Kefi, Taj Mount Road, Chennai

Taj Mount Road is the new hotel from the Taj group and is located on Club House Road, off Mount Road, opposite Spencer's super market.

Kefi serves Mediterranean cuisine and along with Cedars, is probably one of the two restaurants serving Mediterranean cuisine in Chennai.

It is located @ the terrace of the hotel. Few tables are located in air - conditioned comfort (considering Chennai is hot and humid, even @ night) and a few tables on the roof, overlooking the chaotic traffic on Mount Road. Both these areas appeal to the eye and to the senses.

You are served pita bread on the house and this is served with a creamy sauce. Of course, there is olive oil on the table which could be used to dip the bread in. And additional servings of this can also be requested for.

The Hummus Beiruti was tasty and went well with the warm pita. The turlu - a eggplant based preparation in olive oil and served on a bed or rice was tasty but the portions were not too appealing. The Lamb Barkook - lamb slow cooked in prune sauce was exquisite - simply the best mutton available in Chennai.

Liquor is available - but is extremely expensive, partly on account of higher taxes star hotels have to shell out. A pint of beer cost INR 350/- and a 30ml of cheap Indian rum cost INR 175/-. The food bill came to around INR 1600/- and this also included a Turkish coffee (strong and aromatic).

The service was good. Please note that the restaurant rules does not allow entry to children.

Reco - certainly a must visit for Mediterranean cuisine.

Fusion Express, The Mark Boulevard, Whitefield

Fusion Express is the restaurant in The Mark Boulevard, a business class hotel in Whitefield. For lunch there is a buffet spread.

The buffet spread consists of a nice salad bar with different vegetarian and non vegetarian salads, a chat counter where one can order for fresh chat of their choice (chat is North Indian cuisine which includes a number of snacks and fast foods wherein multiple Indian spices and sauces are mixed with processed Indian food to create a tasty concoction).

There is a pasta counter where one can choose the base sauce, the type of pasta and the veggies / meat that needs to go into it.

Of course, there is the usual biriyani, plain rice, gravies - both veg and non-veg, different types rotis (Indian breads), papads, fresh juices, curd rice and dessert. The dessert includes two Indian desserts, two choices of ice-cream, some baked items and fresh fruit salad.

The spread was sumptuous and although there is no dish that stands out, was quite tasty. The service too was quite good. The fresh juices were not good, though.

The restaurant is air conditioned and seats around 50 pax. There is a partition that leads to another seating area and can seat another 50 pax. Cost of the buffet @ INR 350 per plate may be a tad expensive.

Reco - In a place like Whitefield, where there are not too many restaurants to choose from, Fusion Express is certainly worth a visit.

Palomar Cafe, Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok

This is a small cafe' with the kitchen in the center and the service area placed all around the kitchen. Seats around 20 persons at a time. An ideal place for a quick bite - if your flight timings are such that you need to catch a bite @ the airport.

Serves various types of sandwiches and bakes, quick fix Thai food (red curries with select meat and served with rice), coffee and packaged drinks. The Thai red curry with rice was as good as I have had on the streets of Thailand. The Parma Ham Baguette was quite filling and the espresso was fresh and aromatic.

As is to be expected in a restaurant in an airport, the prices are on the higher side and the aforementioned items would cost around THB 700/-.

Reco - nice place for a quick bit @ Suvarnabhumi airport.

Empire Suites, Castle Street, Off Richmond Road, Bangalore

This is part of the Empire chain of hotels and restaurants that dot Bangalore. The cuisine is multi cuisine with a leaning towards Mopilla cuisine (cuisine of Muslims from Kerala). The service, despite only 4-5 of the 30 odd tables being occupied was very slow - but this is to be expected in any of the Empire restaurants.

The mutton in the Biriyani (an aromatic rice preparation made with a lot of spices and generally with mutton or chicken) was quite hard - as though it had not thawed enough and the biriyani itself was not too aromatic. The Wheat Porotta (a pan fried Indian bread, normally made with refined wheat flour) was good and this chain is one of the few places which serves them.

The butter chicken was chicken in a sweet and spicy thick red gravy. It was nothing special. However, the presentation was quite horrible. Whoever told the chef to grate cheese on top of the thick red gravy - if you are not strong, you might lose your appetite, just looking at it.

The restaurant was not air conditioned and none of the empire restaurants serve liquor.

A couple of parotas, the biriyani and the side dish (half plate, boneless) would cost around INR 250/- If you throw in a couple of lassi (sweetened yoghurt shake) it would cost around INR 330/-.

Reco - Not a place to plan a dinner. Not bad to dive in when on the move and have some time @ hand.

Toscano, UB City, Bangalore

Well, this Italian specialty restaurant has now started serving beer and wine, finally.

The Beef Carpaccio was a good starter - thin slices of beef in a bed of veggies with olive oil and vinegar. The Linguini carbonara was a generous portion and was good. The roasted Fillet Mignon was also a juicy chunk of beef and was made rare as requested. The espresso that was requested to wash the food down was also of good quality.

However, the service is quite poor. I had ordered a salmon starter that had to be served with some wafers (as per the description of the dish) - however it was not served so. Upon bringing it to the notice of the waiters, these wafers were brought in a separate plate. Food is not all about the eating - it is also in the presentation - especially in a premium restaurant. I was quite disappointed with this. This apart, the service is very very slow.

The place now attracts more crowd, now that they have started serving liquor.

These items with a couple of Belgian beers - Chimay Red - would cost around INR 2100/- including 10% service charges for the poor service.

Reco - Food's good. Service certainly needs to pick up. If you have a lot of time and patience, do pay a visit.