Madurai Alagappar Chettinadu Restaurant, Ramapuram

This non - vegetarian, air - conditioned restaurant serves Chettinadu cuisine (cuisine from the South of Tamil Nadu - which is spicy and most of the dishes have significant amount of chili, onion, garlic and curry leaves).

The lighting was quite dim. The place can seat around 50 pax and is located on the Mount Poonamallee road.

It was pouring the Saturday morning, as we were approaching Chennai and decided to stop over here for food at around 11.30 for lunch.

Going For

+ Good food - The South Indian meals (rice + appalam + rasam + chicken gravy + mutton gravy + fish gravy + sambar + a cup of curds + 2 veg dry side dishes) was served hot and was quite tasty. We were given the non-veg gravies without asking for the same. In some restaurants this gravy is served only on request. The fish fry was a big piece of Seer fish smeared with chili, turmeric and garlic based paste and fried. The Mutton Sukka Varuval - a dry and spicy mutton preparation had good pieces of mutton.

Not Going For

- Service is a bit laid back

- The lighting was annoyingly dim.

Two meals + 1 fish fry + 1 mutton sukka masala cost around INR 290/-.

Reco - Definitely worth a pit stop if you are driving by Ramapuram.

The Cascade, Nungambakkam

The Cascade is an air-conditioned primarily Chinese, Pan Asian restaurant, on Kader Nawaz Khan road. This time though, I ordered for food to be delivered home.

Going For

+ Good food - the dragon chicken (a spicy(tangy), dry preperation of fried, diced chicken) was good and so too was the Chicken in Thai red curry and rice - spicy and 'coconuty'. The chicken hakka noodles too was quite tasty with a lot of soy sauce.

+ Prompt delivery - My place was not more than a couple of kilometers from the restaurant and the food was delvered in around 45 minutes, although they do not have any committed time. It was a Saturday night and they must have had quite a few deliveries to handle.

+ Quantitiy - The ginger / garlic fried rice and the chicken noodles are sufficient for two people with moderate apetite and a bit too much for one person very hungry person. The thai red curry is served with a portion of rice.

Not Going For

- Nothing much in this order for sure. Probably a tad expensive for a delivery / take-away!

The dragon chicken + chicken hakka noodles + ginger / garlic fried rice + thai chic red curry with rice cost us around INR 700/-

Reco - Definitely worth it!

The dr

Shri Krishna Inn, Shoolagiri, NH-7

This eatery is attached to the HPCL petrol bunk on NH-7 between Hosur and Krishnagiri. It serves vegetarian fare - specializing in South Indian tiffins. It is in the same HPCL complex that also houses a Cafe Coffee Day outlet.

It is not air conditioned and can seat around 75 pax. No liquor is served.

Going For

+ Ample Parking - since it is attached to a petrol bunk.

+ Food's quite good - The parotta kurma, the masala dosai and the onion uthappam were all quite good (not great) and served hot and fresh.

+ Not too much mark up on bottled / canned drinks - the coke can had a mark up of INR 2/- on MRP, which is quite reasonable.

Not Going For

- Blink and you may miss the 'mineral' water billed to you since it is kept on your table (INR 15/-). Of course you can have it reversed if you have not consumed the same.

- Side eats to go with the dosai are only sambar and two varieties of chutnies (most of the restaurants in Chennai serve at least 3 chutnies and some also serve chili powder). Maybe I am expecting too much here.

-Less quantity of kurma served with the parotta - of course, they do get you more, if required, but in the first instance itself if it would have been better if it were adequate.

- Would be nice if idly were available through the day.

1 plate parotta + 1 masala dosai + 1 diet coke can + 1 onion uthappam cost INR 107/-.

Reco - Certainly worth it. Fill up ur tank and then tank up on food!

Reco - Certain

Mr.Delivery, Cathedral Road, Opp Music Academy

This is a takeaway, delivery counter belonging to the Amaravati /Savera group. The counter is at the same complex that houses Amaravati, Coconut Lagoon, Palki and Snowfield.

The menu is a combination of dishes from Amaravati and Palki and a few dishes probably from their Punjabi restaurant - The Dhaba.

Going For

+ The start taking orders early - as early as 6.45pm, in case you want to pick up your supper early.

+ Can order from the menus of Coconut Lagoon / Amaravati / Palki - The choice is not restricted to the menu of Mr Delivery, especially if you plan to order from the counter. You have access to the menu and kitchens of the restaurants located in the complex.

+ Excellent Syrian Beef Fry (This is a specialty Kerala dish with small cubes of beef fried in a host of spices with a lot of thin slices of coconut and finely chopped onion and cooked in coconut oil). One of the best available in Chennai. This was from the menu of Coconut Lagoon

+ Good biriyani - The biriyani is from Amaravati and both the mutton and chicken kind were good and is served with a spicy liquid gravy, onion raitha and a boiled egg. The biriyani is not excellent but is certainly good.

Not Going For

- Do not open the complex for parking till 6.40pm. This is despite their having ample vacant parking.

- A tad expensive - considering it is a takeaway joint!

The Syrian Beef Fry costs around INR 120/- and the biriyanis too cost around that much each.

Reco - Certainly worth it and don't miss the Syrian beef fry. (Am not sure how efficient their delivery service is.)

Star Biriyani, NH-46

This is the famous biriyani shop @ Ambur. There are a few tables and chairs, but the place is more of a take-away rather than a restaurant.

As is suggestive of the name, they are a biriyani shop and there was nothing else on the menu when I went.

I wanted to have mutton biriyani, but had to settle for chicken biriyani as the mutton dish was to be made available only for dinner.

Going For

+ Adequate quantity - there is more than adequate quantity of meat packed along with the biriyani. The serving of half a plate is sufficient for one person.

+ Good pieces of meat - the pieces of meat were nice medium sized chunks and were not all bone and spare parts.

+ Reasonably priced.

Not Going For

- You never know if you will get the biriyani you want when you stop by. It is either not ready or has been sold out! I picked up my packed @ 5.15pm in the evening!

- Parking - you have to navigate and find parking on the busy service lane. Even if you stop in the middle of the service lane, no one will pounce on you!

- The biriyani was not made with basmati or other long grained rice and was a bit spicy (chili). The biriyani was certainly not bad, but it could have been better!

Half a plate of biriyani cost INR 60/-.

Reco - If you feel like having biriyani on NH-7, between Bangalore and Chennai, look no further!

Saravana Bhavan, Pondy Bazaar, T Nagar

Saravana Bhavan (or Hotel Saravana Bhavan - do look for the HSB logo in the genuine outlets) is part of a very popular chain of restaurants, based in Chennai. It serves vegetarian, multi cuisine fare. Does not serve alcohol in any of its outlets. Popular for its South Indian (Tamil Nadu) tiffin items.
They have air conditioned and non air conditioned outlets and among the air conditioned there are standard and premium outlets, and among the non air conditioned, again, there are outlets with and without seating.
Some of the outlets serve a limited menu and some have 'chat' and other specialized counters too.
One of the chutnies - the onion and tomato one was quite different here (less of onion and a bit more sour) compared to their Mylapore outlet.
The area on the ground floor could seat around 60 or more pax.
Going For
+ Cleanliness (common sight across all their outlets) - akin to what one finds in a restaurant of a star hotel in India, maybe even better!
+ Tasty Fare - the Idly, Masala Dosai, Rava Masala Dosai and the Onion Rava Masala were all fantastic.
+ Sweet Pongal - The sweet pongal is quite different in this chain, since it is infused with small fried shavings of coconut.
Not Going For
- Lack of Parking or Valet - This is common across almost all outlets in the Pondy Bazaar area and across most outlets of Saravana Bhavan.
- Expensive Juices - INR 50+ for a glass of sweet lime juice is quite expensive!
- Crampped - As is the case in most of their non - premium outlets, the place is a tight sqeeze to get into your seat and out of it!
2 plates of idly, 1 each of masala dosai, rava masala dosai and onion rava masala dosai + 1 sweet pongal + 3 sweet lime juices came to around INR 475/-.
Reco - Do visit Saravana Bhavan between your shopping @ Pondy Bazaar for tasty South Indian veg fare!

Fusion Express, The Mark Boulevard

Last time I was here, I thought it was worth a visit, given the limited options around this area in Whitefield.

It is a multi cuisine restaurant with a lunch buffet. The portion of the restaurant that was open could seat around 70 pax and is air conditioned.

Going For

+ Live pasta and chat (Indian fast food) counters - made to order and fresh!

+ Hot and good gulab jamun (a soft, fried dish dipped in syrup)

+ Quite a number of dishes.

+ Parking is never a problem, although the entry is a tight squeeze!

Not Going For

- None of the items, save a dal (yellow lentils gravy) and a vegetarian gravy, were warm (let alone hot).

- The fruit salad was not the freshest.

- The mutton biriyani was special with some 'hair'. Thank God for small mercies, I noticed the hair before I could put in a spoonful into my mouth!

- The captain did not even apologize when I mentioned the hair, and offered to give me biriyani in a different plate. Wow!

- None of the dishes stood out among the starters or the main course items.

Costs INR 350/- per pax.

Reco - AVOID - @ INR 350/- per plate post discount (which you can get if you are a group of 4 or more) it is certainly not worth it. Better to travel a bit more than get stuck here!

I should mention that I was quite surprised that the place was more than half full for a Monday afternoon, with the poor quality of food they dish out!

Food stalls @ Marina Beach

I happened to go to Marina Beach (one of the longest beaches in the world). I went there at around 9pm and most of the vendors and food stalls on the beach were closing. Given below are a list of food stalls that I came across on the beach leading all the way to the waterfront. These stalls were exactly behind the Gandhi statue on beach road.
>>A few pepsi stalls vending bottles of pepsi, mirinda and 7 up. Surprisingly there were no vendors of coke or coca cola products.
>>Ice cream vendors – there were vendors of quality walls, amul ice creams and arun ice creams – I guess, the latter two are slightly cheaper compared to quality walls with a range of basic cup ice cream offerings.
>>Chat stalls – there were quite a few of these – selling channa (chick peas boiled in Indian spices), samosa (a fried snack with an outer pastry shell stuffed with potato and other vegetables cooked with spices), cutlet and the traditional chat fare of bhel puri (a snack, primarily composed of puffed rice, onions, coriander and tamarind), pani puri (fried – puffed hard wheat bread – the puri, stuffed with mashed potato with dried red chili and served with a watery sauce made primarily with tamarind, green chili and coriander). The snacks here start at INR 10/-.
>>There was this stall selling raw mango (with salt and red chili powder) and boiled peanuts served with finely chopped onions, green chili and coriander starting @ INR 5/-.
There was one tea shop serving tea, coffee, milk and some snacks such as chili bajji ( a spicy snack – batter fried large green chili – like a jalapeno) and bonda ( again a fried snack – primarily a batter fried mashed potato which is mildly spicy).
>>There were a couple of sandwich shops dishing out both grilled and non grilled sandwiches. There were egg (bread omlette) and vegetable sandwiches in offer – prices starting @ INR 10/- per sandwich.
>>I also came across a couple of vendors walking around the beach, hawking cotton candy in plastic covers @ INR 10/- a pack and muruku (a crunchy, fried Tamil Nadu snack made primarily with rice flour) @ INR 5/- for two pieces.
I had finished my dinner by then and did not eat any of the stuff.

What was noticeable was that all the stalls served only vegetarian food (spare the eggs in the sandwich stall).
The food available was that which can be served in a hurry to the common man and was quite cheap.
However, it is sad to note that most of the stalls used plastic cups, paper plates and plastic covers – all of which end up polluting the beautiful beach.
There were a number of other stalls along inner road that runs alongside the Marina and a number of other outlets scattered around the beach – I shall write about them on another day.

Hard Rock Café, St Marks Road

I had been there for the event they had organized on a Thursday evening – the Rolling Stones Tribute to the Dire Straits. The show was to start @ 9pm. The area around the bar was set aside for this and the stage was above the bar. Quite a portion of the hall was cordoned off for what ever reason – at least 30-40 folks could have occupied this area – this certainly could have been better arranged. The sound system @ the portion (of HRC) that hosted the event was not bad.
There was a cover of INR 250/- per head which could be exchanged inside for food and beverages.
Going for
+ Electric Iced Tea – a lime and white spirits based cocktail with blue Curacao.
+ Caipirojka – a vodka, lime, mint leaves and sugar based cocktail – refreshing
+ Food – The spicy calamari – light batter fried and the cobb salad (with egg whites, cheese, corn, chicken, beacon and vegetables) were both good.
Not Going For
- The speakers at the food section were not switched on until the concert was well on its way.
- The arrangements around the stage for those viewing the show could have been arranged a lot better.
3 Caipirojkas, half a plate of salad, 1 electric iced tea, 1 30 ml portion of teachers highland cream and 1 calamari cost around INR 2400/-. The caipirojka cost INR 285/-, certainly worth it.
Reco – Try the caipirojka. During events, the arrangements ought to be better.

Hong Kong Hustle, Church Street

We went to Church Street to try out any new restaurant that had come up. We found the name board of Saigon (sandwiched between Ruby Tuesday and Oye Amritsar) lit up and found a few customers seated inside. We had liked the food @ Saigon before they were closed for renovation. Having ventured to Saigon, we did not find the name reflecting in the lift – of course there was this Asian restaurant named Hong Kong Hustle and we ventured to that place.
Place is air conditioned and can seat around 50 pax. There are a number of seats overlooking Church Street. Place serves Hong Kong street food as they call it and serves liquor too.
Going for
+ New and different concept – It is a combination of a buffet and a set menu. There are 5 veg (veg dimsum, grilled mixed veggies, cauliflower pan fried, potato pan fried and a fried veg wanton) and 5 non veg starters (fried prawn triangles, chicken dimsum, fish skewers, mutton skewers and chicken wings). The starters are served at the table. This is followed by a main course of rice or noodles, the varieties are plain, chicken, vegetable or egg. This is served in a gravy for which you decide the ingredients. There is a choice of around a dozen vegetables including bamboo shoots, button mushrooms, sweet corn and baby corn. After choosing the vegetables, you can choose your meat from chicken, prawns or fish. There is a choice of three sauces to choose from ranging from bland to very spicy. The rice or noodles and the gravy made with ingredients of your choice is served at the table. This is followed by 5 desserts + ice cream being served at the table.
+ Very good Indianized Chinese food – the chicken wings, the gravy that came with the main course, the fish and mutton skewers and the fried potatoes and the grilled mixed vegetables stood out. So too did the dry fruit fried wanton served with the desserts.
+ Courteous and prompt service.
+ Price - @ INR 375/- per person it was worth it,even if not cheap. You can have as many helpings as required.
Not Going For
- The dimsums were very bland.
- The mango jelly was not the best of desserts.
Per person the cost is around INR 375/-. Carlsberg – 650 ml beer comes at INR 190/- and is the costliest beer on the menu.
Reco – Definitely deserves a visit.

Daily Brew, Forum Value Mall

As is suggestive of the name, this is a coffee shop. Located at one corner of the atrium of the mall. The area is open and can seat around 20 pax - there are a couple of couches thrown in along with the chairs and tables. On display are a number of bakes including pastries, puffs, muffins and bread varieties. It is part of the 'Daily Bread' chain. The different varieties of bread baked by Daily Bread is also available at the counter.

Going for

+ Nice place to sit and sip coffee with a muffin - with the mall bustling all around.

+ Nice variety of bakes.

Not going for

- The coffee is not served hot! That too an espresso.

- Understaffed - typical of many coffee shops, only 2 staff man the counter and hence when more than a handful of items are to be served, there is a delay.

A pastry comes at around INR 50/- and a shot of espresso costs around INR 30/-.

Reco - If you have time and don't want hot beverages, it might be worth a visit. If you want hot coffee - avoid, unless its empty.

Namma Sagar, Food Court, Forum Value Mall

Namma Sagar specializes in South Indian tiffin items, while also serving North Indian tiffin items and juices - all vegetarian. Namma Sagar has two outlets adjoining each other and is (in line with most other food courts in Bangalore that have veg-South Indian tiffin outlets) the most popular counter in the food court. It is a typical outlet at a food court - with moderate to poor service and slow to deliver the food.

Going for

+ Variety of dosais (thin crusted rice flour batter pancakes) and other tiffin items.

Not Going for

- Nothing exceptional about the food. At times the sambar (Souht Indian lentil and vegetable based light gravy) is not served hot.

- North Indain items, especially parathas (milled wheat Indian flat bread) need to be improved.

A Masala Dosai costs around INR 45/-. Onion dosai costs around INR 40/- and a plain dosai comes to around INR 35/-. Parathas come for INR 50+.

Reco - Not bad. Stick to the traditional South Indian fare.

La Boulangerie - The French Bakery, Kotturpuram

Tucked beside a Citibank ATM it is a small blink and you miss sort of an outlet. It is air conditioned and sells a variety of baked items.
Going for
+ Good range of bakes – you get a variety of breads including the French loaf, puffs, pastries, mud cakes, banana cakes, muffins and quiches. Both vegetarian and non vegetarian varieties are available.
+ Fresh and tasty bakes – the white cut sandwich bread and the brown cut sandwich bread were good. So was the French loaf, the banana cake and the chicken puff.
+ Pleasant service – there are 2-3 persons at the counter, and they always serve with a smile.
No Going for
- The mushroom quiche – had a distinct raw egg taste and was disappointing.
- Breads are expensive – especially the white and brown sandwich bread portions that have only a handful of slices.
A portion of bread (10-12 slices) costs around INR 35/-. Puffs are around INR 40/-. Cakes and pastries start at around INR 40/-.
Reco – Nice place to pick up cakes, pastries and other bakes including French loaf. Avoid the mushroom quiche.

Rakabdar, opposite Forum Mall-dairy circle exit

This place opposite Forum Mall boasts of Awadhi or Lucknowi cuisine.
The interiors are dimly lit and the place can seat around 70 pax. The interiors seem to be confusing in that there is an attempt at being ‘flashy and royal’ while at the same time attempting to be ‘modern and simple’. The place is air-conditioned and serves liquor.
The restaurant is on the first floor of the building, while the second floor houses a lounge bar and there is a roof top bar on top of that.
Going for
+ Soups. I tasted two of the 3 or 4 soups on the menu and they were awesome. One was the Shorba Yakhani Badami – a chicken soup with minced chicken balls and flavoured with almonds. The other, the Shorba Imtiazi, was spiced with lemon leaves, celery and coriander and had a few pieces of Indian salmon, a few rings of squid and a tiger prawn. The latter was a bit sweet and the presentation of the dish was good too. Both the soups were light, clear and flavourful. The latter was a recommended dish on the menu.
+ Service. Service is with a smile. You are recommended the right quantity to order – we were told a couple of soups and a biriyani would be sufficient for the two of us if we were not very hungry and the recommendation was spot on.
Not going for
- Very bad biriyani (aromatic rice dish made with ghee, basmati rice, mutton, garlic, onions and a host of Indian spices. The dum biriyani is slow cooked in a sealed vessel to preserve the aroma and the flavour of the spices). The Dum Gosht Lucknowi Biriyani, another recommended dish on the menu was not good. The rice was under cooked. The meat was not well done. The meat was hard and had an odd flavour. I doubt it was mutton at all. Maybe the meat used was lamb (sheep). There was hardly any flavour and absolutely no aroma.
The biriyani + the 2 soups cost around INR 700/-
Reco – Not recommended. The soups were great. Maybe some of the other items are good. Don’t go anywhere near the biriyani.

Saravana Bhavan, Mylapore Tank

Another one on Saravana Bhavan. Saravana Bhavan is a popular chain, spread across the globe with a majority of their restaurants in and around Chennai. They are best known for their South Indian tiffin items, although they serve Chinese and North Indian fare too.

Saravana Bhavan serves only vegetarian cuisine and do not serve alcohol in any of their outlets.
There are many restaurants that go by this name, although the original ones have a red HSB logo and go by the name Hotel Saravana Bhavan.
This place in Mylapore has an air conditioned section that can seat around 100 pax and a non air conditioned section that can seat a similar number. The car park can accommodate around 20 cars.
Pricing varies (even within a city) based on the location of the restaurant and with the air conditioned portion charging almost twice that charged in the non air conditioned portion.
I always stick to the South Indian items which is their specialty.
Going for
+ Awesome food. The idli (steamed rice flour batter) is as soft as it gets. The dosai (thin pancake made with rice flour batter) was perfectly done – just a bit crunchy while still being soft. The aapam (pancake made with fermented rice flour batter) was light and served fresh with its shape (‘U’) intact and was served with fresh coconut milk (a bit sweetened). The aapam also comes with a veg gravy if required. The adai (a thick pancake made with a batter of mixed pulses) served with avial (a thick mixed vegetable gravy infused with coconut – popular in Tamil Nadu and Kerala). The rava dosai (a very thin pancake made with a batter based in broken wheat semolina) was also done to perfection – more crunchy than soft. The idli and dosais are served with multiple chutneys (sauces) – coconut, coconut and coriander and tomato and onion, chili powder (chili ground with various roasted pulses and salt and served with sesame oil) and shallots sambar (a light South Indian gravy made with shallots and pulses infused with tamarind and seasoned with mustard and curry leaves).
+ Cleanliness – is nothing less than what you get in a 5 star restaurant in India.
+ Consistency – there is absolutely no deterioration in quality and taste of the food served.
+ Presentation – the presentation of the food is as best can be for the South Indian tiffin items.
Not going for
- Service – very laid back. This is true of their other outlets and also of their air-conditioned section.
- Lack of parking – If the parking is full, it is not easy to find a spot near the Mylapore tank.
Non air conditioned - 2 plates of idli + 1 dosai + 1 rava dosai + 2 aapam + 1 adai avial + 2 cups of coffee came to around INR 230/-. (The pricing in this outlet is a bit on the higher side for the non-air conditioned section)
Reco – Must go. If you visiting Chennai or any other place where there is a ‘HSB’ do drop in to taste some idlis and dosais.

Kahwa, The Zuri Whitefield

Kahwa is a 24 hour coffee shop serving multi cuisine food and boasting of a live pizza oven. I had infact wanted to go to the Pan Asian restaurant in the hotel but was told that the same was open only for dinner / supper. The place is quite large, spacious and well lit and can easily seat over 100 pax. It is located just beyond the lobby of the hotel.

The restaurant serves both ala carte and buffet and they have separate menus for lunch and dinner. I thought I would go in for the buffet so that I taste a wider variety of dishes. The multi cuisine buffet had North and South Indian dishes, Chinese and Continental dishes.

Typical of a business hotel in a business district, the restaurant was quite empty on the Saturday afternoon.

Going for

+ Fairly large spread with 5 non veg dishes, 5 veg side dishes a few rice and noodle varieties and a few salads and desserts. Indian bread is served fresh on the table and so are a few starters.

+ Pleasantly welcomed and seated.

+ The veg Hakka noodles, the fried brinjal in soya sauce and the fresh veg and chicken dimsums served as starters. The cream of pumpkin soup was also very tasty.

+ Fresh hot tandoori (char grilled) Indian bread (this is standard in India in any multi cuisine buffet)

+ Karamani Thoran - A Kerala dry fry made with spices, long beans and grated coconut with coconut oil.

+ Indian desserts. The gulab jamun (fried flour balls in syrup) was fresh, tasty, soft and not too sweet and so were the gajar ka halwa (sweet made with grated carrots) and the rosogolla (a Bengali sweet made with paneer or Indian cottage cheese and syrup).

No going for

- The North Indian mutton gravy dish was as bland as could have been, although the mutton was juicy and well cooked.

- The salad section was nothing special and although there were half a dozen vegetarian and non vegetarian salads on offer, it was not appealing.

- The vegetables with mixed mushrooms was boiled vegetables and the mushrooms were nothing but soggy water filled mushrooms. Not that the mushroom flavour had permeated or complimented the vegetables either.

- Only one vegetarian and one non vegetarian starter is served on the table - the vegetarian one was a kind of fried cheese and was not bad. However, the chicken tikka was disappointing in that one expects it to be boneless.

- The vendakai kara kozhumbu - meant to be a Tamil Nadu dish - a spicy light gravy with okra - was bland and tasteless.

- There were no fruits either as part of the desserts or as part of the salad counter.

- The bread varieties - except for the shape tasted just the same.

- The western desserts - nothing worth a mention.

- There was iced tea on display but we were told that it was not part of the buffet.

- Service - was very lax with respect to removing the plates from the table, attending to the table or in handling the billing.

- Not value for money.

Cost - @ INR 550/- per person and a pint of Bud costing INR 200/- certainly very expensive.

Reco - Avoid the buffet. The Chinese dishes showed promise, probably the Pan Asian restaurant is good?

Almustafa, Gelbe, Sydney

Located off Paramatta Road in Gelbe, the place seemed quite popular. Despite incessant rains on that Friday evening, the place was quite packed. We were quite lucky to get a table. Almustafa serves Lebanese cuisine and can seat around 50 pax, maybe a bit more. Liquor is not served, however, you can bring your own drinks.
Going For
+ Specialty cuisine - Specialty Lebanese restaurants are hard to come by.
+ Tasty food - The Samkeh Harra was recommended to us. The barramundi (fresh water fish) fillet was very tasty and the fish was perfectly done and was absolutely fresh. The portion was filling and the flavors of sesame (on account of the tahini sauce), chili and garlic complimented the fresh fish fillet. The Cousa - zucchini stuffed with spices, rice and minced lamb was also good.
+ Belly Dancers - They have belly dancers in the evenings on Fridays and Saturdays and the entertainment was worth it while we waited for the food to arrive.
+ Service - Though a bit slow, food was always served with a smile and there was always a waiter available to attend to your table.
+ Price - not too costly for a specialty restaurant.
+ Bring your own liquor policy.
Not going for
- Cold Pide' - the pide bread served was not warm, I prefer the fresh kind.
- Minimal desserts - There are only a few items in the desserts section of the menu.
- Missing items - Some items mentioned in the menu were not available (like the baby octopus dish - grilled pickled octopus)
- Interiors - while attempt has been made to make the place look Lebanese, the place is too congested. It is made of one very narrow hall with one row of tables and another perpendicular portion that has a few tables - an 'L' shaped seating area.
- Service time - Takes quite some time to serve the food - probably because it is freshly cooked!
- No liquor served.
The aforementioned two items, a scoop of ice cream and a cold drink came to around AUD 100/-.

Reco - If you like West Asian cuisine, head here. Friday and Saturday would be better with the belly dancers.

Oporto, Sydney City

Oporto is Australia's answer to KFC and Macs.

Items are all chicken based and they boast of their fresh / non frozen grilled chicken.

There are stand alone eateries and restaurants attached to food courts.

the menu includes breakfast items (beacon and egg variety), salads, wraps and burgers. Of course, there are the standard bottled drinks, water and sodas on offer. On both the occasions I had been there I had their burgers.

Going For

+ Healthy grilled chicken based menu.

+ Tasty burgers - the Bondi Burger - with grilled chicken fillet, cheese and lettuce and served with their signature chili sauce was fresh, different and tasty. The small Bondi burger was a lighter version of the bigger one.

+ Different option - to a KFC or a Macs.

Going Against

- A burger is a burger when it has a beef patty inside.

- Menu is limited to chicken based dishes.

The Bondi burger was a bit more than AUD 10/-. The mini burger was around AUD 5/-.

Reco - Must visit if you are a tourist on a budget or if you want something different.

Chen Fu Ji, Food Court, HK Airport

This eatery is part of the food court at the transit terminal in HK airport. Seating as in any food court is in the common area. You are given a token number when you place the order and pay which you display @ your table. The food, when ready, is served @ the table.

This restaurant is said to be part of a popular Singapore based chain of restaurants.

Going For

+ Freshly made noodles

+ Tasty noodles and noodle soups - the seafood in the laksa was quite fresh and the quantity was good too.

Going Against

- Limited menu like most restaurants in food courts

- Typical of express quick Chinese food, most meat / vegetables are pre-boiled / pre-cooked and mixed and matched depending on the order.

- The iced tea was very ordinary - but iced teas are never 'special'.

- Certainly not value for money.

1 seafood laksa (coconut infused spicy clear noodle soup) + 1 Chinese pepper chicken bun + 1 iced tea came to around HKD 130/-.

Reco - Limited choice in this terminal, hence either you go here for South East Asian fare or go to one of the lounges!

ID idli&dosa, Sathyam Theatre

Vegetarian restaurant serving predominantly South Indian tiffin items. It is located inside the theatre premises. Is open between 11 am and 11 pm on all days.

Going for

+ Good food - the idli (steamed rice flour), aapam (pancake made with fermented rice flour), the aapam was served with fresh coconut milk, pesarattu (thin pancake made with flour of pulses that is spiced with fenugreek, green chili and other Indian spices) - the pesarattu was served with upma (broken wheat steamed with various spices - literally translated means salt and flour) and adai (another variety of thin pancake made with pulses flour) were all good.

+ Number of chutneys (sauces) were served on the table - coconut, tomato and onion, coriander and green chili were the varieties served.

+ Presentation of the food is quite good, including the serving plates.

+ Conveniently located.

+ Value for money.

Going against

- Some food items were not good - for example the avial (a South Indian dish made with a number of vegetables stewed with a generous helping of coconut cream) was too sour and was not served hot.

- Service - quite slow - too many pax catered to by each waiter.

- Ambiance - The place is quite cramped. A place that can ideally seat around 40 pax seats around 70 pax.

- Not open for breakfast.

2 pcs of idli + 1 appam + 1 pesarattu + 1 adai came to around INR 150/-.

Reco - must visit if you go to the theatre after 11 am

Eating @ HongKong Airport

There are two airports in HK.
One is the main airport where one checks in and disembarks if one is going into HK. The other is the transit airport where one gets off the plane and waits if one is transiting.

The main airport is huge and has a number of eateries. If you are going via HK and have more than a few hours at hand, just go to the main airport, finish immigration and just wait out there. You might get lost in the huge airport but would certainly not get bored and you would have more than enough options to choose from when it comes to pleasing your taste buds. Note that visa is mostly on arrival in HK and you may not need a prior visa to clear immigration and wait out in this airport.

The transit airport is relatively small. Has but one food court with a handful of eateries and is not the best place to wait - especially when you are transiting.

Chili's, HAL Airport Road

More of a lounge bar serving Tex Mex cuisine. Located near Total mall in a very congested portion of HAL Airport road.

Going for

+ Ambience - has a couple of large LCDs if you land there on match days. Music being played is not too loud and retro and current pop + rock. Not too brightly lit and can seat around 100 pax, maybe a bit more.
+ Presidente’ Margarita - it is their signature drink
+ Mushroom Fajitas - tastes better when ordered with extra mushrooms
+ Other Margaritas - El Nino Margarita and the Classic Margarita (Have purposely left out the composition of the drinks. Just try them out, all margaritas are tequila based as they should be.)
+ Buy one get one free on drinks till 8pm on all days
+ Other food items such as chips with spinach mushroom dip, veg quesadilla and veg pasta
+ Valet Parking
Going against

- Service - pretty slow, on match days concentrate on the TV rather than on guests, take orders wrongly and bill wrongly too (all in the same day!)
- Service Charges @ 12% on your bill!
- The crowd or rather the lack of it.

2 Presidente', 2 Kingfisher Pint, 1 classic martini, 1 el nino margarita, 1 classic margarita, 1 30ml Bacardi, 2 30ml shots of silver tequila (all the above were during happy hours = +1), 2 Budweiser pints + 2 pints of draught beer came close to INR7000/-

Reco - go with a large group and enjoy the drinks during happy hours. Don’t mind the poor service.

Chili's, HAL Airport Road, Bangalore

This is a franchise of a US based chain that serves TexMex cuisine. The place seats around 200 pax, is air-conditioned and has Indianised Tex Mex food also in the menu.

Happy hours are upto 8 pm and it is buy 1 get 1 free during happy hours. The Chicken Nachos were quite tasty - Nachos topped with chicken and melted cheddar. The fried mushrooms were whole button mushrooms, batter fried - not bad but not worth it @ INR 195/-. The presidente' margarita and the classic margarita were good cocktails @ INR 600/- a piece, worth it during happy hours where you can get 2 for the price of 1.

The plate of nachos that we ordered came with a salsa dip. The nachos were pretty bland and lacked salt. Hence we requested for some pickled jalapenos. The waiter initially told us that jalapenos are not spicy (for what ever reason) and then told us that he would get us a 'rammigan' of jalapenos. I got the jalapenos in a small cup and it cost us INR 20/-. I am still to figure as to which language 'rammigan' is from. The cheesecake was a genuine cheesecake and was quite tasty. It was unlike most of the cheesecakes you get in India which are nothing more than biscuit topped with some mousse.

But for the above, the service was quite good. The lighting was pretty bright and the music was more of pop. There are a couple of large LCD TVs beaming sports channels.

The aforementioned items + 3x30 ml servings of Gordon's Dry Gin (+3 during happy hours) + a tonic water cost us INR 3500/- including a 12% service charge of INR 360/-.

Reco - worth it during happy hours - a competitor to TGIF / HRC.

Ice&Spice, St. Mark's Road, Bangalore

This old time eatery on St Mark's Road, is situated near the old time Scottish Pub. The place has an air-conditioned area that can seat around 10 pax and a place outside overlooking the road that can seat around 15 pax.

Since the place was famous for its lamburgers, we had one of them. It was quite good. The meat was done well and there was no cheese to spoil the taste of the meat. The bun was fresh and soft - all in all a good burger. The burger is served with chips - probably 5 - 6 pieces of potato chips. They might as well have not served the chips. The potato wedges were served hot, but we found hardly half a dozen pieces. The almond / chocolate biscuit was a bit like a granola bar, but was not sweet, had a good amount of almonds and half of it was dipped in milk chocolate - not bad. The espresso - double shot - was around 90 ml of coffee - again not the best espresso I've had.

A couple of burgers, the other items mentioned above and a diet coke cost us INR 285/-. Not steep, but certainly not cheap. There are a whole lot of other cafe' food such as subs, sandwiches, quiches, cakes and pastries on the menu apart from a variety of coffees and granitas. Finding a place to park would be a problem on any evening or on any weekday during lunch time. Service is a bit laid back, but something that you can put up with.

Reco - Do try the lamb burgers.

Indigo Cafe, Andheri-West, Mumbai

This place was highly recommended by my host in Mumbai. We did not find any seating when we reached the place @ 8 pm and had to wait till around 9 pm to be seated.

We caught the chef who was outside and requested him to recommend some main courses. He recommended a special lamb and a special fish dish.

The lamb dish was lamb braised with red wine and served with garlic bread - some of the best lamb I have had in the recent past. The fish was a pan fried salt water locally available white meat fish served with mashed potato. The fish was juicy and fresh but paled in comparison with the braised lamb.

The beef sandwich was quite large and we immediately requested them to cut it and pack half as a take away. The fried beef in the sandwich was done to perfection, browned outside and pink inside - nice and juicy with other vegetables, mayonnaise and quite filling.

The roast pumpkin soup was very flavourful and thick and was a good starter.

The best part was the cocktail that we had called brandy toddy - brandy mixed with a couple of table spoons of cloves and cinnamon sticks, some orange peel and granny smith apple to garnish and mixed with honey and hot water and served in a brandy glass. Simply superb and cleared our blocked nostrils and our congested throats (on account of a lot of beer over the last couple of days) in a jiffy.

However, the second round of the same drink that we ordered had far less spices than the first round - a shame.

The three main courses mentioned above, 7 brandy toddies, a 'Due of Melon' - vodka with chunks of various melons (nice sweet drink without the taste of alcohol), a veg pasta, a dry martini and an espresso cost us INR 5300/- quite steep.

The place is air-conditioned and seats around 100 pax. The service is quite good - but they did not give us the sandwich takeaway when we left - a shame.

Reco - go there for the brandy toddy and for some good continental food. Mind the prices.

Misha's Restaurant, Varca, Goa

This is a small shack that can seat around 50 pax. There is no air conditioning, liquor is available like it is in any eatery in Goa. The place is located around 50 meters from the Club Mahindra Resort.

We ordered some side eats initially to go with the fresh toddy that we managed to get close to the resort. The Crab Masala was simply awesome - crabs cooked with the shell on and in a onion and garlic based gravy. The Kalamari fry was not good - a bit too rubbery - probably because it was a bit deep fried - and the spices used were also not too fragrant - only turmeric and chili.

The prawn fry was simply finger licking good - around 10 pieces of fresh king prawns in a gravy of pepper, onions, garlic and garam masala and shallow fried.

The Crab Masala had 3 medium sized (4 inches across) crabs. The calamari fry probably was made with two 5 inch long squids.

This package cost us INR 600/- a bit steep.

Reco - Good for starters (especially if you are staying at Club Mahindra where the food sucks!)

Rotikaa, Whitefield, Bangalore

This one of three restaurants in the Sathya Sai Hospital, Vydehi Hospital belt. The place is air-conditioned and can seat around 100 pax. Some of the seating is quite uncomfortable in that there short plastic cubes for seats with short tables to match. The other two are Beijing Bites and the canteen of Vydehi Hospital.

The Wednesday afternoon when we went, there was a lunch buffet for INR 150/-. However, we decided to order ala' carte. While the restaurant started off as a North Indian non-vegetarian restaurant, they have now started serving Chinese fare after Beijing Bites set shop above Rotikaa.

The two Chinese dishes we ordered - Crispy fried vegetables and hot and sour veg soup were quite bad. The veggies were not crispy fried and comprised mainly of cabbage. The soup was not very spicy - more like hot and thick tamarind water - and again had a few strands of thinly chopped cabbage and carrots.

The rotis and naan (Indian flat bread made with unrefined and refined wheat flour, respectively) were good, but the rotis were pretty small (approx - 6 inch diameter). The mushroom masala, the dal makani (black gram slow cooked with spices and butter) and the cauliflower masala were not bad and went well with the bread that we had ordered.

Special mention about the quality of service - do not expect much. It is slow and tardy.

In all, the bill for the four of us came to around INR 540/- (we had 2 soups, 3 naan and 5 rotis).

Reco - Not bad - stick to the North Indian fare

Annamalaiyar Chettinadu Restaurant, NH-4, Chennai

Traveling from Bangalore to Chennai, the three of us wanted to eat biryani @ Ambur in Star Biryani. But the biriyani was sold out by the time we reached (7.40pm). We then decided to try out this place.

This place is located on NH-4, at the junction where the road splits towards Tirupati. This restaurant is located behind the 'Krishna Sweets' part of Motel Highway.

Considering the number of cars and buses parked outside we expected this place to serve a good fare.

They had only a few items. There was not biriyani and the only rice item they had was a 'Veg or a Chicken Fried Rice'. Unlike was was suggested by its name this place serves both Chettinad and Indian Chinese cuisine.

The chicken masala was a pepper based gravy with small pieces of chicken and was quite good. But when we ordered the item a second time, we got a toned down version (diluted with water). The parota (pan fried Indian flat bread made from processed wheat) was not fresh and was one that was ready - but reheated.

The paya (mutton hoppers) was just not tasty - had a smoky taste. The dosa (thin rice pancake) was fresh but the idiyappam (a rice flour based noodlesque preparation) or string hoppers was again not fresh.

The place is air conditioned and seats around 70 pax. Nothing to mention about the quality of service. The aforementioned items (2 portions of parota and a bottle of water) cost us INR 340/-. Money 'badly' spent.

Reco - Avoid - Just drive away from here!

Pizza Hut, Bangalore

I have not mentioned any location as it was a delivery order that I had requested for. Even as the order was placed I was told the pizzas would be delivered in 50 minutes. It was quite early in the evening and I did not mind the waiting. However, 50 minutes to deliver a pizza is way above what is expected.

I was told the Pizza Hut in India had stopped the preparation of pizzas with classic Italian base - a shame. You have the choice of either cheese filled base or the regular pan base or the cheesy bites base.

I ordered a couple medium sized ones with their regular pan base. However, I noticed that the base was 'fried'. Either they had lined the baking dish with too much oil or with cheese. The base was pretty awful to say the least and when you consider they take 50 minutes to deliver the pizza - I can only say - stay away from ordering pizzas @ Pizza Hut. I am not even getting into what Pizza I ordered or how much it cost.

Reco - STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY!

Biriyani County, Langford Road, Bangalore

The place has 4-5 tables and a few chairs and can seat around 20 pax. It is non air-conditioned and nothing in it to mention about the interiors. Although the board says it is a family restaurant it is more of a takeaway and hence the few chairs and tables - basically to seat the people who are waiting to pick up their orders.

Again, despite being called Biriyani (flavoured and spicy aromatic rice generally cooked with mutton or chicken and made with Basmati - long grained - rice. It is cooked in different ways across the length and breadth of India) County, the place serves both North Indian and Chinese cuisine. There are only chicken and egg biriyani on the menu. The place serves some vegetarian and some egg and chicken based dishes. All other types of meat are out of the menu.

The biriyani costs INR 70/- for a plate and has at least one leg, a portion of breast and a portion of chicken wing - quite a bit. The rice was not aromatic to say the least. It was more of a yellowish rice in which the chicken was also cooked. It was unlike any biriyani I had ever had. Apart from the healthy serving of chicken, the only good thing about this biriyani was that it was not oily.

I had ordered a chicken pepper fry but ended up being given a chili chicken - costing INR 80/-. Nothing special about this dish too. The service was quite cordial.

Reco - Avoidable - except when you need to pick up some food in a hurry.

Bayang, Clarke Quay, Singapore

It was yet another balmy afternoon in Singapore and we decided to try out a slightly different Asian cuisine. We ventured to Bayang, an Indonesian restaurant. The place can seat less than 100 pax, is air-conditioned, has dim lighting and is situated in block 'A' of the Quay.

On that Saturday afternoon we were the only guests at the restaurant. We landed in the restaurant at around 12.45 pm and were immediately told to place the orders by 2pm and that the place would close around 3 pm. Not the most pleasant way to be welcomed, I must say!

The appetizers platter was mixed meat skewers and some fried meat. Some prawns, chicken and beef - since some of the folks who came with me did not eat beef, we had extra servings of chicken. Was not too bad - was fried meat with dabbed in some sweetened sauce.

The Ikan Bakar Bali - a whole fish char fried was quite good - fresh and juicy fish - can not recall which fish it was. The Tum Ayam - steamed chicken in banana leaf - was quite different, quite bland and not very spicy. The Nasi goreng - Indonesian fried rice served with chicken skewers was again nothing extra ordinary although it was good.

The service was quite poor and we literally had to shout out to catch the attention of the waiters. This despite our being the only guests. And we were constantly reminded to place the last orders before the cut off time. Some fried prawn crackers that were served on the house were pretty bad in that they were tasting quite bitter.

The aforementioned items + a soup (Ayam Bambu Matah - lemongrass based chicken soup - quite tasty) + 2 Singapore Slings (cocktail) + a couple of pints of beer cost us in excess of SGD130/-. Quite expensive - in line with other restaurants in the Clarke Quay area - but the appetite of the four of us was not quite satiated!

Reco - not a good experience - can enter if other restaurants around are full - beware of the service, again!

Fanoos, Hosur Road, Bangalore

Fanoos is primarily a takeaway joint serving different types of kebabs (charcoal grilled meat), katti rolls (pan fried bread stuffed with meat, rather the kebabs/ vegetable stuffing) and shawrma (shaved grilled meat and pickled vegetables stuffed in pita bread.) While the bread used for normal katti rolls is covered in egg batter, the ones served here are plain paratha based. Likewise the pita bread (pan fried flat bread made with fermented wheat and should be eaten fresh) the ones available here are the off the shelf - not the best of pita.

Food tastes good and is very reasonable. Food for two would cost around INR 120/- max. the specialty dish is the beef sheek kebab (kebab made with minced beef and flavoured primarily with green chili). One is not to expect cleanliness in this place. It is more like a street food stall and is quite popular since it is located adjacent to a couple of mosques at a busy intersection. The joint is quite packed in the evenings, especially on Fridays.

Reco - Worth a shot - beware of the stomach bug!

Mirch Restaurant, Whitefield, Bangalore

Located close to ITPL, it may be quite a popular joint - especially during lunch - as Whitefield is bereft of a choice of restaurants to go to. It is a typical lower end multi cuisine restaurant serving Chinese and North Indian cuisine.

It is primarily a garden restaurant that can seat around 100 pax in a covered section and another 100 odd pax in an open section. There is not much of a garden - just a drying up lawn and the seating is not on this either. The menus are food stained and the seating comprised primarily of plastic chairs around a 'quickly' assembled wooden table.

Service was not bad, but the waiters clothes too matched the menu in that they were pretty stained.

My companion did the mistake of requesting the waiter to make the mushroom pepper fry extra spicy - one could hardly taste the mushroom. It was pepper, more pepper and some chili. The hot and sour veg and chicken soups too were more 'hot' than sour and were not particularly flavourful.

The stuffed kulcha (milled wheat pan fried bread stuffed with vegetables - we had gobi kulcha or one stuffed with cauliflower) was dipping with oil that we had to dab some out using paper napkins. The mushroom masala was a green chili based mushroom semi gravy dish. We necessarily needed to down the food with sweetened fresh lime juice, lest we have burning back sides the next day. In fact one of my companions also needed to have a lassi (sweetened yogurt shake) in addition to the fresh lime.

The aforementioned dishes (3 portions of fresh lime and kulcha, 1 veg and 1 chicken soup)+ a dal (lentils) cost us INR 635/ -. Quite expensive for this place.

Reco - Avoidable

Go Thai, Great World City Mall, Singapore

This was part of a chain of restaurants in Singapore that serves Thai cuisine as the name suggests.

Located at the top floor of the mall, the place was quite popular, one of the reasons being it is placed very close to the entrance of the multiplex in the mall.

The riverfront area does not have any large shopping arcade or mall other than the GWCM. We had been to Go Thai for dinner, We had a noodle soup made of sliced beef and vegetables. This dish was quite nice. The beef was well cooked and thinly sliced and the portions were quite large. The tom yum noodle soup although tasty was certainly not authentic.

This place in the mall could accommodate around 40 pax. The service was great, food was good but not authentic Thai.

The aforementioned items alone cost SGD 21/-, probably a tad expensive.

There are a host of other specialty restaurants in the mall including Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese and Italian apart from the standard Singapore food - court.

Reco - Maybe worth a visit before or after the movie!

KuraNoNaka Japanese Restaurant, Clarke Quay, Singapore

After a busy day (shopping with women) Clarke Quay is a nice place to unwind in the evening. We sat in the outdoor section which could seat around 50+ pax and overlooking the quay.

A platter of mixed sashimi (raw meat - usually sea food served with wasabi and soya sauce) and mixed sushi (vinegar rice and raw meat and at times vegetables, sometimes wrapped in seaweed and served with wasabi and soya sauce) disappeared in no time along with the warm Sake'. Each of the platter had 2 pieces of tuna, eel, shrimp, salmon, and some extra salmon as they had ran out of yellow tail and some caviar. The sushi included a few pieces of vegetarian varieties too.

The evening was quite pleasant and the batter fried soft shelled crabs that followed disappeared too - only that it was a tad oily (maybe the yin and yang balanced was achieved due to the raw and fried food that we had).

3 pint equivalent of the sake' + the above dishes cost around SGD 105/-. A tad expensive, but worth it. The service was very good.

Reco - Good place for Japanese food!

TGIF, HAL Airport Road, Bangalore

Thank God it is any day before 8pm. Yes it is happy hours time till 8pm and you get one drink on the house for every one that you order. And this is the best time to visit the place.

Seating in the air-conditioned area can seat around 150 + pax and outside it can seat around 50 more. The interiors are in line with their decor anywhere else in the world. There are a few large plasma screens beaming either sports channels or MTV. The music is a bit loud and plays retro pop and rock. Since the music's loud, the people speak louder to be heard - all in all - a pretty noisy place.

The snacks are again from their international menu and are generally pretty rich and not for one who's watching the waist line. There are only a few vegetarian items on the menu. Portions are quite large but for the starters (again nothing to complain about). The pita bread we ordered came with a humus dip and a salsa dip - both went well with the bread. The mushroom pizza too was quite good - thin crust and had quite a bit of mushroom topping. I had to stick to a veg menu as my companion was a vegetarian.

These items + a couple of bottles of beer + 2 large RC whiskey + a couple of pints + 1 large Bacardi cost us around INR 2200/- - certainly worth it. The service is quite good - can say it's a bit better than HRC Bangalore.

Reco - Good place for a drink - whether it is Friday or not!