Bright lights, pleasant nights, tasty bites ­­.. have them all at Nebula, Pashan Road, says Nupur Chaudhuri

When food tastes as good as it looks, you know you’ve got your money's worth. It was with that satisfaction that I paid the bill at Nebula, the two-storeyed restaurant on Pashan Road. But now, let me start from the beginning.

Last Monday, I persuaded the mother and aunt to leave the warmth of our home, venture out for a drive on that chilly night and dine with me at Nebula. From where we stay, Nebula is like another city, and I did hear a lot of ‘It better be worth it!’ Thankfully, it was.

There was ample parking space just outside the restaurant, so five points for that! We were warmly ushered in by the manager and seated at a corner table. Bright lights reflected off the stark, white walls and the jute blinds went well with the brown tables. The first floor was jazzier than the level where we dined. It had bright abstract paintings, a well-lit bar and more of yellow light than white. That level was packed with youngsters.

Our level had more of the family crowd, and surprisingly, people kept pouring in till 10-10.30 pm even though Monday nights are usually the ‘dead’ nights for restaurants.

Now, for the best part about Nebula — the food. The menu boasted of a number of dishes in the Indian and Chinese sections. We ordered the best of both the worlds. For starters, we ordered Chilli Corn Waterchestnuts (Rs 160), Soya Chilly Fish in Wine Sauce (Rs 265), Tandoori Mushroom (Rs 150), Murg Hari Mirch (Rs 220) and Crackling Spinach and Potato (Rs 150). Obviously we didn’t finish the food, but we tasted enough to stuff ourselves.

The Tandoori Mushroom had button mushrooms smeared with masala. I’m biased towards mushroom, so this one had me smacking my lips all along! The Chilli Corn Waterchestnut was a crispy and crunchy dish. It leaned towards the spicier side but we loved the whole play of spring onions, red chilli and coriander with the corn and waterchestnuts. A must try for veggies who can handle spice. The crackling spinach and potato was presented so well that we didn’t want to mess it up! But I’m glad we did because this was one ‘elegant’ dish. The spinach was fried to perfection and was very crisp and the long potato slices were honeyed and sprinkled with sesame seeds. This balanced out the spiciness of the previous starter.

The Chicken Hari Mirch surprised us because it wasn’t served as tikkas, but instead had chicken stuffed inside a long mirch, smeared with a green chutney and wrapped in bread crumbs. Needless to add, this was one spicy chicken!

The Soya Chilli Fish in Wine Sauce was the best starter. The fish melted in the mouth and was tossed in the soya and wine sauce. Flawless is how I’d describe this one. Definitely, a must-have.

In main course, the Murg Maratha (Rs 210) was a well spiced, typically Maharashtrian dish. Very rich in masala. The Kadhai Jhinga (Rs 240) was regular Prawn Masala. It had thick brownish masala and was garnished with coriander seeds. The prawns were well done.

We also called for Fried Rice (Rs 140) with Vegetables in Burnt Chilli Sauce (Rs 160) — it was delicious — and had brocolli, onion, spring onion and paneer in a rich chilli sauce. Maybe they could add mushrooms in this one to complete it!

We also called for a Melon Mojito (Rs 250) and it scored brownie points for the restaurant! Speaking of brownies, we ended our meal with Sizzling brownie with Ice-cream. The brownie was burnt at the bottom, but we wiped the top half clean!

 While Nebula is ideal for those residing in Pashan, Kothrud, Aundh and other surrounding areas, I definitely would drive out there again for the food.