Another quirky new cafe opens up and this one comes with a little art gallery. Though not fully ready, the cafe part of it is fully set up and its really nice and quirky with a yesteryear European ambiance. The first time I went, I had the high tea and I really did not like it. The sandwich was 3 pieces of the same corn sandwich and I could literally taste the store bough ingredients and sauce,  the scones were ok, the cake was dry and in general was a disaster. The only thing that was good was the 2 tier serving dish! Never thought I would go back in about 2 months time.

We landed on a morning plane and were hungry and our options were the English Tea house of Brew Room. And so we decided to give this place another shot simply because the wife loved the name! Yes, just that. And that decision wasn't one that we had to regret, thankfully.

We ordered one Full English breakfast and asked to replace the bacon with potatoes which they happily did, and one Shepherd's Pie. If the name is English, I thought, why not try some English stuff.

The breakfast was very nice and probably the only place which serves sautéed mushrooms as part of the breakfast. Very English! It was hearty and yummy, but the one thing that stood out was the bread. I wish I could buy some of it. I don't know what went into it, but it was fabulous. We asked for an extra portion and they didn't charge for it, so liked that too! The breakfast also comes with some orange juice, eggs to order, bakes beans and sausages along with a tea of your choice. The tea could feed two people!

The Shepherd's pie was pretty nice and the ratio of the meat to the potatoes was very good and nearly half, which is excellent. I expected it to be less wide and taller, but hey, we're not picking dimensions here!

We finished off with a nice pumpkin pie, which wasn't too sweet and quite perfect for my palate! Our damages? Rs. 1095!

So great breakfast and bad high tea!

English Tea Room is on Kasturi Rangan Road, the road adjacent to the old Chola Sheraton, down the road from Russian Culture centre. 

There used to be a joke that was doing the rounds in food meet ups. 'I want the largest buffet with lot of non veg options with alcohol, max budget Rs. 500.' A popular stand up comedian in Chennai used this left right and centre. Food forums were flooded with these requests. In the era of the 5 star brunches priced upward of Rs. 2000 nett/, the joke may actually not work anymore. OK, not 500 bucks, but at 1300 bucks, the large Sunday Brunch at Gateway Taj is really LARGE.

It starts right at the lobby. Yep, you enter the hotel and food stares at you. Besides the large dessert section, there is a live counter doling out French Toasts and Crepes and the likes. I couldn't resist and despite recommendations from that chef to try these for dessert, I insisted on having them straight away. The cinnamon kissed French toast was fab! Unlike most places, this is a nice thick, almost French baguette that is dipped and served!! Besides the fact that few places actually serve breakfast in their brunch and serve a glorified lunch, it was nice to see breakfast stuff!!!

The problem with these large brunches is that everything tends to be okayish. You can take a couple of mouthful of everything and by the time you taste everything, you would be full! This wasn't the case here. The food was of quality and taste that is definitely better than most brunches in the city (OK, technically this is out side city, New Chennai, sort of).......

While there is no way to jot down every dish, there were some super favourites. The Broccoli Almond soup was yum. The Madurai dosa, essentially chicken/egg or both paste on the kal dosas were yum. The starters - a little cannelloni was nice. This stuffed zucchini and the grilled sweet potatoes were excellent.

Then the Indianised version of Eggs Benedict and Scottish Eggs, both with fully cooked yolks. Now that I have started enjoying the runny eggs, I thought these weren't great, but the chef said that people complained about eggs 'not being cooked properly,' so they've decided to cook them up. Can't fault that.

A smart South Indian section with rice, a yum biriyani and lots of gravies with six types of papads and four types of raithas. Really thought out well for the local population.

Disappointments? Yes. The cheese counter wasn't great. All hard cheeses and no soft cheese. The Japanese counter was extremely limited with only vegetarian sushi. Really? C'mon. But the honey glazed chicken from the Oriental kitchen (the other restaurant that is part of the Sunday brunch) was fabulous. Breads were also disappointing with not-so-great croissants and others. But with so many good things at a killer price point, one can't really complain.

Desserts are the weak links in most places and here they've made sure it doesn't happen as they have the live pancakes, crepes and toasts, so that is a safe haven. Besides, there were at least three biscuit type ones that were lovely.

You can take a dip in the pool if you want to. For free. Spa at 20% off. Considering the drive, this is like a long weekend drive up, soak up, massage up, eat up and get driven back. There is a little table for kids with an elaborate spread of finger foods, breads, mini pizzas, mini burgers for the kids.  I wasn't planning to take up the invite, but with a friend going and me not having to drive, I'm glad I went. Missed taking my swim shorts though and planning to take the family back soon.

P.S There is a live bar counter with a bar-tender who doles out cocktails and mocktails, the alcohol version is Rs. 1600 plus taxes. 

"Wel gome to Vella Maaya," she said with the classic Kerala accent. The guy smiled with a 'first time?' coming right out of him. My eyes were all inside. The courtyard was magical. A place like this could be magical at night, but in broad daylight? It was magical then too. I was walked straight into the lobby space with two nice large sofas and loungers on either side of the entry. The wooden staircase that leads to somewhere equally magical, I suppose, was a treat for the eyes.

The property was still sinking into me. The beautiful lawn. The orchids on the wall of the lawn. The pencil art on the wall on either side of the large door. Everything was magical. The toilets....oh man. The toilets were so inviting, that if you decide to stay and sleep there, you would be forgiven.

The wooden stairs that I thought was leading to some magical place actually led to the master bedroom. It had two large beds. And equipment placed in a way that you can have a full meal on the bed. The table was built onto the bed and it just rolls over to you. After the little tour of the place, we came back to our table. Order was already placed and since it takes a while to paint the food, the tour happens.

Yes, I was talking about a restaurant. What did you think?

Welcome to Villa Maya. Its a villa and maya indeed! Food wasn't restricted by cuisine, but by passion to integrate ancient and modern. This can only be called the Villa Maya cuisine.

 

The dry beef with coconut and mango. Now, both were dry. The beef was dry and the mango and coconut were dry, but when you put them together in your mouth, juices just flow from nowhere. The fact that the waiters explain every dish before they arrive/as they arrive gives you an idea of what to expect and what to do to get the best. You had to eat the beef and the mango coconut together to experience this. Every dish that followed had some tradition to it. The beef was served in jackfruit leaves, which were used as spoons during ancient times. Nice touch.

This was followed by the Spice Box. Derived from spice box, this was a melange of kebabs with just a teeny-weeny hint of different spices in each of the kebabs. From the saunf laced chicken to the saffron laced fish to the mirchi kissed prawns to the cinnamon licked galouti kebabs, this was a spice journey without the spice overpowering the originality of the dish. The slightly dry galouti kebab was the only flaw in the entire meal.

Then came the painter's platter - a platter of paneer done three ways. With chutneys served in little paint bottles, this had the pineapple and mint chutneys (that were also there in the Spice box), but an excellent new chutney, the beetroot chutney. For a non-fan of paneer like me, I could eat that all my life. Soft and succulent, this was by far one of the best paneer I've had in my life.

Then the Puttu with prawns and coconut. Brilliant. The last part of the cooking is done on your table with the sawdust oven and the chef then pushes out the puttu onto your plate. While I was full, I could notice that the puttu was going in without my approval. Flavours were just right and the fish gravy served along with it was a stunner.

Wahtalappam, a Sri Lankan specialty for dessert was a fabulous way to finish the meal. While it was as good as the ones I've had in Sri Lanka, there was a twist here, the cinnamon cream. I thought the dish was a little sweet until I was told to eat it with the cream. Magically, it was balanced.

A lot of places claim that their food is an experience and I've written about some of those places, but not until today have I really experienced the real meaning of the food experience. All 5 senses were involved, there was no cuisine to limit the creativity and there was a touch of elegance, ancient-ness (if that is even a word), modernity and flavour in the perfect balance.

Reservations are recommended during weekends and during lunch and dinner times and they are open 11 am to 11 pm, so early dinner or lunch might be the best way if you don't have a reservation.

The master bedroom I was talking about? That is also a table that is apparently sold out very often. If you're lucky you can experience that sitting on the bed with your legs folded and the table coming to you after you have settled down, but I think I would still prefer the courtyard.

A meal for two costs about Rs. 2500 and for me, it was one of the best meal experiences thus far and it came from Trivandrum!

Afternoon tea. A concept that I think originated in England and quite a few countries have taken into it, even if it means that it is marketed to tourists. Coming to think of it, the afternoon tea did have its place in India, at least in South India. As a kid, there was always tea time in the family, a concept that slowly waned away as we grew up. But the tea time did come back, albeit, in another form. Book reading. At times when I am done early, I sit and get some reading done at Amethyst or (very frequently) at Cha Bar, a place that I will miss forever. When I was invited by Marriott, I realised they are attempting to fill that gap and though I don't how well it will work, it was worth exploring.

A typical bill for me at Amethyst will cross Rs. 400 if you get a sandwich and a drink. Marriott is targeting that price point. At Rs 399 plus tax which comes to about Rs. 450 odd, you get an assortment of 5 eclairs and a coffee of choice. Though available between 11 am and 11 pm, this is perfect for evening tea or late evening tea if you are the book reading type or the kitty party type.

The five eclairs were classic, coffee, mixed berry, a fantastic dark chocolate orange and a white chocolate. The choice of coffee is reasonably exquisite with Indian Coorg, Ethiopian, Columbian and a couple more. Five eclairs are quite filling and you can while away a couple of hours over a book or chat away to glory or have a business discussion without burning a hole in your pocket.

Interesting concept and next month there might be a cheesecake replacing the eclair, but let's see how the Afternoon Tea concept works in Chennai. It will need time to catch up and I hope they don't give up before we find out if it will work.