Cafe Buddy’s Espresso 

My love for food allows me to experiment new dishes or food joints. Pune is now filled now almost every type of food joints, cafes or restaurants with trending signature dishes at almost every random cafe. It’s been 2 years after marriage, shifting from Pune to Kudal, Sindhudurg (near Goa coasts) wasn’t an easy task 😔 No regrets, Konkan makes me feel close to nature everytime I travel. The moment, I miss fast food or Puneri Jevan we visit Pune or Goa at times. My every visit to Pune is never complete without trying a new food joint or food dish 😜 Gauri(BFF) accompanies me to every new place. We had a long discussion last night from Mcdonalds to almost every random cafe in our area, a brisk walk with her and we found our new love aka cafe 😍”Cafe Buddy’s Espresso”

The place where CBE is located had something similar before and we had been to that cafe too. We still miss the pancakes and shakes we had there.

Ambiance – The cafe is situated at Simran Seashells, near BSNL office on Salunkhe Vihar Road. Small cafe, yet attracts one with the soothing lights used in the cafe. Looks like a stress-buster from outside. It has outdoor seating with some plants aside near every table. When you enter there are just 2 round tables and then the kitchen area with the counter. The interior has warm brown tones which give you a feel of nature. It is said that brown wall decor evokes positive emotions, CBE has a brick wall (I feel it was painted, didn’t get a chance to check if it was textured). It has small stairs which leads to the upper area of the cafe which has around 2 to 4 tables (not sure). We sat near the entrance in the corner of round thread fairy lights. They had a seating table fixed to the wall which was uneven, the guy sitting next to me kept moving and shaking it. I felt a bit uncomfortable to sit 😔

Food – We ordered Hazelnut Frappe, Lemon Mint Mojito, Cherry Tomato Basil & Mozzarella Panini Sandwich and Healthy Veg Salad.

Lemon Mint Mojito – Gauri’s favorite drink other than coffee. She felt this had a lot of ice cubes which made it taste watery. After 2 to 3 sips she got the drink fixed from the staff. It was served in a mason jar. 🍸🍹

Healthy Veg Salad – This was absolutely delicious with crunchy lettuce, olive, red & yellow bell pepper. This was yummy and had a perfectly balanced taste.

Hazelnut Frappe – I am always a dessert and shake person. I can literally skip my meal if it’s dessert or a thick milkshake. I had high hopes for the frappe. It was served without a fresh cream dollop, maybe they don’t serve with creams, which is totally fine. Frappe was nice, ice cold blend with fresh froth on the top. Tasted good with 1 sip and after several sips noticed Hazelnut was overpowering the frappe which made it taste a bit like dark chocolate. I did not fix the frappe and waited for my Panini hoping it is served early and would manage the flavor 🍷

Cherry Tomato Basil & Mozzarella Panini Sandwich – The plate had the fine cuts of panini filled with yummy filling. It was a multi-grain panini, super light and yummy. It had cherry tomatoes, basil, mozzarella. Panini was served after 45mins, we did not understand the logic of taking so long to serve this dish!

I would still recommend Cafe Buddy’s Espresso and rate it as ⭐⭐⭐.☆ only for the reason of the drinks not being up to mark and panini being served late. Have you been to CBE’s ever?