Simply delicious

Simply delicious

A visit to Poona Food Truck will surely give you happy vibes. The one-year-old food truck on Senapati Bapat Road, next to HP Petrol Pump, has a bright air about it and also offers yummy food at reasonable rates. Owned by 22-year-old Prajyot Bogawat, they serve different types of Potato Fries, Pizza, Sandwich, Pasta in both red and white sauce, Chiller and Milk Shake. 

When we visited Poona Food Truck on a rainy evening, we found the place lit with bright lights. The truck is parked at a place which earlier would house an eatery. Inside the truck, Bogawat and his team keep busy preparing the orders. After placing your order, you can choose one of the comfortable tables outside and enjoy the surroundings or the chatter around you. 

Before relocating to Pune to pursue his dream to open a restaurant, Bogawat worked with an event management company in Mumbai. “I always had a passion for cooking. In fact, I have been cooking since I was in Std IV. I wanted to launch a restaurant but had no experience, so I decided to start something smaller in scale.” 

However, Pune crowd does not prefer standing and eating, so he rented this place and turned it into a food truck restaurant. “I could afford the place here. That said, I had to completely redesign it after taking it on rent. I had rebuilt the area and redesigned every corner,” he says. But it took Bogawat months to find the right place and find the right truck too. 

There is nothing fancy about the place. What appeals to customers is its simplicity. Bogawat has placed flower pots and plants everywhere. “I did not want to invest too much on the interiors. I have put a grass mat on the floor, which is not very expensive and obscures the stone flooring. The lamps on the ceiling are also not high-end,” he shares.   

The food here is a must try. They have a speciality in every category. “In the Fries section, our Peri Peri Cheese is quite popular, both the pastas are hot selling, and  Tandoori Paneer and Chilly Garlic Pizza, Cheese Chilly Toast, Lasooni Sandwich are quite popular as well. Kala Khatta Soda, and Oreo and Brownie Shake are loved by our customers too,” he says, adding, “Every item here is homemade.” 

He adds with pride that his customers love the garlic chutney used in preparing Lasooni Sandwich. Even though Bogawat has no formal training in cooking or hotel management, he says that he came up with all the recipes himself. “I learnt cooking by trying food at different places, and then coming home and making them. I would make a few changes here and there. We make the Pasta Pizza, which you might not find anywhere else in the city. People love the dish,” says Bogawat, who is a foodie himself. When we tried the Pasta Pizza, we loved the innovation. It was cheesy, creamy and full of flavours. Definitely, a must try. 

Bogawat says that he has reworked on the menu in the last one year. “We have limited menu so people might get bored hence we keep changing it. We added a few sandwiches and others items recently. We are adding a lot of milk shakes and fries too,” he adds. 

The chillers, he says, are inspired by the local golas. “I remember, when I used to come to Pune with my father during summer (as we had a stationery shop back then), I would enjoy golas. It was my dream to have the golas in my own restaurant because they tasted the best. My Kala Khatta was the best selling item here and customers from across the city come to have it,” says Bogawat, who now plans to expand the business. 

He says that he has kept the pricing of the food reasonable because he gets a lot of student crowd. “People mostly pay for the ambience but I have concentrated on the quality of food and service,” he says.
 

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