So after a rather shocking incident at a restaurant in Adyar where we had a little photoshoot for a newspaper that was doing a story on food bloggers, three of us randomly landed our backsides at L'amandier without expecting much. A couple of friends had been there and didn't have much to say about the place, but little did we expect a cafe to be packed to the brim at 245 in the afternoon. Guests were leaving a big table and it wasn't ready when we were seated but cutlery and napkins were placed quickly. But before that, the look and feel of the restaurant was super quirky and real bistro types. Everything from the chairs to the paint to the French style windows was lovely and the ambiance was just perfect.

The menu is currently a one pager, but the concept is nice. The menu has an a-la-carte option where you can choose from Starters, Salads, Main course or dessert or you can choose one from each for a meal priced at Rs. 475 (425 for veg) plus taxes. The waiters are quite honest and they tell you that the portion of the same thing served as part of the set menu is a little smaller, but so is the price difference.

Since we had a little food at Adyar, we ordered only one starter and one main course before getting ready for desserts, but both of us (the third was a veggie) loved our food. The prawn skewers were just perfect with the little basil mayo and the main course, the chicken kiev was excellent with a superbly smoky bok-choy. We finished of with a Tiramisu that was more a coffee cream than tiramisu and a wonderful apple crumble. The main course was just right in portions if you look at it as a meal and it might look very small if you look only at the chicken. It is not meant to share, but the portion was quite small.

The bill for all the above with all taxes was Rs. 805. Service was excellent even with a full house and no service charge was levied. Brilliant.

4/5 and if the portion was a little larger, I would have rated it 4.5.  I hope the owner retain the passion and quality of food and service that we had today, because Chennai has been missing a place like this forever.

L'amandier is on the same road as Park Sheraton, right next to Cream Centre, R A Puram.

Of all the places to spend time, either with people or alone, Cha Bar takes the cake and the baker's wife!!!!! I simply love this place, its ambiance, its service and its everything! If Cha Bar was a person, I will fall in love all over again!

Located inside the Oxford Book Store on Haddows Road, Cha Bar is literally a lounge. Surrounded by books, all of which (except magazines) are available for you to read while you sip your chai or eat some of their super sandwiches. There was an occasion when the guy, opened a sealed book for me and said, "Please read it sir, no problem at all" and I was hooked for life!

The chicken and mayo sandwich here, can give any full service restaurant a run for its money and reputation. When I have to meet people, I choose this place and invariably everyone goes 'Man, this is good stuff' after one bite of the sandwich. The chicken fingers is another good dish, the assorted fries used to be super great, but is now only great, yeah, its still great! I am not a big for of their veg dishes here, but my veggie friends love it, so I will stop there! The salads here are super for the diet conscious and you can add and subtract any sauce you want!  The chocolate cake here is THE BEST of its kind in Chennai, it is sourced from THE PARK, if it helps matters and is priced at only Rs 50! Of the drinks, they surprise me everytime. Their fruit melange is the best among their hot teas, while the green tea margarita is my favorite among the iced teas and the green apple drink is a close second!

I am here almost once a week!  Service is super and polite!

Food 9/10
Price 9/10
Ambiance 9/10
Service 9/10

Cha Bar is located inside The Oxford Bookstore, on Haddows Road, Nungambakkam

Update: Mocha has shut in KNK road is now at Adyar as Mocha Mojo

Among all the 'elite hang out' spots in Chennai where you can do your own thing without people staring at you, Mocha probably has the best food and has more than something to do with its immense success. Though the place has turned out to be a teeny hoppers paradise, you will find quite a few 'adults' just chilling out with friends and spending long hours there. The atmosphere with the outside setting, the hall, the balcony, the famous toilet seating are all quite an experience, but quite a lot of people get the vibes of being in a 'drug dealers hideout'. The toilet seat in particular is unique, its basically a toilet that has been converted to seat people, so you can sit on the western closet and have your sandwiches or sink into the bathtub while you have your Current Cooler. The balcony is a nice place to hang out with friends with the privacy you need while you make a racket. The inside hall has a mini hall within it that can seat about 10 people so if you are a group of 10 or 12, this is the place to ask for. The other halls are like like most such 'chill out' places with a combination of bean bags, low seats and cane chairs.
The food, I have heard, depends on the chef's mood, however I have been lucky on almost all my visits to Mocha and have never had a problem with the food. Among the drinks, the Current Cooler and Berry Blast are among my favourites while the Iced Tea is not bad either.They are all priced between Rs 40 and Rs 80. Their coffees are not bad, though I am not a huge fan of their coffees. As for the shakes, the Toblerone shake, the Snicker bar shake, the Ferraro Rocher Shake and the Kit Kat shake really pack a punch and are quite filling priced between Rs 90 and Rs 150. Among the food, the chicken wrap is excellent and the other such short eats are on the nicer side.The omelette are fantastic and served with baked beans and toast and the chicken omelette with nice chunks of chicken is mouth watering.Among the crustinis, Cajun Chicken crustini is simply amazing while the veg crustinis are alright. These short eats are all priced between Rs 70 and Rs 150.The quantity is not great, but you can't complain much as the taste kind of makes up for it. The desserts in this place are something to die for. The lava lava is just an awesome creation here, while the avalanche, true to its name is a nice big portion of a number of ingredients that turn out to be mouth watering. The Vertigo is a towering cake that is nice and chocolaty and smooth. The quantity of the desserts are very very good and if you having other foods before this, then two people can easily share one dish and if you have had too many dishes, then maybe even three.Most of the desserts are priced between Rs 70 and Rs 150. Some of the standard dishes that are a disappointment here are the Chilly Cheese fry that could be stopped here, its pathetic. The potato wedges are alright here and don't deserve any recommendation. However you have quite a lot of dishes to make up for what can be avoided, so.....
The service is very slow and takes ages to get your order, so if you are looking to 'get in, get out', this place is a bad choice for you.Some of the waiters come across as having an attitude, but they are actually friendly.
All in all, it's a great place to chill out and relax that unlike Ashvita, Chamiers or Amethyst, also has great food to go with it.

Food 7/10
Atmosphere- 6/10
Service 5/10

Mocha is located on Khader Nawaz Khan Road and its unlikely that you will miss it.