OK Lah! Inside Pune’s most playful new Southeast Asian escape

By: Vivek M 

When we entered Izipizi Street, the latest offering by Together Hospitality that gave us bangers such as Juju Bar, Cobbler and Crew and Elephant and Co. I had no idea our night would be so long (and fun). 

Designed like a street food destination in Bangkok, Izipizi Street, located in Kalyan Nagar in Pune, transported us back to the lanes of South East Asian street food culture, the downtown vibe put down pat right from – neon lights, acrylic furniture, to the high pulse energy typical of the street cultures of Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and other South East Asian countries. 

We went with an Iced Americano and Tiramisu Latte from Black Bear Boba, and sat down to begin our night. Vijeta – They’ve done Juju Bar, Elephant and co and Cobbler and Crew – they wanted to create something from their memories of their travels in Vietnam, Bangkok and other South East Asia over the years.

Vijeta Singh, one of the key voices behind the hospitality group’s new concept, mentioned how they wanted to create something from their memories of their travels in Vietnam, Bangkok and other South East Asia over the years and felt Pune was ready for it. Added Karan Khilani, Founding Partner at Together Hospitality, “While fine dining has its place, what was missing in the city was a good quality, street-style Asian experience that didn’t require an occasion. We wanted to create a space where you can walk in for deeply flavourful food and good drinks at any time, without it feeling formal.”

What has made the experience authentic is the attention to detail, right from the cutlery to the seating arrangement and décor, to even the tables on which we were being served, inspired from the downtown experience of SE Asian countries. To add to the experience, the group plans to add trinkets to the hawker stalls designed within the space, where they’re planning to sell stuff procured from SE Asia. 

Drinks and vibe

Our experience for the night began with a punter soju shot, a popular Korean drink. A lot of the alcohol served here  is all from south east Asia, and it added to the feeling of transportation that we had.  

That night, we had a lot of cocktails – one of the best things about Izipizi and I highly recommend their Thai picante, Coffee with Pearls, Savoury One, Taste of Melon and Very Refresh. Coffee with Pearls is essentially how a spiked coffee based boba would taste like (have you wondered how that would be like, because we had!) Thai picante, with a thai basil and galangal twist to the drink remained our favourite, along with Savoury One, a foamy drink with tequila, along with an umami cordial and vanilla espuma. 

Small Plates

While the appetisers were many the Silken tofu carpaccio and Shio Koji Fried Chicken hit it out of the park for us. The Carpaccio was melt in-the-mouth. The silken tofu was sliced and served in a tofu and coconut-based sauce, dashi tomatoes garnished with fried onions and toasted puffed rice. The flavours were mild and went well together.   

The Shio Koji Fried Chicken, a highlight of the meal, one of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, was served with wasabi mayo and sesame soy dips. The Japanese style marination added the required twist, and the chicken served on a hibachi grill, attention to detail was excellent. 

The edamame dimsum  was creamy and fluffy, made with cream cheese topped with edamame paste. The next showstopper were the sake butter prawns – garnished with bonito flakes and toasted bread, it had a distinct peppery after-taste which I enjoyed very much. For vegetarians, the Oroshi – Sweet Shitake and Asparagus Sushi Roll stood out for its freshness. Then we went onto trying the pulled duck tacos – lemony, spicy pulled pork, fresh salad, it didn’t need a dip it was so juicy. The prawn dimsum – served with fish roe on top on a bed of chilli oil with a filling of prawn paste chives and carrot, was somewhat like prawn har gao. 

We enjoyed their small plates at their alfresco dining area before moving indoors. The area has been designed to resemble a food court with Vietnamese street style furniture, neon lights, and even a Japanese style low seating in the middle of the room. There is space for karaoke on one end with a full glass room – full of kawaii-coded neon signs. One has to book the space privately. The room is decorated with One-Piece, Hello Kitty, Ghibli and other cultural references all around the karaoke room. 

Ceremonial Soju Bombs were partaken at this point of the night, before letting ourselves go inside the karaoke room along with rounds of OK Lah – a bright red drink and Savoury One – our standout drink for the night. We were stuffed already, but decided to pass around some mains, including the chicken thai curry, served on a bed of rice and chicken, not your typical thai curry. The Chiang Mai chicken rice – served in the karaoke room – included juicy grilled chicken, rice tossed in chicken fat and a garlic sauce and chicken broth. 

This and a dozen songs later, we finally decided to call it a (very good) night. 

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