I don't have a luck for winning contests. In fact, I don't even remember the last time I won something. Friends win stays at Grand Chola and shopping at Phoenix, but I don't. And then I did. Complementary wine for two with any meal at Prego, the fantastic Italian restaurant at Taj Coromandel. What's the use of that for a teetotaller? So I wrote to Taj and asked them to give the prize to someone else. Very sweetly, their twitter handle changed the prize to appetisers and dessert for two. I was ecstatic. I was jumping. I was boastful. I was on cloud nine and ten........

I was also, yes, yes, yes, forgetful. I forgot. When did I realise this? When I won again. This time, same hotel, same restaurant, but cheesecake making session. This time I was aghast. Sad. Self Kicking. Not because I won, but because I missed the previous awesome offer at Prego. I was determined to make it up this time. I also had an agenda. La Patisserie, the awesome but discreet cake shop at Taj Coromandel, has some fantastic stuff. While cheesecakes in some decent coffee shops can cost around Rs. 250, at a 5 star patisserie, it costs between  Rs. 130 and 150. Between 8 and 9, they have a ridiculous flat 50% off, so it costs Rs. 65- 75. Service tax. Corruption tax. All tax included. I wanted to know how they do it!

And so, five contest winners were assembled at Prego and the seemingly simple art of cheesecake making was taught. Two varieties, a baked one and a frozen one with some fantastic flavours. Eggs, cheese, flour and spices magically turned into cheesecake! The saffron cheesecake that I had packed home a couple of days back was made right in front of us!!! The cake itself was amazing. Passion fruit cheesecake was the other!!!! The offer also had a high tea included and it was similar (but smaller spread) compared to the Taj Lounges around. The salmon with zucchini sandwich was fantastic there!

This armour had a chink though. Very craft fully, a savoury cheesecake was created. I liked the idea and it looked good. My mind kept saying that this may not really work. The heart had other plans, so after the workshop, I picked up two cheesecakes and one savoury cheesecake. While we all loved the cheesecakes, I hated the savoury one! Way too much that it is going to take a whole of effort to try a savoury cheesecake again!!!! Mind 1, Heart 0

Though this event was part of the World Cheesecake Day (and I knew such a day existed only after this), I normally pick up a lot of stuff from La Pat as we (and as I realised later, Taj also) fondly call this place on the basement of Taj Coromandel. While their cheesecakes are definitely the highlight, their croissants (if fresh) are crispy and buttery and some savoury pies are definitely worth a shot. If you go between 8 and 9, anything on the counter is worth it!!! At Rs. 1250 a kg, their chocolate cake (which normally needs about 8 hours of pre-order) which was a routine for my medicine chief during my days in Apollo) is to die for!!!!! I haven't ordered it in a while though!!

Quirky cafes are slowly making their entry into Chennai and I love that! It is no more a 'when I was in Bangalore.......' phenomenon. Ah, yes! The latest entry into the bandwagon is Brew Room, cleverly adapted inside Savera Hotels, but can stand out on its own without having to rely on the hotel for clientele. And as of date, it is probably the only garden cafe in which you can actually sit on the lush green lawns. Small, quirky and eclectically set, the ambiance is a winner. The Chennai weather unfortunately, is not and so you might end up sitting in the glass interior section most of the time, but during the Chennai hot season (remember, Chennai has hot, hotter, hottest only), the outdoor will be a beautiful place to sip a hot coffee!

I was there twice in two days and I waited for a few days to write about it because of one reason; the lamb burger. Now, I am paranoid about having lamb medium. Beef, yes, I have acquired that taste and the courage, but lamb, not yet. Only and only if I am absolutely sure of the quality of lamb will I even consider it done medium, so I was not happy when after the first bite the lamb burger presented itself with varying degrees of pink. I asked the person (he wasn't a waiter, but I think he might co-own the place) and he assured me that it was very good quality lamb and they have tested it multiple time. Oh, I forgot, the first bite was heavenly. It was an excellent lamb burger and a very good price. Reluctantly I ate. Reluctant, because I was paranoid and I didn't send it back because it was perfect. Ten days late, I am still alive, so I guess it was very good quality lamb.

The first time, we had chicken sliders (essentially mini burgers) which was quite good for me and the little sweetish onion compote was a real winner below the patty, the chicken sandwich wasn't out of the world, but was good enough. The Thai ice coffee was nothing special. The second time of course was the outstanding lamb burger, a Jamaican chicken sandwich that was quite nice and a very good carrot cake to finish it off. Both times, the bill was around 1200 for two dishes, so I guess the hotel tax rates kick in, though the menu price didn't seem very high with dishes being priced around Rs. 275.

Great ambiance, good food and friendly service! 

There are times when words cannot say what the mind and the heart wants to say! I don't think even the photo can convey what has to be conveyed! But I am going to try! When this cake was presented to me, I was stunned. Or Shocked. Or, I don't know whether hit me. It took me a while to look at that thing in front of me and tell myself that it wasn't a MAN VS FOOD burger. The patty was there, onions were there, the bun was there and the chips were there, but the chips was the only give away that this wasn't a real burger! Really!?! Made of Ferrero Rocher, the cake itself was divine. But I kept going back to slice the chocolates that made the burger patty look real and gulping that down! I have had many cakes done at Adoniya, but even Maaria is going to have to struggle to beat this creation of hers!!!

My early memories of Cake Walk date back to the 90's, when Cake Walk was a small outlet on Pantheon Road where my birthday cake was made for the first time from there. Bossotto Bros was the place it was always made and my uncle wanted a change and recommended Cake Walk. Then I don't remember what happened to it until I saw it opp my gym on Montieth Road (opp Ambassador Pallava Hotel) and it was there for a long time. They even tried their hand at a restaurant, but failed miserably and they went back to serving cakes and short eats. After some bad experiences at French Loaf, I started going back to Cake Walk and found their cakes to be excellent, not very exotic, but excellent.

And then I spotted the new Cake Walk on Sterling Road and after my sister packed home a wonderful chicken sandwich from there, my friend and me decided to test it out. The ambiance was elegant making it a good bistro, with the self service counters with the savouries, two counters with the cakes and a sandwiches/burgers/pizzas/fries to order. We were rather hungry after missing lunch, we decided to share a sandwich and two cakes. I ordered the wrong sandwich - a chicken club sandwich which was very simple and not so tasty, compared to the previous night when the sandwich was excellent - apparently that was the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. The cakes were comforting - we had an Oreo Cheese Cake and a Black Forest, both of which were nice, but certainly not outstanding.

The service, though, was quite carefree for those seated there. It was slow, not very attentive and quite lazy to say the least. But I guess, this was meant to be a laid back self service bistro and it shows. But for the number of people standing behind the counters, service should have been better and more courteous.

3.5/5

The new Cake Walk is located on Sterling Road (the road opp Loyola College) at the Kothari Road corner.

After seeing a number of paper ads, on a lazy sunday morning, we headed out to Gatsby Village for some baked breakfast options! We were surprised to see only one table in the center, lots of expensive stuff to buy and a small table with food at the corner. The smell was heavenly, but our idea of having a nice breakfast was sloshed! Apparently the table we saw was for sale and that the food here is 'take away' only!

Not wanting to be disappointed, we ordered ourselves a croissant, a chocolate twister and a quiche. The food (may be it was a fresh batch since we were there in the morning), was awesome! The chocolate croissant was crisp on the outside and soft inside and with the right amount of butter - fantasitc. The chocolate twister had generous amounts of chocolate and the puff pastry was baked perfectly and was mouth watering, while the quiche was just ok!

Sad that you cannot eat inside, but the way the food is stored, I presume that only the mornings will have you happy, it might get stale as the day passes. It is advertised as a eat out, so maybe the ads are misleading or I misunderstood the ads! I would love to try out other things here as I know Baker's Street is pretty reputed in Pondy, but I am not sure if the outlets have a place to sit in and eat! But hey, the croissant was just awesome!
Prices are on the higher side for the cakes, but not bad for the croissants!

Food 7/10
Service NA
Ambiance NA
Price 7/10

We went to the one on RK Salai, where Barista used to be hosted, but I believe there are a few more outlets in Chennai!

la Boulangerie, touted to be the best 'French' bakery in town had a wonderful ambiance at their first outlet in Anna Nagar! Now, I have no clue as to what happened to that one, but though no other outlet has that wonderful ambiance, food is pretty good!

We went back to the outlet inside the Harrison's hotel lobby for a rendezvous of our dating days! The setting is pretty cute, though small and very elegant. We asked for a butter almond croissant, a cheese quiche, a white forest cake and chocolate mousse! The croissant is certainly not the best in the world, its not crisp on the outside and soft inside, but its not bad either. The quiche was pretty good and well baked, while the cake and the mousse were decent. We did not try out their garlic bread this time, it used to be brilliant earlier. The above cost us Rs 240, so most dishes are priced around Rs 50! LB is certainly not what it used to be sometime back, but its still decent for occasional indulgences!

LB has a dessert buffet on weekends, priced at Rs 200 plus taxes ( I think)  which I would like to try sometime soon. Nothing to speak of service in a bakery and the ambiance is neat!

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

la Boulangerie is located at multiple places in Chennai, the one is Harrison's hotel is the closest for me. You can visit their site for more locations. http://www.laboulangerie.in/

A brand new cake shop has opened its doors at Egmore and we went out to try some of their offerings. Though it has a nice name, as you enter, you cannot help but think that this is just another cake shop! The seating is nice and generous and being new the interiors were sparkling clean. There is a first floor seating too, but we stuck to the base floor next to the window.

We ordered a Nilgiris Chocolate Cake, a Banana Walnut Fudge and a fruit cake slice. The first to come was the fruit cake slice which was super soft and nice and tasty. The chocolate cake arrived next, it was quite big and had a hard chocolate on the side and a very nice looking icing on top. The cake had a good dose of chocolate and there was something missing. It was a little too hard for a cake priced at Rs 110 and I did not think that it was worth the price. The Banana Walnut tart too was quite tasty in its first two bites, but we could not take in more. All the cakes look yummy, but when you taste it, it leaves you wondering if its the same thing you just saw!

It is not fair to give a verdict after tasting only three dishes, but since the cakes were quite hard, I really think that there is something grossly wrong in trying to get this place an elite status! The cakes are decent, but not brilliant, especially with such nice interiors, a nice name and a high price tag, I guess I expected a little more!

Food 6/10
Price 5/10
Ambiance 8/10
Service 8/10

Le Chocolate Patisserie is located in a nice new building on Casa Major road, close to the Adidas showroom and Arun ice cream!

French Loaf is a cake house that serves bread, sandwiches and croissants and of course cakes. The place is small and so are the tables, but its a good place to just chill out and the eatable are mostly very very good.
You have four aspects of food there-the sandwiches, the bread, the croissants and other bread stuff stuffed with fillings and the cakes.
For the sandwiches, you get a piece of paper with all the variables in it to make your order. You tick whatever you want and hand it over to the waiter and it will be served just as you asked, totally customized. Though the concept is all nice, the sandwiches are not, they are just alright.
The bread stuff, are mostly very good. Especially the chicken quiche-creamy, yummy and fatty. The frankfurters are alright and the croissants are really nice. You have a wide choice of such food in both veg and non veg fillings.
The bread- you have a host of choices of french loaves, garlic loaves, soup sticks, multi grain bread etc etc etc, in white, brown, multi grain and all the possible combinations. Yes, most of these are take home stuff, but I must say that their garlic loaf is simply stunning. Its about 2 feet long, hard and crunchy with a mild garlic flavor. I make sure I get one t eat every time I go there and also one to take home and keep munching while I watch the TV. Its really good. And most of their bread varieties are worth every penny you pay!
The cakes are probably their flagship products. You get cakes in numerous flavors and almost all of them are extremely good. The mango gateaux, the kiwi, the chocolate, the pineapple and every other flavor you can think of are all there. Each of them are unique in their own way and if its a big group, then each of you should try a different flavor.
All in all its a place that serves great cakes and bread varieties. Except for being small and slightly uncomfortable for a large group, its a great place if its just a couple or threesome to just chill out!
They have the Chocolate factory on the first floor, its crazy expensive, but its a new story altogether.

Ambiance- 5/10
Food-8/10
Service- Not much to expect in a place of this genre.

French Loaf is located on Harrington Road a few furlongs beyond Shopper's Stop and a new branch right next to Benjarong on TTK Road.