OK, after this post, there is going to be a break from Chennai Food! Yup. A Chennai wish list is coming up, so for a couple of weeks, be prepared to be bombarded! But while we are still in the Chennai food scene, two of us were at DG Grizzlers! Steak and Sizzlers are among my favourite things (Yes, I know I say that about a lot of FOOD), so we thought we'd breathe some steak in, before I head out to the United Steaks of America!

So it was a simple order! A portion of stir fried prawns, a strawberry margarita, a beef medallion steak and a seer fish steak! The prawns were excellent. Though I generally love these large prawns, I could live with small ones for dishes like these and we thoroughly enjoyed them! The non alcoholic margarita was excellent and the flavour was full bodied.

The steaks were very home style and I don't know if this was intentional! The beef steak was very well done, though the waiter repeatedly asked me if I wanted it medium! The fish didn't appear to be fresh and so it wasn't a great dish! The mashed potatoes that came with it were lumpy!

So its a decent place, but at upwards of Rs. 400 a dish, though the flavours were decent for the most part, I am not sure if a place that positions itself as a specialty steak place can get away with lumpy mashed potatoes and not very fresh fish for too long! I would like to try something else another time though!

With two good meals in the last two outing at Tangerine, I was excited to meet the owner of Tangerine. Finally. Dropping in sharp at the appointed time, the unassuming owner walks in and from that time on till desert, he took the four of us on a road trip down Tangerine, its menu, its new menu and the likes. First things first, a lot of dishes on Tangerine's menu have been thought of in house and he takes pride that a few names might mean something else in a different world.  Now that makes a lot of sense!

Every time I go to Tangerine, the first page of the menu is always called the 'New Menu' and that day we found out that they change their menu every six months and the popular stuff from the 'new menu' gets integrated to their regular menu. Apparently, they do this every six month. Religiously. In the process,  they wean out unpopular stuff from their existing menu, so this gives them a fairly updated menu. During the course of the meal, I discovered some new stuff from the menu that I will now be certain to try out the next time I am there.

First of the lot is the Lamb Cornetto, shaped like the Cornetto ice cream, but stuffed with an excellent lamb mince instead of ice cream!!!! The next, almost mind blowing stuff, was the chicken skewers. Apparently it is their own creation and the flavours were quite intense and was easily among the best two dishes of the night. A must try when you're in Tangerine. We went with our usual favourites for the soup, the Mushroom Mascarpone and a new Prawn Bisque, both of which were very predictable. While we waited for the main course, we had a chat on the missing Malaysian airlines, who the next PM could be and other life altering discussions.

And the mains arrived. While the jacket potatoes that come with most steaks are liked by most people, very few know that the mashed potato at Tangerine is outstanding. And since there is a lot of effort that goes into making it, it is not offered as an option for the sides. Fair enough I guess, but in the process very few get to taste good mashed potatoes. There are hardly any lumps in the mash and they don't use potato starch, but the real potatoes. No short cuts and that explains the wonderful mash. But going beyond the mash, the best dish of the day for me was my dish, the Beef Peruvian. I was not asked how I wanted the beef and when the dish arrived , I knew why. This had to be made well done and I don't think it would have tasted well if done any other way. I am not sure, but I think 'well done' is the best way to have it. It was an excellent dish with very good depth in flavour and I enjoyed it with the mash. The other dishes were a very good Prawn Candolim with flavours inspired by the Goa,  a nice grilled chicken called the Chicken Bruno and a Roast Chicken that was very predictable.

Since we always have the Death by Chocolate at Tangerine, we decided to try something else and therefore ended the meal with two very good dessert, the Lemon Cheese cake and the Strawberry Crumble. I was getting late for my ride as I was leaving to Bangalore that night and so I left, leaving the other three with the owner! As always a dinner conversation with friends and a new friend to try and learn something about the philosophy of a restaurant turned out to be a wonderful evening. My flash batteries had died and so I have used the photos from a fellow blogger, Shadir from Chennai Soru. Thanks Shadir.

And Tangerine is now open in Bangalore and Coimbatore!!!

So with the new office in Bangalore set between two 'food' streets in Koramangala, eating out has never been easier and the choice is immense! Though au bon pain is now a 10 minutes walk away, I guess, I will still miss it at times, especially if Yana is a benchmark! So the three of walked around, the breakfast at au bon pain still fresh in our minds and decided to try a new place. With an above average review at Zomato, this might not have been a bad choice.

The menu is extensive to say the least. Sizzlers and Steaks, though form the majority, the variety is mind blowing! The ambiance is very rustic and is not bad for a sizzler place! We were the only ones in the restaurant for lunch at about 230, but that did not turn us off! The price point was significantly higher with an average sizzler priced at about Rs. 450 and specials priced at Rs. 525 and seafood with prawns, etc priced at about Rs. 600.  The waiters were knowledgeable and were able to suggest dishes based on our liking! So the order was one veg sizzler, one seafood supreme and one tenderloin steak done medium!

This is what we got - three large sizzler plates, overloaded with rice, veggies, soggy french fries and the dish of our choice with almost the same flavour across the dishes. It almost felt like there was only one sauce in the kitchen. The beef steak was white! No medium steak will be white, but to their credit, the meat was super super soft and that was the only thing I enjoyed there. The seafood supreme had a few super tiny prawn pieces and some fish and the veggie sizzler had what we had in larger portions without the meat!

To put things in perspective, for about Rs. 1800, three of us had a superb meal at Smoke House Deli in Bangalore and my steak there superb. The meal here was much less than superb and with the competition around, I don't know how they can survive with this price point for average food. But the folks in Bangalore seem to like it and I guess, you cannot run a restaurant in Bangalore for Chennai foodies coming and eating there once in a lifetime! But I am not going back there.

But I would love an opinion! Did I order the wrong things? Did we order the three worst dishes, thought all three were suggested by the waiters and what they said will be on the dish is exactly what was in it. Or are the large portions making up for the taste? I mean, it is not bad, but for Rs. 600 bucks, you can get a much better dish in Bangalore than the Sea food sizzler we had!

So basically, I would go here for sizzlers at Rs. 300. Definitely not at the current prices!

Yeah, we did not eat desserts! Had a kulfi outside!

2.5/5

Yana Sizzlers is in Koramangala, 60 feet road, 5th block, the same road that has Mainland China.

The burger is dry. There. I said it. It is off my chest. Phew. *Shakes shoulders*. Let's get on with my experience now. Hard Rock Cafe, finally, opens shop in Chennai at the luxurious Phoenix Market City. A little different from Bangalore, the Rock Shop is on the ground floor and the restaurant is located in a single level at the second floor with an exclusive lift from the Rock Shop. The ambiance is very typical of any HRC, with fancy guitars adorning the walls, an exclusive performance stage and nice friendly waiters. Chennai has been missing a place like this for a long long time and personally, I love the set up. So what prevented me from giving HRC, Chennai 5 stars? This might have been the first time I would have rated any place as 5/5, but that did not happen.

So on my first visit, we ordered just three dishes, a fajita, a legendary burger and a cheesecake. The fajita was excellent with a nice round of sides and is a make-your-own-fajita type dish. There was a good serving of cheese, veggies, sour cream and a sizzler with grilled chicken. I loved it. But the burger was a let down, only in terms of the juiciness. The flavour was great, the onion ring inside was excellent, but the burger was dry. Almost bone dry. I asked for it to be medium and I felt like I need to smother it with sauces. The cheese cake was excellent. The damages were Rs. 2200, of which Rs. 1600 was for the food and the remaining for the service and the government.

My second visit was on a Thursday where there is a live band playing and the ambiance takes a whole new level. The sound quality was good, the crowd was good and if you go early you can get a seat or else, it is like a mini rock show and so the entry fee of Rs 400 of which you can redeem Rs. 250 inside is no big deal. Of course, I don't know how many were friends of the band, so it might vary everytime, but that night was excellent. I asked for the burger, hoping last time was a one-off thing and bang. It was dry. This time, even though I had specifically mentioned not to add bacon, bacon was added to the burger. Not good. But on a band night, I guess their service takes a beating.

So, Hard Rock Cafe has arrived, without alcohol for now. Just missed the mark, but that said, I hope this sets the trend for more such restaurants to come to Chennai.

4/5, could have easily been 5/5 if the burger was juicy and they did not mess up the bacon, the second time. Though I hate to say it, the HRC in Bangalore is closer to the HRC's around the world. 

This place has been around for a really, really long time and though most of us complain that the quality of the food has dropped, occasionally, we still land there for a nice sizzler dinner! Has the quality dropped? Honestly, I don't remember the exact flavours from a decade back, but I won't be wrong to say that it has, at least marginally! So, when guy in the group was adamant that he wanted to have a sizzler, we debated everything else, even Duchess, but someone said that it is quite bad, so we settled for the known devil!

One starter, three main courses is all we had! The starter, with a fancy name, Dilwala chicken, was nice and had a nutty tandoori taste to it and this was the first time we had that and quite liked it! I wanted to have the Diamond Grill, but the fellow who was adamant in the first place could not quite make up his mind decided to poach on my order, so I reluctantly gave it to him and settled for a Chicken Breast Sizzler and the third friend asked for a full fish steak!

The diamond grill was excellent that night, and I say so, because in my previous visit, it wasn't all that great, but that night one part of it was excellent. The lamb was succulent and melting in the mouth, but the rice wasn't all that great. The chicken breast steak was very similar in flavour to the chicken minced steak at Blue Diamond and since I am a huge fan of that steak, this did not quite cut it for me. The grilled fish steak was very good, though I am not a fan of fish, I thought it was pretty neat. 

We skipped dessert as the portions here are rather huge and we were quite stuffed! Service was alright, very typical of a 3 star hotel and nothing to complain about, except that the bill took, I think, 1 million years, to arrive! 

3.5/5

Opal Inn is just off Nungambakkam High Road, on the road next to Barista. On weekends reservations are recommended, but though the restaurant was doing well that night, there were a couple of tables free when we went in at 930. 

What do you do when one out of the way lunch leaves you wanting more!?! You skip the routine, again, and land up at another restaurant for lunch. So after the BBQ Chicken episode which left two of us happy and two very unhappy, we decided to land our back sides at Opal Inn, a place that everyone is comfortable with!

Again, we cut straight to the chase and ordered four main courses, each a meal by itself. While we were enquiring about the grilled chicken the waiter said "Its good sir, but you should try the fish, the grilled fish is better". I asked about the diamond grill, my one time favorite at Opal Inn and he said, "That is our specialty sir, but you should try the grilled fish, it is excellent". My friend asked about the Beef Goulash and guess what - the fish was fresh and so apparently excellent! Two of my friends kept the menu aside and said 'Ok, just get me the grilled fish', while I asked for the diamond grill and the other guy asked for the Beef Goulash! We were talking about how the waiter managed to push the most expensive item on the menu, at Rs 440 a piece, to us!

But when the fish arrived, the other two of us were making faces! The tasting portion that was allowed by the other two guys was superb! I don't know if this is how it usually is or if the fish was particularly fresh that day, but it was outstanding! My diamond gril, which by the way is nothing but grilled lamb served with rice and a salad was good as usual and the beef goulash was another nice dish, though served with only rice, the fish was a major distraction. It was served on a sizzler with salads, garlic bread, salad and more of the grill sauce to dip and was the star of the day.

For the price, the portions are huge! There is a heafty amount of rice and if you manage to eat it all, like we did, there is no way we could work! By evening we were debating if we should have ordered two starters and shared two main courses and I skipped dinner! But my appetite is on the downside right now, however, the portions are fairly good. The bill was Rs 2150, so the Rs 440 had a tax and a service charge additional to it and no matter how much I hate the fact that it is not on the menu and I have to do the math to see how much a dish actually costs, it is a practice that is here to stay!!!! But yeah, the fish's actual cost came down to Rs 500!!!!

The experience was 3.5/5 for me, but the after experience was 2/5. I would not do this for lunch unless I have nothing to do afterwards!!! Or share!!!! And please excuse the poor quality pictures, when I am out for a work lunch, no fancy DSLR around and phone cannot handle low light very well!!!


Opal Inn is located in the premises of Ranjith Hotels, on Nungambakkam High Road (diag opp Ishpahani Center)

After being at their launch quite sometime back, I was going here for the first time after what has been so long. I was meeting a friend after an even longer period and we decided to try it out. While I was waiting for the 'UK return' to wade his way through traffic, I got my self a grilled chicken burger. The burger and the friend came at the same time and after exchanging pleasantries with him and staring longingly at the burger, I dug into it. A retry nice, juicy, grilled chicken burger it was, served with fries.

The friend ordered a grilled chicken sizzler and we got a beef bruschetta, but it is called by a different name here. The beef was full bodied, flavorful with the right amount of cheese on top, but the steak was a it disappointment for me. The friend thought it was not bad though, but I have certainly had better sizzlers.

The ambiance is a bit cramped, but elegant nevertheless. Service was pretty good, but since the place is split into rooms, getting someone's attention is quite something, but someone comes in once a while to see if everything's ok. Prices are typical of a place in nungambakkam and a meal for two should cost somewhere around Rs. 1200 or so.

It was nice to meet one of the owners, Mr. Thomas, who enquired if everything was ok and he explained that there's no cuisine attached to the restaurant and they have tried to serve everything that they enjoy eating, so that explains the menu.

Food 8/10
Ambiance 8/10
Service 8/10
Price 8/10


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For the first time, I was having trouble juggling my life as both a wellness doctor and a foodie. Work took a lot last week and sincere apologies for the week long delay in getting you experiences from eating out. God willing, I hope this does not happen anytime soon again.

Today Yoko sizzlers it is. It's a big name in Bombay with a dedicated fan following and having them in Chennai where a good steak is still not so common was supposed to be nice. So my friend and me decided to test the waters and got there, two Saturdays back.

The setting is a nice red interior, not so spacious between tables, but real estate in nungambakkam does not allow that luxury right now,so can't blame the establishment. We were very hungry and asked for some garlic bread while my steak keeps getting done, I got a simple steak with pepper sauce, well done, while my friend asked for fish satellite. Mine was a perfectly well done steak, very nice flavors and sufficient portion to fill me for a while, but I have had better portions elsewhere. The fish satellite was nice too, the cream on top was very different for a sizzler, but good nevertheless. We finished off with kulfi ice cream, which was very kulfi and nothing to write home about.

I have had my friends telling me that they didn't think this place was good. Invariably, they have all had chicken and lamb and the other things that the menu has, I have no idea why they are on the menu in the first place, guess, you have to have a multi cuisine angle to survive in Chennai, but my steak was perfect. Rarely do I get a good well done steak, the meat was tender and juicy and nice. I would like to hear from medium steak guys if they do that well too, but for steak, this is not a bad place to have in Chennai. Not the best in the country, but good enough when I have an occasional crave for good steak.

Service was good, when I forgot to mention my doneness, he came back to confirm how I would like my steak. Prices are on par with other restaurants in chennai and both our steaks were priced around Rs. 400. I would want to go back and try their hamburger and see if we have a place for that here.

Food 8/10
Service 8/10
Price 8/10
Ambiance 7/10

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Express avenue is a nice place to shop, but I find myself very disappointed with the food scene. Very often I am have to stand in multiple queues one for the not so smart card, and in different places and by the time we gather all our food, tiredness takes over the enjoyment of the meal. After dining once at Dine, the food court is now almost out of my radar.

From the classy ambiance to the friendly service, Dine, for me is a real restaurant, not withstanding the fact that it is inside a cinema. The last time we went, i got myself a chicken burger, while others got themselves a grilled fish in lemon butter sauce, a chettinad chicken gravy meal that is served with a choice of rice and mandarin chicken meal with noodles. I love the burger here, while it is not the best and it is not beef, it is a very good chicken burger and the fries that come with it are nice, not so oily and crisp. The chicken gravy meals are nice at at around Rs. 225, they are a bang for the buck in a nice setting. The grilled fish in lemon butter sauce was beautiful, nice fish, nicely cooked and served with herbed rice. We were late for our movie and skipped dessert, but the choices are not too much, like the blur cafe in Satyam where they have some great dessert.

Prices are nice, the burger is Rs. 130, the chicken meals are around Rs. 225 and the fish was similarly priced too. Service is quick and attentive too. I would rather go here or go to the barista on the ground floor rather than the food court, unless I really want something specific from there.

Food 8/10
Service 8/10
Ambiance 8/10
Price 8/10

Dine is inside Escape, Express Avenue.


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So, work took me to Bangalore and needless to say I ate out at every opportunity. Though I hate to admit it, Bangalore has a lot more to offer foodies than Chennai and sigh...........

Anish took me to Elementz and was raving about it all the way from the train station to the restaurant and my expectation was hitting the roof. We parked the car on a small street opp Elementz and walked to a super rustic ambiance that was like Mocha, but with less, well, drug den effect. If it gets cold though, the inside seating would be a much better option. I got the menu and was shocked to see such a huge offering of steak, both vegetarian and otherwise. Being a steak lover, I got myself a cowboy steak for the first time outside of the US, while he got himself a shepherd's pie. We also got chicken croquets for starters which turned out to be crisp and tasty. The steak was super succulent and super tasty, just brilliant and is easily the best steak I have had in a very long time. The shepherds pie turned out equally good and was glad that it was served like the tradition, in a pot. It was well set unlike the runny one (and a bad one) you get at 10D. The cheese cake was a perfect finish to our dinner.

Service was decent and since we were sitting in an area close to the waiting tables, there was always someone near by. Like I mentioned, the ambiance was very nice and cosy and like the ambiance shows, the place serves seesha. Prices are on par with bangalore rates with steaks being priced at around Rs, 300-400. Apparently they have opened up a fine dining Indian restaurant which serves some great indian food in a continental style per plated fare and I am dying to get back to bangalore and try it.

Food 8.5/10
Service 7/10
Ambiance 8/10
Price 8/10

Elementz is located on Nandidurg road, Jayamahal extension and I have no idea how to get there, maybe someone from bangalore can help.

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After hearing about the 'rock' sizzler concept emulating 'On the rocks' from Park Sheraton, I knew I had to visit this place soon! And so when a bunch of people wanted to meet, I tricked them to come here. The place is an example of what good interiors can do to a place. This is the same place that had the 'Sweet Chariot' cafe, but looks completely different with a full make over! Decent, well done interiors and a few cozy corners in the ground floor for the romantics!

We ordered about 4 starters, 3 sizzlers, 1 burger and 1 pasta. I do not remember the exact names of the starters, but they were all decent both in portions and in taste. The mexican tortilla formed the base for 3 of the 4 starters and the corn filling, chicken filling and the mixed veg fillings were all good enough!

For the main course, we had an Arabian Chicken Sizzler, a Madras Curry Sizzler, and Chicken Stroganhoff and another chicken sizzler. The sizzlers are all served with a small portion of herbed rice, beans, carrot and a decent portion of gravy. The Arabian Chicken sizzler was with 1 large piece of chicken leg, potato wedges and the above. It was decent, but being priced at Rs 340 I definitely think it was small portion! The madras curry sizzler was more of a masala dosa with fried idlies served on a sizzler rock, tasted good, but again over priced. The chicken stroganhoff was nice and different, with a soaked bread base along with the traditional rice and the stroganhoff chicken on top. The dishes are served on a hard thick base instead of the thin sizzler, but is in NO WAY comparable to the concept of 'On the rocks' where the food is cooked right in front of you on the rock!

The chicken burger was very good, small diameter but tall and the patty was excellent. The pasta was alright, definitely not bad!

For desserts we had a custard pudding served with ice cream and a chocolate brownie with ice cream. The first one was excellent, while the brownie (served on a pineapple) was not fresh at all and spoilt the dish.

Service was pretty good. No complaints on that front and the food kept coming quickly, maybe because there were only 3 full tables. Will have to go back on a full day and see how the service and taste of food is when they have lesser time to pay attention to individual tables. But I certainly think the sizzlers are over priced for the quantity and size. KOBE sizzlers are also pricing it the same way. but alteast there one sizzler will kind of fill you. Maybe we have to get ready to spend more on food now.

Price          5/10
Ambiance  7/10
Service      7/10
Food         7/10.

Holy Smoke is located in Ishpahani Center on Nungambakkam high road, in the same shop that used to host 'Sweet Chariot'