Mar 13, 2008

Belly Dancers...

This post is alllllll about shakes, creamy moves, lotsa meat, spice and delicious eye-candy!Presenting to you my second food post! (Did I just burst that bubble, shucks!) I've been accumulating quite a bit of yummy information to dish out to y'all. So, without any further delay, let's sink our teeth into some of my favourites from around Chennai:

1. Peppers
My rating: *****
Location: Down Chennai Kaliappa signal, towards Park Sheraton.
Pricing: Approx Rs.300/- per head
Definitely, definitely a 5/5. For ambience, service, the super-rich, super-yummy food AND the pricing. What's better, it's a veg only place! [Mayth be happy :)] What's even better..? They have an extensive menu comprising Indian, Chinese and Continental.They also have an extra long list of mocktails and juices. The dessert section lacks variety but the few that do figure are extremely good. They have the 'Dessert of the day' concept and when we went it was 'Shahi Tukde'- pieces of ghee-fried bread in thickened milk with saffron and nuts. Sinful :) I can safely say that in the 3 times that I have been there, all of what we ordered (cheese naan, paneer burji, spinach pasta etc etc) was perfect. Just the way anyone would like it.

2. Tasty Joe's
My rating: *****
Location: Besant Nagar (Next to Cozee/Pupil)
Pricing: Approx 150/- per head
A small, neat place that has tables in the open air as well as inside. Frankly, my expectations from the place weren't too high when I walked in, but we were in for a pleasant surprise. The entire meal was extremely satisfying (with my Best boyz as company, it is but natural). The menu is decent. Burgers, pizzas, steaks, sandwiches, pastas and from somewhere Indian. We pretty much had a taste of most of them - Paneer tikka, Chicken/ Beef burgers, Spaghetti with cheese balls/ bolognaise (came with garlic bread), Chicken/ Beef steaks (came with mashed potatoes and grilled veges) and Paneer & Cheese sandwich. Though the quantity didn't look all that much, it left us feeling just right. And the best part was they gave us 2 plates of brownies with icecream on the house! (We assumed it was a thank you gesture for our noisy bunch getting out!hehe)

3. French Loaf
My rating:*****
Location: Opp. TTK road Univercell, Alwarpet (heard its got branches elsewhere too)
A lil bakery with all those lil pastries that Hansel and Gretel would go ga-ga for. This place has got to have the BEST tarts and quiches in town! Priced at around 50-60/- a tart, they have a number of differenr flavours like berry, pear, apple etc, that are a treat to the eyes and the tongue alike! They are totally 'melt-in-the-mouth' fresh, giving an oral orgy with every bite! Also available are a variety of flavoured bread loafs like garlic, herb etc.

4. Cake Walk
My rating: *****
Location: I only know of the Besant Nagar and Egmore ones.
Oh-so-yumm! I simply loveeee their blueberry ( I go there JUST for this) and lemon cheese cakes and their kiwi gateaux. Authentic as hell. They do have sandwiches and stuff, but I'm not too sure how that is. This place is a must-try for their cakes. Period. They make really pretty cakes for birthdays that are colourful and different in interesting flavours like lychee and kiwi. [I told you, Prathi :)]

5. Cascade
My rating: *****
Location: Besant Nagar. Above the Spencer's Daily super market.
I think I could rate this 5/5. But, I'm just being strict and so 4. Near perfect :) I'm sure there are hardly any of you who haven't tried Cascade. One of Chennai's fav Chinese places, I guess. Ask anyone why and they 1st reason they'd give is the quantity. It's every student/miser/pauper's dream come true. One soup for 90/- serves 4!And the food is really good too. Simple, delicious Chinese food and excellent service sums up the place.

Hmmm, I guess I should also give you all food for thought on places you-dare-not-venture-into.

1. U.S Pizza
Location: TTK Road signal Petrol bunk.
Innovative should be their middle name. Heard of any other pizza place (or ANY place) that serves petrol flavoured coleslaw? No, seriously. Don't ask me why I even went there. On one of our walk-outta-office routines, me and Prathi decided to go there to sit down and talk. Chumma. Just like that (Fate maybe?) First of all, the place was reeking with the smell of petrol (I know, I know, what more could we expect from a petrol bunk huh?). As if that didn't kill our appetite, the garlic bread arrived with black edges and an extremely brown topping, which on closer inspection we realized was burnt cheese. And the coleslaw, as I already said, tasted of petrol. Actually, it was more like the mayo had been kept in a plastic container forever and then dished out for the only customers in a good 6 months, aka, US.

2. Kabul
Location: TTK Road
Was good. Till Mr.Fangs arrived. In the biryani. Yea, we were served veg biryani with dead Mr.Fangs, wings and all. And then no more. Besides, the place isn't exactly cheap. I mean free insect and all ok, but 300/- per head for that ****. Never!

3. Saravana Bhavan
Location: Mylapore tank (This is where I had my tryst)
Stalwarts in the South-Indian cuisine lineage. World famous. Branches in every single freaking city. All that jazz is alright, but are they doing justice? I'm not gonna deny I love their food. But everytime I get out I feel fleeced and angry as hell. My last trip there went like this:

Me: "Tomato soup 1 by 2"
Waiter: "1 by 2 varadu madam" (1/2 won't come madam)
Me: "En?" (Why?)
Waiter: "Adu apdi dan madam" (It's like that only madam)
Me: "Adan en? Apdi na epdi?" (That's what, why? Like that means like what?)
Waiter: "Illa, 1 soup e quantity romba kammi. Adan sonen. Unga naladiku dan sonen" (No, 1 soup itself quantity very less. That's why told. For your good only told)
Me: "Enaku enna naladu nu enaku teriyum. Give me 1 by 2" (I know what's good for me)
*Soup arrives*
Waiter: *I-told-you-so smirk*
Me: *aghast and confused looking at the cup* "1/2 cup dane sonen, illa 1/2 spoon sonena???" (I did say 1/2 cup right? Or did I say 1/2 spoon!???)
And that soup was Rs.35/- 10 bucks more at another place and they'd serve 3 times the quantity in 1/2 itself! And yea another thing, my sis asked for an extra soup stick. (To give to my dog, cuz I guess only her teeth would've been able to crack it). And they said they wouldn't give it. Only 1 stick per soup. And that too she ordered mushroom soup, so not even that. Cuz apparently, soup stick is combination wonly for tametoo soup. In the World Of HSB.

That's not all. We decided to have icecream for dessert. Now they have a pretty tasty range of natural icecreams at Rs 27/- a scoop. Considering we had the 1/2 and all, I was still hungry and thought I'd have a sundae (!!!). Cuz, you know, it'd be bigger. I ordered a black current sundae, which according to their descriptoin, was vanilla icecream with black currant sauce, topped with whipped cream and fruits. And it was Rs 48/-. What came to the table was a Rs.27/- scoop with a tear drop size purplish blob, which I assumed was the black currant sauce, and 'yaaro nakki vecha madri' whipped cream (like someone licked it and kept it) I'm still fuming thinking of it!


Interruption!!!As alwayz, all this food talk is making me hungry. Do lemme know your favourites and not-so-favourites, wherever you are. Never know when information would be useful!

Happy Eating!

20 comments:

--xh-- said...

good review. have added this page to my favourites.. will be a huge help whn i come to chennai next time.
i saw this post ealier and whn i came to comment - bhoom- page not found. today was actually lanning to ask you to post it.. thnx for it da :-)

KD. K Bodhi said...

Alo! HSB a edavdu soonena paaru. And this time no witty and all. I am super duper serious.

Keshi said...

Im a total foodie too. I dun carry pretenses when it comes to food..I JUST EAT. LOL! Cos life it too short not to enjoy yummy food hehe.


I hvnt been to India at all so I hv no idea abt the places u mentioned. Im sure they r VERY NICE...the way u described them. And the prices seem alright too.


Here in Aus my fav eating places r Asian restuarants..there r SO MANY. So I cant name 1 or 2..we go out often and check out new places each time. But my fav fav fav is 'Lees Malaysian'...its a fairly non-pricey Malaysian take-away outlet...the food is just YUMMY!


When it comes to posh restaurants, my fav is a Japanese one called Unkai Restarant at the 36th floor at ANA Hotel...in the City. The food is GREAT, the view pf the harbor is GREATER. U just hv to go there at nite..the City views r JUST AMAZING from the 36th floor.



Keshi.

busy-writer said...

I so second your thoughts on U.S. Pizza! that place sucks. The base is ALWAYS burnt! yuh-ikes.

and haha, roflmao! @ saravana bhavan. haha! 1/2 spoon? lol!

for REALLY good icecreams, you should try corner house when you come to blore, that place rocks!
brownie+walnut icecream+ hot choc fudge+extra hot choc fudge+nuts! :D ;)

lol. damn. im hungry too.

P.S-blogrolled you!

AdiL - The Caliph said...

you might want to try this cafe somewher near the thiruvanmiyur beach.. its called kafeoke.. kinda expensive now but a nice place except wen Not-so-talented singers try a hand at singing...

Winds of Change said...

im jus glad i read ur blog after our gr8 lunch at copper chimney...(not 2 mention the stale veg biryani-thanx jane for informin me) ..... peppers is one place dat r.o.c.k.s!..as u sd most of wat is ordered is damn gud. n im glad dats equally/even btr than cream centre......but then agen...the biryani & palak paneer at cream cenre....ooooooooooooooh yummmmmmm. saravanas....yeah...im not too fond of the tank branch. but yeah...i jus luv their fud...and ofcourse their french friez at r.k salai. i kno im gna gve u a heart attack now...but i havent been to cascade........i hav noooo idea y....bt i jus havent gone thr......
yeah...cake walk does hav awesum pastries....yummy stf really.....
french loaf is gud...but ive bn thr jus once n hardly ate nethin...so i cnt comment on dat....

lotsa luv
u kno who (:) )

The King Centaur... said...

Seriously mnkey.. u shud be a food critic by profession.. I really hate to say this.. but you re too good at this!!

take me to peppers this weekend.. okay?

Cheers,
TM

rantravereflect/ jane said...

great saliva-dribbling reviews, n some saliva-spitting reviews.. (well was tat constructive criticism- i guess not! :))

food is somethin we jus absofukulootingly love, n newere, netyme, neplace- it makes us too darn happeeee..

fishermanz vivz crescent cool nature ashvita L4 movenpik meltin moments are sum of the places i frequent zeze days :)

soooooooooooo cheerio!! letz awayz love our food- amen!

Preeti Shenoy said...

Used to live in Chennai a long time ago.
Laughed reading the 1/2 soup description.(The essence of it comes out only if you understand/speak Tamil which i do)
Thanks for dropping by!

Arun Sundar said...

Saravana bhavan'kku enga ponaalum Raja mariyaadha dhaan polariku!

Preeti said...

@xh: hehe...i think tat alwayz happenz wit u huh? sorrryyy! i juz post it at timez to chk hw it getz displayed n then i make changes n repost it...! n thnx :)

@ok: Im super duper serious too! Loyalty n all ok bt it doesnt change my experience unfortunately! :(

@keshi: Life certainly is too short not to enjoy yummy food! Thnx for ur suggestionz...mayb someday when i do gt to Aus i wud try them :)

@busy writer: Thnx :) btw, iv heard sooooo much abt corner house...i really really have to do it sometime soon...hmmm!

@adil: kafeoke...heard of it but havent been thr...will do tat soon!

@windz: palak paneer at cream centre..YUMM!!!n abt saravanaz n u..noooo commentz! :)

@techno: pepperz...?nee vaa da vaa!

@janie:waitin to gt to crescent for the biryani...somtime nxt wk maybe?

@ps: so true, jokes r fun only when the language is rite...unfortunately here this wasnt a joke! n thnx for droppin by to u too :)

@arun: yea yea, there shud b a thani fan club for it im guessin...or is it already thr...!?

cva said...

I still havent figured it out - why do people keep going to SBhavan?

We do have one SBhavan in our place.

Once I had to wait 20 minutes to get a table and I had to wait another 20 minutes before someone would take my orders and waited for 30 more minutes after placing the order and still did not get my food. Forget the food I did not get a glass of water.

No, no, I did tip them well.

Dont know. Thats how they are. And I still keep going there once in 2 weeks. Thats how I am :-)

How did the waiter react after seeing you shocked at receiving "1/2 spoon" soup?

If he is blogger, he too would have blogged this :-)

Preeti said...

@cva: lol @ If he is blogger, he too would have blogged this :-)

i shud say, i'm glad he's not!hehe...

but his reaction was tat smirk n the unspoken,"Sonen illa, minnadiye ketirka vendiyadu dane!"

I think HSB is one mystery noone can solve. Can't help cribbin, but can't help goin thr! :)

The King Centaur... said...

athan iniki kalambren nu sonenla.. peppers ila na tasty joe.s kutinupo!

Preeti said...

@T.Maniac: Ofcourse :)

Sudha said...

i am a major foodie too. you must try out these - probably you already have.

Tangerine - yummy continental food - try their spinach lasagne, and their ice teas....

Gallopin Gooseberries, one on ECr nd another on the Greams road, gr8 steaks, yumm sandwiches, spclly their fried bbq'd onion sandwich...omg i m droolin now...

Hip Asia at Taj Connemara, slightly expensive, but gr8 gr8 foos. they have quiet a few choices for veg food infact.

Try the Savera's Malgudi. gr8 southie food, specailly andhra...their tomamto pappu is mind blowing..!!!

These i cud think of rite away, there are many more...cud update you if still interested. :)

T & R,
sudha

Confounded-Lady said...

Aaah...I live stones throw from Peppers, and didnt know it was sooo magical..

Thank you Preeti (*sniff*) You've opened my eyes...Thank you
:P

:D

(no really)

Confounded-Lady said...

oh btw....Olive on top of Cafe Carnival in CP Rmaswami Road.

Nice quaint restaurant.

I wont be surprised if you ve tried it out awready.

A.Johnson said...

The HSB review was a good laugh... Although I'm guessin Philip would come to it's defense when he gets the time :)

Preeti said...

@cueda: Thanx for droppin by! n thanx for those entries too :) Tangerine, well i must admit, im at tangerine a lil too often than is good...partly cuz i work rite next door to it..n gallopin is definitely super too :) will try out hip asia...been meanin to do that for long...!

@mayth: go to peppers n lemme knw hw u like it...ok??

@andu: our philip?? oh god, iv gta have an arguement with him...nethin to gt him talkin! ;)