My dislike for buffets has been well documented. Especially if I am off to a food festival that ends up being part of the buffet. But there is the odd buffet that steps up its game and surprises me. With a Ramzan that started reasonably terrible with respect to food, the last couple of weeks has been a saving grace. With Cafe G at Holiday Inn serving iftar, I was looking forward to another nice set menu and once again I was a little skeptical when I found out that it was a buffet. The one at Taj was a poor excuse for a Iftar buffet with the only thing iftarish about it was that it began at 630 PM.

Thankfully, Holiday Inn has got it near perfect. Priced at Rs 1250 plus tax (ends up at Rs. 1500), the price is a shocker for a 5 star buffet. Eat the food and I was left wondering if they make any money off it. While it is certainly not the biggest buffet in the city, it is definitely one of the few buffets with almost a-la-carte quality food.

A plate of fruits, dates and a green drink was presented to us to kick start our feast after the fast. The green drink was a beautiful chilled milk spiced perfectly with cardamom that was soothing for the fasting tummy. The haleem was also served on the table. While I would have preferred classic haleem, that is not going to be possible in a 5 star kitchen, but what the chef has done here is commendable. The liquid fat on the haleem here was ghee, but to make up for it, it was served with a nice Sheermal and onions. Having the haleem with sheermal was brilliant. The meaty flavour of the haleem was shining through and it ended up being a side dish for the sheermal. I wasn’t complaining.

The mezze platter that arrived next had three dips. The hummus, the tzatziki and the beetroot dip. The hummus was excellent and one of the best available in a Chennai buffet as of now. Beautifully thick, olive oil floating and smooth, we licked the glass bowl clean!

The bread basket didn’t have any naan or roti and I loved that! It had sheermal and varky paratha, a form of sweet paratha flavoured by honey, from the Lucknow region. While I had the sheermal, this time with the gravy and dhal from the buffet, the varky paratha simply didn’t need anything to be enjoyed. We had it with the gravy and then realised that it was a dish by itself. Super soft, flaky and moist with ghee and honey, this was the hero dish.

Biriyani was a disappointment. Clearly, the focus on the other dishes didn’t allow any space for focusing on a dish like the biriyani, but being an iftar buffet, it was there. The live counter had a beautiful looking chicken roulade that looked a lot better than it tasted.

There was a large dessert counter and a lot of them were disappointing, but three excellent dishes made up for the rest. The strawberry basbousa was soft, deeply flavourful and melt-in-the-mouth consistency. I could have eaten a dozen of it. The Wattalappam, though wasn’t perfect (I mean home style authentic), could pass off as a good dish and the baklava was yummy. Without a glass breaking top, the blueberry creme brûlée was a mushy mess!

While the ITC’s Iftar meal is the best sit down meal this Iftar, G Cafe’s buffet is lot more value for money with its killer pricing, a wonderful spread of dishes with a good focus on Iftar based meals and kurtha and skull cap clad waiters carrying off the theme rather well! I wish I had known of this earlier as I had to entertain a few guests for iftar early last week and this would have been the perfect place for that. Knowing what the chef is capable of in a buffet, it would be interesting to see if Holiday Inn opens a specialty restaurant soon! I hope they do and I hope they retain this quality of food in the buffet!

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2svrOln

With the iftar offerings going from bad to worse, and haleem and nombu kanji competing for the worst dish awards, I almost forgot about a dish that won me over last year. Served at the ITC Grand Chola, the Nihari was new introduction to the city’s iftar palate, but one that was poorly advertised. I checked with ITC and it was available this year too, so come Sunday, the family iftar eat out happened at Cafe Mercara.

It was as set menu. We were offered a choice between haleem and nihari for one dish and choice of breads for the second main course. A platter of fruits, dates and a rose sherbet arrived first to help the stomach ease into the next course.

There was no next course. All three courses arrived together in a neat set menu, similar to the Welcome meals served at ITC hotels. Since we were four adults (and two kids, their drinks came free), we were able to sample both the haleem and the nihari (and four different breads in each of our plates). Biriyani and Dhal Makhni completed the well plated platter.

The Nihari, a slow cooked broth with lamb marrow, had meat falling off the bone with ease, with some saltiness of the broth adding a nice flavour tone and the pink meat giving out all the flavour notes of a beautifully cooked lamb. Dhal Makhni at ITC hotels are usually spot on and today was no different. Four pieces of naan and butter naan and garlic naan and roti simply eased into the tummy.
The biriyani was all meat with a little rice here and there. Seriously! Every plate had good portions of succulent meat that the kids also enjoyed as there was so much to share. I also gulped down some haleem from my sister’s plate (and sneaked it into the photo)! Thankfully, the haleem was good as I had given up on haleem in Chennai. Thankfully!

A saffron phirni in a mud pot served chilled and thick with saffron dominating the plate completed an excellent iftar meal for the first time this Ramadan. We paid Rs. 6004 including all taxes for four adults with enough food to share with the two kids. This is probably the only place in Chennai serving a sit down iftar meal, appropriately priced! 

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2ts2vPp

And then comes an Iftar that is so difficult to write about!

I've been hearing this Abid's name quite a few times in social media. It took me a while to figure out where the place is, but then I found them incidentally one day and decided to take a look!

The place is sort of new and still getting their act, but this is a first impression. Stood in the non-existent queue and hustled my way to getting one haleem, a couple of Lukhmi, a chicken cheese cigar roll and and yummy looking Ande-ka-meeta.

Drank some water, ate one lukhmi and drove home to devour the rest. Needless to say, I was really hungry! I think I might have a problem with the names!

So, I saw a lot of references to Hyderabadi Haleem/Biriyani. This is not Hyderabadi at all, but that takes away nothing from the haleem. There was much lesser meat, but the flavours were very homely.  The haleem itself was of good consistency, no bones which made the eating experience a lot better and the fried onions added the much needed depth to the flavour, but for a fasting stomach, this was a nice homely haleem. Priced at Rs. 99, this is real value for money, though the lower lamb ratio took out the flavours a bit!

The Lukhmi was the only thing that clearly missed the name tag. Hmmm.....actually no. The outer part of it was clearly lukhmi, but I am used to the mutton lukhmi and found no traces of the usual flavours. The chicken cheese cigar roll was yummy!!

My favourite dish was the Ande-ka-meeta! It was a super super dish!! Nicely caramelised layer on top with the perfect consistency of the cake-like bottom. Soft and tasted yummy!!

The total for all of this was about Rs. 260!

Abid is in Spurtank Road,Chetput, a little further down from Buhari. 

Innovations! Aren't they simply wonderful? Especially when it comes to food! Now, we've spoken at length about haleem and its impact on the Chennai Food scene and all that, but when it is innovated without losing its brilliance, I guess it is simply too good to miss.

How much more can you innovate with haleem? It is after all a goo of minced meat and grains. Can you add more flavour? Yes. But it already rich in flavour. Add more spices? Add more fried onions on top? These are deviations rather than innovation.

How about serving it with a beautifully scented saffron bread? 

I've never heard of this and I am not sure if it is ever served anywhere else like that! Yes, I've had some fabulous haleem, but never one served with some fantastic flat bread (ok, roti). Now it is like eating a wonderful galouti but in a haleem form. Add one egg and serve it in a thali and this is simply yummy for the taste buds and the eyes! 

So, Taj has this offer. 850 plus tax, ends up around Rs. 1000 per person for dates, fruits, sherbet, starter of choice and haleem. Or if you are the more hungry kind, you can take their buffet for Rs. 1985 all inclusive early and they will add haleem and mezze platter at no extra cost to you! So two options. 

Clearly, I wasn't interested in the options. I was more interested in the this haleem. Where is this haleem from? It is certainly not Hyderabadi! Flavours were more South Indian (I know Hyderabad is part of South India.....), but in which South Indian cuisine do you find Saffron Roti? 

I guess somethings are best left not-understood, but I am going to keep trying to find out if this exists elsewhere. Else, this might be the time to introduce Chennai haleem to the world! Maybe if there was idly instead of saffron roti, it maybe truly Chennai Haleem, but for the lack of anything else, this is a true innovation. 

OK, not innovation, but a wonderful fusion!!!! Oh, yes, the starters, especially the mezze platter and the grilled chicken were yum, by the way! 

After the 5 stars and the Bangalore streets and sit-in Iftars, I had to try a couple of Combo Packs. At the first opportunity, my first choice was Zaitoon when I was stuck home-alone for Iftar!

First impressions: Beautifully packed in a nice hard box and the food was arranged well enough that it didn't shake or spill inside. Perfect!

Now for a box priced at Rs 299 for 300 things inside, you shouldn't complain at all. I mean, it is like a birth right to complain has been taken off!

Nannari Drink tasted funny. Like a little too strong nannari syrup inside kind of funny, but after a couple of sips, it simply went inside post the 14 hour fasting stomach. Spoilt for choice over what to eat first, I devoured the haleem. It was a little spicy for my liking, but the flavours were all there and wasn't some careless haleem. It was nice and boneless except for one teeny weeny bit of bone. At this price, no complaints!

Tiny puff like thing. It was like a cross between a samosa and a Lukhmi. Bite sized and perfect. This was followed by the Khubus and the yummy grilled chicken. It was a nice decent sized piece and not some set of bones thrown in. Along with the given Toum (the garlic mayo like paste), it was enough to break fast with!

Post prayers, I devoured the small paratha with a quite yummy chicken gravy, almost like a butter chicken, but with less butter! This was followed by the mini shawarma during Master Chef Australia and the dates. Yes, I had dates in the end!

The only complete disaster was the rice. I don't know if this batch was bad or it is always like this in the Iftar pack, the rice was kind of over cooked and I couldn't take more than a spoonful.

But at Rs. 299, I got more value that what I paid for. It wasn't too heavy and it can happily be a complete Iftar or if you have things at home, then one box can be a good accompaniment for two people. 

After seeing the ad for Iftar at Crowne Plaza and knowing that they have Dakshin, one of the pioneers in South Indian Fine Dining, I was rather excited about the Iftar at Crowne Plaza.

Only after I went there, I found that it was a box for take away!

But, you have the option of sitting and eating at Cappuccino (their coffee shop) and the box is slightly better when you sit in house!  Why? There is more to the box!

So, family was here and there was a last minute decision to eat out for Iftar. Considering, we eat only Iftar and no dinner and more often than not, no early morning meal, it had to be filling. After debating between going back to ITC and trying out Crowne Plaza, a new meal won and we were at Crowne Plaza!

A large fruit platter and dates with some fresh orange juice arrived on the table!

This was followed by Haleem. Now, Dakshin did not matter because, the haleem wasn't from Hyderabad! This was a UP haleem. Very very different. Less of lamb flavour, more of the lentils and had a slight sweet tinge to it. It was light and yummy, but in a different way!

The box comes with Pakodas and Kheema Samosas. The pakodas was soggy, but the Kheema samosas were full bodied with mutton kheema. No potatoes or anything else, just loaded with meat and yummy! They also served us complimentary mini vada which was super crispy and yummy.

The sweet was the Double-ka-meeta! It was yummy! It had fried sweet bread loaded with the sweet rabdi type thing on top!

What I loved was that everything was served for the number of people on the table in one pot and then you can sort of serve yourself or they serve for you! No individual platters.

We packed one box for home and in the home box, there is a packed orange juice instead of the fresh juice here and obviously no complimentary vada!

The price is Rs. 600 plus tax, which comes to Rs. 723 and is the same whether you have it there or take it home!

Where should I try the next box!?! 

From Opulence to everyday life. After a fantastic Iftar at ITC, we decided to check on what is more affordable for more frequent visits! With the family giving a thumbs up to Fisherman's Fare, three of us decided to see what was in store!

Pleasant surprise! Nombu Kanji! Looking at the colour, I had a sense that this was going to be good, but it was perfect. Just the tinge of lamb flavour and not trying to be a liquid haleem. It had the warmth that a good nombu kanji has and I was happy at the effort to keep Chennai's tradition alive. The haleem was pretty good too. No bones in my bowl and the flavour was just right!

There are two parts to this Iftar meal. A platter served on your table with the kanji, the haleem, lime juice, badam milk and two sweets, along with a plateful of fried stuff. And then the buffet which has all of the above plus naan, two gravies, a rice and fruits.

The badam milk was slightly watery, but had the right flavours, the two sweets were excellent. Earlier, Fisherman's fare had the Qubani-ka-meeta and I was expecting that, but that was not to be seen. Among the fried stuff, the lamb Lukhmi was nice and the samosa was also decent, while the spring roll was passable.

If was to give one advice, it would be to skip the buffet and ask for repeat of the platter stuff. The naans and the gravies weren't great, the Masala Rice was average, but the the fried chicken and chicken pakodas were pretty decent. The stuff on the platter were so much better!

Priced at Rs. 399, this is a steal!

Fisherman's Fare is on Casa Major Road, Egmore (Opp Don Bosco, Egmore)

From the streets of Bangalore to the opulence of the Grand Chola.

Last year, I don't think I visited any 5 star hotels for Iftar. The year before that, every hotel had got it wrong in some form or the other and this year I have only seen ads from Grand Chola and Crowne Plaza. Fingers crossed!

Started in Opulence. A very nicely refreshing rose sherbet with super soft dates. The dates were melt in the mouth, but weren't stuffed with anything, just natural but very high quality dates. I think what I saw on top was the gold leaf! This was followed by a nice platter of fruits.

The special stuff started! The Haleem. This could possibly be the best haleem in Chennai. If you tell them to add some onions, they bring it without any onions on top. And a big plate of condiments with ginger, fried onions, chillies, ghee and other stuff. Do it yourself, they seem to tell me which was just perfect!!! My friend didn't say anything and his came with condiments pre set! Not to say that he did not dig into my condiments plate for more onions. The flavour was fantastic. It is sad I have to mention that there were no bones in the haleem. That is how haleem should be, but in so many places, they are filled with bones which ruins the haleem experience. So a place that serves without bones is actually a stand out.

The next was even better than the haleem. A Nihari. Rather, the ITC take on Nihari. It was medium thick with a stunning flavour and two pieces of mutton which simply fell of the bone! The super soft bread served with it was the only thing better. It was slightly sour with loads of seasoning on top and soaked the gravy really well!

The biriyani, though super flavourful, stood no chance against the haleem and the stunning nihari!

We finished with kheer which was good, but again stood no chance against the haleem and the nihari.

If I was to pick on something, I would have been extremely happy to see the chef do a 5 star version of the humble kanji to showcase the really local hero. But the local hero has not been marketed and I am afraid that the nombu kanji will be extinct and the haleem will eventually take over Chennai. The kanji needs to be branded!!!!

Priced at Rs. 1250 plus tax, your damages will be Rs. 1510! The portions are unlimited and you can ask for refills of any of the above, but I doubt you will have space after a 14 hour fast for more. If you are not fasting and don't fancy the buffet, this is the perfect way to get the best of ITC for about Rs. 1510!

I am yet to try a lot of haleem in Chennai, but I doubt it is going to get better than this! 

Make hay while the sun shine! This is apt for the growing Iftar Kits in Chennai. Until a few years back, there was no such concept, but from the time Haleem invaded the city, Iftar kits are now plenty! And when there is plenty, there will always be good and bad. Usually, lots of bad and a few good! Iftar kits are no different. This year, like I have been harping over the past few weeks, Iftar has been a disappointment. A couple of home bakers and Blue Diamond saved the day, but then one Iftar kit came along and redeemed Iftar Kits!

Normally parking in Sea shells is a nightmare, but that day, the adjacent street was free. I walked in and asks for the kits, but the guy asked me if I had placed order earlier for the kits. Uh? Was I supposed to do that? I said, I didn't, and he asked me how many kits I wanted? He said, he could give me two quickly, but for more, I'll have to wait. The time was only 10 mins away to break fast and I decided to take two and run home!

As I reached home, folks were breaking fast and munching on something and staring at me for being late. The stares widened when they saw only two boxes. Quick explanations, water and smiles later, we opened the box and dived into it. First to come out was the fruit box. Went into the stomach at the same speed. Then we saw the haleem box. Small box, but when opened had a nice aroma to it, however the colour was pale! Did not have a good feeling about it, but took a spoonful nevertheless! And BAM! It was awesome. I need to now stop judging food based on colour, I guess. First the biriyani in Hyderabad and now this haleem! Flavour was very nice and rich and just right without the mutton overpowering anything. Consistency was slightly thinner, but other than that, this was a very nice haleem. May not have been perfect, but was certainly the best haleem I had this Iftar season.

EDIT: I realised much later that the haleem I had was chicken and not mutton!

The schawarma was standard Sea Shells and so I knew what to expect and it delivered it. The rest of the box was good enough to be dinner for one person. It had a very nice Arabian rice with mutton gravy (which they call, NO-POINTS-FOR-GUESSING, biriyani), a glass of watermelon juice, a rather dry piece of parotta with some mutton gravy, one piece of khuboos, some toum (garlic mayo), and a very very bony piece of grilled chicken. I know lots of people love chicken with bone, but I am a boneless guy!

I can now sleep in peace. I have had at least one really good haleem this season. I have two more in mind and lets see how the Iftar season ends! Oh, since I was late for Iftar, I did not think it was right to keep people waiting till I take photos, so I took a couple of quick ones on the phone which turned out pretty pathetic and so my friend, Shadir from Chennai Soru, was kind enough to share his pics! Thanks Shady!

How would you feel if idly was no longer available in Chennai!?! Or if all those who served idly started serving another dish from Hyderabad!?! Something similar is happening to the humble 'Nombu Kanji' or Rice Soup that was forever the source of first sip to cool down the fasting stomach! Loaded with rice, spices, but still mild enough, the Rice Kanji was something that most people fasting in Chennai, grew up with. Now, its fancy cousin from Hyderabad, the Haleem has made this a push over. But even today in most mosques, you do get this. Besides the mosques, I believe the only restaurant still serving it, is Jewelbox at Blue Diamond.

After a couple of disastrous fast breaking attempt with a combination of poorly planned menus and atrocious food for days 2 and 3 (day 1 is always at home slurp), my fourth Iftar (fast breaking time) at Blue Diamond was a saviour for the tummy. Last year, the combo was ridiculously priced at Rs. 125, but this year, it has changed with more stuff and priced at Rs. 210.

The combo gives you the mutton 'Nombu Kanji', cut fruits, dates, 2 pieces of Parota, Egg Gravy and 2 pieces of Chicken 65 and a small bottle of mango juice. Not bad. Considering I had some spicy overloads of poorly planned menus that tortured my stomach after a 14 hour fast, the Iftar at Blue Diamond was a welcome. When I searched online for places to breakfast, most websites had only the Fisherman's fare, Zaitoon and Palmshore, while IXAGO showed Blue Diamond in the first place calling it stubbornly holding in onto the Nombu Kanji. I agree whole heartedly. Oh, before I forget, the nombu kanji was OUTSTANDING!

While this year, they have removed the cutlet, I ordered it off the a-la-carte menu along with Idiyappam Biriyani. The chicken cutlets here are out-of-the-world, just ask for it done thin. Yes, they will understand. The Idiyappam Biriyani is not really biriyani and while it is tasty, it needs to be renamed. But for me, Blue Diamond is all about the Nombu Kanji and Cutlets. The parota and gravy ensures that you don't need dinner and can go straight to early morning food to start fast for the next day!

Blue Diamond is on Poonamalle High Road, opp where old Dasaprakash was. 

WTF? When did this chef taste MY mom's biriyani!?! Those were my thoughts when the biriyani was served, but a lot of things conspired between when we were seated and when the biriyani was served. Traditionally, Iftar had samosas and cutlets and the nombu kanji and on a special day, mom/grand mom will make their biriyani and that is how I remember special Iftars as a child. Park Hyatt recreated that experience for me! An Iftar menu at Park Hyatt and I had to find out at the fag end of Ramzan. Why God? Why? Wish they had called me earlier!!!!

The evening started off with traffic. Stuck on Kotturpuram high road for more than 30 minutes, we were starving and itching to get something into the stomach to maintain sanity. And thank God, when we walked into The Dining Room at Park Hyatt, we were seated and before we blinked, we were served a fantastic dry fruit smoothie and was lip smacking a platter of fruits and dry fruits. Apricots, walnut, the works!

By the time the stomach stopped cursing, we were served a two pieces of cutlets and sheekh kebabs each! The samosa was very typical and the sheekh was excellent! Gulped down shamelessly too! And we were ready for main course. This is where, Park Hyatt got the dishes right and the names, wrong. 'Nombu kanji' was fantastic. If you're the type who drinks the rasam or sambar, or you've ever wondered how a mutton sambar will taste, this is your chance. It was soothing, flavourful and yummy, but a little too thin. It should have been named something else. We were served a piece each of shreemal a thick, but super soft bread. I dipped it in what they called the 'haleem' and it was fantastic. This was not 'haleem' by any stretch of imagination, but it was a fantastic gravy. Mom style. The butter naan was skimmed off with the haleem and the wonderful dhal makhni too!

And then came the biriyani moment. Loved it. My family style of biriyani has a little more ghee, tomatoes and coriander/mint and this was replicated. Both of us fell in love with the biriyani and it brought back memories stuck somewhere in the base of my skull! Memories of grand mom. But besides that, the biriyani was excellent and was served with a fruit raita, again family style. Dinner was done with a simple kulfi!

Priced at a fantastic Rs. 1000 nett per person, this is a fantastic dinner with a great quality at a superb price! Fasting or not, this is worth a shot! I only wish I knew of this earlier as I would have gone a couple of times.

The first time I had the Zaitoon Iftar Box, two years back, I was blown. I wondered how they were able to nail it! It was nailed brilliantly! Price, quantity, quality. Everything was just right. Last year, though, was the exact opposite. I thought, they were a one year wonder. Hated the box. It was overpriced and the quality had dropped from the sky to a below sea level. I had no intention of trying it out this year. I noticed the box siting at home. Folks had picked it up as they were out and there was no time to prepare something. And boy, was I glad!

For the first time, this Ramzan, the Haleem was excellent. The taste, the consistency and everything about the haleem was near perfect. It was so good, that I went back and picked just the haleem the very next day. But the box is well thought out, so I'll start with the things I liked. Haleem, yes. The grilled chicken, yes. The tiny paratha with the chicken gravy, perfect size. The modified schawarma, yes. Besides the fruit bowl and drink and dates, the only other things left was the Arabian rice with three pieces of meat and a very dry kuboos. The Arabian rice might have been better if it was hot, but the kuboos was way too dry for me.

Smart moves were the size of the paratha, since this boxed is aimed at one person, the tiny one was good enough for me. I liked the modified schwarma which was smaller and more meaty with less veggies.

This year, Zaitoon has got it perfect and I am glad. I went back again and picked up Haleem, because the haleem was excellent, and if I go back, I will stick to their haleem and a roll maybe. 

Reluctantly, I went to Ave 195. I had given up on the Haleem and everything else for Iftar, this year. The fancy places were more value for money than the low cost low quality low everything places. My friend who had it the previous day said that I should try it and give him feedback, so I went. There were two boxes, one at 199 and the other at 299. I thought, I might as well try the 299 and picked one. To my surprise, he handed me one right from the table right next to the road. "Will it be hot?" I asked. He said, honestly, "Sir, it won't be hot and this has been outside for a long time." I liked that honesty.

So when I got home, heated some of the stuff up and got ready to break fast! Started with the Haleem and though the flavours were good, it was a little too runny! The biriyani well.......

But the rest of the box was quite good. There were three kebabs and all three were quite good. A leg piece that was juicy, three small pieces on a stick and another kebab, which together sort of made up for the average haleem. There was a little katti roll which was nice, a bowl of fruits and a sweet. And a nice cup of payasam. So a good box with a bad biriyani and haleem!

Ave 195 is at Nungambakkam, below the Zaitoon restaurant on Shafee Mohammed Road, off Khader Nawaz Khan road.