From the sea to your kitchen

Finally, Pune is blessed with a fresh fish store that not only delivers to your doorstep but also cuts, peels, guts and fillets to your choice

From the sea to your kitchen

Finally, Pune is blessed with a fresh fish store that not only delivers to your doorstep but also cuts, peels, guts and fillets to your choice

So far, cooking fish meant a visit to a stinky fish market or at least a neighbourhood vendor. It also meant haggling for your rate, insecurity over quality and a lot of homework about gutting, slicing and sanitising. And the joy of fillets were only restricted to dining out. No more. Pune now has a new neighbour who will gut, cut, de-vein, slice and fillet according to your culinary requirement. Plus, they will deliver your customised, sanitised box of seafood right at your doorstepu00a0-- all within two hours of making the call. Now, that's what we call seafood on skates.

Pesca Fresh, a Mumbai-based company that has been delivering seafood for over four years, now has a franchisee in the Peshwa city. Brought to Pune by Tutto Bene Delicatessen, the name that's already synonymous with imported meats and cheese, Pesca Fresh does seem a useful introduction. Mumbai doesn't have a front-end display but Pune does. Here, customers can walk in, select from the catch of the day all displayed on ice and walk out with their box of goodies. If you have a specific demand, they can also get you fresh Himalayan trout, lobsters, mahi mahi as well as sushi-standard Norwegian pink salmon. For Bengalis, there are options of rohu, bhekti and shark.

The day after opening, Pesca Fresh has a sizeable amount on display. There are prawns (jumbo, large, medium), clams, pomfret, rawas, tilapia, Bombay Duck, surmai, bangda, red snapper and sea bass. If you want, you can poke, press and choose each piece according to your stickler standards. If you'd rather not get your hands dirty, simply tell the staff what you need and they will advice you on your options.

We opted for medium prawns (Rs 380 per kg) and were asked for details. 'Would you like them cut, peeled, de-veined (CPD)? Wouldu00a0 you like head off, tail on? Would you prefer head and tail off?' Well, we opted for the whole clean chit and were glad when we got home. They tasted delicious in the Indian coconut gravy we rustled up.

We also chose Bombay Duck (Rs 110 peru00a0 kg) and this time, asked for fillets. A fillet needs skill and is close to impossible to execute at home. So when we fried our bombil to a crisp, we really enjoyed the crunch factor without the worry or the hassle of de-boning it. Finally, our last option was a tilapia (Rs 165 per kg). This time we chose to get it gutted but cut the steak way, with bones. The tilapia is a sweet fish that tastes great when cooked with Indian spices or simply baked with seasoning and a dash of lime, as we chose to do it.

We obviously enjoyed our experience so much, we are sure to call in again. Pesca Fresh is a lovely option for seafood lovers in Pune. Know someone who would love to rustle up a seafood meal for you? How about gifting them a Pesca Jewel (Rs 950)? A two kg gift hamper with five assorted fish options can make a couple of finger-licking good meals.

At: Lane G, off South Main Road, Koregaon Park.
Call: 26136666