During the epic night in Mumbai where a Mumbaikar took this Chennaivasi on a 6 hour food trip, a number of things stood out. One of them was the bun maska. Dipped lovingly in chai and bit with love and chai, this is one dish that makes you believe that you are the most hard working guy in the world and that the bun maska is your only respite.

So when bun maska was advertised, Chai Nasta became a must-visit place. So after a hardworking day three hardworking guys, for whom the world keeps wronging and bun maska was the only respite, landed there well into the evening. Yours truly was obviously one of them.

Well, it is a pure vegetarian restaurant, something I found out only when I landed there. Else there is a chance that we might have gone elsewhere. Anyway, now that we were there, the two others ordered elachi tea, chilly cheese toast and chilly paneer. I asked for the bun maska and the aloo tikki chat. Later on we added one paneer roll to our list.

This place is all about the bun maska. Yes, the chilly paneer was pretty good with chunks of paneer in a tangy gravy, the roll was blah, the aloo tikki was a nice as it should be, but only one thing stood out. The bun maska and the chai. OK, that was two things, yes. The first bun maska was plain and when we asked for a repeat order, we got the one with jam. Retrospectively, I would ditch the jam and go for the plain. A nice soft, sweet fruity bun, toasted (and tossed in oil or butter, I think), was this beautiful old time comfort food during the era when croissants were unheard of. In most of Chennai, it was always the marie biscuits that got dipped in tea, but there were places where bun was dipped in tea too. Mosques, potti kadais (street tea shops) and the likes. The elachi tea (cardamom tea) was pretty good and as sweet as the erstwhile teas when sugar wasn’t a world killer. Chai Nasta has recreated that in a slightly more modern tea kadai setting in a posh locality, right next to The Raintree hotel, St. Mary’s road, Alwarpet.

Our bill was Rs. 1000 for the three of us.

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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. 

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. 

Lloyd's tea house is a very nice coffee shop (OK, tea shop), serving some good food and is very typical of a good cafe, albeit serving tea as their specialty. I have written earlier about the food there, but at that time, the teas weren't great, couches weren't there, but food was very good. Lots of things have changed and this time, I found that food has improved, seating has improved, desserts have not, but the biggest improvement for me has been the teas. The same tea that was quite so-so during my first visit, were quite good this time.

The tea of the month - Mango Tulsi tea was brewed to perfection. Actually, they place the timer and tell you what the ideal brewing time is, so you are partially responsible for the tea! I loved the tea, while the blooming tea that my friend had was very very good and the he iced teas that the women had have improved a lot too!

But that day, the Lloyd's cheese burger, officially put its hands up to be counted among the best burgers in Chennai. I had the ham cheese burger with no bacon, but added egg and it was juicy and perfectly done. While it still does not out-do the burger at Sandy's and I also don't know how consistent they are going to be with the burger, Sandy's cheese burger is not out of the 1st place in a coffee shop yet, but this burger is good! The chilly prawns that the ladies refused to share with us, but we ordered one more and refused to share with them was super hit! The corn on toast was loved by all, a very simple dish, but tasted great and the pastas were reasonably good.

But, the desserts still have a long way to go. While, this place could be the go-to place for me for some nice tea and burger or coffee and short eats, this is, not yet, the place for me to head to for coffee and pastry. The red velvet cake was not great, the rainbow cake was decent, but not great and they have probably the worst French Macaroons in the world. OK, I am being harsh with the macaroons, because I know that these are probably the toughest cookies to bake in the world and they are finicky and one tiny mistake and the whole batch could go waste, but that is no excuse to put a bad one on the menu. It was soggy, had no feet, cracked top and well, like I said, a very bad macaroon.

So, great place for tea and food, not a great place for desserts. At least not yet and because the food has improved from being good a few months back to almost being great now, I believe the owners can make the desserts great too. If that happens, this will hands down be the best coffee shop for me in Chennai and I have already been there thrice in the last ten days!

4/5 for the food and tea and 3/5 for the desserts.

Lloyds Tea House is on Avvai Shanmugam Salai (Lloyds Road), behind the Oxford Press.