Food Festival at Vijaya Forum Mall, Chennai

There is a reason why I am not fond of food courts, no it is not about the food, it is more about the crowd. Most malls have a food court on the top floor which houses a plethora of restaurants and the place is buzzing with people, some waiting for food while others are chatting away while digging into their orders. And then there are the counters where one needs to pick up a prepaid card from, which is used across the restaurants. I think I have a card from each mall in my wallet. And overtime you go to the mall, you need to recharge this card before you can go place your order. But then, unlike most other malls, Forum Mall in Vadapalani has a food court that is not over crowded or noisy. 

This was my 3rd or 4th visit to the food court, which is a good sign! I was here that evening to check out the Chennai Food Festival. This is a festival where the restaurants in the food court showcase one special dish and have offers running as well. Some restaurants have also included a few new dishes for the festival.  Before I forget, this festival is on from November 28th to December 14th 2014. New menu for food festival have been cooked up at joints.  

Apart from the new and improved menu, the food festival also showcases
- Cooking demonstrations
- Fusion Music Show and

- Comedy Chef Performance [ which I discovered will happen on the stage set up in the centre of the seating area]

The entire place is decorated with red banners and plenty of lights, a tad too much if you ask me, but it does add certain charm to the place.

So, coming back to the food that I got to taste- there was the paneer tikka from Dishoom [ a division of Salt, a restaurant I love]- the paneer was soft and not overloaded with spices or marinade. Following close on heels was the Pani poori from Kailash Prabhat - I love their poori, it is made with sooji unlike the others. Just when I was thinking I would love a juice,a long came a plate with watermelon juice from Squeeze stall. 

 

The evening was turning out quite well, we were yapping away, laughing and chattering nonstop, reliving fun moments and the food just kept pouring onto our table one after the other. Even before we were done with the pain poori, along came the Pizza from Quiznos. Since when did Quiznos make pizzas? well, apparently they do. The pizza was good, but by the time we got to it the pie was nearly cold. We also had a plate of sandwich from one of the stalls [sorry, forgot the name]- it was an interesting sandwich. there was a veg patties in place of the filling and then there was another tier with fresh coleslaw. It was quite filling and fresh. 

And now comes the piece de resistance. A tray with two plates came to our table. One had small banana dosas and other had a cup with 2 vazhapoo vadai. I used to love bananas  but then stopped eating them and so wasn't sure I would like this, but fell in love with it, it was just divine. The vadai needless to say was amazing and yummy [was left wondering why there was no chutney served with the vadai].. ID sure has wowed me once again and I do hope they introduce

this dosa and vadai into their menu across centers. 

Hmm, have I left anything out? have i missed out anything?? Nope, am done!! :D 

So, you can see you are spoilt for choice when you do visit the Food court in Vijaya Forum Mall anyway, more so till the 14th December!! Next time you are in that part of town, you know where to head for a bite.. 

Meanwhile, to register for the special cooking classes, call 4904 9000.

Address:

#183, NSK Salai, Arcot Road, Green Park Private Entrance, Vadapalani, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600026

044 4904 9000

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

Absolute Barbecue, Chennai

Well, now that you have feasted on the photographs, do I need to tell you more? :)

I was at Absolute Barbecue on GN Chetty road. Of all the years of being in Chennai, I have come across quite a few restaurants that open up and are good. But this is probably the only restaurant that I see doing phenomenally well that every single person is raving about their experiences here. Not one or two, but more than just a handful have been recommending this place to anyone who asks for a place to go for lunch or dinner and then there are those talking about how difficult it is to get a table here and how one needs to book well in advance. 

Well, I have been here three times and every single time the experience has been memorable, food has been just as good and service is outstanding. Infant, the staff is constantly checking up on you, making sure things are to your liking, if you need anything else or giving you tips on what else you should try while there. 

The evening began with the grills being placed in the table, and then there were the skewers brought forth- some with non veg and others with veg. I am a veggie and so I got to taste their sinful paneer, potato, mushrooms, assortment of vegetables and then of course the coconut kebab and american potatoes which were all divine!! They also bring forward the freshly grilled pineapple that is cut in front of you and served hot- the pineapple with cinnamon is simply outstanding, i could eat just that and be a happy camper.. 

If you still have space after the starters, you should check out their Wish grill- it is a counter where you pick the veggies, noodles/rice, sauces and they cook it for you on the ginormous grill. There is also a pot of freshly steamed idiyappam served with one side dish [this works for both veg & non veg]. And if you have more space [you are probably Gadothgachan or his relative], you must have some plain rice with Daal makhani..

Wait, it doesn't end there.. There is dessert counter to be attacked- cold stone ice cream, few dessert items and then there is the dessert of the day- I have had Ghevar with Rabdi and Moong daal halwa- both of which were yumm. There is also a fridge of sorts with shelves lined up with colourful desserts- pudding, kheer, cake and much more.. 

If you are gaping and wondering how expensive the place is, let me reassure you it is not. Veg is priced around Rs520-550 while non veg is close to Rs600. They also have a early bird rate that works during certain hours of the day. 

Address:
Absolute Barbecue

No. 45, Tower Victorie, 3rd Floor, T. Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600017 089397 59382 Website: http://www.absolute-barbecue.com Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

Pind Balluchi, Bangalore

After a day of walking, sleeping and work, come evening we decided to head out for a walk. Two of us had been toying with the idea of catching a movie, and then the other two also joined in. We wandered out and after a few minutes decided to head down to Garuda Mall. It was a good 15-20 mins walk, and once there we headed straight upstairs to INOX. While the idea of a movie was exciting, we weren't looking forward to paying hideous sums of money[ we all knew Blore cinemas was expensive] .. After a bit of deliberation, we decided on a movie and imaging our surprise when the ticket was priced at Rs120 each.. Apparently weekday night shows are cheaper than rest of the shows. :O 

Since we had a good 2 hours before the movie, and were kinda hungry, we wandered around the mall till we came upon Pind Balluchi. The restaurant had the standard sardarji statues near the entrance and a giant tree just inside. We made a beeline for a table all the way at the other end of the restaurant, amidst all the flickering lights and dancing sardarji men on the wall .. While we were browsing through the menu, we heard quite a bit of thud thud, only to discover the restaurant was right next to the Bowling alley... :)

We placed our orders, 2 chaas, 2 jal jeera, 2 rumali roti, 2 naan, 1 missi roti, 1 portion Daal makhani and 1 of gatte ki sabzi. 

The food arrived within minutes and it was piping hot. The thing that stayed in my mind was that the staff brought out little katoris [cups] and served us the sides in the same. I loved my roti and the sides and looked like the others did too.. During the meal, we noticed the neighboring table had ordered rasamalai and were raving about it. That was it, we made up our mind and went ahead and ordered some for ourselves and it was sinfully yumm indeed.. 

With 10 mins to spare, we paid the bill and made our way back up the escalators. This was my 1st visit to Pind and I heard that all their outlets have a similar decor and food is good in all of them. The bill was close to Rs1400/-

Address: 4th Floor, Garuda Mall, Magrath Rd, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560025
Phone: 080 4115 3753
Hours: 11:30 am – 11:30 pm

Website: http://www.pindballuchi.com/#

Dunkin Donuts, Bangalore

 

We were walking along Brigade Road after a good breakfast which was followed by an hour of meeting when we spotted Dunkin Donuts signboard outside Mota Royal Arcade [ yes, that mall at the end of Brigade road]. A colleague travelling along asked if we wanted to go have a donut and that is how we ended up at DD in Bangalore on a cool Tuesday morning. 

I chose a double berry donut [ if you know me, you would have known what I would pick], while the others went for chocolate and other flavours. They had quite a range, but what surprised me was the ambiance. There were funky furniture all around, royal red chairs, a long wooden table with orange chairs and few others as well, and then there were the pillars which were filled with quotes [giving it a black board look] and the quirky masks on the wall.  One colleague chose the Kesar pista which was a simple glaze donut with plenty of slivers of pista on top.

Another aspect I was surprised by was that the Donuts were quite reasonably priced, between Rs50 - Rs60. You get to pick from simple glazed donuts to those with toppings, filling and much more.. Apart from these, they also serve a range of hot & cold beverages, bites, burgers,and sandwiches.

We enjoyed our donuts, some oozing with filling while others had a thick glaze on them and made our way to the Hotel down the road. 

Even though the donuts were good, I still prefer the ones from Donut House!! Have tried Krispy Kreme and Mad over donuts as well. 

Wine & Cheese at Park Hyatt, Chennai

For years now I have been hearing about how wonderful Wine & Cheese combination is. But I am quite clueless on what wine is good with what cheese and why. So when Park Hyatt announced a Wine & Cheese festival, I had to attend it, if only to quench my curiosity. 

I reached the hotel around 7 and waited a good hour for the other bloggers to arrive and for the restaurant to get ready with their set... We were then welcomed into The Dining Room in the lobby level where the festival was happening. 

There in the corner of the restaurant was a table set up with quite a few varieties of cheese. Besides this on another table were bread, olives, mustard and few other varieties of bread. And then as you turned around, was a bucket with ice and quite a few White wine bottles which were accompanied by a few Red wine bottles outside the bucket. This is another thing that leaves me puzzled- why is White wine chilled while Red is served at room temperature? I am still clueless about this.. 

I got to interact with Alessandro from Italy, a wine connoiseur who spoke about how the Tuscany region he hailed from was popular for Wine. He wore a thick chain of sorts with a flat cup at the end. He mentioned it was for wine tasting and that he never ate a thing or drank a drop of any liquid when working. He spoke in length about wine, which wine goes with which cheese, but then all this just vanished into thin air in a few minutes and I was just happy to be tasting so many varieties of cheese and sipping on different kinds of wine as well. 

It was one fun evening, I would love to learn more about wine and cheese.. Hopefully soon!!

Address:

Park Hyatt

#39, Velachery Main Road, 

Guindy, 

Chennai- 600032 

Ph:- 044 7177 1234

Food Tales.. Food memories

There are these flavours that we grow up eating, which stick with us for life... Some of which remind us of the times we lived through and others of people who were a part of our lives. 

I woke up today morning and remembered the Sago Porridge I used to have for breakfast during that phase when mom was away in Chennai [during her last trimester] and my gramma used to do all the cooking[ what little she could manage]. We also had my great grandmother living with us and she used to have this porridge for breakfast, and I started having some and eventually fell in love with it. Today, I see sago porridge or payasam anywhere - I go back in time and smile... Not to forget I grab a bowl of it and savour every spoonful.

Another thing that I remember vividly that I am longing for is this vadam we used to have, my great grandmother called it "Chambekkai vadam" and it was used in Vendiya Kozhambu. I did not know what it was made with for a long time and then discovered it was made with Pumpkin. It has been years since I had it, but I think of it often and wonder if I should go looking for it or find someone who can make it for me! Great gramma was so good with her hands, she would make mor milagai, vathals and all sorts of things when she was sitting idle, or busy cleaning out cupboards or fidgeting with something or the other. Never a dull moment. And if I was around, she would tell me stories & shlokas related to food/eating/sleeping..

What are your fond/food memories?

Grills of the world fest at Barbeque Nation...

Chef Pat Chapman in the house!! 

It has been a long time since I visited Barbeque Nation. The very 1^st time was for my birthday and since then has been there quite a few times with different sets of people. But then, since am a veggie and not really into Bbq, kinda gave up visiting here.  So, when I got wind of the Grills of the world event and that they had celebrity Chef Pat Chapman flown in, I had to make a visit. 

Hailing from UK, this 73 year old Chef has been touring the country, visiting the various Bbq Nation outlets and giving his insights and inputs as he went along. He is infact dubbed as the Curry King back in the UK, owing to his love for the Indian curries.  During the course of the evening, we got an opportunity to interact with him, ask him a few questions and learn more about his culinary journey as well. He told us about the time when his family was in Lucknow, and his grandmother continued to cook Indian curries even after they moved to UK which is where his love affair with the Curry began. 

He also said he loves his curries spicy, which is quite surprising considering how food in UK is quite bland.

During the course of the conversation, we asked him about the Nouvelle cuisine [ put a tiny blob on the plate and call it fine dining], which he laughed at and said was not the way to eat. He also said how Indian food cannot be served like that, it needs to be hearty and comforting. A statistic he mentioned had us all speechless, he mentioned there were around 9000 Indian restaurants in UK and the total number of restaurants in the country was somewhere at 54000.  He concluded by saying that the British sure were addicted to Indian food and loved their curries. 

Coming back to Barbeque nation, they are hosting this festival through October, till the 31^st and have quite a few new range of marinades for the dishes, about 14 in total.  Some of them are,

1) The British Isles - Yorkshire Marinade & Worcestershire Marinade
2) Spain - Valencia Marinade
3) Middle East - Lebanon Arabian Marinade & Persian Marinade
4) Americas - American Texican Marinade, Albuquerque Atomic Marinade, New Orleans Incendiary Marinade, Aztec - Mole Poblano Marinade
5) Africa - Jamaican Jerk Marinade
6) Australasia - The Outback Emu
7) Far East - Mighty Hot Mai Thai, Chinese Sichuan and Indonesian Bumbu Kacang and then there are few more….

Through the course of the evening, we watched him give a live demo of some of the sauces/marinades, explaining the ingredients- lemon grass, galangal, some of which the locals were not familiar with. And then we were served quite an array of vegetables and meat- each with a unique marinade. The unique ting about barbeque nation is that they were the 1^st restaurant to bring forth the bbq on the table concept and it is still a big seller today. The place was packed, with families and groups who were having a good time.

After a round of food, there was a break where the staff broke out into a song and dance routine, roping in some of the customers as well. All we can say is it was a lively evening- there was food, music, fun and well, what more can you ask for?  It was all about giving customers an experience, one that went beyond just food. And if you have space in your tummy after all these starters, you should go try out some of the dishes in their Buffet [ incl some desserts]

So, if you are curious about the flavours and are looking for a place to go chill out with your friends, you know where to head.

Timings:

Lunch: 12:00 PM To 03:30 PM

Dinner: 06:30 PM To 11:00 PM

Address:

Barbeque Nation

Shri Devi Park Hotel, #1, Hanumantha Road, North Usman Road, T. Nagar, Chennai

Hotel Bhimaas, 1, Amman Koil Road, Near Murugan Temple, Vadapalani, Chennai

To make a reservation- 044 30853761

 

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

Novotel, Chennai

It has been 50 days since Novotel opened their doors in Chennai. Situated in the OMR highway, beyond Hirnandani toll post, the campus also has the other Hotel from the group- Ibis. Apart from these two, there are quite a few other hotels that come under the Accor Hotels banner, which will soon rise from the ground in the same area in Chennai. 

The hotel is also located right opposite the SIPCOT arena which houses some of the leading IT companies in the city, so it is no wonder they will see quite a corporate crowd both in their restaurants and their rooms. 

As you pull into the driveway, the 1st thing that catches your eyes it the wide open spaces, and it continues as you walk into the lobby. There is one banquet hall apart from a store in the Lobby area. You take the elevator to UGF floor to reach the Square [out of the box] restaurant. If you walk straight ahead from the elevator you will be greeted by the beautiful pool, on the right side is an outer deck seating area that opens out to the city and on the left is the majestic restaurant. 

Again, the open spaces is what caught my eye. I loved that there were no tables crammed into the hall, and there was plenty of walking room. The buffet is spread from one side going all the way to the other. Each of the cuisines have distinct vessels- Indian, Pan Asian and international cuisine are what you find dominating the menu here. The buffet is priced at Rs950 [excl tax] and is quite an elaborate spread. 

The far end of the dining area is dedicated to families with kids, there is a Playstation and a play area that will keep them occupied while the family enjoys their meal. There is also a long table with Bar stool type seating area, which is quite cool. 

Oh and on the room front, they have 180 rooms in Novotel while there is another 180 odd rooms in Ibis as well. 

I know I know, this is a food blog, time to get talking about the food :) The evening we were about 5 of us there apart from the three members from the Hotel and we were seated in the Private dining area, which is a secluded one and can seat about 10 people. 

The evening opened with a range of starters, ranging from a Mezze platter [ pita bread with Hummus, babaganoush, tabouleh, and few other sides], and then came the absolutely delicious salad- tomato basil and buffalo mozzarella cheese, and then there was the stuffed focacia bread which was out of the world delicious.  There was also the veg & non veg dim sums, which were wrapped in sheets that were near transparent and melted in our mouths. 

Oh and we weren't done, there was also a Mushroom starter that looked like two mushrooms squished like a mini sandwich with a sauce between them.  The non veg eaters got as many starters and soon we were all nearly full. I was down with a bad cold and so started the meal with a cup of hot coffee [which was good and soothing]. Moving on to the main course, we got to the try their thin crust pizza with pesto sauce, potatoes and beans on it [ again it was yummy, though the base felt a little crisp in some places]. I also sneaked in a forkful of the spaghetti [non veg] but I couldn't resist the pesto and it was creamy and beautiful. For the veg main, we got a range of roti with dal makhani, Palak corn and a Chinese green stir fry which was my absolutely favourite [ it had Bok choi- which is an amazing ingredient that goes so well with Chinese flavours]

For Desserts, we decided to go check out the Dessert counter and helped ourselves to some of the dishes there. There were quite a range of desserts including multiple glass jars filled with Meringue/Macaron like sweet treats. The desserts all looked beautiful with cool garnishes, I should go back one day when my taste buds are back and try them out again. 

They have weekend breakfast and are talking about opening up for Brunch. So, if on a weekend you have no plans, just drag your friends and go for a long drive, stopping for a bite here at Novotel. Trust me, you will enjoy it... 

Address: 
Plot No 36 Old Mahabalipuram Road
Egattur
603103 
CHENNAI 
Tel (+91)44/66545454 

Just after the 2nd toll on OMR highway. 

URL: http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-7089-novotel-chennai-sipcot/index.shtml

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

Kebabs & Curries, The Residency, Chennai - Till Oct 19th

You are hungry, but in the mood for something different, maybe a hot kebab- chicken or paneer, either works! But then most places have an elaborate platter that you cant do justice do. Well, the one option you have the coming week is to check out the Kebabs & Curries festival at Spice Jar in The Residency, T Nagar. An addition to their buffet, they are now serving few different kinds of kebabs [veg & non veg] apart from few interesting rotis and curries.

There is the chicken kebab, grilled fish for non veggies while vegetarians can dig into the soft well cooked Tandoor aloo or maybe the Ajwaini Paneer tikka, or you can also dig into the stuffed mushrooms or veg balls. Well, remember the menu keeps changing daily, so do a check on what kebabs are being served on the day you land there, at the live counter near the buffet spread. I also tried the Vegetable shorba and it was filled with flavour and I quite loved it. 

But the one thing you should try is the Kurmi roti [ a roti with a generous sauce- red chilli sauce, ketchup and cheese on top] or the Kalaonji roti [ roti with kalaonji and sesame seeds on top]. The Kurmi roti is sinfully yummy and can be eaten on its own. But if you need a side dish, opt for the Pind Chole or the Bindi Kurchan or kofta. Non vegetarians do have quite a few options as well.  

The Chef also mentioned Katti roll and we had to try some, I got the veg one with fresh medley of veggies and it was crunchy and fresh. The non veggies got one with meat and egg, and it was polished off in minutes... :) 

All this has been put together by the in house Chef Sakthivel.. In the buffet you can also taste the rice, Biryani, other side dishes and few continental items as well, apart from the salads and breads.  Hurry for this festival is on till the 19^th Oct only…

Price – 

Weekdays - Rs. 699 Net

Weekends - Rs. 749 Net            

Children    -  Rs. 499 Net

This is available weekdays for Dinner while on weekends you can choose between Lunch and Dinner.

Address:

The Residency,

#49  G N Chetty Road

T Nagar

Chennai - 600 017.

For reservations, call 044 28253434 

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

International Pizza festival, California Pizza Kitchen till 19th Oct

Tomato, Cheese, capsicum, mushroom, olives, corn, paneer- well, these are the typical toppings I choose when ordering a pizza. But then, how about a Southwest Burrito Pizza [Spicy Black Bean sauce, fire roasted chillies, mozzarella and other cheddar cheese on a regular crust] or maybe the Kasundi Paneer Pizza [a trio of cottage cheese, roasted peppers and tomato marinated in Indian spiced mustard sauce on a thin crust topped with mozzarella and garnished with fresh coriander leaves] ? How cool would that be! 

The Non veg options

 The Veg pizza options- Burrito, Capriciossa , Brussels Pizza, beverage with Kasundi Paneer,  the Beijing style veg pizza and the cranberry drink.. 

 Desserts- White Chocolate & Strawberry cheese cake and the Banana-Chocolate 

It is almost like California Pizza kitchen read our minds and decided to come up with some funky options in Pizzas. Now, I must disclose that I am not a big pizza fan, but I dont mind it once in a while. So, when I heard of the International Pizza Festival at California Pizza Kitchen, a friend & I decided to check it out. We even got to meet Chef Anton Madhan who spoke about how each of the pizzas have been crafted and how they had distinct flavours.. 

There was quite an elaborate menu, one side has the Pizza options while the other side shows off the new beverages. I was beaming by the time I was done scanning the menu.. Any guesses why? D'oh, it wasn't cos they were exotic sounding pizzas, but there were 5 options for vegetarians while non vegetarians had only 4 [silent Whoopie in the air] :D 

 I tried the Burrito Pizza [labelled against Mexico], the Kasundi Paneer [ India], the Beijing Style Veg Pizza[Soya and garlic flavored button mushrooms, baby corn bell peppers, cooked over fiery schezwan sauce on a traditional crust with mozzarella and cheddar, garnished with scallions.] and of these, loved the 1st two while the third was just too spicy for me. It was almost like eating pickle on its own, but then my friend liked it, actually she loved it. 

And then there was the Capriciossa Pizza [Thin crispy crust smothered with smothered with Italian Pormodoro and mozzarella cheese and then topped with artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and fresh sliced mushroom garnished with hand torn basil] and the Brussels pizza [ Belgium- pesto marinana,  saute spinach, sliced mushroom, sun dried tomato, Mozarella & parmesan cheese and olives on a thin bubbly crust].. I loved these two as well, am probably used to pizza being subtle and not over the top spicy . 

My friend being a non veg, she loved the Fish & Chips Pizza [United Kingdom - Thin crispy crust loaded with CPK tartare sauce, mozzarella cheese, onion rings, fried fish and capers, finished with lime cream sauce and served with a good portion of crispy spiced fries] the best. The Sauerbraten Pizza [Germany- Traditional sauerkraut, shredded chicken, sliced onion on a regular crust with mozzarella cheese baked to a crisp golden crust topped with German potato salad] she found quite bland. Apart from these, there were two more- Cheeseburger Pizza from USA[Chunky chicken burger with caramalised onions and crushed black pepper , with a good drizzle of their secret sauce, pickled gherkins, Mozarella & cheddar cheese] and Rookwurst Pizza from Holland [ a traditional crust topped with marainara along with sliced onion, pork salami, smoky bratwurst sausage and hearty sprinkling of Dutch Gouda cheese and herbs]

For beverages, I tried a Cranberry based drink as soon as I entered the place and then went on to try their Pineapple twister while winding up the meal, and they were both served in a nice tall glass and were quite slurpalicious. The pizzas are all priced between Rs 500 -575/- [excl tax] and this festival is on till the 19th Oct.  While each pizza has a set crust mentioned, if you have a preference you can mention that when placing the order and they will customise the same. 

Oh and how could we walk out of here without dessert.. So, we tried two desserts- the white chocolate and strawberry cheesecake with Oreo crust and the Banana- Chocolate dessert... Yumm is the word!! But must give you a headsup, their signature dessert is the Tiramisu!! ;) 

   

Address:

California Pizza Kitchen

Phoenix MARKET City, Velachery

Chennai 

Ph- 044 65108888

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)