October 2013 – Ghumta Bhukkad

Hot Pot China , OMR

Published on October 21, 2013October 21, 2013 by Ghumta Bhukkad1 Comment

We went to Hot Pot China after a rigorous session of yoga and our tummies rumbling with hunger. and it was pretty close by for some light not fattening food (or so i assume Chinese food to be ! ) so after about 10 mins of waiting on a busy saturday night we were seatedThis place has the potential for zen like peacefulness with all its buddha murals and beautiful paintings on the wall and the dim hanging lamps over the tables. of course here you would have to shun out all the noise eaters and the crowd having a good time with their family and friends to take in all of the ambiance.

Once seated we quickly ordered the soup and starters before ordering the rest (remember we were dying of hunger !) For soup and starters we had :

Lemon Coriander Soup – it was a thick soup with nice flavoring of lemon in at and finely crushed/ chopped coriander leaves and vegetables . It tasted yum and it was such a welcome treat for out hungry stomach.

Baby Corn Schezwan Chilly – Crispy friend baby corn sauteed in a schezwan chilly sauce and very indo- chinese. we quite liked it 😉

it was only after our collective tummies were a little satiated that we could take in the decor of this not so big but a cosy place. we must say the service was quite fast even for a busy full house day.we then ordered the main course and endeavored to have our food by chop sticks 🙂 n there started the lessons and the determination test for the bunch of us that went there. for main course we ordered :

Sapo Tofu With Exotic Vegetables – It was a gravy dish with lots of vegetables, the typical ones that go into chinese dishes and tofu. It tasted a little spicy but went well with the other two noodle and rice dish.

Burnt Garlic Fried Rice – Normally most chinese places offer garlic fried rice n this one gave the option of it being burnt which intrigued us enough to order it and the taste was something which made us happy enough owing to the smoky flavor of the rice along with the not too overpowering garlic tinglings. We loved this subtly flavored dish and our only wish is if only there were a tiny bit more vegetables in it.

Pan Fried Noodles in Schezwan Sauce – The noodles looked more like it was a soya sauce n not the red color schezwan sauce we are normally used to but even this tasted nice not all that schezwan-ny if you ask me but nice, the noodles although pan friend were soft and this had a lot of veggies.

By this time our endevour with the chopstick were successful by some just went back to the good old fork. We were completely full at the end of our meal with food, laughter and great friends and didn’t have any place for Desserts but we did have fresh lime sodas to wash it all down with. We would definitely go there to try their comprehensive menu. they also have a lot much more to offer for non vegetarians with a huge menu list. We enjoyed the place, food and service. Also another good thing about their menu is the half and full plate orders.

Ambiance – 3.5/5
Service – 4/5
Food – 4/5
Price – 300- 500 rupees for two(approx.)

Note : This is not a paid review. It’s based on our experience of going there and we paid for our own meal.

Ashvita Cafe

Published on October 19, 2013October 21, 2013 by Ghumta BhukkadLeave a comment

In a quiet lane of 5th avenue Besant nagar, there is this colorful looking place called Ashvita Cafe. You can spot the board of Ashvita cafe and Goli soda. We wanted to try this place as we came to know that they serve mock meat and being vegetarians, we wanted to try how it tastes here.

We went there on Wednesday evening and place was deserted we were the only people. We enquired with the only available host there and he said that it is usually crowded on weekends. Place was beautifully designed , the way to the cafe is from the Goli soda shop on the ground floor where they have a range of product for sale. We must say the products were cool ,quirky and funky but it is costly.

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Then we moved towards the cafe which is on first floor, and the first thing you say upon arriving there is “WOW” (Wait. Disappointment is on the way though !!).

Dining area is divided into two parts one is colorful and funky with board games where you can enjoy your time with group of friends .

The other part is for a romantic date , the room is painted yellow in color with dim light , Candles on the table ,a crafty glass bottle with a sprig of money plant and with the hangings on the walls will definitely make you fall in love with the place and your company.

Once we were done admiring the place we asked for the menu and it was limited ,as we were looking for mock meat there were only 4 variants in it, 3 in chicken and 1 in fish.In addition to it , they were also serving cake shake , milk shakes and appetizers and a limited 3 main course dishes .

As we wanted to try the best in of what their menu had to offer , we asked the host to suggest and he said fish fry is the best in mock meat. And after much deliberation and consultation , we finally ordered the fish fry , chocolate cake shake and Potato O’Brien and then When our order came our wow experience quickly changed into a night mare.

Potato O’Brien : Boiled potato sauteed with onion and cumin seeds (potato was cooked ok ) total disappointment definitely not worth Rs.125. my mom cooks much much better upwas food on pooja days !!!

Chocolate Cake Shake : We just wanted to try it because it was something new and it was the only item where we were not disappointment but again it was not worth paying Rs.225 for a very average cake shake.

Fish Fry (mock meat) : I dint know it can taste this bad ! Previously I have tried mock meat out side India but this was not up to the mark at all and my other ghumtabhukkad half is a Bengali who turned vegetarian and had tasted fish before said it tasted nothing like the original as not only the smell and taste were weird what irked us is the lack of any seasoning at all, we were not able to finish it after much coercing.

Ambiance – 4/5
Service – 3/5
Food – 1.5/5
Price – 600-700 rupees for two(approx.)

Note : Go only if you want to enjoy the interior and sit in a quite and lovely place with your loved ones you can try some milk shakes or teas at a high rate. Food was total disappointment but the Place has one of the best interiors in Chennai for some peaceful quality time spending.

This is not a paid review. It’s based on our experience of going there and we paid for our own meal.

That Madras Place !

Published on October 18, 2013October 21, 2013 by Ghumta BhukkadLeave a comment

This place was on our go to list and then came the Burrp event for That Madras Place , to celebrate an eclectic mix of food lovers , so we grasped the opportunity and landed up there all excited 🙂 This place was the new buzz in town , and you could actually feel that buzz around as we were there on Thursday evening and it was literally buzzing with the crowd that was there on a weekday evening. silly jokes aside 😛

Getting back to our Foodie business, as it was a Burrp event our menu was pre-decided and it was chalked down in front of us in a pretty little board that you probably chance upon a fancy broad walk. Upon entering the place a petite garden lends its a charming air instantly and then you chance upon all the black boards on top of their bar style counter where the menu is hand written and the graffiti done on the wall describing Chennai with all its “namma chennai” madness mingled along with funny and colorful cushions and chairs dotting the background.

Our Tables were arranged in a long row specially for the event and we loved the different designer pillows on every chair and the hanging lamps over the table created the ambiance for a soiree.Once all the people came and we settled down the manager introduced himself with a smile and told us what was in the menu . So we selected the vegetarian spread.

It was a pre selected soup of the day or mock-tail and we got one of each :

Carrot glazed soup :- Was creamy and it was hard to find the taste of carrot in it 😛 it was yellow in color and had a tad bit extra black pepper in it overall it was okay . Order it if you like the taste of black pepper and creamy soup.

Strawberry pineapple soda – was served in a dainty mason jar glass and tasted refreshing with just the right amount of sweetness. Left us wanting for more.

For the appetizers again we got one of each :

Parsley Garlic Fries – They severed these fries in huge quantities and was to be shared. it tasted great with the good old french fries getting a tasty twist of parsely and friend garlic bits with a little shredding of cheese which just about pops up in the mouth.

Mac and Cheese Cup – Was the traditional american mac and cheese and tasted a little bland but that is how it is had universally i suppose .(do correct us if we are wrong and mail us 🙂 ).

The main course consisted of :

Black Pepper Spaghetti – Again here we must say that we have had better spaghetti with white sauce and mushroom bits in it. Also the black pepper was more prominent than anything else . We would definitely order something else the next time we visit.

Eggplant Parmigiana – It tasted superb . Such a surprise of yumminess packed in eggplant stuffed with mozzarella and parmesan cooked in a tomato sauce base and full of flavor. my other half of ghumtabhukkad who till date had refused to eat eggplant happily lapped it up and belated realized his folly it was so deceptively delectable.

For dessert :

Opera cake – it was chocolaty but the last layer was a bit hard and we expected it to be soft as we have had better. Never the less it tasted nice.

White chocolate Blondie with vanilla ice cream – this was new to us and tasted very well specially after the full meal we had, this was refreshingly light and perfect for a dessert. we finished it record time and would definitely like to have it again.

We also have a special round of appreciation for the host Burp Chennai, They played the perfect host and all the fantastic people who were present and made the evening highly enjoyable and got us making new foodie friends.Thank you so so much.

Ambiance – 4/5

Service – 3/5
Food – 4/5
Price – 500-600 rupees for two(approx.)

Over all a good place and and we sure have to go again to to try the other cuisines

You can like Burrp chennai facebook page or follow there twitter handle @burrp_chennai to know happening events in chennai.

Note: This is not a paid review. It’s based on our experience of going there and we paid for our own meal.

Azzuri Bay , Adyar

Published on October 9, 2013 by Ghumta BhukkadLeave a comment

An idea of a roof top romantic dinner with a little koi pond fountain to greet you on your way up and the serenity of the buddha statues along with the open space and roof top dining makes the place peaceful and ideal for lovely meals with your loved ones. This was the first impression of Azzuri bay for us. A very smartly designed place in Adyar, Gandhi nagar. They serve Pan Asian , Mediterrenian and Italian food and Chettinadu . Their menu is a huge list to spoil you with choice.

We went there for dinner without reservation and found a spot instantly but being only two of us we were given the high chair option where they reserved their more comfortable and prime tables for the a larger group. The food there is pretty great but so far i can only vouch for mostly pan asian cuisine and a little about their pizza and pasta i had earlier much before we went for the review .

For starters we ordered

Spicy Vegetable Thai Rolls – as the name explains it vegetables rolled in wonton wraps and deep fried served with a tiny dash decorative salad and three delectable dips. There was a sauce with red chilies finely chopped in a sweet syrupy base, a second one was a peanuty chilly sauce and a third with ripe mango sauce with seasoning , spruced up the simple fried spring roll to a whole new level.

For soup we had

Tom Kha Phad – a very thai soup with vegetable and the thai must have’s coconut milk , galangal a dash of lime and coriander. we both loved it and the portions were very filing even though we had divided one soup by two.

Now, before we move to the main course i must say we were somewhat full because along with the soup and starter we had downed it with a huge glass of blueberry milkshake and cranberry milkshake, both of which were yummy, being sweet with real fruits and a dollop of vanilla ice cream in it and therefore our going for the second glass instead of following a more traditional path to main course and then dessert. We skipped dessert altogether and stuck to just one main course instead of ordering individually .

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So, for main course we had

Burmese Curry Noodles – because it came with its own curry on the side .they made it specially vegetarian on our request. The curry on the side was accompanied with fried onions and garlic and the curry was just an extension of the sauce the noodle was made in instead of being something a little different as we had expected. Also the whole thing tasted like a version of creamy thai curry instead of a more burmese version that the name suggested. Lot of room for improvement on this dish and they could have it a more fun dish by including some more accompaniments.

Ambiance – 4/5
Service – 3/5
Food – 4/5
Price – 1000 – 1200 rupees for two(approx.)

Over all a good place and and we sure have to go again to to try the other cuisines 🙂

Note: This is not a paid review. It’s based on our experience of going there and we paid for our own meal.