The first non-veg dish to be served was the Machi Tikka Jodhpuri. It was a deep fried chicken with deep flavors. But the best among the starters was Mutton Sheek Kebab. Move over veg Patiyala Sheek Kebab. Stop imitating the true form of sheek kebab. Nothing can come close to beating this taste. There was also a Singapore Chilli Chicken. I wonder why the name Singapore got stuck to this dish, but it was mediocre in taste. Round one of starters, our clear favorites was the Mutton Sheek Kebab.


As we were getting done with the starters we were served with Paneer Pitha Roll. Of the all the dishes served that night, this was the most disappointing. Inspite of paneer being fresh, it was unable to lend a shoulder to help this dish. The dish lacked a punchy sour cream, which was further compounded by crumbly pitha bread.


The next to follow suit was the Indian Bread Basket, which was an assorted selection of butter naan, roti puthina parathas. Each different in its make. But really soft in texture with great flavors. To compliment these we were served with Buna Gosht and Reshmi Butter Chicken. Buna Gosht which is essentially mutton pepper korma. This was really tasty with the Butter Naan. If one thought this combination was great, then the combination with Reshmi Butter Chicken was even better. The Butter chicken was clearly the winner, which was creamier, richer and definitely tastier.


Finally we were served with the last main course which was the Chicken Biryani. It was better than many restaurant biryanis by many yards. But it no way compares to Muslim wedding biryani. But this is good enough, I would say.

After binging on these items we were finally served with Kulfi. This one was really rich and creamy. In fact I had one extra.

Ambiance:
The ambiance remains the same at Crimson Chakra, Adyar. It definitely is one of the best places to dine.

Price:
A meal for two roughly equate about Rs1500 - 1800 odd. But with many fantastic dishes, one would want to try  them all i suppose.

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

Auroville, is a place were people come in search of peace and well being.But this was not the case for my bunch of friends. The first word which came out of my BF's mouth was Pasikuthu ( I am Hungry). This was inspite of us having a heavy lunch at Promenade. So we walked into the Dreamers Cafe. This is located inside Auroville visitors center.





Food:
 Since my friend and I are coffee lovers, we ordered a Cafe Latte, while the others ordered a Watermelon Juice. Then we saw Chocolate Mint Brownie and Biscotti we had one of each.

The Latte was decent, a little Indianzied for taste. The Chocolate Mint Brownies are to die for. Super gooey, very rich and has a minty effervescence. WOW!!! I would not mind driving all the way for these delights. The watermelon juice was neat. But I am pretty sure nothing beats the brownie.

Ambiance:
The cafe is more like a shack with a few seating around it.

Service:
NA

Price:
In total for the various portions of coffee and juices it brought a total of Rs 430/-

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

Dreamers Cafe is located inside Auroville which is a few kilometers away from Pondicherry.

Food: 

To wash down the delicious starters, we had ordered Mango Lassi. The lassi was based on a mango extract instead of fresh mango ( its wrong to expect that in this season). It was thick, but could have done with a bit more of sweetness.

For the mains we had a Chicken Singapore Street Noodles and a Veg Mee Goreng. Both the dishes were very oily. It seemed like they took a swim in oil. Veg Mee Goreng was medium spicy with pieces of tofu in it. Tofu was a little harder than what we expected. The Chicken Singapore Street Noodles was so very spicy, I could not chow down on it without two beverages. Finally I made up my mind and roped in tomato ketchup to the rescue. One thing which was quite evident was that this place loves oil and it was added with loads of love, to all the dishes.

Ambiance:
The ambiance is pretty decent, with nice decor. But I felt it was little cramped with seats located very close to each other.

Service:
It was spot on. The waiters never left us to run out of water in our glasses. Very attentive and are always there at the table to serve the food.

Price:
This meal for two was Rs 880/-. Pretty decent meal. The food served here was quite reminiscent of the food served in my canteen - "OILY".

Food - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Service - 8/10
Price - 7/10

Toss-Up is located in Ramapuram opposite to DLF.

Main course had a blend of continental and indian. I simply avoided the Indian part of it. The best part of the main course were the Mushroom and Fussili Pasta, Beef and Spaghetti and finally the Chicken Liver Strongnoff. Each very special in its own way. Infact I went for another round.


Desserts section was a little small, but I helped myself to Vanilla Ice Cream with a small piece of Brownie, cookies and Chocolate sauce. Heavenly way to finish a neat lunch.

Ambiance:
The hotel sits right opposite to Pondy beach. It was slightly sultry so we had to sit indoors. But I think dining on the porch would have been quite a fantastic way to relax and have a killer meal.

Service:
NA

Price:
We used a friends discount card and attracted a 30% discount on the bill. This made the bill turn into Rs 630/head. Which is quite simply amazing.

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

Promenade by Hidesign is located on the Gorbert Avenue.

Since the platter comes with roti and Dhal Makhani, we just ordered two naans. The Dhal Makhani was a very small portion as  part of the platter. I would highly advice you to order a full portion of the Dhal. It was the best I have had by a long shot. It was rich and heavenly. Since we were non-veggies, we ordered  Murg Begum Bahar which was chicken kheema with various spices and dressed off with boiled eggs. I am not a big fan of boiled eggs so I skipped them while the murg begum was amazing but I just could not resist the Dhal Makhani. The Rotis were soft and they formed a great combo with the side dishes.

By the end of the meal we were really stuffed that we skipped desserts.

Ambiance:
Could seat 50 people at time and the place looks really upmarket.

Service:
Hardly 5 tables were occupied at the time of dinner, which they managed quite comfortably, so not rating this now.

Price:
The meal for 3 was Rs 2200/- which made a big hole in my brother pocket.

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

Al - Maza is located in 6th Street Anna Nagar which is behind Mc Rennett Anna Nagar.

PS : Sorry for the bad pics.

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