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We continue our reader-driven series on great restaurants and eating places across the country.

Jayendra Dabhade recommends ZK's in Pune for delicious jhinga lazeez and tandoori chicken.

For a long time in the Lullanagar area of Pune there was a dearth of quality restaurants.

Then came ZK's right on the intersection of Kondwa Road and Bibwewadi Road, cricketer Zaheer Khan's signature restaurant.

I visited the place with my brother and his friend for a late evening dinner. We opted to sit on the terrace instead of the lounge because of the blaring music. But despite this we couldn't quite escape it due to an extended speaker.

We began with the Indian favourite, tandoori chicken. The juicy and tender pieces were well marinated and not too strongly flavoured. A delicious experience indeed.

Since it was the first anniversary of ZK's, two pegs of liquor were followed by a complimentary peg which kept us busy with drinks for quite a while.

The chicken malai kebab was mildly flavoured and a little too dry for our liking. A tad disappointed, we decided to try the chicken tikka. Though devoid of the signature red colour, it was delicious and virtually melted in our mouth.

Ever tried buffalo milk curd with honey?

For the main course we had jhinga lazeez which turned out to be ZK's best dish. Succulent prawns in a turmeric base gravy were yummy. We also ordered a chicken tandoori in red gravy although I cannot recollect the name.

We rounded up the dinner with mutton biryani.

Since we were all diehard non-vegetarian food lovers, we did not experiment with any veggies. Though this multi-cuisine restaurant does cater to vegetarians too.

Now for the prices:

Tandoori chicken: Rs 180

Chicken tikka: Rs 150

Jhinga lazeez: Rs 160

To be concise all dishes were between Rs 150 to 200, which we thought was quite reasonable. A filling meal for two would cost you around Rs 700, excluding drinks.

We had a lot to drink, so our bill amounted to about Rs 2,500!

All serving sizes were generous and the meat was well cooked, without excessive spice. The waiters were courteous and the service was good.

Having returned to Pune after nearly three years, I noticed that a marked degradation in the quality of food served at some restaurants. ZK's is just a year old. I do hope it does not follow suit and start taking customers for granted.

Address
ZK's
Near Lullanagar junction
Kondwa road
Pune

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