Escape Dine

When the food court is jam packed, and the restaurants are overflowing with people, the only place to head to is Escape Dine inside Escape Cinemas in the 3rd floor in Express Avenue Mall in Chennai.

My friend and i made a beeline for a table in Dine and since then the table seems to have become our spot. Everytime we visit, we are shown to the same table [and trust me when  i say we have been there plenty of times] :)

The rich wood furnishings and glass partition wall adds to the ambiance. It keeps away the prying eyes of those who are looking for movie tickets or walking in or out of a movie and gives the guests enough privacy. There is a buffet open during Lunch , with unlimited Biryani [both veg and non veg] along with a soup and dessert for about Rs299.

And if like us you dont think you do justice to the buffet, then go for the A la carte menu.. My friend loves Desserts, so she goes straight to the Dessert page in the menu card and promptly orders one for each of us before looking at the main dishes..

We normally skip the Starters and head over straight to the Main course. I have had their Vegetable Biryani.. Panneer Tikka Masala with Parantha or plain rice, and once tried the Mushroom based pasta.. All these dishes come pipoing hot and quite yummy..

 The portions are pretty huge, enough for 2 people, especially if you are going in for a dessert.  I also quite enjoy the Brinjal curry and onion raita that comes with the Biryani... 

My friend orders either a Mutton biryani or Chicken biryani with extra spice...Going by her expressions, i would say she too enjoys the food! 

And now for the dessert.. Many a times, we pick out one or two from the menu only for the waiter to come back saying they either dont have it or have run out of it.. Apparently the desserts come from Ecstacy in Satyam Cinemas and arrive here twice a day...

The very 1st time we ordered the Hazelnut mousse served on a ginger short bread [it was from Ecstacy by Mikeal Besse] and was divine... Actually, so are all the desserts we  have had here, that come with a scoop of sinful vanilla ice cream...

 The Blueberry Cheese cake...

Dark chocolate fantasy [dont remember the exact name]

Next time you are in Express Avenue and are looking for a quiet place for a meal, march straight into Escape cinemas towards the Dine!
Psst- Sorry about quality of images, invariably whenever i am here i seem to have only my Blackberry to rely on!!


Food 8/10
Service 8/10
Ambiance 8/10
Price 8/10 [A meal for two should cost between Rs500- 700.]

Timings: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. 
Address: Escape Dine
3rd Floor [ inside Escape cinemas on extreme left]
Ph: 044 28464809 .

Cream & Fudge Factory, Chennai

So, finally the visit to Cream & Fudge Factory happened last evening. It is a fairly small place, rather narrow and long space located near Auroville and Cafe Coffee Day lounge on Khader Nawaz Khan Road.

I had read about the Cold stone concept and how they mix the ice cream with fruits and sauces before serving it to you, ergo, i was curious to taste the end result... As you walk in through the doors, the display of ice creams and waffle cones are the 1st thing you see, but not before the warmth in that area has you break out into a sweat.. it was really warm there.. but the seating area was cool/cold wherever the ac worked!. I was fascinated with the 4 kinds of waffle cones and cups on display.

Plain Waffle

Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce

Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce and colourful sprinkles and finally  the

Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce and nuts

[Pic courtesy: Cream & Fudge Factory website]

After scanning through the extensive menu card, i decided on the Apple Crumble ice cream.. They also had a choose the flavours and create your own ice cream option

I love Apple Pie, and basically anything to do with Apples and Cinnamon... :-) 

I chose the Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce and colourful sprinkles in Medium size and waited for the treat to arrive.. My Friend chose the Rocky Road in the same waffle cup... 

  

It was sinful.. The flavour of apples, cinnamon and sweetness was just perfect.. I relished it to a point where i was nearly done and remembered i have not taken a picture of the dessert :D

The ice cream no doubt was good.. but i dont really know what the cold stone did to the dessert, it tasted like someone had mashed up an apple pie with ice cream, and dolloped it. The vanilla ice cream is nice and full of flavour and so is the fudge sauce.. And another thing was we were unable to enjoy the waffle cup, it is just there, towards the end of the ice cream, i kinda squished the waffle like a dosa and gobbled it up!!

Ok, to update, i was here again in the same week when another friend took me over for a treat.. And this time, i was wise, actually both of us were- we chose the simple plain cup for our ice creams. I had the berry ice cream with Cherry pie and it was good!! There was no place to sit, so we walked around the road devouring our ice creams and catching up on our lives... Was fun!!  

Ambiance- 7/10[Ac wasnt working in the area where you place the order, but it was cool in the seating area, dont know if it was a deliberate thing]

Service- Nothing to rate here as it is self service

Food- Good 8/10

Price- 5/10 [And it is quite expensive.... Albeit, it was friend's treat, but i did notice the prices!! ]