Vote for Me!

This came as a surprise to myself! I ve been nominated at the indibloggies award for the best food blog of the year!

You can vote for me here - voting is on until December 10th!

http://multivote.sparklit.com/web_poll.spark/21900

Thanks a ton!! :)

Mocha Mojo - Adyar

Just another place to hang out

Expecting something like Mocha in Nungambakkam we went to this relatively new cafe in Adyar, Mocha Mojo! After reading the reviews on burrp! i was really looking fwd to having some great food in here unlike the other Mocha. The place looks like a delight from the outside, really surprising first impression. Its more colorful and bright, has a top floor for hookah-smokers and the non-smoking zone is downstairs. Smoking is not allowed anywhere.

The service is typical of any Mocha, slowest in the history of any cafe. But this place gave an expectation to have better service. Yet the service is equally slow and if anything else is even pathetic. The hookahs were much better though. We tried the green apple sheesha and it was good enough. The food was a big disappointment after a long wait, more than half an hour for a deconstructed pie (thanks to the weird naming skills they have, u can be really disappointed wen the actual stuff arrives). The pie was almost inedible and depressing. So we decided to just order wedges and some drinks. The drinks, being watermelon juice, iced tea and some mocktails, were nothin spl expect they came in better quantities.

Overall, the experience was dragging due to the slow service and insufficient portions of food. Its more of a place to hang out than to go for dinner, which obviously is what its meant for.

Ambiance - 4/5
Food - 3/5
Service - 2/5
Price - More than 500 bucks, if u want to have food, drinks and the hookah
Will i go back again - Maybe yes just one more time to check out the rest of the menu

Mocha Mojo
72. 1st Avenue,
Indra Nagar, Adyar
Chennai - 600020
Phone 42337024, 42337025

The only good thing bout the place is the decor and the wide menu options which stirs u the moment u walk in.

Swayam - Saravana Bhavan - Royapettah

Let's Do the Favor Back to HSB!

Yes this buffet is a steal considering the prices HSB has been charging us thro these yrs, takin advantage of their legendary south indian food which we cant get enough of, irrespective of how much we are asked to pay! Its time for pay back! Eat as much as u want and pay only 225 here!

This buffet specialty restaurant of HSB has been around for a long long time and has been well-known for its buffet. I always thought its just another day-lite robbery by HSB by making a combo of north and south indian thali in their usual restaurants into a buffet here. But the standard of food is so good here that its so worth the money u pay and to my surprise, there were a lot more items that you think u can get in a thali.. tho the south indian stuff are the best as anyone with common sense wud opt to eat in a saravana bhavan.

The service is professional and the ambiance is awesome for a south-indian restaurant. Very neat fine-dining with a touch of class. You can also order Idli and Dosa other than the dishes displayed on the buffet. Considering the fact that a dosa in any saravana bhavan in chennai almost costs as much as it wud in the Saravana Bhavan in Atlanta (doing a dollar to rs convertion!),. this buffet is probably the most inexpensive thing ever offered by the group.

Ambiance - 4/5
Food - 4/5
Price - 450 to 500 bucks per couple including taxes
Will i go back again - of course!

Swayam - Saravana Bhavan
133 & 134, Peters Road,
Gopalapuram, Chennai
Phone 28256952, 28226973

It is still totally affordable and the food is without any doubt, worth the price!

Bombay Talkies - Mylapore

Well something must be good about a place?

Bombay Talkies inaugurated with a lotsa hype sometime bak and wen i went to this place, i was totally disappointed at first site. Its a small room with 4 or 5 tables (ppl sharing it) and almost always crowded with no space to wait but in between two tables (of course watchin other ppl eat with so much frustration makes them leave sooner). The service is very immature i shud say, even in road-side joints we can find more courtesy. The ONLY and trust me the only waiter there... is the manager (owner?) himself, who gets irritated at customers who open the door for too long or ppl who are not ready to wait. He repeats ur order in such a manner that u almost feel guilty for ordering so much!

The menu is a mix of north and south indian quick eats, everything from aloo paratta and puri bhaji to thenga sevai and masala dosa are there. But absolutely nothign tastes good! The dosa, seva, etc are available only in the evening so don have high hopes seein the long extensive menu (of which most are repeated twice under two headings, whatta cheaappo!).

I tried the quick lunch once and it had a good set of roti n dal. But other than which the so-called pulao that came with it had so much cardamom overdose that they cud ve called it elatchi rice or something, inedible it was. The butter milk is good but they also serve the same instead of good curd along with aloo parattas, which again wasnt authentic, it kinda reminded me of my pathetic attempts at makin aloo paratta at home :D

So i had to give them a second chance and try out other items on the menu, went again (yea i am very strong hearted!). Since i already knew the tone and manner of the waiter, who acts like doin us a favor, this time concentrated on food completely, most of the menu was unavailable including many fruit juices. The gobi paratta was much better than the aloo paratta, only a lil burnt :P and so was the pav bhaji. This is possibly the worst pav bhaji i ve had in my lifetime! It tasted cheap to be precise. Nothing rich about the bhaji tht came with the burnt pav. Can someone even go wrong with this?

Ambiance - 2/5
Food - 2/5
Service - 2/5
Price - 150 to 200 bucks for a couple
Will i go back again - only if i have absolutely no other choice!

Bombay Talkies
Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai,
Mylapore, Chennai - 600004

Must agree there is something feel-good bout the place tho!

Roasts & Grills, Green Park - Vadapalani

Expensive Party!

Roasts & Grills? Never heard of it ever before, even the Green Park website doesnt show it as a restaurant they have to offer..and then i heard its a poolside barbeque place.. wow..must try. twas an office dinner and there were like 15 to 20 of us, the place is quite huge to accommadate large groups, unlike Aqua in The Park. But the so-called pool here is pretty sad i shud say..it looked.. well Sad! thats the exact word that came to my mind when i saw it.

The service is prompt and good. The waiters are helpful. There is a small bar area which has only selected indian liquors and they don serve cocktails. But they do bring u imported stuff from the pub below on special request. The place wud ve been better off being a pub or a open-air dance club..the music was good..but the buffet that was placed in one sad corner (barbeque is supposed to be rite in front of u like an entertainment in itself).. sucked big time. Twas totally not worth the 450 bucks spent on. The starters served on the table were supposed to be barbequed, but were nothin close it.. we had to nibble on burnt corn and unboiled unpeeled un-barbequed baby potatoes. The buffet was typical and nothin specially worth mentioning or remembering except the Thai fried rice and egg curry. Not a big spread anyway and so were the desserts. For the same price, Mainstreet in Residency Towers offers a huge selection of food as well as desserts. No value for money here.

Overall, paying a cheque close to 22k and walkin out unsatisfied after sitting in the hottest October ever in Chennai's history with absolutely no breeze on a supposedly poolside restaurant at 11 30 in the nite...isnt really something we can afford or rather choose to do again. Only pluses that gave an average to this place - not many restaurants in the city that offers u a party feel, huge, great service and yes more than that they serve pretty stiff drinks i shud say!

Ambiance - 4/5
Food - 2/5
Service - 4/5
Price - 1000 bucks per couple without drinks
Will i go back? - unless i really run outa places to have fun!

Roasts & Grills
Hotel Green Park, N.S.K. Salai, Arcot Road,
Vadapalani, Chennai - 600026
Phone 66515151

Go there if u wanna have a good time with friends leisurely, but if ur lookin for good food..definitely a big NO!

Beanstock Cafe - Greams Road

Great food and a nice place to relax

I am big fan of such open-air cafes and this one din really gimme much expectations from the way it looks and the location it is in. Wonder how many ppl will find a cafe hidden somewhere in the small lanes of greams road, but surprising i did see a little crowd here on a sunday. The service is good and fast unlike many other cafes.. The pricing is ok for a cafe of this type, not too expensive when compared to places like amethyst and anokhi.

Coming to the food, thats where they stand out. The sandwiches are yummy and filling. Try the chilli cheese and the egg mayo, perfect i shud say. But the best dish i ve had here is the Dynabites, so yummy u can never have enuff, u sure will order another plate! There is no iced tea on the menu surprisingly, but they do make it on request and its quite good. The milk shakes, fresh juices and the ice-cream adds on to the merriment. But the menu does seem a lil small, yet to try out their pastas and salads. Will def keep going back!

Ambiance - 3.5/5

Food - 4.5/5

Service - 4/5

Price - At least 200 bucks for a couple

Will i go back? - check my last line!

Beanstock Cafe

31, Anderson Road, '

Near British High Commission,

Greams Road, Chennai - 600006

Phone 42188181

Yay! found one more hide out.. now y did i reveal this already?

Tasty Jones - Besant Nagar

A Good Evening Spent

After searching for NEW places in Bessie.. tasty jones which is a sub of Pupil (which is supposed to sell the best burgers in Chennai)..was found.. the seating outside is nice and the atmosphere is great.. the waiters are very friendly and that is the biggest plus of this place am sure.

The food is a bit expensive considering the portions served. We felt a bit greedy and ordered lots and felt like there is going to be lots to take back home... unfortunately the amount served wasnt enough to even fill us for dinner.. so had to order somemore actually... even the drinks had to be re-ordered twice or even thrice.. the lemon soda served was nuff for 3 sips each!

Coming to the food, it wasnt actually very impressive, but the ambiance and service makes up for everything i guess (and of course the evening breeze from the beach!). The menu is very extensive, has everything from american fast food to indian breads.,.but like any wise person wud, we ordered the burgers and lasagne here... the veg steak burger was nothin but paneer tikka inside the burger bun (wat a BIG disappointment for a place opened by PUPIL!) and the lasagne was ok, no complains, not that we expected anything authentic. The turn around time was fast, the starters were yummy, veg fritters, pepper cheese fries and cheese balls, cudnt have nuff of them, mayb cos they were served in very less quantities! i think they count the number of fries and balls they keep on the plate!

Ambiance - 4/5
Food - 3/5
Service - 4/5
Price - Around 500 bucks for fast-food dinner!
Will i go back again? - Yes definitely

Tasty jones
#1 & 2, TNHB Complex,
Elliots Beach 4th Main Road,
Besant Nagar, Chennai - 600090
Phone 9841586500, 45587848

Overall, money not so worth the food, but an evening worth spent! Will definitely go here again, and if ur here make sure u order lots and have ur wallet full :)