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. 

"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!

Places to host a little tea party are few and far apart. If there are, then you need to pick a fixed menu that varies between Rs. 400 and the sky and you get the same dish for everyone. Maybe okay for birthday party with 10-20 kids, but with three kids and 15 adults, my friend wasn't happy with a Rs. 650 plus tax for juice, soup, pizza/pasta and dessert type menu. Jonah's came to mind. I've been meaning to write about this place for a while, but never did. What stuck to my mind though was the little 16 seater part of the restaurant that is cut off from the rest and can be the right party place for a small crowd. And being a small place, a-la-carte would be great, we thought.

So after discussions, my friend decided to do it. We just blocked off the place for 16 people. Jonah's being Jonah's with their outstanding customer service that I wrote a few times about on social media, had absolutely no qualms about bringing a cake from outside. The kid's mom wanted a theme cake and Jonah's was super cool about it. Place was blocked and we had a blast. The ladies ensured that dishes that landed on their tables did not leave their tables!! The men though had to send what landed in our tables to the ladies. If not, there were glares!!!

I remember we ordering stuff left right and centre but these are the dishes that come to my mind!! Chilly fries - yum yum yum. We ordered almost three plates. Crab cakes - with six vegetarians and others not too fond of crab, just one portion was enough for the four of us who ate. The paneer with rice and gravy was yum!!! The fried calamari was equally yum.

At their Besant Nagar outlet, I had written about the really dry burger. Here it was juicy and nice. One interesting dish on the menu was the steak burger pizza. Its essentially the burger patty on the pizza for those who want to have the best of both worlds. I did not like it at all!!! There were lots more, but thats all I took photos of!!!

The bill for 15 adults and 3 kids was Rs. 9000 after a 15% discount that they offered for a group booking, which ended up being a steal for the amount and variety of food we had. Definitely better than the same soup starter pizza and a stale cake for Rs. 650 plus tax!!!! The minion cake was baked by Afsar's Magic Oven (9994088522)

Jonah's is on Kasthuri Rangan Road, the road next to the old Chola Sheraton, a few meters further down the Russian Culture Centre. 

How do you mess up the order, serve the patty well done when asked for medium, serve a burger in a soft torn bun, but still make it awesome? Ask ETC cafe. Brand new cafe, with ample parking space on the first floor with a full fledged restaurant in the ground floor, ETC cafe has something about it. The prices are atrociously low! I mean, Rs. 140 for a burger in a posh cafe located on Rutland Gate? Quite unheard of in a long time.

So, we heard about this cafe and decided to go in. The ambience is quirky and elegant. The egg shaped chairs are surprisingly comfortable. There is a game room with life sized Snake and Ladder, Ludo and even Connect The Dots.

Let's get to the food now. I'll get the bad things out of the way first. The vegetarian club sandwich is very average. Its just a three layer sandwich with only cucumber and tomato. Not the kind of food that the rest of the food represents. The garlic french fries were also a little hard and chewy. Anyway, bad things over so, now the French Onion Soup. Close to the perfect flavour, and served very nicely in a cup, the soup is just right. With a nice little piece of crusty bread topped with cheese, it complements the soup well. And it might just be taken straight of the cup! And then the burger. Beef burger wasn't on the menu, but when I asked, they said they can get it from the restaurant downstairs. I asked for medium, it came well done. The bun was falling apart. But, the burger was FANTASTIC. Superb beef, super soft, awesome flavour with the right amount of onions and juicy!!!!!

Now, we asked for the bill and the owners came up and said that right now, there is no bill. They've tied up with some orphanage and the money you pay goes straight to them. They said they will tell us how much we ate for and that they would like if we pay at least 50% of the bill. Wonder why. We said we'd pay 100% of the bill amount and then the said that some people came in ate, loads, paid peanuts and went. Sad that such an initiative is being misused, but gladly they did not withdraw it. Not sure how long this is, but the above and two cakes together cost us only Rs. 800.

Love the collection of books. Love the menu prices. Love the car park. Finally, I think I've found the place to go if I just need to be on my own with a book in hand or laptop on.....well, lap!!! This might almost just replace Cha Bar. ETC cafe is on Rutland Gate, on the alley next to Ritu Kumar, where the old Apollo Wellness Centre was. 

Every once in a while comes along a place that seems just honest. No corporate overheads. No fancy stuff. Just a simple menu with food that is from the heart. I wrote about Fusilli Reasons, now I found another such place. Pasta Avenue diagonally opposite the Apollo Children's Hospital is now my go to place for comfort food. Menu is a little elaborate and so food takes a while to come to your table. Gladly there are only about 10 seats, so worst case your order will take about 20 minutes. Bet you, it will be worth it.

Been there about three times now and every time, we try one of their fries. First the Chettinad spiced fries. Then the chilly cheese fries. Both were very nice. But their names calls for Pasta and every pasta we had over the last week was awesome. A fantastic Pasta Bolognese loaded with meat. This is where the honesty part comes in. It was loaded with meat. Really loaded with meat. The Pesto pasta was pretty awesome too. I only wish the garlic bread was a little bigger. It was yum, but small. The portions of the pasta were quite nice. Once we had a very nice bitter chocolate fondue which came with a wide variety of stuff to dip and eat, but the next time we had a very tasty, but slightly soggy custard waffle!

Typical bills for two are always around the Rs 750 mark!!!! Service is quite slow, but very friendly. In times of bad Iftar options, Pasta Avenue came as a saviour when we needed something for Iftar

When someone tells me that there is a vegetarian version of a non veg dish that I must try, I look up. When it comes from a hard core foodie who is a pure non vegetarian, then my brain is deciding when, how and who to go with. When the guy says he is going back there two days in a row and is willing to drive me, I'm sold!

And that is how I was introduced to Nicky's Fine Baking and Cafe. The dish in question here was the Pao, which I think they call Bao. Or maybe there are two ways to pronounce and spell it, I don't know. When in Hong Kong, my friend told me that I must absolutely taste the Pao/Bao and I took a trek to try it out from what he said was a great place for Pao! I had the veg version there because they ran out of chicken and the other option was pork, which I don't eat, and OH MY GOD, it was awesome.

So after my friend placed order for the Pao, my eyes wandered to the counters which had delicious looking food. The one thing that wasn't delicious looking was the sandwich. The chef/owner who was besides the place then walked over and suggested we try the sandwich the next time. My friend and me looked at each other and thought, why come back, let's do it now! And so the sandwich landed on our table.

So, here is something that needs to be told. Nicky's, at least now, is a cafe that is very Swiss, but vegetarian. Dishes are not completely tweaked to suit our South Indian palate yet, but on the flip side gives a glimpse into how simple street side cafes in small town Swiss towns are. The perfect example was the size of the sandwich which immediately brought back memories from Switzerland. Quarter size breads, simple, but tasty fillings! The pao arrived and it was simply awesome. Baked to perfection, the flour was soft, just right with the sweet (yes, it is slightly sweet and that is how it is supposed to be) and the filling was fabulous.

For dessert, we were debating between two desserts and a very French (I think) dessert, called St. Llorine (I think), which had a nice shortbread crust, some mango, some choux pastry and caramel, won the debate. The chef was quick to say that this is not the original version and that the original version has something else instead of the short pastry and the caramel is dipped..........well, it doesn't matter. The dessert was nice. The bill for the above and a nice macron was Rs. 425.

I plan to go back and try the rest of the stuff and also learn a little more about the chef who has trained in Switzerland. Wonder if he can make a fondue! Wink Wink. The menu is very interesting as they do stuff on order and they make profiterole and macaroon towers like the ones we see in Masterchef Australia! Wooooo.....

Vegetarian cuisine is not been getting justice in Chennai and places like this show us the there is so much more to veg cuisine and I am very glad! OK, this is not pure veg as they have egg based stuff, but still........

In 2008, I was talking to a friend who wanted to set up Teppayaki, but was disappointed with the Chennai market. He said it will take Chennai a very long time before Chennaites embrace new concepts. I think that 'long time' has arrived! Either new age restauranteurs are taking risks and pushing new concepts or people are open. OK, who cares if the egg came first or chicken came first! We have both now!

So, fondue has arrived in Chennai! Perfectly named the 'Dipping Pot,' set up in TTK Road, the restaurant has taken the easy way out by having a cafe menu and having the fondue menu at the end. I really thought they should have it before people give up the menu! But then......

I like the fact that they have tweaked the fondues to include a slightly spicier and flavourful fondue while also retaining the classic Swiss fondues. The cup sized portion is also a welcome change and the only thing the cup takes away is the crisp layer of cheese that settles in classic fondues that people tend to love to scrape and eat. No such thing here. 

I loved the things you get to dip in the cheese. Unlike the classics where you get typically just bread cubes and potatoes, here you have some fabulous options. Like chicken balls, fish fingers, nuggets, broccoli along with bread sticks, cubes and potatoes. Oh yes, some french fries to dip too! The cheese used was spiced up with some peri peri, so it wasn't bland at all and it was super. So nice, that when I had to find a place to eat the next day, I went back here! 

We finished with chocolate fondue! This has been around in Chennai for a while in quite a few places and so this was not really different, but I did like the 60% dark chocolate (that's what he claimed) used. The pricing is a little skewed, because the fondue for two is Rs. 750, while for four it Rs. 850. While you may not get double the quantity, I feel the fondue for two should be priced a little lower (or the fondue for four priced a little higher, he he). 

Service was friendly, the owner is around most of the times to answer questions and constantly get feedback. The bill the first time was Rs. 1250 for a chocolate fondue and a non veg cheese fondue with chicken balls, and was Rs. 995 the second time for the same non veg fondue but with fish fingers and nuggets and a pretty ordinary red velvet cake. The second time around, the fish fingers were ok but the nuggets were pretty bad. I do plan to go back and I plan to order only the chicken balls with the fondue! 

Not even in my wildest dreams would I have attributed Double Roti to mean the two breads between which the burger patty is stuck. Or the two breads between which fillings are stuffed and made into sandwiches. I might have thought of Double Roti as a Punjabi restaurant. Or a North Indian restaurant!!! Until a friend told me they served the best burgers in town, I wouldn't have cared about a restaurant enough to want to land there within the next few minutes.

My foodie friends warned me not to leave them and go. But none of them were available on short notice for a place that claims to serve awesome burgers. I mean, common. What can possibly be more important in life? So, I ditched them!!!! I know after reading this they will be ready with some bats to beat me up, but I am willing to take that. And they don't know what they are missing.

The first thing (ok, after getting seated) I noticed is the efficient use of space. While tables were pretty close to each other, it did not feel like your neighbouring table was eating your food. I loved this. The menu is quirky and though not extensive, has made a simple menu interesting to read. I went straight for the burger and then we decided to order the rest.

Nutty Shake. Lovely, just the right thickness and temperature for Chennai's summer. Felt like a Snicker's shake, but that's got nuts too, so no complaints. Loved it. They have a ripped version of New York Fries and we had Fries with Chicken sausage. It was very very, but if I have to nitpick, I'd say, I would have liked a little more sauce in it. Otherwise lovely.

Then the hero. The burger they call, Barely Legal. For quite some time, my only source of comfort for a consistently good burger was Sandy's. Then Brick House Bistro joined the party. And now, Double Roti. The burger was as juicy and as flavourful as it can get in this price range of Rs. 275. I want to try their Illegal burger which is Rs. 375 next time. (I mean, like in a few minutes. I am hungry and craving for it as I write this, so I plan to go there).

We were a little hungry after that, so we decided to try Maggie. Yes, Maggie. 2 minute Maggie noodles, but the souped up restaurant version. I guess once in a while it is okay to let a chef whip you up maggie that is different from what mummy makes. We had the Punjabi Maggie, which is Maggie in its original tastemaker, but with curried chicken on top. Loved it! We finished off with a pineapple popsicle, which at Rs. 60 is the only, non VFM on the menu.

The bill for all of this was Rs. 805. Their credit card machine didn't work and I didn't have cash on me. The service was friendly all along, but when it came to commerce, it actually got friendlier. They didn't ask me to leave my watch or car as security. He asked to me to send cash with somebody whenever I could. The service was so friendly, that I went myself the next day, hoping they will give me a burger for the trouble I took to come back and pay. Nope, they didn't! Nice try though.

Double Roti is located in Cenetoph Road, First Lane, bang opposite the Malaysian Consulate.

Foodie Friends, I am willing to accept the same punishment you gave Shady for visiting a few places leaving us claiming to have exams and am willing to offer the same apology he tendered. Which means, I don't have to do anything. :-)

There aren't too many theme based restaurants in Chennai, are there? I definitely don't recall anything based on cycles. While once a common mode of transport, the cycle has now made a come back like how most things do - with a premium.

Ciclo cafe has an eye catching appearance and it caught our eye when we were driving down and from then on, has been on my to-do list. When my friend and me finally went there after it seemed like the whole world has been there, we realised that this was by L'amandier and our excitement died down a bit. Not because L'amandier is bad by any means, I love the place, but going by the exteriors, I really was hoping somebody new has tried their hands.

The highlight of the place is, no surprises here, the bicycle store! With cycles costing 3-4 Tata Nanos per piece, the store is exciting. The menu is very similar to L'amandier with the addition of pizzas. We settled for a broccoli pie, chicken sandwich and a chocolate dessert, the name which I can't remember now. The broccoli pie was stunning. I don't know what I liked about it but it seemed like a perfect dish!!!!! Loved it. In comparison, the sandwich, while large and filling, wasn't out of the world, but a very nice comforting dish. We loved the dessert too and the damage on the pocket was about Rs. 750 for all three.

Chennai is seeing a sudden increase in the number of new restaurants. Being featured everywhere from BBC, where, your's truly, had given a quote, to multiple other magazines as being among the top places to live, Chennai is finally getting some attention to its authentic side without having to be 'entirely modern and cut throat,' to be featured there. For a Chennaite like me, I love it.

So, while I haven't been eating out much over the last month, restaurants seemed to be mocking me. I now have Swiss Hut, Double Roti with rave burger reviews and a few others, looks like its going to be a busy summer!!!! 

Burgers are storming Chennai! While fancy hotels are upping their burgers by a notch, like Park Hyatt, newer players are putting Hard Rock Cafe's Legendary burgers to shame! While a few places have made some noises in Facebook and Twitter, I had the chance to visit only Brick House Bistro a couple of days ago and slurp! That too because I had a scapegoat to drive. Yay!

Yeshwin, the brains behind BHB was associated with a start up pizza brand that saw a rapid growth, but one that did not sustain too long. I really hope he has learnt his lessons from that experience, because I would hate to see this wonderful place go down. Walking into this new bistro, I liked the stencil art of cooking greats like Heston and Marco Pierre White and the likes! Nice touch. The place is quite small and can seat about 30 I guess, but he has done the place up quite eclectically.

And now the food. Expectations were through the roof and I had been seeing photos of their burgers splashed all over the Chennai Food circle. I was waiting to be disappointed! But when the burger did arrive, it lived up to every review I read! Super juicy. Super tasty. No distractions. It was a simple well done beef patty burger. As simple as that. At a price of Rs 195 (without fries, add Rs. 60 for fries and salad), this was a winner all the way! Yep, the burger was good, but that should not take away anything from the hot dog! Slurp! Smoky and super soft and super flavourful, this was a nice hot dog! Lovely in every way. The king's club sandwich, which was very similar in taste to the hot dog did not catch my attention, but the other two were just mind blowing. Even if it was priced at twice the price, we don't think we would have thought any different.

Now the bad. The dessert. The Aunt Maria's Lemon Cheesecake, though wasn't awful, was pretty bad considering the standard of their main dishes. The base was so soggy that it was like a marie biscuit dipped in tea!

We paid Rs. 1450 for a double burger with fries and salad, a double hot dog, a king's club sandwich, two coffee shakes, a lemon cheesecake and a single burger takeaway for mummy! Tummy Khush.  Mummy Khush. Wallet also khush!

Brick House Bistro is located in Anna Nagar at No 9, S-Block, 6th Avenue, Anna Nagar East, Chennai