"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!

What's up with Kati Rolls in Chennai? After the once famous Tic Tac became quiet for a long time, Tibbs Frankie filled the gap with the frankie, obviously not quite the kati roll, but they were quite popular and survived for long, possibly due the attractive price and reasonably good taste, Bay Leaf served (supposedly) authentic Calcutta Kati Rolls and The Hot Kati Roll Shop set up its service on RK Salai to excellent business! And now one more!

Tucked away in one of the outlets, completely away from public view in Wellington Plaza, Egmore (same one that has Donut House, Milky Way, Pizza Republic and a few more), is this new place called the Katti Kebab Company. Now, this outlet is meant to be the base for setting up multiple kiosks around the city and so there is almost no ambiance; just a glorified street shop with a couple of benches and two small tea tables.

But among all the kati roll shops in Chennai, this place probably has the widest choice. The two page menu has at least 30 options in various permutations and combinations and you have a choice of 'healthy' wheat kati rolls or the traditional maida ones. Unless I am eating one every day, when I eat a kati roll, I don't want it to be bland in the name of 'healthy', but I want it to be fluffy and full bodied and so, I did not like the wheat ones at all!

Today when my colleague and me went there for lunch, we had the chicken anda roll - one in wheat and one in maida and he ruefully looked at mine and took a few bites and conceded that his wheat was a bad choice and he loved mine. We decided to share a aloo channa roll in maida and quite liked that too! Most chicken ones are priced around the Rs. 120 mark, while the veg ones are priced around Rs. 100 and the mutton ones around Rs. 150. Good kati rolls with a wide choice for non vegetarians and eggetarians, a about 6 different pure veg ones.

3.5/5 for me!

So, there is another place for kati rolls and you have to walk behind the Wellington Plaza complex to spot it! 

Another kebab outlet in town, this place really does pack a punch. After deciding not to take the 45 minute at the other new place, Cave restaurant, the three of us headed here at 9 PM, park our cars and get onto the restaurant located on the first floor. A brand new ambiance greets us, complete with lighted tables, a buffet spread, bright location and brimming waiters! We were asked if we wanted the buffet priced at Rs 275 or 'a la karte' and we chose the latter as we wanted to try out a few things at this place.

We were given a 'welcome drink' that tasted like a drop of pineapple syrup in a glass of water and we we thought that this is another fancy place with average food. After ordering mango lassi that tasted like great lassi, but with no hint of mango, I call the guy, who appears to be the owner or the guy in charge and tell him that I wanted mango lassi. He comes back in a minute and told me that the mangoes were 'too ripe' to make lassi with and they had only one mango that was used in my lassi. I told him to just give me the lassi that was served to me (make no mistake, the lassi tasted great), and we thought 'Man, this is really just fancy setting and food is going to be very average'.

Nothing was further from the truth! The starters that we ordered, the Tangdi Kebab, the Shamyiya Kebab and the Jhinga Kebab were juicy, succulent, soft, tender and all the adjectives that you can describe 'good' with, put together. The Tangdi kebab as we all know is chicken legs, the Shayiya kebab was described as lamb chops, but in reality we were served with lamb cutlets that were stunning! The Jhinga Bara Bar, was a prawn cocktail with large prawns and tasted great! We went ahead and ordered one more starter, the Nawabi kebab, which was boneless pieces of chicken grilled to perfection! The rumali roti and the chicken gravy were alright though with nothing special to mention about them.

The desserts were awesome too, with the kheer being superb and the kulfi served with sweet rice extremely tasty! The carrot halwa had nothing special in it, but was decent though. Price was on the higher side, with starter being priced between Rs 150 and Rs 325 and main courses similarly priced. The total bill for 3 of us, with 4 starters, 3 lassis, 3 rumali rotis, 1 main side dish and 3 desserts came up to Rs 1675. We had nothing to complain against the service, however the restaurant was only half full with half of those present helping themselves with the buffet! If the place can maintain the quality of the food being served, they should be a force to reckon with in the food scene of Chennai!

Food 8/10
Price 7/10
Ambiance 8/10
Service 7/10
Tandoori Thadaka is located on North Usman Salai, beyond Joy Alukas showroom on the same side, on the first floor.

Its a nice and spacious place. The concept is a lift off from Melting Pot, however you only cook your starters here, so I was not too exited about the concept, which, however I think it caters wonderfully to the Indian audience. You have a live grill on your table and the starters are brought on skewers and placed on the grill for you. The meat was slightly precooked, so you bbq them on your live grill for only a short time. And you have a choice of marinades to bast while your meat cooks, however the marinades are pre fixed for the day. And its not an electric bbq, but a charcoal one, so you get the taste that is close to authentic.
The concept is not so exiting because you only do the last part of, should I say, full cooking, on your table. And today, we only had to do it with 2 or our starters. The others were brought fully done to our table.
For the carnivores, you get 5 non veg starters. I did not try the fish, but the other four were excellent. The lemon garlic chicken and the prawns get a special mention. You get 4 non veg gravies (of which the crab gravy and the chicken masala were very good) 4 non veg salads, 1 non veg soup, and one chicken biriyani (again the non veg rice menu changes everyday). Food was excellent and you can experiment your starters with the marinades and decide how much you want your meat to be 'done'. But since the marinades are pre fixed and pre cooked, it takes some of the fun away, but then, the food is good and if you dont care about the concept, then theres no problem!

Veg food was pretty neat, I had the penne in white sauce and a small dip of each of the veg offerings.

Deserts were neat, nothing flashy, but they were nice.

Pricing.
The price is Rs. 408 nett, for dinners and the Sunday lunch. It includes all taxes, VAT, service charge and all the crap. This, I feel is the right way to do business. So for 3 of us, the bill was Rs 1224. Nothing more. Infact, I asked for a non alcoholic margarita, and I loved it so much that I asked for another one, and we were not charged for either. You are only charged for alcohol, but then again, on weekdays, you get one pint of beer on the house!
Its Rs 275+2% which is about Rs 281 nett for week day lunch. I was told that the number of starters shrink to two non veg and one veg, you get only 2 non veg salads and 2 non veg gravies, which I think is ok for the price. You get a choice of indian breads that include nan, romali, garlic naan, and a few more.
Service was prompt. The starter grill was refilled before our plates were empty, and there was always something cooking. Glasses were refilled before they were empty and it was done everytime. They filled our glasses with mineral water (kingfisher) bottles that was opened before our eyes. All in all, very good service.

Overall, i like the place and would not mind going there again. Good Indian food, decent pricing and a good attempt at a international concept and has blended it well to our audience. I dont think we will like to wait for 20 mins with our meat on the grill in front of us, so i feel he had done a good job! Lets hope the quality of the food and service does not decline with time.

Food- 8.5/10
Ambience- 7/10
Service-8/10
Price- 9.5/10

BBQ Nation is located on North Usman Road, T. Nagar, on the first floor of Sri Devi Park Hotel behind Murugan Idly shop.

Its not a place to hang out and meet. Its a place about one word-FOOD. Loosen your waist and start. You cant order anything there and neither is it a buffet. Welcome to the Great Kebab Factory where the only choice you make is 'Veg or Non Veg'. They have a fixed menu and bring it in a particular order. And at anytime you can ask for any of those dishes, but I strongly suggest that you don't. Because when I did,I realized that as they kept bringing i was not able to eat towards the end because I had filled up my stomach with what I thought tasted great, only to realize that tastier dishes were coming up. So let them bring it to you, dish by dish. And at the end (after they serve biriyani with naan and dhal makhni), the waiter will ask you if you want a refill of something, and at that time you can ask for whatever you think you have space for, but then again, remember that there is whole of dessert to come by too so leave some space for the awesome deserts to follow. By the time the deserts are over, they would have stuffed food right down your throat and if you yawn, the person opposite to you can almost see food in your mouth. You might not want to drive after that, so i suggest you go with a chauffeur. Come home and sleep, don't you dare try anything else. When you wake up the next morning you will hate food, the oil and the great taste of food is soooooo good that it hits you hard. You probably won't feel like eating kebabs for the rest of your life. Don't worry, that is a normal feeling and two days later you will crave for that food again. The second time I went, I held back the urge to ask for any kebab in the middle. Just sit back, relax and let them serve you in their fixed order.

Go there only if you have skipped lunch and you have had a light breakfast. The girls only wasted the food when they went with us, no offence to the women, but i suggest you girls don't even have the breakfast the day you plan to go there, even better if you can also skip dinner the previous night. Except for one, all of them ate only one bite of each kebab. It costs 675(including tax) for NV and 555 for the veg kebabs. Worth once in a long while, but the food is SIMPLY SUPERB.