The meal started with Fish Fry, Vegetable Stir Fry and Dahi Poori being served at the table. The fish fry was decent, a very Indianized fish fry. No complaints! While the Vegetables Stir Fry and the Dahi Poori were kick-@$$. Inspite of being a through breed of non-veggies we liked the Vegetable Stir Fry. Dahi Poori was rich and fantastic. Since we liked all three we asked for another round of the same. This time around, the Fish fry turned up in another avatar as Grilled Fish with Tartar sauce. This was even better than the Indianized version.



While the others were binging on the starters on the table. I moved over to check out the Salads and Soup. I tried the Roast Chicken Salad, Tuna and the Chicken Salami. A big thumbs up to all the three. For the soup I opted for Chicken Clear Soup, since it was the only non-veg soup while the veggies had the Sweet Corn Soup. The Chicken Clear Soup was fabulous, neat soup, very much reminded me of the soup my mom makes.


In-between the soup my friend had asked for the Dhal and Rajma to be served with Lacha Parotta at the table. The Parotta was crispy and was fabulous with the Dhal. The Rajma was not to my liking, but the company seemed to like the Rajma.


I was feeling a little full at this point, so I stuck only to the non-veg portion of the main course while the others tried a few veg dishes such as the Paneer. The main course was a non-veggies paradise. It had all the common suspects as part of the menu. Of the lot I loved the Beef Tenderloin, Murgh Makani and the Chili Prawns. We chose to have them with the Butter Naan. Butter Naan and the Beef Tenderloin was the best. Amazing combo. If the beef is not up your alley, then the Murgh Makani was supremely rich. A big thumbs!


After stuffing myself with the main course, I had hardly any space to have the desserts. I restricted myself to trying a few of them. There was atleast 30 different desserts with 6 different types of Ice Cream plus the toppings. I loved the Ice Creams and the Warm Chocolate Pudding plus the Mango Cake. We were also served with Hot Jelabi on the table. All very top notch. There were some dishes which were not upto the mark. But seeing the entire spread as one, I bet you would love it all.This must be one the best buffet I have had in a while. Worth every buck spent.

Ambiance:
Inspite of the hotel being well over a decades. Every little piece of the restaurant has been maintained spic and span. Another big plus is the live music which is part of the restaurant, which everyone seemed to enjoy.

Service:
Top Notch!

Price:
A buffet is priced at Rs 1610/- for a person after taxes. Worth every buck.

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

The Residency is located inside the Park Sheraton on T.T.K Road, Alwarpet.

Another day in Phoenix Market City. Walking around the mall will definitely make you thirsty. Since I have had at Ci Gusta, this time I wanted to have something at the renowned Pinkberry.

Food:
Since my friend and myself were not in any mood to have anything solid or have the yogurt ice cream, we decided to have the Mango yogurt shake. What I was hoping for was a truly yummlicious fresh mango shake turned to be a Mango flavoring. It was definitely thick and heavy but it lacked sweetness. A proper mango shake deserves to have that extra bit of sweetness which was sorely missed.

Ambiance:
Its a really small joint which can hardly accommodate 15 people at a time.

Service;
We were the only people to be present at that time so I would not go judging the service just yet.

Price:
The two drinks at Rs 250/- put a small hole in our pockets.

Food- 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Service - NA
Price - 7/10

Pinkberry is located in the Upper Ground Floor of Phoenix Market City, Velacherry.

This was followed by Crispy Corn with Spinach, the combo of the Spinach with the Corn was fabulous, crispy at its best. Next came the Namprik Gai which is stir-fried Chicken with chilli, garlic, onion. A very zingy dish, I would sure make a note of it and order the next time I am here.


Next dish which was served was the Poached Bok Choy with Garlic. Bok Choy is essentially a Cabbage which is much smaller in size than the ones which we are used to. Bok Choy was perfectly poached to maintain the juiciness with a load of garlic sauce. I have heard of the Non-veg version with the Chicken as a part of the ingredient on TLC Channel. But this was the first time I had tasted it. Must say it was full of flavors, rich in every possible way.






Next up was the Braised Broccoli with Tofu. This is one vegetarian dish which I would not mind having again. The Tofu had a texture which was almost similar to that of the Chicken. The flavorful sauce went well with the Nasi Kunning. Nasi Kunning quite literally in Indian cooking is Thenga Soru ( Coconut Rice) with a Malaysian name to it. It tasted just the way my Grandmom makes.

While the veggies relished the load of veg dishes, we were served with Choo Chee Goong. This is a proper Thai dish. The dish acquires its name due to the noise it makes while cooking which is sounds like Chooooo Cheeeee!!! A proper prawn lovers delight. Small size prawns cooked in red curry and coconut milk with loads of ginger and pepper. This turned out to be a fabulous combo with Drunken Noodles with Bang Bang Salad. The Drunken Noodles is a Thai twist to Chinese noodles with loads of soy sauce, garlic and stir fired. Finally there was the T.Shanghai Chicken. The 'T' is silent. Its like "Tsunami ". Just like the Tsunami it did pack the punch. Heavenly chicken with garlic and ginger masala.

After having a course of meal which was fit for the royal. We finished off the meal with Chocolate Mousse with Orange Chantalay & Strawberry in Red Wine. This was one hell of a rich, divine chocolate overload. What a way to end a killer dinner.

Ambiance:
As I had mentioned earlier this place packs the oomph factor to blow you away.

Price:
A meal for two should cost around Rs 1500- 2000/- odd. But it is definitely worth the price.

Chao is located in Thiyagaraya Nagar off North Borg Road.

Philly Chicken Sandwich was the first to arrive. Simple answer to the dish - I loved it. Flavors, closest to Sparkys! Next came the BBQ Chicken Fingers which was a mix of various sweet BBQ sauces with chili flakes to counter  the sweetness. Point to note, the salad served along with it was just way too dry. Finally the Creamy Penne with Mushroom and Chicken, was creamy tangy and definitely the comfort food to cure any persons depression.

Ambiance:
As I had said earlier, a contemporary tea joint.

Service:
The person who served us was really friendly and she kept a wide smile all through the service. Nothing beats that!

Price:
This comfort food cost us Rs 950/- for the lot. But nothing beats the fact that your best-friend is all happy in the end.

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

Kettle is located in 10th Main Road in Anna Nagar.

Just as I was reaching my hand out for a glass of water, out-came Florida Sunrise which was a mocktail based on Orange Juice. Sweet Tangy and Zingy! After the drink there was no let up, we were served with Onion Rings cooked in Soda, Aloo Tiki and Breaded Mozzarella Sticks. Onion Rings were crispy with a small dip of the Thousand Island Dressing it was fab.The Aloo Tiki on the other hand was just okay, Guess I am not a big fan of potato in this form. While the Breaded Mozzarella Sticks is a sure cure for cheese lovers appetite.




Just as I was done finishing what was served on my plate came Aatish-e-Aloo, guess the name is down to numerology, alphabetology... hehe! e-Aloo is something like e-Mail LOL! This to was a variant of Aloo- tiki cooked on a Tandoor with herbed stuffing and slit horizontally. I felt this version fared a little better as my taste buds seemed to like them. Following this came Tapas Mushroom, Subz Tandoori and Corn & Cheese Balls. Off the three I loved the Subz Tandoori which was Tandoori style roasted vegetables marinated in yogurt and spices. I was really surprised how different veggies tasted. It was a mixture of different vegetables and I am pretty sure there was a carrot, a broccoli, a zucchini, a capsicum. In-spite of the variety they tasted similar and fabulous. If decided to trick someone into trying a new vegetable or trick your child into eating a Broccoli this is the dish which you should order.




A small break before the speciality dish was just what the doctor had ordered for. We were served with Bovonto topped with a dollop of ice cream. I just drank down it in one gulp. It was absolute nirvana. Finally the last starter arrived, which was the Phuket Paneer. I have heard of Phuket Fish, but this was something of a surprise. The same concept applied on Paneer. Thick outer coating with awesome juicy sauce and medium soft paneer made an absolute specialty.


A small breather and a round of Deep Blue Sea. A must have drink. Do not miss this.




After so many starters I was totally stuffed to even try a little of the main course. Inspite of the difficulty which I was facing, I had a few mouthfuls of the different Roti with the some gravy. Of the lot in rotis my pick would be the Garlic Laccha Paratha and the Herb & Olive Naan. The gravies which formed a great combo with these rotis was the Rajasthani Bhindi Khadi and Bhurwan Mirch Kolhapuri. At this point I was too stuffed to try anything further. I saved a little space for the desserts.



There is nothing more satisfying than having a nice dessert after a rich meal. So was the case here. For desserts we had a Strawberry Pannacotta and the Harleem Brownie Wonton. I loved the Harleem Brownie Wonton. It was a testament to creativity. The Pannacotta on the other had was okay, there was something a miss with the base.

Ambiance:
The ambiance can be a little confusing. The restaurant wishes to be a fine dine. But it seems to be caught in between.

Price:
A meal for two should cost around Rs 1400/- With so many delicious veg dishes to have, I think it is bound to go higher.

Peaches is located on 100 Feet Road in Velacherry, around 1Km away from Phoenix Market City.

The Desserts on the other hand was little mixed. The Chocolate Trifle cake was really bad. I have had better cakes elsewhere. It tasted as though it was a day old. The Mango Mascarpone Panna Cotta was just brilliant. Fresh mango blended in it, what more could one want?

They do have a dessert buffet priced at Rs 550. Should be worth a try

Ambiance:
The ambiance is actually great, with contemporary mix of modern with English architecture.

Service:
Service is quite fast and they are really great at explaining the dishes.

Price:
This short snack cost us Rs 545/-

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

Dessert Safari is located in Teynampet