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. 

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.

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.