Spice29-Dewberry, Chennai

You are driving down Cathedral road, looking for a place to grab a bite at, wondering what your options are and you see that little board just ahead of Van Heusen showroom on the left and decide to pull into the road. And what do you know, tucked away inside that Rajasekaran Street is where you find Spice 29/Dewberry's. You might miss it but remember to watch out for that large black gate and the smart board on top. 

As you walk in, you find a long path lined with canopies and seating on the side and the small cozy air-conditioned area at the end of the corridor. The decor is simple, clean and neat, black and white walls with splashes of colour from the paintings. the tables are all lined up to make the most of the space and you are welcomed by a bright red, black and white menu.

The menu has three sections: continental, Indian and snacks, for those in-between meal cravings. To open the meal, I tried the mushroom cappuccino that was served in a coffee mug with a slice of crostini with a dollop of butter and a single basil on top. I loved the soup, it was earthy, rich and creamy.  The crostini was crisp and fresh. Since most at the table were non vegetarians, I had to wait a tad longer for the veg dishes, but boy the wait was worth it. The starters came one by one, the first was the absolutely delicious broccoli served with the traditional green chutney. I couldnt get enough of it, it was soft yet had a bite, it was sinfully amazing.. And then came the Paneer tikka which was good [ I shall not go on about it as paneer isnt really among my favorite items these days, but for those who love paneer, I say go for it!]. After a breather, I was served a plate of crispy friend Onions with a healthy swirl of cheese sauce on top along with few crispy curry leaves. It was fresh, oil free and had a good bite to it [who can say no to onion pakoda]

The non veggies had their share of fish, chicken cooked many ways to dig into. It was time for me to move on to the main dishes. I opted to try Appam and Veg stew, the appam was lovely [had a slight sweetness to it and was soft and fluffy], only quip was it stuck to the plate and tore as we pulled it off. Guess the staff had placed it right off the pan.  I was full and all I wanted to do was check out their desserts, but then giving into the public demand, we tried their naan and daal makhani, both of which were good, but I felt the Daal was a tad spicy.  

Yayy, finally it was dessert time and I got to try their Elaneer payasam, which had pieces of tender coconut in them. 

Overall the food here is good, perfect for someone looking for good Indian dishes. They have quite a range of beverages as well to choose from. The place also has free wi-fi as well, and is perfect for a casual meet or a serious lunch as well.

Address:
Dewberry's Spice 29: 6/29 Rajasekaran Street, 

Mylapore

Chennai- 4
Meal For Two: Approx Rs1000
Timings: From 12.30 pm to 11 pm 

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  :-)

Lunch Buffet at Spice Jar, The Residency

Imagine walking into a room and the aroma of cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and ginger hits you, leaving you in a whirl of flavours? That would be heaven or hell, depends on what you like or not. I remember feeling this when we walked into one of thestores in the  spice market in Kochi. 

So, when you tell someone "time to visit the Spice Jar", you invariably end up imagining the above mentioned scene unfold. I walked into Residency, GN Chetty road with this in mind. But then I saw a huge restaurant, with glass walls and a row of huge glass jars filled with different spices high up above the buffet counters.  I was here a few days ago, after a late night movie for a cup of coffee. And today I was here to try their Lunch Buffet. First order of the day was to get myself a glass of Fresh Lime Soda Salt [in fact this has become my favorite drink, and I don't mind having a glass of this very now and then].  Once we had settled down, spent a few minutes catching up on our lives, work, and sundry. Looked around to see a large crowd in the table nearby, also managed to catch a words here & there [sounded like someone was celebrating their birthday, pretty soon the entire crowd had piled around the lady and were giving out gifts, gushing wishes and yakking away]

We made a beeline towards the Buffet to check out the spread, and soon grabbed a plate each and took a sampler of sorts- bread, salads, the veg kebab and sipped on the soup served on the table. Mine was a clear veg soup with a few pieces of colour zucchini in it [was very bland]. The non veg soup looked spicy [ almost like the hot & sour]. I wish they had a similar soup for veggies.. The kebab was good and so were the salads and breads. Quite a few rolls to choose from- brown bread, herbed rolls, white bread slices and few others as well. I also tried the corn & spinach bake which was simple and good. I make this at home with variations [mushrooms, paneer, etc]. 

The place had a constant flow of people, which is always a good sign for a restaurant. I remember visiting Chin Chin, the chinese restaurant on Women's day and enjoying the lunch spread there. Suddenly, breaking into my thoughts I heard Mr Madhu introduce the Chef  [Bengali] who chit chatted for a bit about his favorites, the dishes he is in charge of and places he has worked before. 

While we were trying to order another drink, the staff mentioned there was nannari sharbat available in the buffet. Instantly, we all walked over to the table with 4-5 jugs, and tasted the nannari juice. Yumm! Alas, they dint have too much, so some of us got nannari, while others took roohafza. There was also buttermilk which I liked [ no ginger no coriander.. yayy] 

The highlight of the buffet is there were as many if not more number of Veg dishes as Non Veg. I enjoyed the garlic noodles and Red thai curry the most. Skipped the Indian dishes and went straight for the desserts. There was a payasam of sorts, a bread pudding, coconut strudel, and plain ice cream [2 flavours- Vanilla and Strawberry]... The chef brought a Caramel custard since the one in the dessert section was nearly over. It was just again lacking in flavour, but atleast did not have an overpowering eggy taste.

Overall, the food was alright, nothing over the top, but then it is value for money. 

The veg buffet is priced at Rs597 [Rs475+taxes] and the non veg at little bit more for the weekend and it is tad less during the weekdays.  [shall reconfirm on the rates]

Address:

Spice Jar

#49, The Residency, 

G.N.Chetty Road, 

T Nagar, Chennai- 600017

Ph : 04428253434 Extn 6118 / 7401204255

Blur Cafe, Chennai

So, the Best friend is in town and we made plans for Lunch & Movie. There was no confusion in deciding on the movie because we both had decided to watch Hugo together, even before she landed in Chennai. 

Now, the question was "lunch", where? I kept wracking my brains trying to zero in on a place that is close to Sathyam Cinemas and not too far for either of us, she was coming from Ashok nagar and moi from Chetpet. Finally, thought why not head out to Blur Cafe in Sathyam, and have lunch there. I had heard about the place, seen it while spending hours in the bowling arcade, but never eaten there. Trusting my instincts, messaged my friend "Lets meet at Sathyam cinemas around 1.30". 

She was there on the dot, and alas, i was late by a few minutes.. Once i spotted her standing waiting for me in the lobby, ran and gave her a hug, before waiting for the elevator. We went up to the 5th floor, and onto the Cafe that was enveloped in Orange. 

The tables were rounded and orange in colour with thin beaded lights running along the sides. The chairs were funky plastic moulded ones and cutlery was stainless steel on white plates. The place was pretty empty but for another couple. Sat ourselves, got comfortable and started catching up on our lives [ well, not that it had been long since we had last met, or spoken to :-) but still, we seem to never have dearth of topics to talk about]

My friend then looked at me and said "shall we go see whats in the counter?"

Me: Chalo. 

My friend: dang, i have changed, wouldnt have done this few years ago.. now i dont know me

Me: Good for you girl :)

We spent a few minutes oggling at the desserts laid out in the counter- Chocolate crumble, pana cotta and so much more. Right beside this was the ice cream collection- there was fresh coffee ice cream, vanilla bean ice cream among other flavours.

The waiter [sweet chap, forgot his name though] gave us the menu card, a few minutes and then came over to ask if we were ready to order. After a bit of deliberation, we asked him to recommend. Only criteria being vegetarian. He said we could try the Wood fire pizza... Ran my finger through the list of pizzas and chose the Guiso [Pesto with different vegetables- thin crust 9inch pizza] and my friend suggested we order a Vegetable Grilled sandwich as well.

She had a bad cough, and when asked if they served green tea, the waiter recommended the Masala Chai, which landed in our table within a few minutes along with food.

The pizza was thin, light and filled withe flavour. It had a bunch of lightly roasted garlic amidst fresh basil leaves. The pizza toppings were - Olives, Cherry tomatoes, capsicum, and cheese over a pesto sauce. Each bite was sinful, and we polished it off within minutes.

The grilled sandwich looked quite appealing. It was brown bread with mix of colour peppers, tomato served along with a small serving of onions, capsicum and cabbage shredded finely.  It was simple, filling and packed with flavours... Good we dint order too much, there was one slice of pizza that we decided to finish off amidst all our chats. 

 

Seeing the time, i noticed it was close to 3pm and the movie was at 3.30pm. I looked up to catch the gleam in my friend's face.. "Shall we try one of those yummy looking desserts, we will share one, ok?" .. Well, i can never say No to her[she will give me a earful and a lecture to boot, such a mom she is], and we ordered the Panna cotta. The waiter told us it was what he would recommend and that it came with Blueberry Compote.

Alrighty!! [Now i have had Panna cotta in Tuscana couple of times and loved it, so expectations were high] and when this one landed on our table, it looked good. My mind was already doing the "find the 5 differences between the two- this was served in a cup, while the other is on the plate, this looked a little hard, the other looked like jelly or caramel custard.. and so on..." Breaking away from my thoughts, we took a spoon each and went in for it... 

It came away easy on the spoon, and then was the taste test. My friend loved it, it was the 1st time she was eating such a dessert, but i kinda was still playing the 5 differences... :-) It tasted good, but texture was a tad thick. The blueberry compote was gooooood.... But it was sheer joy watching my friend devour the dessert, right down the last drop. All the 5 differences flew out the window and replaced with happiness :)

Phew... what a lunch that had been. The meal worked out to Rs550 [incl tax and Service charges], which i thought was reasonable. We left the place thanking the waiter with a big grin on our faces and all set for the movie!

Ambiance: 8/10 [ It was nice and quiet, but am guessing there are times when the place is buzzing with noise and crowd
Food: 8/10 [ Pizza and Sandwich were yummy, the pannacota was alright]
Price: 8/10 [Meal for 2 came to Rs550]
Overall Rating: 8/10

Address:
Level 5, Sathyam Cinemas
Royapettah
Chennai - 600 014
Tel.: 044 43920341
Open from 11am to 11pm

PS: Please to pardon the quality of photographs, they were taken on my poor Blackberry Curve 8520.

Nivedhanam, Mylapore, Chennai

Nivedhanam is pure veg restaurant that is a few months old. It has been promoted by Amithra Hotels and Restaurants, and the 1st of its kind started by an Indian living in Japan.  As you walk in, the mix of culture is quite obvious. There is a small curio of sorts displaying various objects most commonly associated with Japan and the people there. 

They serve Indian, Continental and Chinese cuisines.The first thing that struck us were the 2 women at the door, welcoming us with a big broad smile. There is a comfortable sofa to wait, else people can sit outside in the chairs while waiting their turn. Trust me, it does get packed, so make sure to reach early. 

There is a small play pen for children to play in, and a lady who applies Mehndi for free.. The decor is quite bright, with red dominating the ambiance. The tables are quite packed tight, with very little space between them, but all said and done, it is a lovely place, especially if you are looking for good Veggie delights. 

We ordered tomato soup and chappati for my friend's son, while others had roti and quite a few different side dishes.Each of them were served piping hot and delicious. There is no overpowering masala, or oil in the dishes. They also serve the traditional Japanese noodles, which have been cooked with a few vegetables. For dessert, we decided to try the banana split, 2 slices of bananas enveloping 3 different ice cream scoops.

 The walls have been decorated with elaborate Tanjore art pieces, and the table place mats are the ones with puzzles and word games on them. The waiters take down the orders on iPod Touches, which i thought was damn cool and they are accommodating to special requests.

I have been here twice and both times came out smiling, and happy!  A meal for 3.5 hungry souls worked out to about Rs840, which i thought was quite reasonable, going by Chennai standards.

Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 7/10
Price- 8/10
Service - 8/10
Overall Rating - 8/10
Cuisine-Across Indian, Chinese, Japanese & Continental - Pure Veg
Car park- On the street [secluded and so no fear or getting towed]

Value add: There is a play pen for children, a Mehndi lady and a man who performs simple magic tricks/ventriloquism
 
Address:
VM Street, Mylapore  Chennai, Tamil Nadu
 Turn right next to Yellow pages when approaching from Gemini flyover and you will see the restaurant few doors down on right hand side.
Phone: +(91)-(44)-42054881, 42054882, +(91)-44-66598988

5 Senses, Chennai

We walked in towards the lift in this new swanky restaurant 5 Senses on Khader nawaz khan road... A we entered the roof top, we were pleasantly surprised at the spacious interiors and exterior seating and of course the decor. The walls had posters from Hollywood classics. As i admired them, the waiter brought what looked like a huge diary, but which was actually their menu card, rather quite a large menu book. Flipped through the pages, tried to make sense of all that was written under each category and finally gave up.. but the information about the various towns, cuisines present was very interesting.. Wish they gave us a book to take home to read in leisure!!

We ordered a Tapas, that had about 5 little starters, 3 veg and 2 non veg.. They were each sinful and packed with flavour. And then for soup, i ordered a Broccoli soup, which the waiter served in a rather unique fashion. The bowl came with a little cake in the center around which green thick soup was poured. The center was infact a broccoli mouse cake. It was good.. very light!! A friend ordered Mushroom soup that was served with a long slice of toasted bread on a wooden platter, quite funky... The others passed up on soup and went ahead with the main course. 

Between us, we ordered a Chicken & Basil pizza[ Senor P added every possible seasoning on it and we managed to get a clear shot of that, but the whole pizza looked divine and the crunchy basil on top was delicious], a chicken salad, I ordered a dish that was an assortment of smoked vegetables, and finally there was the Mousakka... If one could satiate their hunger with just the appearance of the dishes, we would be full to our ears,  then this is where you should head... however, if you are a group of people and try to share the dish, you might feel the portions are too little... The Restaurant prides itself in being a Fine Dining, and so prices are high and portions are lesser than what you are normally used to...

Food did taste good, but apart from the pizza, the portions were fairly ok... Between us, we finished one and a half bottles of wine as well. And did order up a few Apple martinis that another friend had recommended...

Oh, and we werent done yet... We wanted to go all the way and have ourselves one hearty meal. For dessert, we just stuck to Chocolate Canaloni, that was served on a long white plate with a few slices of orange on one side, and two rolls, one hazelnut flavoured and other dark chocolate with rich cholocate filling on the inside.. It was to die for... divine!!  

Good conversation, amazing company and good food, all that made the evening quite a memorable one!We were on a high and so the night will remain a fun experience...

Ambiance 9/10

Food 7/10
Service 9/10
Price 6/10

Address:    

Oyster, No. 9, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam , Chennai -34

Just after Casa Picola... 

Phone: 044 -30062010, 30062020, 30062030