There used to be a joke that was doing the rounds in food meet ups. 'I want the largest buffet with lot of non veg options with alcohol, max budget Rs. 500.' A popular stand up comedian in Chennai used this left right and centre. Food forums were flooded with these requests. In the era of the 5 star brunches priced upward of Rs. 2000 nett/, the joke may actually not work anymore. OK, not 500 bucks, but at 1300 bucks, the large Sunday Brunch at Gateway Taj is really LARGE.

It starts right at the lobby. Yep, you enter the hotel and food stares at you. Besides the large dessert section, there is a live counter doling out French Toasts and Crepes and the likes. I couldn't resist and despite recommendations from that chef to try these for dessert, I insisted on having them straight away. The cinnamon kissed French toast was fab! Unlike most places, this is a nice thick, almost French baguette that is dipped and served!! Besides the fact that few places actually serve breakfast in their brunch and serve a glorified lunch, it was nice to see breakfast stuff!!!

The problem with these large brunches is that everything tends to be okayish. You can take a couple of mouthful of everything and by the time you taste everything, you would be full! This wasn't the case here. The food was of quality and taste that is definitely better than most brunches in the city (OK, technically this is out side city, New Chennai, sort of).......

While there is no way to jot down every dish, there were some super favourites. The Broccoli Almond soup was yum. The Madurai dosa, essentially chicken/egg or both paste on the kal dosas were yum. The starters - a little cannelloni was nice. This stuffed zucchini and the grilled sweet potatoes were excellent.

Then the Indianised version of Eggs Benedict and Scottish Eggs, both with fully cooked yolks. Now that I have started enjoying the runny eggs, I thought these weren't great, but the chef said that people complained about eggs 'not being cooked properly,' so they've decided to cook them up. Can't fault that.

A smart South Indian section with rice, a yum biriyani and lots of gravies with six types of papads and four types of raithas. Really thought out well for the local population.

Disappointments? Yes. The cheese counter wasn't great. All hard cheeses and no soft cheese. The Japanese counter was extremely limited with only vegetarian sushi. Really? C'mon. But the honey glazed chicken from the Oriental kitchen (the other restaurant that is part of the Sunday brunch) was fabulous. Breads were also disappointing with not-so-great croissants and others. But with so many good things at a killer price point, one can't really complain.

Desserts are the weak links in most places and here they've made sure it doesn't happen as they have the live pancakes, crepes and toasts, so that is a safe haven. Besides, there were at least three biscuit type ones that were lovely.

You can take a dip in the pool if you want to. For free. Spa at 20% off. Considering the drive, this is like a long weekend drive up, soak up, massage up, eat up and get driven back. There is a little table for kids with an elaborate spread of finger foods, breads, mini pizzas, mini burgers for the kids.  I wasn't planning to take up the invite, but with a friend going and me not having to drive, I'm glad I went. Missed taking my swim shorts though and planning to take the family back soon.

P.S There is a live bar counter with a bar-tender who doles out cocktails and mocktails, the alcohol version is Rs. 1600 plus taxes. 

The first time I heard the song, 'Hotel California,' I fell in love with it. For a long time, it was one of my favourite songs and still is, but it was after a long time that I realised the version I was hearing was from the 'Hell Freezes Over' concert and not the original. Immaterial of how many times I try to tell my brain that, the HFO version is the one that is 'original', to me. So I find it a little more difficult to enjoy creative versions of the song in other concerts because of the way my brain is wired. 

Welcome to Mamagoto! While looking around for a quick place for lunch in Bangalore, we stumbled upto Mamagoto. They had this 'Experimental Menu' that we ordered most of our dishes from. Loved them all. The Wasabi Hummus was a stunner and with the crispy Pita bread, it was a winner. The Goat Cheese Ravioli was another stunner and the Vietnam inspired rice bowl was gobbled down in no time.

So when Mamagoto launched in Chennai, I was looking for that menu. It wasn't to be found. I tried asking the waiters for that menu, but none of them had any idea of what I was talking about. Since it was the first week of the restaurant opening, I went with the flow and ordered some stuff off their 'regular menu.' Whatever I write now will be biased, because I was looking for another menu. I don't think I should be writing how I felt, because, I did really like the food, but clearly, I was looking for something else. Then the Director of Food of Mamagoto came around asking us how we liked it and I explained my problem to her. She immediately connected with it. She said they have an experimental menu that sort of changes every three months and they try to bring in food from that menu into their regular menu. 'I personally loved that menu, especially the Goat Cheese Ravioli and the Wasabi Hummus,' she said. She also said that she was trying to convince her top team to bring that into their menu. I was sad!!!

The desserts were pretty good. Since we did not have dessert in Bangalore, I did not have a blocked mind so was able to really enjoy dessert. The Caramel cake was super soft and moist and had the perfect balance without being overly sweet. The Banofee pie, though didn't look very pretty, was excellent, again without overpowering banana flavour!!!! The drinks were good, but my cucumber basil drink was excellent and I had to share it with the rest of the gang. 

I will go back with an open mind and try to write about this place again. Friends loved the food and I'm sure its good too, just that I need to be open to it. 

Places to host a little tea party are few and far apart. If there are, then you need to pick a fixed menu that varies between Rs. 400 and the sky and you get the same dish for everyone. Maybe okay for birthday party with 10-20 kids, but with three kids and 15 adults, my friend wasn't happy with a Rs. 650 plus tax for juice, soup, pizza/pasta and dessert type menu. Jonah's came to mind. I've been meaning to write about this place for a while, but never did. What stuck to my mind though was the little 16 seater part of the restaurant that is cut off from the rest and can be the right party place for a small crowd. And being a small place, a-la-carte would be great, we thought.

So after discussions, my friend decided to do it. We just blocked off the place for 16 people. Jonah's being Jonah's with their outstanding customer service that I wrote a few times about on social media, had absolutely no qualms about bringing a cake from outside. The kid's mom wanted a theme cake and Jonah's was super cool about it. Place was blocked and we had a blast. The ladies ensured that dishes that landed on their tables did not leave their tables!! The men though had to send what landed in our tables to the ladies. If not, there were glares!!!

I remember we ordering stuff left right and centre but these are the dishes that come to my mind!! Chilly fries - yum yum yum. We ordered almost three plates. Crab cakes - with six vegetarians and others not too fond of crab, just one portion was enough for the four of us who ate. The paneer with rice and gravy was yum!!! The fried calamari was equally yum.

At their Besant Nagar outlet, I had written about the really dry burger. Here it was juicy and nice. One interesting dish on the menu was the steak burger pizza. Its essentially the burger patty on the pizza for those who want to have the best of both worlds. I did not like it at all!!! There were lots more, but thats all I took photos of!!!

The bill for 15 adults and 3 kids was Rs. 9000 after a 15% discount that they offered for a group booking, which ended up being a steal for the amount and variety of food we had. Definitely better than the same soup starter pizza and a stale cake for Rs. 650 plus tax!!!! The minion cake was baked by Afsar's Magic Oven (9994088522)

Jonah's is on Kasthuri Rangan Road, the road next to the old Chola Sheraton, a few meters further down the Russian Culture Centre. 

I was intrigued. I was a little sad too. When Taj invited me to their new dining experience, the Rooftop Alfresco at the Taj Clubhouse, I presumed that Kefi, one of the best roof top restaurants in Chennai, was coming to a close and was being replaced! Fellow foodies shared the anguish! But thankfully, that wasn't the case. The outdoor seating area of Kefi, now has more options to eat from and now as a new avatar, the Rooftop Alfresco! Being open from 530 in the evening, it can turn out to be a great spot for catching up after work and with very few 5 star offerings like this in Chennai, Taj is aiming to fill that void!!!

Open to public from the 6th of Feb, we had a nice sneak peak! Dinner started with a wine for the 'drinkers' and mocktails for the good boys! The chef made fun of us because that night, all ladies had the wine and the gentlemen were the teetotallers!

The mezze platter that came in was signature Kefi. Accompanied by some wonderful pita bread, the platter had yummy hummus, an awesome spanakopita, falafel and a salad and made a great starter. Next came the dish of the day, which unfortunately turned out to be a veg dish, so we, carnivores only got a bite each. It was called Gnudis ( we had some fun trying to pronounce it. The G is silent). Whoa, it was heavenly. This was followed by a nice wrap and a very different tasting pizza. A fantastic Key Lime Pie closed the dinner for us!

With the cool breeze and being seated right next the pool made for a great ambiance. Wonder how it will be in the peak of Chennai heat, but barring those two months, this should be a great place for the rest of the year. I saw an Istanbul Burger on the menu (and as you can imagine, a little disappointed not to have tasted that) but my friend and me are planning to try this out!!! 

This is going to sound weird.  A food festival in a mall? Rather in a mall food court. OK, before we move on, let me announce that I am not a fan of food courts. I try and avoid them as much as possible. I hate having to pay in some place and take food someplace else and I hate.....well, lets keep it simple. I hate them! So when I was invited, my first inclination was to say no.

But.....a food festival in a food court? What can it be? Curiosity got the better and I dragged along my cousin who offered to drive to eat in a food festival in a food court. Clearly curiosity got the better of him too! What else can explain the guy driving on a weekday, on a weekday traffic, to Vadapalani for food!?!

The concept was simple. Every outlet had a special menu. Outlets had a one or two dishes that were being launched as part of the special menu, while their regular menu was available at a lower price and with various combos. Nothing interesting till now, but it gets better! Like any food court, the food during the fest was a mixed bag. But the excellent part of the mixed bag, more than made up for the ugly part of the mixed bag.

We started off with a very nice cooling chat platter from Kailash Prabath. They have been reasonably standard for a long time and this platter was cooling and super nice. KP then served a very bad dish - some veg patty. It was dry and tasteless! Wasted it. This was followed by something that was quite shocking. A pizza from Quiznos. I know they have pizza and that is a thin crust pizza, but this was not their usual pizza. A chat with the owner revealed that this is exclusive to this outlet. They even have burgers apparently, but this pizza was tasty. It was gone in sixty seconds.

While I am not a big fan of Wang's Kitchen anymore, the dragon chicken that they served us was outstanding. Both of us loved it. This was followed by the first (and only) difference of opinion - Mayo chicken served by Arab Kitchen. My cousin hated it. Just hated it. While I took a couple of bites, he was like, 'dude, eat the dragon chicken, don't fill your tummy with that crap', types. I don't know what I liked, but the slight tinge of coconut oil flavour with a crispy coat outside caught my tongue's attention. I ate two pieces before the next dish arrived.

Salt in Forum Mall has a very good reputation, I believe, and as stupid as this sounds, I have not visited the place. A trip is due soon and I will update, but the reason I bring this up is that they have two stalls in the food court under different names. One is Pandi Kadai, an outlet for South Indian food. We got two starters, both names which I cannot recall, but both were excellent. One was made of 'Vala Poo' I think and the other was definitely lamb, but I would go back just for those. But the other outlet by Salt, I forgot the name, sent us a Stuffed Parota. Bad. Let's not discuss that further.

Besides, good and bad, there was one ugly. It came from Kobe Sizzlers.  Their 'signature' chicken sizzler. While I ate the soggy potatoes and struggled to go beyond a piece, but cousin didn't touch the dish beyond the first bite.

And then the dish of the day - Banana Dosa from ID. Stunner. End of Description. When can I get my tongue on that Banana Dosa again. Pretty please!?!

This festival is on till the 14th Dec.

 

Hey, nice car.

Thanks. I like it too.

So where is the treat.

Anywhere you want.

Awesome.

10 mins later.

Dude, our friend has got his car. Lets take him for a treat. Both buddies, the one with the new car and one with an old car walked in.

Yup, I've booked a table for three at Flying Elephant.

Wow, you're treating us at Flying Elephant?

What? When did I say I am treating you guys at Flying Elephant.

You didn't. But I've also booked a movie for the three of us at 10 PM. So we should be good to go after dinner.

I didn't say I am treating you there.

Who said you told us you were treating us there?

Then why do you think I am treating you there.

Remember two years back when I bought my car. How you guys wrung a treat out of me?

I don't remember.

Good, two years later, I won't remember today either.

But I am vegetarian today.

Last time I checked, they have veg dishes at Flying Elephant. I love the place. Let's go. 

And that is how we got the treat from the guy. And that is how we tasted an outstanding burger at the Flying Elephant! Enough has been said and written about the ambience at Flying Elephant. There is nothing more that I can add. 5 levels, a private dining space, multiple open kitchens, a large menu, a dance floor that magically transforms into a large Saturday night pub. OK, I know I added a few words, but this restaurant is designed by somebody who thought out of the drawing board. Not sure if there is a similar concept anywhere else or if this is original, but its excellent. 

We started off with a mezze platter as that had a couple of veg dishes for our friend who managed a smile right through. We loved it. The food. Yes, the smile too, but the food more. And then a qewthow (I am not sure I got the spelling right), which was quite nice. And then a pizza that we got half vegetarian and half grilled chicken. Both parts of the pizza were blah. But me writing this post is not about the ambiance or the service or the pizza or anything. Its the burger! Let me try to describe it.

A super soft bun. A patty placed on top. Cheese on top. Yellow sauce on top. Served open top with the top part of the bun placed on the side. None of the veggies are in the burger. They are on the side. Waiting for you to place them on the patty and close it and make it a burger. The size, well, large. Looking juicy. Inviting. Onion rings on the side. I decide to pack the burger. Placed a lettuce, a pickle, a tomato slice, an onion ring and closed the top. Bit into it. I don't know how my face looked, but my friend took away my burger without asking and bit into it. And then I had a fair idea on my face might have looked. Sloppy. I took a bite. He took a bite. The guy giving a treat looked at us, cursing. Three bites and the burger was done. No words were spoken. 

We were late for the movie and so we skipped dessert. Bill was Rs. 2450 for those four dishes. Bill was paid by the treater. As we walked out of the restaurant, we were discussing the burger, much to the irritation of the third friend. Two people discussing the burger and one person cursing the two people discussing the burger. 

I don't know if it was great that particular day, but that was an outstanding burger! 

Flying Elephant is the outstanding multi cuisine restaurant at Park Hyatt, Chennai. 

I love the tagline, Luxury is Personal!!!! It summarises the definition of luxury in a single line! What is luxury to me maybe a passé to you and vice versa! Of course there will be many for whom luxury is similar! Yesterday, it was the love of chocolates! The story is amazing - Our hot shot friend makes to a trip to Belgium and brings back premium Marcolini chocolates, gives it to the executive chef at Park Hyatt and he whips up a meal entirely of chocolates. And invites us to join the party!!!

Chennai is growing as a food destination and experiments like this will go a long way in our evolving city. Perfuming pairing at Taj, Masters of Food and Wine by Park Hyatt were all glowing examples of how hotels in Chennai were moving away from their comfort zone to experiment with food. While the demand for such is still small, so what? There is a demand, however small and the foodie in me is ecstatic that I don't have to go abroad to experience these once in a while! Yes, while on the topic, I was away for sometime, so I hope my writing skills have not taken a beating. Let's find out! I also used this to try out a little foodie video. I hope that's okay!!! Do not attempt to view the video in less than 720p resolution!!!!

So, the evening! A 5 course meal crafted with chocolates and the chef took the safest option for the amuse-bouche! The portion was much more than amuse, so I am going to call this the first course. A safe chocolate cheese pairing. Only this time, the cheese was blue! With a nice crusty chocolate filled with blue cheese, no ingredient overpowering the other, he nailed it! Yes, I loved it! The second course arrived in style! A beautifully plated bitter chocolate brittle, with pumpernickel crust, goat cheese and beetroot parfait. This was a miss! Ingredients overpowered each other and the end result was too sweet for my liking. That, however doesn't mean, I didn't finish the dish!

The third course was a shocker of a dish! Shocker in a nice way! We are given a plate of chocolate coloured pasta! Wow! OK, it was a tagliatelle. And instead of parmesan cheese, chef went around the table shaving our premium chocolate all over. Half way through the pasta, he grated more and left us wanting for more. My only temptation to not ask for more was the fact that there were two more courses to come! The palate cleaner was a nice raspberry sorbet with shaved chocolates that was wiped off! But at this time, I must make a special mention of the dark chocolate espresso crafted by the beverage manager, Abhishek. Different people like coffee differently and this is how I love my coffee!!!!

The main course was the amazing chicken with chocolates! There was a leg terrine and a blanquette with chocolate sauce poured over. It was excellent as no ingredient over powered anything else and the balance of the flavours were spot on. Spot on from a foodie's perspective! Slurp! Any guesses what was for dessert? A mini 5 course chocolate dessert that is going to need some explanation, so, I am not going to explain! Common, I am coming back after a break, so I can use the luxury!!! OK, one word explanation - excellent.

What a wonderful welcome to India and a great meal to start writing again. As for the break, keep checking this space for some excellent food from around the world, packaged into one blog post at a time! Next post will be much sooner. I promise!

Oh yeah. I know creating food is art, but the chefs took the words literally and painted a couple of pictures with chocolates. Chocolate paintings!!!

More about Park Hyatt's Luxurious offerings at www.myluxlist.hyatt.com

The humble iftar gave way to the other end of the spectrum, a luxurious, four course, iftar at Taj Coromandel! Gladly, there was no haleem here too, so, its not another run of the mill, me-too, iftar, but a perfectly crafted, gourmet iftar. Honestly, this is the first time I am coming across a gourmet iftar, so it took me completely by surprise!

The evening started with a huge bowl of fruits, a glass of lassi, a rose sherbet and water! The bowl of fruit was large, quite large and along with the lassi and the sherbet, was perfect to cool the stomach before the four course onslaught happened. And then the menu is presented with you and the first thing that caught my eye was the vegetarian options in each of the courses! Clearly, you can bring a friend and this is not aimed purely at the carnivores!

So the first course was a soup course, very much in line with 'nombu kanji,' concept, but a shorba. My friend opted for the veg soup which was excellent and while my chicken shorba too was excellent, it was a little too hot for a 14 four fasted tummy! Any other time, I would have gulped it down, but not yesterday. The next was a nice salad course to cool down the tummy! The chicken salad had lots of veggies and quite a few slices of grilled chicken and chick peas and was topped off with a simple dressing! There was a bunch of stuff in a bowl that looked like a chocolate wrapped in cloth to be opened and eaten, but it turns out that those were lemons. You can squeeze without having seeds fall into your dish. What a simple, but effective idea!?!

And then the choice of main courses - four options to choose from. We tried the roast chicken served with a rice and horse gram. Loved it. But the biggest surprise was the mutton biriyani! It was fantastic yesterday. The meat was super well cooked and you could cut it with a spoon! And the spoon could also hold the rice and it was nice and flavourful! Dessert was a platter of fruits, an excellent Om Ali and an even better Basboosa. It was smacked in no time.

Priced at Rs. 1250 plus taxes, this is a true gourmet Iftar and quite glad that Taj Coromandel has not fallen for the Haleem trap. Now that I have had the humble iftar and the gourmet iftar, its time now to try everything in-between.

The Iftar is available until the 28th of July.