On a rainy day in Chennai, when I was on my way home from college, I decided to stop  for a few minutes since the rain was a killer. I searched high and low for a place with no trees around to park the car,  as I had seen a few trees fallen on top of cars.  After searching for a bit in Anna Nagar, I found such an open spot  opposite to Titan watch showroom. As I parked the vehicle, I saw this shop which looked more like a Fag Shop. But it had a name board which read: R.K. Beeda Center.

Since it was raining, I decided to head to the shop and have a hot Chai. But to my bad luck, the power was down in that area, so his Chai vending machine was down too. Just as I wondered what to do next, I saw rack of Puffs. I asked the person on the other side of the counter to get me a puff. He asked me, which one did I want,  the Plain Puff or Vegetable Puff or the Cheese Puff? As he said Cheese Puff, it started ringing some bells in my head. So I asked him for a Cheese Puff and I waited as a Passive Smoker, as people around me were burning their money away.

After a quick cut here and a quick slash there on the Puff, I was given my Puff. One bite of it and I realized that this was more like a Bhel Puri topped with Cheese put inside a puff. I felt it was very innovative use of puffed rice and sev in a puff. Coming to think of it, its a Puff inside a Puff :P. And I just loved it.

The Cheese Puff is definitely worth a try if you do not mind walking up to a shop filled with people puffing smoke. Priced at Rs 10/- for a puff its well worth a try.

Food - 7.5/10
Ambiance - If a group of people smoking can be counted as Ambiance then you have a very good one.
Service - NA
Price - 8/10

R.K.Beeda Center is located in a lane diagonally opposite to Mc Rennet Bakery

Kodaikannal is one of the most sort after summer retreats in Tamil Nadu. It has people pouring in from almost all parts of India and also from foreign destinations. Kodaikannal is preferred for its right balance of weather and serene scenic beauty. The only way to reach here is through the road. Thankfully the roads have improved over time.

On my recent visits here, we stayed at the Valley View Branch of Sterling Resorts. The drive here from the Kodaikannal town center is breathtaking, with wall of rocks on one side of the road and the amazing view of the valley on the other side of it. It looks wonderful during the day. But definitely a nightmare during the night with no lights on the road, the only thing guiding you might be your cars headlamps.

On arriving here from the flat lands around noonish, we were all very hungry. Added to the hunger, I was having an empty stomach after a few rounds of motion sickness during the ascent. I was very keen on eating at some food joint of which I had enquired about from my friends on CFG. But the company of people were against driving into town and wanted to dine at the restaurant in the resort.

We headed into the restaurant expecting to have the buffet, but the buffet section was closed off for a private party. So we headed into the ala carte section and sat down. We were the only ones in the restaurant since it was off season. Since we were a large group of 20, we sat down as 2 different groups.

We started off the proceedings with a Sweet Corn Chicken Soup. The soup was thin and lacked flavor. Adding salt and pepper did not help. For starters we had ordered a plate of Tandoori Chicken. On arrival we found the chicken a tad under cooked. So we sent the dish back and asked them for a proper done chicken. When we recieved the dish after cooking for a few minutes, most of the pieces looked charred leaving a very few edible portion. I got myself a Chicken Sizzler. The dish had one leg piece and was stuffed around with vegetables. I bearly got to taste the chicken as the portion was small and the group around me was large. The chicken smelt like  it had been stored for a few days. For main course we decided to split, and went with Egg Fried Rice and Mutton Rogan Gosh and Paneer Butter Masala. The Egg Fried Rice was decent and was more upto the standards of a fried rice served in a college canteen. The gravy of Mutton Rogan Gosh was spicy and helped compliment the weather. The mutton was a little chewy but still mostly edible. Paneer Butter Masala too was decent, but the paneer also kind of had the stored smell to it. We had also ordered for a vegetable starter but right now I am not able to recollect its name or flavour.

The entire meal for a group of 8 in our table cost us Rs 3200. All in all the entire meal was a total let down. Hope the food is better atleast during the  tourist season.

Food - 4/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Service - 6/10
Price - 6/10

Sterling Resorts Valley View, is located in Attuvampatti in Kodaikannal.

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Eight years ago a small community called Chennai Food Guide took a nibble at social networking through the most powerful social network at that time Orkut. Now it has moved from taste to mega taste, saucer to plate, china to crystal and has established its aromatic self on Facebook chomp! chomp!

Chennai Food Guide celebrates its Eighth Anniversary on 29th September 2012 with a sweet and spicy blast at Residency Towers, T-nagar Munch! Munch!

Join the party and savour our hospitality. Yummmmmm!

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CFG Page : https://www.facebook.com/groups/chennaifoodguide

CFG Twitter : https://twitter.com/ChennaiFoodGuid

Crab meat cakes were brilliant. One of the friends at the table with me, had never tasted crab meat before. So this was like wow to him!


The Yera Milagai was rich and flavorful. It vanished off the table in no time. I loved the crispy tail portion of the prawn.


Chilly Cheese Chicken Tikka was at its usual best, with loads of cheese infused into it.


Mutton Kaima Vada was not to my liking nor to the liking of people present at my table. It was hard and the flavors did not seem to gel with the flavors of other dishes.



After having some delicious starters we dug into our main course. I had ordered Chettiars Kozhi Curry to go with the Smoked Chicken Rice and Kozhi Stew to go with Appams. Since we felt it would be lacking, if we missed out on a fish dish, we chose Fried Fillets of Kingfish Maltaise. Kozhi Stew was rich in coconut milk and filled to the brim with pieces of chicken. The appam with Kozhi Stew was lip smacking. If you are a fan of appam, you must try this out. Smoked Chicken Rice was rich with flavors. It felt like a sister of biryani. The combo of Smoked Rice and Chettiars Kozhi Curry was deadly. Chettiars Kozhi Curry was similar in taste to a gravy that would be served at a Chettiar's home.  Finally I took a piece of Fried Fillets of Kingfish Maltaise. This was a beer batter fried fish full of continental flavors. Lovely dish with deep aroma. Our bellies were so full that we decided to skip the desert.

The meal for 3 cost us Rs 3200/-. We were not in the position to finish the dishes which we had ordered. So we decided to carry them home. The portions here are pretty large. So I would advice you to order accordingly. The ambiance at the Gandhi Nagar branch is better than the KNK Road branch. It has an old colonial house feel to it.

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

Crimson Chakra is located in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, next to Gandhi Nagar Club.

Food - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Service - 8/10
Price - 8/10

Copper Chimney is located on Cathedral Road next  to Zaras Tapas Bar.

My quest for some lip smacking burgers took me to my next stop, Tasty Jones in Besant Nagar. I had gone along with a couple of my friends who were very hungry at that time. So that is the reason you see a hand in the picture, grabbing the food. They were not in the mood to wait. I cannot blame them, I do take a few minutes to click the pics.

For starters we picked Crumb Fried Chicken. The chicken was average. It lacked flavor and the punch which you expect from the dish. The mayo which was served along with it was the saving grace. It improved the taste a bit.







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*A review about a place holds good only for 6 months as there can be a change in quality and quantity of the food, the service and the staff, due to reasons best known only to them. So kindly consider these factors while visiting the places.