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.