chennai – Ghumta Bhukkad

Chilling at THE FARM!

Published on September 16, 2016September 16, 2016 by Ghumta BhukkadLeave a comment

Well, there’s a place in this city,

Away from the crowds and all pretty,

Feels like a transportation to another World,

The Farm is one of its kinds!

We started with a poem coz this place feels like poetry. A feel good place as soon as we enter. The greenery around just amazed us. Beauty and freshness is the USP of this place. That’s the first thing we notice. A chic entry board, a nice walk and a swing on one side, feels so away from the hustle-bustle of Chennai. Yeah that’s how precise we can get with the entry to THE FARM.

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The second thing which bowls you over is the amazing interior of the place. Such a laid-back, comfortable ambience that you become sure, you have come to a relaxing place. Plus the add-on is an open wood-fire counter which just lures you enough towards pizzzaaa. Exciting isn’t it?

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We got seated and started off to order when they served us water, all organic with lemon and mint. That was so refreshing. A sip and we went ahead to order. The menu is precise and drool worthy. Loads to try and loads to explore.

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For the start we ordered two simple drinks. Lemon Ginger Soda and Hibiscus Soda. The first attraction were the beautiful towering glasses which were used to serve the soda. And yes they tasted awesome. So refreshing, so unique.

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Then we went for the basic hit formula, The French Fries. Frankly if you go wrong with them, may be you need to reconsider. But we were sure in for a surprise. Never did we have such fresh French fries ever. Perfectly crisp, perfect in all ways. Fresh tomato ketchup and mayonnaise as adjunct just made them a perfect delight.

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And the final nail was the amazing Paneer Steak. Heard about the juicy and brilliant chicken steaks, but these for sure were nonetheless. Perfectly marinated Paneer, done so well and with add-ons of Saffron rice, Sauté veggies and fresh Coriander chutney. This was one heavenly combination. The best part about this was the chutney, the freshness so intact.

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Every small detail in everything we had was taken care of very well. Just amazing how they pamper you. With the beautiful ambiance, cool music, awesome crowd and such such delectable food, the FARM is a place to be on a holiday when you just want to relax and let people pamper you with food.

Hail Food Lovers! Hail Ghumtabhukkads!

Revisiting Awesomeness- Hot Pot China!

Published on July 23, 2016July 23, 2016 by Ghumta Bhukkad2 Comments

Hot Pot China is the only place in Chennai which we have visited repeatedly in last 3-4 years, only because how consistently they are serving the amazingly scrumptious Chinese.
We went early evening on a weekday and so getting a table was easy (We suggest book your table for your meals on weekends)

We were so hungry and we were so happy that we planned to have a 3 course meal.
The moment we took our place and gulped down a glass of water to quench our thirst they treated us with spicy Kokum shot, which was a perfect blend of fresh Kokum pulp with salt and pepper. That was like the perfect start to this gastronomic affair.

Meanwhile without wasting time, we quickly grabbed the menu and ordered “Sweet corn Soup”. Oh boy! Bowled over by the freshness of corn, small pieces of carrot and grated broccoli; it was making it the perfect soup. Better at Strike 2 again!

IMG_20160719_201057 — Veg Sweet Corn Soup

Pineapple Salt n Pepper was the starter.
For me it was new. Being a fan of barbeque pineapple, we wanted to try this and it was not a bad choice for sure; sweetness of the pineapple and pepper complementing it so well.
(Order only if you like taste of pepper).

IMG_20160719_201528 — Pineapple in Salt n Pepper

On our previous visits, they had always served complimentary dim sums. On enquiring, they told us that they discontinued the practice and trust me, we were heartbroken.
Being a hardcore Dumplings fan, we couldn’t miss on that. So we asked them, “What is the best dim sum they can serve us, steamed ones.
His suggestion was the Steam Pokchoy Dumplings.
It was different than what I have tried till date. It was filled with all greens. Grated zucchini, broccoli, lemon grass served with fresh pepper salsa.

IMG_20160719_204358 — Steamed Pokchoy Dumplings

Once we finished with the dim sum, it was time for the main course and we ordered “Butter Chilli Garlic Noodles” with “Four Treasure Vegetables in Schezwan Sauce”.

And with the first bite of those Noodles, I was on Cloud Nine. Picture of those noodles will speak for itself.
It was beauty. That taste of butter with Red Chilli Flakes is something I can still not forget.

IMG_20160719_205218 — Butter Chili Garlic Noodles

Four treasures with Schezwan sauce.
We were so much into the noodles but this did not failed us.
Well cooked Vegetables and in good quantity with lots of sauce.

IMG_20160719_205231 — Four Treasure Veg in Schezwan Sauce

To end it we wanted to have dessert but we were already full. So out of greed and after lot calculations and after doing permutations and combinations we ordered hot chocolate Roll will not say that was best it was the only Okay dish of the Day.

IMG_20160719_212233 — Hot Chocolate Rolls

While discussing with the manager he also told us that, they will be changing menu from next month and new menu will be covering Asian food as a whole.

Overall it was wonderful experience and waiting for the change in menu to try it again.

Another thing which we appreciated about them is the half portion they serve. That not only gives us space to try other dishes it also reduces wastage of food.

Why Revisiting? Coz we keep visiting n more so Write about it again n again!

You can check with it here-

https://ghumtabhukkad.com/2013/10/21/hot-pot-china-omr/

Once upon a FoodWalk at Sowcarpet – By Ghumtabhukkad

Published on August 19, 2014January 21, 2023 by Ghumta BhukkadLeave a comment

It all started with my curiosity to know more about Madras, fortunately I landed up on a website that mentioned MadrasDay, where I found out about the event – “Food Walk at Sowcarpet”. I was sure this event will have something for the Gujju foodie in me. I never had a thought that an event like a food walk can happen in Chennai. I wanted to be part of it, later I got to know that this was not the first Food Walk and many such walks were done prior to this one.
Both Me and Sharon reached at Mehta brothers Shop No.310, Mint Street the starting point for the event, bang opposite Union Bank. Mint Street was at its chaotic best, for all Mumbaikars they can happily relive their memories.

We miraculously found a parking spot right in front of Mehta’s, Mr.Vasudevan who was waiting for us, he guided us to another Mehta bros shop no.325. There we surprisingly saw a group of 30-40 Foodies who had already assembled, we started our journey with munching of Vada-pav, We both had gobbled up enough food for lunch at Annalakshmi, another awesome place for South Indian Food. Since both of us have lived in Mumbai so we didn’t have an exciting taste bud for the Vada Pav. later Nandini (our friend from a food walk)told us that she felt it was close to Bombaiyya Wada-pav. From there we started walking through the chaos, noise and amid racing vehicles to reach Kakda Ramprasad. It is a 2-3 storey building with Air-conditioned dining facility. We were told that their specialties are Jalebi, Aloo-Paneer Pattice and Badam milk.

We couldn’t hold any longer and took our token for the food after a hard-fought struggle with other hardcore foodies who were waiting for their turn. Jalebi was better than any other place we had tried in Chennai till date. Aloo-paneer Pattice was good, had a lot of panneer in it and badam milk we left it for next time, we wanted to keep ourselves hungry for the best which was yet to come. As Bhavani (our friend from a food walk) said throughout the walk “The best place will be the last place”.We were clicking and remembering Crawford market and chaats from Mumbai.
We saw people moving towards a small stall “Anmol lassi centre”.

A guy with the huge build was at the other end serving Kesar lassi in a huge glass(we prefer calling it a tumbler), I bet u cannot finish one full glass. Stall has a lot of paper cuttings and articles which are published in various newspapers Don’t ask him many questions he was a wrestler prior to this. Half a glass of lassi will cost you 70 Rupees. He would accept the money only after you complete your glass of Lassi.
From there we went to chotu motu nothing particular about the place, They have sweets and savouries. Sandwich shop outside the chotu motu was similar to the shops you generally find in markets of Mumbai and sugarcane juice stall, they serve juice with lemon and ginger.

From there we kept walking, burning all our calories which we accumulated, we reached Ajab Ajnabi mithai Bhandar they are famous for their bhel puri and all other Gujarati snacks like Fafda, Gathiya.

From there we started walking through the narrow lanes of sowcarpet to reach Maya chaat for Pyaaz ki kachori we waited there for a few minutes for the hot pyaaz ki kachoris coming out of hot oil specially for us, which they serve with Green chutney.

We spent nearly 30 minutes eating and talking, making new friends sharing our stories and listening to theirs. We enjoyed our talks with Rajith and his wife Purabee.
As it was nearly 7 o’Clock and it was getting dark people were not sure that they wanted to cover another two places (many were Tired and few already had their quota of calories). As we are in democratic country, we had a voting there for Agarwal Sweets and seena bhai Tiffin centre, We were unaware of this development as we were busy eating ,Fortunately we joined the group of people who were heading towards Agarwal Sweets and after 15 -20 minutes of struggle with cows, vehicles and cow dung. We reached Agarwal Bhojnalaya on our way, we crossed a lane dedicated to Dry fruits wholesaler, another lane for Electrical appliances.
On reaching Agarwal Sweets, it’s a Bhojnalaya in the actual real sense. Thali was being served amidst all the chaos. We were so full that we would not have had that Thali even if we got paid for it. They also serve Good samosas which people can vouch for. We added it to our list of go to go places and will tell you all how it is.

It was time for group photos and a few selfies. The group of people who were crazily discussing food and who were still not satisfied with the food and they had a craving for some more food.

After a small discussion we all headed towards the Seena bhai to have one of the best onion uttapam and ghee idly.
By the time we were going to seena bhai mint street was less chaotic, shops were closing down and Cows were resting. We ordered onion uttapam and Ghee idly, evening .trust me this is the place to go. Once we had our idly and uttapam , few of them were getting late and they left.

Finally we six souls who were still on the go and searching for a cup of tea.
As gujjus say after having oily food have some tea to get rid of excess cholesterol.
We went to Novelty Tea and to our disappointment they serve tea only till evening 4 PM. On enquiring, they guided us to some place called MRP, on reaching there we pulled our chairs and ordered masala chai, had our cups of tea with lots and lots of stories.
Stories were from the Himalayas to Cochin, water rafting to food streets, Royal Enfield rides to paranormal walks. Finally, we said Goodbye to each other with the promise of meeting each other soon.
At the end of the tour I was left with the thought,
“It’s not always about food,
It’s about the people u meet,
It’s about the stories they have,
It’s about the passion they bring in with them”.

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Cream Center – The Veg Edge

Published on January 9, 2014January 9, 2014 by Ghumta BhukkadLeave a comment

We were on our way on a very very hungry Sunday afternoon to try some exotic restaurant in Chennai , and on the way we happened to glance at Cream Center in nungambakkam. They didn’t have hordes of people waiting in line which is rare, generally there are long waiting lines on weekends and pronto all plans changed and we immediately parked our vehicles ,got a table as soon as we entered into the restaurant which would have definitely given a high competition to a fish market in terms of the rising decibel 😀 We placed the order asap as we were pretty mesmerized by their Menu and we were all super hungry,our friend who was accompanying us had already had food there a lot many times helped us with the order .We must complement them on bringing all different kinds of cuisines under one banner and giving so much thought to their menu and the mouth watering pictures posted on it. The ambiance though loud is quite spacious and full of light from their huge french windows and pastel hued surroundings.

We ordered :

Worlds Best Nachos : The nachos tasted good and it gets full points for arriving at our table bathed in pool of creamy cheese 🙂 and as much as we totally devoured the food in seconds , to claim it to be “the worlds best nachos” would definitely require more complimenting flavors, as in a small portion of salsa which is traditionally accompanied with nachos, we sort of missed the acidic sourness in between mouthfuls and also the presentation can be made more attractive. After all it is a fine dining restaurant.

Paneer Ka Baap : Their menu which has enticing food pictures and short descriptions of the food, mentioned that it is a sinful combination served all in one platter :” original Paneer tikka, lal mirch paneer tikka, hariyali paneer tikka, kali mirch paneer tikka and tandoori salad, surely it is the baap of all tikkas”. But then little did we know that they meant that the baap (father) of paneer tikka is aloo (potato)!! As only one piece each of the above mentioned paneer tikkas were given and the other row (as you can see from the picture ) was big chunky cubes of Aloo, which I have to mention here was not cooked properly as it was very hard to cut with a fork ! Most of us left those Aloos on the plate. The taste of the tikkas was better than most places we have tried tandoori versions of paneer, with the paneer being soft and flavorful here, we liked the hariyali paneer tikka best.

Italian Baked Sizzler : This truly was the show stopper for us and the best order of the day. You cannot venture to cream center and not have one of their sizzlers as every few minutes a sizzling aromatic sizzler is flown past the table by one of the waiters. Since we were tasting all sorts of cuisines, Mexican, Indian and all,we decided to go for an Italian sizzler and boy were we happy. The whole combination of red sauce spaghetti and cheesy macaroni, parmesan cream baby potatoes and the bits of grilled and steamed veggies was really good. The taste well balanced.

Penne Arrabiata Double Baked : We ordered this dish owing to it being written in their menu that it is a combination of both herbed italian red tomato sauce and 4 cheese sauce, and also because the picture in the menu looked pretty seductive 😛 The pasta did taste good as the herbs were delicately balanced but we didn’t find any traces of the 4 cheese sauce in it , as the picture below shows there 3 tiny dots of cheese probably used more for presentation than for taste. It tasted very much like a normal arrabiata pasta and we certainly expected more.

Methi Aloo Parantha : We totally consider it a cardinal sin if parantha does not have a good dollop of butter on top when it comes to the table. Totally unacceptable. We made this order more as an after thought and considering how hungry we were and it seemed like a good small portioned meal combination but honestly the paranthas were lackluster! ( that coming from big fans of piping hot paranthas). The raita was thin in consistency, we prefer it to be a bit thicker and the dal makhani was reasonably good along with it.

To finish off, this is one of the first restaurants that we have mixed feeling about, usually it being a definitely we are going back for more or nope we are never stepping in but here I think we have to be truly seduced or allured by great company to persuade us to try more. Their food certainly tastes good and there is a huge array of dishes to choose from but certain bits lack detailing which should not be ignored amidst a sea of crowd also.

Ambiance – 3/5
Service – 3.5/5
Food – 3/5
Price – 400- 600 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.

Chef Express- Beasant Nagar.

Published on January 3, 2014 by Ghumta Bhukkad2 Comments

Went there on an already bad day for us in terms of food .So was expecting something great and happening which could uplift our mood.As eating out most often does for us. Good food and friends can pretty much work all sorts of magic for us in life 🙂

So this place is in Besant nagar, and therefore our expectation of good food rose, as this locality is quite the crowd puller and generally this place seems quiet from outside, so we selected it. Oh and also a board outside the restaurant displayed buy one pizza get one free (which we decoded once we went in, was actually for the order of a large pizza you get a small pizza free)! The interior is decent with a touch of italian theme wall motifs and tiled topped tables. Its spacious or maybe it seemed so for the lack of people around 😛

Anyway getting to the food, We ordered :

Veg Manchow soup :- Its a pretty standard order for us because it is usually pretty tasty and most restaurants mess it up the least. It was good here with the right amount of vegetables and flavor in it.

Garlic bread with Cheese : we are not sure what they were trying, but it seemed like a copy of the pizza hut garlic bread but was not at all the same in taste. Although the bread was soft there was not enough garlic flavored butter spread on it. The cheese was also bland.

Picante Curry Pasta :- We would rather call it paneer butter masala pasta! It was such a set back ,it was like they had put pasta in paneer butter masala curry which you can eat as a side dish with naan or roti, it was so so very indian that we cant emphasize enough on it and more over it wasn’t a very tasty panner butter masala. It definitely had more oil in it and was very spicy, with chunks of paneer in it and no semblance of it being Italian at all, with a drizzle of mozzarella cheese on the top as garnish. On asking much later for the Garlic bread that was to accompany the pasta they apologetically told us they forgot and got two pieces of garlic bread and although the bread was soft there was not enough butter spread throughout the bread and it distinctly lacked the garlic flavor in it !Also it tasted somewhat sour the parts it did have butter.

Sizzzler(the name of which cannot be remembered !!) : They took the longest time to get this on our table and then gave half burnt rice with very little flavor, it was plain rice with the tiniest tinge of butter, veggies were less in quantity and it was kind of burned with an amalgamation of herbs and spices which did not give off any distinct flavor, also the vegetables seemed to be not that fresh, there had put the sides of old chewy cucumber ,along with tomatoes seasoned in salt and pepper. The main vegetable consisted of some brocolli, onions and bell pepper with some corn kernels. French fries were ok. Also must tell you that this is the first sizzler we have seen which came to the table without any sizzle at all 😦

May be Italian is not there niche …we seriously don’t know what is. This restaurant is in such a prime location with a comprehensive menu, only if the food were better they could have cashed in so perfectly. Its a pity!

Ambiance – 3/5
Service – 2.5/5
Food – 2/5
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 food.

chat on chaat

Published on December 24, 2013December 25, 2013 by Ghumta Bhukkad2 Comments

In a silent Isaphani centre , Nungambakam . On the first floor , beside the CCD outlet and Chat on Chinese, It’s Chat on Chaat.

Chat on Chaat , as name suggest .It’s a perfect place for long chat with friends and the Chaat to eat. To testify my words ,we 3 people spent more than 2 hours , contiuously eating , or should i say gorging and slurping on the food, declaring every plate arriving on our table to be the last and finishing up and ordering one more . It’s a blessing to find a place in Chennai which serves scrumptious Chaat.

Wow !! That is the word which describes my feeling after eating here and in addition to it, the smiling and welcoming and ready to serve attitude of the staff there, is so pleasing. The seating is made comfortable there all wooden furniture spread in the table of 4.

We ordered :

Pani puri : The way they make it is the same as you get it at Juhu Chowpatty in Mumbai. With brown chana ,aloo , sprout and cold spicy mint water . I will give this pani puri 100 out of 100 (it is a must try). They have two variant of the puri, they have suji ka puri and the normal atta puri which is the more widely available variety. Price is on higher side but it’s worth paying every rupee. It tasted heavenly superb.

Chole samosa : With every bite I had , my tongue was thanking me 🙂 It was not like usual what you get here in Chennai. The Samosa,which had aloo stuffing was served with the chola made with white chana and brown chana mixed with the chutney and served with fresh onions and green chillies.

Jalebi with rabdi : When you order the Jalebi, they make it fresh n hot right in front of you. Yes ,They serve it hot and you can suggest them whether you want it crispy , light , too sweet or not or just the way you like it .We ate 3 plates of it and had the first plate with rabdi which went pretty well. The Rabdi was not as per our expectation, it tasted good but there is space for improvement as it can be made more rich and delicious. but the freshly made jalebis get full points from us 🙂

Rasmalai : The malai in it was nice and soft and the milk in it was thin and sweet the way we like it and it was served with a garnishing of pistachio and almond flakes. It was fairly good but for the day we were so completely bowled over by the pani puri and the jalebis that we probably could not do it much justice 🙂

Ambiance – 3.5/5
Service – (self-service)
Food – 4.5/5
Price – 200-300 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.

Rajdhani Thali – Ek Khandani Parampara

Published on November 24, 2013November 28, 2013 by Ghumta BhukkadLeave a comment

Rajdhani Thali – Ek khandani parampara, as the name suggest to me, it’s a Khandani affair. I was introduced to it by my uncle who is a foodie and a fan of Rajdhani and its been over Decade now .I am still following this place and every time I go , I fall in love with them and my hunger never satiate. It Defines their Consistency .

We went to the newly opened velachery branch of Rajdhani Thali for the BOGO offer on the World Vegetarian Day , A perfect way to celebrate vegetarianism. It doesn’t matter in which city you go to Rajdhani, it will always be the same(I have tried them in 4 states across India).

When you enter the place you will be greeted in the traditional Indian way with an aarti thali and a little tika on your forehead,making you feel all royal. The welcome is such an instant feel good that they immediately score a point here.

The staff is wonderfully trained and I was in a conversation with one of the manager and he told me that after they get recruited they get special training in understanding the protocols of how Rajdhani works and if you have not noticed it until now, notice it the next time you are there and see how, with different hand signs they have a proper conversation with each other, to mention a few thumbs up for water, thumbs down for butter milk , 4 fingers for the curries , 3 fingers for Dal , sweet Dal and Kadhi, (correct me if i am wrong ).

I would apologize for this post without pictures, because we were very busy eating so there was no time to take pictures.For Pictures you can check official Rajdhani Thali website.

Once we took our place in front of the Empty thali with 17 katoris, our journey started with the variety of mouth-watering food.

To start with, you will get a welcome drink ours was kokum sharbat .

As a starter we got Daal baati churma which was authentic.

In farsaan , they served us Dhokla and pea kachori with Green coriander chutney and sweet chutney.

In vegetables, Paneer curry , Green Vegetable curry, Potato curry and Gatta(gram flour) curry.

For Indian Bread , they always have phulka , Bajre ka Rota, jowar or makai ka rota and Palak puri with unlimited Ghee.

In Dal they have two varieties Tikha and meetha ,In additon to it they will have kadhi to serve. it will be authentic the way it is served in Gujarat or Rajasthan.

In Rice they generally have Plain rice, masaledaar Khichdi, and Pulao . In chennai they will also serve you Curd Rice.

Additionally , There will be salad , pickle , Chutneys, Papad and Butter Milk.

For the Dessert , It was Hot Gulab jamun which will melt in your mouth , and Jalebi with Rabdi .Both were Lip smacking.

Every Time I visit Rajdhani it’s a new Experience for me.

In this review,we might have missed many items which we ate .So go there and share your experience with us .

let us know , what we have missed 🙂

Ambiance – 4/5
Service – 4/5
Food – 4.5/5
Price – 800-900 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.

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.