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!