken nuggets, BBQ chicken wings, basil-garlic paneer and mushroom skewers and babycorn and cauliflower fritters were served first-up to munch on along with the drinks. I thought the vegetarian skewers could've done with a stronger flavour infusion or even a tangy accompanying dip, but no complaints with the other starters especially, the wings which were perfect with some chilled beer. Main course options consisted of crunchy potato burger, classic chicken burger, roasted peppers and cream cheese sub and what in my opinion was the piece de resistance, the ham and cheese sandwich - a truly mind-blowing combination of honey glazed ham, bacon, bechamel sauce and cheese. 'Nuff Said. All sandwiches come with a side of French fries, onions rings and coleslaw. Word of caution: If you plan on having one their their sandwiches all by yourself, I'd suggest you go easy on the starters because there's no way you're getting through the entire portion otherwise.

Their Cheesecake {baked} is a dish that alone merits a visit to the diner. It's crumbly, dense and rich and these guys have totally nailed this dessert to the T. I also loved their apple crumble with it's crusty top baked to golden perfection and a spiced apple filling oozing out from the center.

We guys had a truly awesome night and i'm surely going back again especially for the ham and cheese sandwich, cheesecake and fruit-based cocktails.

On earlier visits I've tried dishes like the corn dogs, duxelle mushroom balls, chillidog and the chocolate cake and found them to be very competent.