That night was magical. While, it felt like entering a fort with its high walled security entry, the moon light on the bridge that runs through the property was truly magical. It was serene. The view of the pool from the bridge was intriguing. Like a blast from the past.....I mean well past, like a few civilisations past. The pool like the Harappa and Mohenjodaro pool. With the moonlight on it.

Some things change for better, I guess. After a long long wait for the property to be up, the sprawling resort on ECR is up, but in a new avatar as the Intercontinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort. While not really a beach resort, the beach is walkable. The place has an intriguing feel because of the way it is built. It feels like it has too many characters. The lobby is eclectic. With straight stairs going up to the extremely well planned out bar with a spacious outdoor space, a royal indoor space and a modern side to it, the lobby and bar alone seemed to have multiple personalities.

The rest of the hotel is even more confusing. Built around squares, it has a really ancient feel to the design but an extremely modern feel to the decor. The pond almost entirely covers one half and the swimming pool and garden form the other half, split by a walkway. The bridge is on top of the walkway. That night, courtesy the moonlight, it was magical, but I wonder how this place will look at daytime. I have to go back there to stay to find out.

We were here for the food. What's so special in a resort's buffet, I thought. It wasn't the buffet. It was a 7 course meal. Who does that in the all day dining? Well, here they do. Aimed at those staying for long and don't want to do a buffet everyday and those willing to drive down from Chennai to celebrate a special occasion or to impress the woman of their lives (or hope to be), this was a showcase of Chef Ashish, who is here from Anandha, Himalayas. When I saw the words 'Ash potato' on the menu of the day, I was wondering why they didn't notice that mistake and was actually looking forward to the mashed potatoes.

Freshly baked bread with the dips were so good, that we took refills all along the way. It looked great, it felt great and tasted excellent. This was followed by an amuse-bouche, a melange of vegetables. Then the excellent scallops and duck with cauliflower puree, but I am rushing to the next course, the soup. This was a green peas soup, full of flavour served in tiny coffee cups with a wafer of bread with parmesan. This was just fabulous! It was small enough to keep us wanting for more and reminded me of the mushroom cappuccino served in similar portions at a favourite restaurant of mine. This though, was a cold soup and that added to its complexity. Loved it.

This was followed by an excellent prawn dish. Poached in orange juice with curried pop corns and miso, this was a melange of flavours. All familiar, but not together. The tinge of orange with the miso and the little bump of pop corn was excellent. This was followed by the baby Sea Bass, with a citrus salad, that wasn't on my favourites' list. But then, I am not a big fish fan, so that opinion to be taken with a pinch of salt!

This was followed by the spelling mistake. Tenderloin with potatoes, but there was no mashed potatoes. The chef came on to explain how he got the 'ash' on the potato. It was indeed Ash potato with the beef!!! Flummoxed! While I loved the potatoes and the beetroot puree and the beans, I didn't fancy the beef so much, that day! The next course, dessert more than made up for it. Five textures of chocolate with the fabulous banana ice cream was a feast for the eyes and palate.

Buffet is priced at Rs. 1499 and 1799 plus taxes for lunch and dinner, while a 7 course meal like what we had is priced at Rs. 2500 plus taxes, with a few hours of advance notice. A friend said that their breakfast was excellent, but I am yet to try any other meal there. Waiting for the other restaurants to open and then plan a mini holiday there. Will update on how the stay and rooms are, real soon!

Intercontinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort is on the way to Mahabs, about a dozen or so kilometres before Mahabs! 

Speechless.

My camera bag dropped on the floor.

It took me a while to understand what was going on. When a restaurant where you have some special memories has a makeover, it tends to surprise you and make it difficult to reconnect with the same place. For the first time, I wished this make over happened when special memories were being etched. From being a nice rustic restaurant at the secluded end of the beautiful Fisherman's Cove, this has evolved, no, turned overnight, into a chic, pretty bistro by the sea. With rocks right in front of you and the sound of music (the natural splashes of the waves, I mean) and the beautiful decor staring at you, this is some transformation. When Taj called us over to try out the new menu at the revamped Upper Deck, this is not what I was expecting.

No food photographer can do real justice to the ambiance, I guess. So I just took one shot and moved on to the food! We started off with a nice French Onion soup, but without the cheesy mess. This was a fine dine version of the cheesy soup, but one that was right on flavour, but it stood no chance against the other soup, the Roasted Tomato and Basil soup! This was excellent with the flavours of the roasted tomato searing through the palate and the basil just caressing the tongue on its way down.

Then four wonderful dishes to start off, the beet salad and the chicken liver pate. Both were excellent in presentation and flavours, the beet salad being super moist for a salad with the perfect home made vinaigrette dressing, while the chicken liver pate, for someone who is not an offal fan, made me take two helpings. The third being the seared Tuna salad, which with the rocket leaves and done medium rare, left us wanting more, but we had to save space for the rest of the courses. The, fourth, a leek pie was simply excellent. The pastry used for the pie was a killer and I'd die to get the recipe for that!! The filling was just right and the dish as a whole was loved by everyone on the table.

Then came the disappointment. The Risotto wasn't up to scratch for me. The rice didn't have that bite, though the flavours were just right. The previous courses set the standards so high, that the risotto didn't live up to it.The next was a chicken stuffed with four cheeses. While the chicken was a little dry for me, the dish itself was pretty good and the flavours were brilliant. A slightly moist chicken would have nailed it.

Then came a dish that set the standards higher. Grilled jumbo prawns (I'm salivating as I write this), with cheese, salad and tagliatelle. The prawns were grilled to perfection, were juicy and yummy and the pasta was just right for this. The desserts simply did not live up the standards of the other dishes! The tiramisu and the chocolate mousse and pie were just about alright, so nothing special here.

The prices have dropped significantly from the older menu and meal for two will cost about Rs. 2800 without alcohol. They also have a sundowner menu from 4-7 pm, which I didn't get a hang of.

More importantly, the revamp is so good that I'd like to recreate memories here again and we have already planned it!!! But if you are yet to pop the question or the ring, this might just be the place to do it! 

There are times I miss Cha Bar. The amazingly wonderful quaint little bookshop that had a wonderful cafe and allows you to keep reading to your heart's content. This time around, I had a book in hand. But didn't have a place to read. Car? No. Office, definitely not on a Sunday. Amethyst? Thought about it and almost decided to go there when a friend suggested the Marina Beach.

In the recent years, I've not used Marina beach as much as a good Chennaite should. I don't go there running anymore, I don't go there in the evenings and honestly, I guess, I've forgotten Marina. What else can explain me wondering where to go to spend some alone time reading a book and Marina had to be prompted for me to even consider it? Shame on me! Shame on calling myself a Chennaite!

So I landed. Sunday evening is like a open house with individual family parties. Was very lucky to find a place to park my car. And the food scene was inviting. Marina used to be the place which had only 'Sundal' while Elliot's Beach was the happening place. Not anymore. Marina has transformed! And gotten dirtier in the process, but livelier.

So, started off with a 'sandwitch.' Nice simple roadside style. Rs. 30. And to wash down the spice, I had to get a drink that is almost synonymous with Chennai, the sugarcane juice. This one was spiced with 'Lamon,' ginger and something else. While the spellings amused me, a shoe wearing, camera and book holding guy snapping pictures amused the vendors. In the age of the selfies, I asked them why they were amused with somebody shooting pictures. I was right. The book is what amused them. And the vendors gladly posed for photos. "Padikaravanga beach ku varamaatanga saar.' Loosely translates to 'those who study do not come to the beach.' 'Study' and 'Read' are not really differentiated in their world, I guess.

So after the 15 bucks sugarcane juice with lamon, I ventured to a 'Bombay Chat House.' Having recently explored the street food of Bombay, I knew this was not even close. "Appadi potta dhan saar makkal varango." Only if you put those names, people come to the stalls. Hmmm....So I had the puri channa, Chennai answer to a fusion of pani puri, channa puri and other stuff. Pani puri sized puris, loaded with a very runny gravy and topped with a pasty channa mix. And condiments added to the top. At 30 bucks, this was slurp. How can I not have the sundal? This is the only food that brought back a flood of childhood memories. My grand dad used to take us to the beach as kids and we used to play with frisbee and cars and what not. But being a hotelier, he NEVER allowed us to eat the 'sundal.' NEVER. Inspite of having awesome cutlets and other stuff to eat, I used to look the one dish that I couldn't have - the sundal. The first time I ate it was when I went to the beach while I was in college! (During college hours or after college hours, is NOT the point of discussion here. 10 bucks for paper cone of sundial with raw mango topping! Bajji. Wow! A plate of 'mix' which has potato, onion and raw banana! Slurp. A mango duet ice cream from Kwality Walls and I was done.

Oh. Just in case you were wondering, I did read 20 pages of the book under the lights near the skating rink sitting on a bench! 

For a city which has the second longest beach in the world, Chennai is woefully short of good beach facing restaurants. A trip down the ECR and way past the second longest beach will take give you glimpses of some restos, but not too many that will stick to your brain. The restaurant in Fisherman's Cove's far north beach is one that will stick. Their Sunday Brunch is supposed to be outstanding and I got a glimpse of it and it had lobsters and stuff, but since we went at the fag end of the brunch, we made a reservation for dinner.

At dinner time, the place had only 7 tables of which 4 (including us) were full. It is a beautiful restaurant, perched on a small rocky surface with a beautiful sea view, which would have been way better during lunch, but the ambiance at dinner is not bad at all. The restaurant is manned by only two waiters, who, you might think own the place - that is the level of commitment and smile they have even at the fag end of a long day. This is a nice fancy restaurant with a limited menu and produce from around the world. Scallops, angus beef and Norwegian salmon are all on the menu. Its a pity that we were full and did not have the appetite, but whatever we had was amazing.

After we placed order for the soup, we were served our amuse-bouche, which was a pear soaked in something and though it could not create space in our not-very-empty stomachs, it was nice. The tortilla soup wasn't the best soup in the world, but it was nice and I wish there was more crisp tortillas inside it. Once the soup was done, we were presented with a nice palate cleanser - a raspberry sorbet. We decided to order one starter and one main course, so we got a funny named kebab, something like booondooohoo or something. The waiter himself mentioned it as the 'kebab with many Os' and said that it was a signature dish, so we went with it, along with a grilled sear-fish and loved them both. The kebab was almost like a galouti kebab and the lamb was flavoured brilliantly.  I so wish I could go back and get an Angus beef steak or Scallops!

The service was outstanding to say the least. It was attentive without being intrusive and they let you have your privacy, but check on you - so it was one of the best services that I have received in a 5 star hotel. After we were done with dinner, they asked about dessert and since we were full, they gave us two pieces of chocolates each as compliments. "You should always leave us with something sweet, sir", was his defence. We saw something on the menu that interested us and they delivered it to another restaurant the next night after dinner. WOW!!!

4.5/5 was the experience and Rs. 2715 was the damage, but if you're taking scallops or premium cuts of meat, the damages will be more.

A simple ground+2, shack near the beach is all you can describe this place! With wonderful sea breeze and seafood grill with beer, this is all you might want for a Saturday night dinner or a lazy Sunday lunch if you are in Mahabs for a weekend get away or if you are willing to drive all the way for such a combination!

6 of us (1 poor vegetarian was sorry, shocked and was probably kicking himself for joining us, what with us tearing apart whole grilled stuff. We warned him ahead though, but he chose to accompany us)

So for the remaining 5, we ordered one LARGE POMPFRET, one Medium Lobster, 1 Portion of Tiger Prawns, 10 Parathas, 2 egg fried rice and one chilly chicken.

The large fish was LAAAARRRGGEE!!!!! About, 1 foot long and priced at Rs 800. We asked for the usual 'home' masala, which was smeared fully on the fish and the whole fish was grilled! Ditto with the Lobster and the Tiger Prawns, which were priced at Rs 350 and Rs 450 (for 2 pieces) respectively! All of them tasted great and eating the same marinade on different kinds and tastes of seafood was exhilarating! The prawns and the lobsters were the best and fish was superb for the most part, but since it was very big (and pretty thick), the marinade did not seep through to the entire depth of the fist and that was the only complaint, but it was other wise great.

Nothing much to talk about the parathas, the fried rice as they were the usual stuff. We did not treat them as main course, only as side dishes!!!! The chilly chicken was unusually tasty on that particular day and I would recommend it for a slight drift from an avalanche of sea food.

One of the few places, where you get to have beer with grilled food at not so expensive prices and beer drinkers would totally enjoy the experience. At Rs 400 per head, with 3 of them having beers, this is totally worth it!!!

A few tips though,

1. The prices of the fish, prawns and lobsters are NEGOTIABLE. So ask the guy to bring you the raw fish, see which fish you like and negotiate the price with him!

2. Don't try the above for chilly chicken or friend rice or you might get thrown out!

3. If you are a vegetarian, please avoid the place.

4. Try to get a seat on the first or second floor near the balcony. With wonderful sea breeze and superb grill, it is a paradise.

5. Do not expect 5 star service, (obvious, isn't it, when I mentioned BARGAIN) or a wonderful ambiance. It is a shack located away from the beach.

6. Try not to order supra big fishes. The marinades do not seep in well. Order 2 small fishes for the same price.

7. Stick with the 'home masala' or Lemon Coriander or Herbs n Tomato marinades. The chefs are not deft with other marinades, and so might not be able to satisfy your tastes.

8. If you are looking for fried rice with fish as side dish, avoid this place. This is a place for grilled whole fish and seafood.



Food- 8/10
Ambiance-7/10
Service- 6/10
Price- 8/10

Moonraker's is located in Mahab, near Chennai. As soon as you enter Mahabs, take the first 'Big' left, opp a large sweet shop.

A nice looking shack, complete with wooden chairs, tables and tree barks running through, with fresh fish, lobster and prawns on display and multiple stand alone tables facing the Bay of Bengal is what you see when you enter the area of the Wharf at the GRT Temple Bay Resort in Mahabalipuram near Chennai. The view tells you that this is no ordinary place and the food later on will prove it to you.

You are served with the Beverages menu, and needless to say in a 5 star property, you have a choice of Indian and Imported Liquor. Apart from beer, all of us ordered only mocktails so I cannot comment on the Liqour. The menu strives to serve a variety of cuisines, but in a restaurant like this with shacks, they could have stuck to grilled, tandoor and the likes.

Among the meat eaters, we ordered for a Moroccan Chicken Steak which is four nice juicy chunks of chicken marinated and grilled with some kind of spicy sweet sauce. The next was the catch of the day which is the choice of fish cooked to your choice of marinade and sides and we chose the lemon honey marinade with potato wedges. You can even make your own marinade to customize it even more. In fact you have a choic of a few fish to choose from and all of them look delicious! The king prawns was made with a wierd name marinade and I chose to have it with fries and salad, while the other order was a Tandoor Chicken Steak. Except for the last order, the others were brilliant while the tandoor was average. You get about 6 pieces of King Prawns spilt open and it was totally worth it. The fish was extremely good while the Moroccan Chicken Steak was something totally new for me. Among the vegetarian dishes, the paneer grill was mentionable while the corn steak was pretty good too.

All the grills and steaks are served with yellow or black dhal and a couple of tandoor rotis, so a grill is a meal by itself and quite filling at that! The portions are not big, but the right size and with a drink and dessert, you are done.

Desserts are decent and nothing spectacular. Service is impeccable and order to table time is acceptable, considering that this is a place where you want to take your guitar and sing along with friend on the beach front or sing to your girlfriend! Women, expect your men to be in great mood what with beach side and shell fish as great aphrodisiacs! Down some alcohol and you could have a great time!

Prices are five star, and kind of justifies the kind of atmosphere and service you get there. We were a large group with almost no alcohol and therefore costs us about Rs 700 per head, but if you are a couple you could expect to pay about about Rs 3000 for two, especially if you order alcohol,lobsters and some other pricy steaks.

A great place to chill out, its even better at night and lunch is served only on weekends.

Food 7/10

Ambiance 8/10

Service 7/10

Price 7/10

The Wharf is located on the premesis of the GRT Temple Bay Hotel in Mahabalipuram, near Chennai on the East Coast Road.