Sunday Roast at Café Table Talk

Chicken Roast with Salad, Dip and Chhunda

If you like enjoying laidback Sunday brunches with friends and family and some delicious, flavorsome meat, then the unique Sunday Roast at Café Table Talk is just the right place to be.

Café Table Talk is nestled cozily on Apte Road, Deccan in a Stone walled bungalow built in 1935. This place started by Rohit and his wife, Amruta opened in 2015 and is especially known for its ultra-warm Goa like vibes and healthy food options.

The Sunday Roast idea that was recently conceptualized by Pune based Varun Bhosekar and supported by the owners of Café Table Talk is gaining momentum amongst the people in this area.

While Varun is a Rehab specialist and a fitness enthusiast, Rohit and Amruta passionately provide nutrition based and health oriented food at Café Table Talk.

Varun had been to Serbia for some work where he saw roast joints along the roadside which are very popular. The idea had struck his mind then.

He came back home, but when the lockdown happened, the idea again started doing rounds in his mind. At that time, He got himself a barrel which he modified to suit his requirement. Keeping the barrel in horizontal position with a skewered tray inside, he connected the barrel through a pipe with a square chamber to keep small wood pieces for roasting. He has got it fabricated to suit the requirement. This ensures that there is no direct fire. Also he then got a proper griller made for himself.

Currently, This Sunday Roast offers four choices of meat including Chicken, Mutton, Pork and Fish (Surmai). The meat is first grilled appropriately on the griller to about 80%. Then it is marinated with a sauce which includes herbs and spices and then wrapped in a silver foil before it is kept in the smoker for slow roasting. Different types of meat require different amount of cooking time. Chicken may require upto 4 hours, Pork upto 5-6 hours and Fish upto 1-1.5 hours. They have also roasted lamb during their first Sunday Roast. The foil keeps the juices intact, the slow roast and the dry rub enhances the flavor and the end product is some really succulent, flavorsome meat, just perfect to enjoy on a lazy Sunday. This super team plans to host these Sunday Roasting events every fortnight.

But it is not easy as the amount of time and the efforts required means that the meat has to be cured, starting a night earlier in order to be cooked early in the morning on the day of the Roast and served to the patrons the entire day.

The service for this Roast Day at Café Table talk starts at 11.00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. I had opted for a Chicken Roast which comes as a mouth-watering leg piece. To my surprise it was served with ‘Chhunda’ a sweet n sour preserve or pickle.The more sweeter than sour taste and the softness of Chhunda balances the texture of the meat and is an amazing combination.

There is no doubt that lockdown has had its effect on the spending capacity of people, but a good experience will always get genuinely acknowledged and that is what Sunday Roast is all about!