Taj Mount Road

Brand Taj is back to splurge its customers with yet another luxury hotel Taj Mount road at #2 Club House Road. This place has got around 6 options to wine and dine. Looks like a good bet to enjoy your new year :). If any of you drop by I would be glad to here your experiences. You can either mail me at shals88@gmail.com or drop by a comment :)

Food Factor # 5

Eat Out: Gallopin Gooseberry

Cusine: American and Italian

Ambience: The place is simple and neat with bright colored walls. It is never too crowded so its a perfectplace to drop by for a relaxed meal and a quick bite. It can seat around 50 - 60 people on an average.

I would rate the ambience 3.5/5

This place has an exotic varieties of food option ranging from the classic burger , mexican burger, chicken salami to lasagnes and sandwiches. I love their mozzarella cheese sticks - crispy outside and completley cheesy inside :) Heavenly!

Me being a veggie my options are limited but neverthless I love their food. It's the kind of burgers I haven't had anywhere else in Chennai. You can also get your juice served from the neighbouring fruit shop.

I would rate their food 4.5/5

Meal for two would cost: Rs.300 - Rs.400

Address:

#11
Shop #2, 2nd Floor
Greams Road
Chennai-600006
Landmark: Near Thousand Lights Police Station
Phone: 044-28291077

Food Factor # 4

Eatery : French Loaf / Maple Leaf

Cuisine: Desserts, Sandwiches, Pies

Ambience:

This place is one of my favourite in the city. Right from the place where it is conveniently located to the ambience its jus' a perfect place to hang around with your friends. I ve been to this place to over a dozen of times but still this place would be my first choice to enjoy an evening with friends or family.

On the ground floor is French loaf and in the first floor is Maple Leaf ( a Chocolate Lounge). This place has also got an alfresco kinda dining apart form its cozy innteriors. On the whole I would rate it 8/10. As much as my friends like the place, my parents enjoy it as well.

Food:

Turkish Brownie (Yumm! Yumm! My personal fav.)
Chocolate Classic (Yumm!)
Pineapple Mousse (Average)
Chocolate Mousse (Yum! Yum!)
Chocolate Eclair (Average)
Muffins (Yum! Yum!)
I love their sandwiches as well. When you wanna order for sandwiches they provide you with a sheet with variuos options and you can choose what goes into your sandwich right from the kind of bread, to cheese to the veggies and the sauces. Very filling and worth its price.

I would rate the food an 8/10.

Service:

It's one of those rare places in Chennai where the service is good each time I visit there. You might jus' have to push them a lil bit to bring your bill at the end of your meal. I would rate the service 7.5/10

Average cost for two: Rs.250

Address: 9, Harrington Road, Near Lady Aandal School, Harrington, Chetpet HO, Chennai
Phone: 044- 43561333, 43561666

A must visit place if you love desserts !

Food Factor # 3

Eatery: Wangs Kitchen (Anna Nagar)

Cuisine: Chinese

I was there today for dinner at Wang's Anna nagar outlet. The place was almost full by the time we reached there .

Ambience:

The ambience was perfect for dinner out with family/friends on a saturday evening. The theme of the restaurant gelled well with the cuisine it had to offer with chinese symbols , lucky charms tied in the corners. On settling down I started clicking few pics as usual to be put up here :) I woyld rate the ambience 7/10.

Food:

We ordered for

Wonton veg. Soup (Good)

Dragon Cauliflower (Yum!!)

Veg.Noodles (Average)

Schezwan fried rice (Good)

Veg.Manchurian balls (Average)

Fried Ice Cream (Yumm! Yum!!)

On the whole it was an average experience , I 've always liked their starters (Dragon cauliflower) and my mum loved it too . And the fried Ice cream (my all time favourite) deserves a thumbs up too. In veg. dishese these 2 are a must try in this place. I would rate their food a 7/10.

Service:

In the begining it all seemed perfect but as more people started coming the waiters were behind your back to see to it you left the place soon. They removed the table mat even before we could order for the desserts. I would rate the service 6.5/10.

Average cost for two: Rs. 250

Location: Click here to find their various locations in Chennai.

Food Factor # 2

Eatery : Bombay Blue

Cuisine: Indian, Italian, Mexican, Mediteranean.

There I was at the much hyped recently opened Bombay blues restaurant last weekend. Each time I passed through the college road, I always saw this place flooded with people so to play it safe we made a reservation the minute we planned to go there for lunch. Six of us (family and friends) went there for a lunch out last sunday.

Ambience:

My first impression on the place was that it was vibrant and trendy with its colorful interiors (in the hues of blue, orange, yellow, red), flat screen TV and with the backgroud music it played. I would rate the ambience 7.5/10

Food:

On having a look at the menu, I was astonished to see the variety of cuisine in offer all in one restaurant. Looks like Chennai is catching up on this trend. The items on offer ranged from sandwiches to Pav Bhaji to Nachos to sizzlers to pastas..

Items we ordered:

Italian Tomato Soup (Good)
Bombay blue falafel (Average)
Paneer Tikka (YUM!!)
French Fries (Good)
Punjabi Thali (Good)
Paneer and Vegetable Shaslik (Good)
Veggie Sizzler (Good)
Enchiladas (Yum!)
Sizzling Chocolate Brownie (Yum!)
Peach Melba (Yum!)
Ice cream Soda (Good)

There was so much variety that it actually took me quite a lot time as to decide on what I wanted to have .
I especially liked their Paneer Tikka , they were so so soft and tasted YUM!! Never have I tasted them so good. The Enchiladas were good too, we opted for the one filled with Rajmah . The Sizzlers were good but can be much better. We ended our meal on a sweet note with Ice cream soda, Peach Meba and Sizzling chocoloate brownie.
Loved their deserts, especially the way the chocolate was poured on to make it sizzling hot (literally!). I would rate the food 7/10.

Pricing:

Overall liked the experience, thou'the pricing was a bit on the expensive side it looks like it is worth it all. A must visit for all those of you who love your food and would like to try out new cuisines.

Average cost for two: Rs.800

Address: Bombay Blue, College Road, Chennai - 600006.

Phone no: 43596633

Happy Bday Chennai..

Chennai celebrates its 369th birthday today *claps* *claps*... On this very day, August 22nd 1639,British administratore Francis Day is reported to have recieved the grant for privileges in Medraspatam, the then Chennai. It was official granted that day and the rest as they say is history.

I for one person is born and brought up in Chennai and I'm totally in love with this place. Be it shopping in T.Nagar/Spencers/Citi Center , The Saravana Bhavans that i'm always faithful to thou' how many ever eateries come by, The Beach, ECR and ofcourse Anna nagar(which was once a quiet residential place is now buzzling with activities) and Kilpauk where I spent all my child hood. In connection with the Madras/Chennai Day celebrations a lot of events and competitions have been planned including heritage walks and nature walks , quiz competitions and a lot more. For more details you can check out the Madras Day site here

It is my love for Chennai that I started to blog about it. I know I'm not being all that regular. But, starting on Chennai's 369th bday I'm planning to write a weekly column called 'The food Factor' on every Friday starting next week in which I will be sharing my experiences in the various eatries in and around the city.

For the foodie in you after dusk

There were numerous times when I have felt hungry late night say after midnight or so and all that i could find was some snacks at home.. How I wish I had those yummy Tandoori dishes or Noodles or burgers and what not all from the comfort of my home.. Ya, I'm one lazy goose. But, now my prayers have been answered.

Twilight takeout is the newly opened take away restaurant in Chennai, whose timings are 7pm - 7am. Yup, its in namma Chennai. Aptly located at Nungambakam. They also home deliver to places within 3km radius. Yummy pocket friendly food is just a call away. You can place your orders by dialing 43081222 / 43081333.

Haven't tried the place yet, but it looks like a wonderful place to check out. And a wonderful business idea as well. As Chennai is only in its early stages when it comes to Night life and the city has a lot more way to go.

You can check out the menu here.


Addres: No.1 Park Side Street, Lake Area, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 34

Phone: 43081222 / 43081333

Dining with a difference

The Woodlands Drive-in in Cathedral road is one such place where dining is a whole new experience. This place has got a lot of greenery (thou' not properly maintained) that too in the centre of the city. I was here last weekend,on the way back from our second round of Diwali shopping.

This restaurant turns out to be a very nice place for snacking in the evenings especially when your with a group of friends or family members . There are more than one options on how you can dine here
It can be either

1.In your car
2.Under the banyan trees
3.Inside the restaurant

We opted to do it under the banyan tree and it turned out to be a whole new experience from the usual waiting for seats in one of those regular crowded restaurants.I enjoyed every bit of it ... The food here tastes real yummy .
The cost works out to be very very economical compared to other places in the city.. Its a pure vegetarian restaurant ..

Thou' the place is not very clean,its not all that bad either.. The food is served in the car park area for those not dining inside the restaurant.. This is one place in Chennai where you come across all kinds of people.. I got to see a few Mercedes Benz also .. This is a lot surprising to me is cause this is not a very classy place,but truly a very beutiful place to have your meal with the flora and fauna around.. Ya, you get to see a few crows , dogs here and there.. typical of Chennai rite? :)

Organic food

Organically grown food has gained popularity for quite sometime for all good reasons .. From the health point of view its so much more safer and healthier consuming organic food . But, its kinda more expensive than the normal ones sold in most of the super markets these days ... In this post I will be listing out few shops that sell organic food stuffs in Chennai

Ahumkaara , +91 44 2661 1818. Five seed mix, buckwheat, fresh aloe vera and whet grass

Arogyam, Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, +91 4114 230625, 04114-570855 B45
Alagesan Nagar, Opposite Govt. Hospital, Chengalpet - 603001. Organically grown indigenous rice varieties

Enfield Agrobase, +91 44 2442 0605. Mangoes, dried bananas, cashew and coconut

Future Foods,+91 44 2440 4937. Soya, dals and coffee powder

Naturally Auroville, +91 44 3833 0517. Kombucha (a beverage made by fermenting tea and sugar using the yeast kombucha), Spaghetti, ragi, spirulina and bread

Organic Harvest, 91 94444 04577, Gallery Sri Parvati, 28/160, Eldams Road, Alwarpet. Organic vegetables available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon; groceries are available throughout the week

Organic milk, +91 44 2499 1203 Murali, New 177, Old 77 Luz Church Road

Simply mmmm, AnnaNagar (near Blue Star). Organic vegetables available every Saturday and Wednesday, after 2 p.m.

Sunday Shandy, +91 44 2499 1203. Weekly fair of organic vegetables, milk and other farm produce, direct from the farm. Every Sunday 9AM to 12PM

The Eco Nut, +91 44 2491 9592. Sesame butter and homemade jams

Me and my mom were talking about starting to buy organic food , so this left me writing this post .. Haven't been to any of these shops yet. Will post a detailed review about the place and their products after visiting a few of them ..

Have a healthy life !