It has been over a year since I had updated the blog. With lot of work going into my pet project, I was unable to post anything. I was kind of active on Instagram with photo reviews.

I had recently taken a short break from work. I got to dine at The Reef at Sheraton Grand. I will try and summarize the entire experience.


Food:
For people who have become like me, impatient to read through the entire blog, the verdict is Simply Sensational.

We had gone for the dinner buffet on Pongal. The Reef was not hosting any special menu on the occasion. So my impressions are based on the regular affair served here.

We started with the soup which was a Thai Chicken Soup. One Sip of it and I was blown away by the taste. It was delicate and well balanced.




Buffet also had Veg Cream Soup which I did not get to taste. The buffet spread was quite extensive with a Selection of Salads, Make Your Own Salad, Assorted Breads with Cheese and also Live Counter for Chaat items, Pasta and Pizza.

The spread had a good mix of Indian dishes and Continental items. Paneer to Lamb Shank to Dals to Wok Tossed Noodles.


The Dessert spread was another highlight. Comprising of Indian Sweets to Cakes to Ice Creams to Brownies. All in all, loved the entire spread. One the best buffets I have had in a long time, with each and every dish being tasty. Some may not like certain dishes but my palate seemed to love em.

Ambiance:
The Reef is nestled in the spanking new property of Sheraton Grand on ECR. The property is Grand and befitting of the word GRAND.

Service:
Full marks here. We loved the service.

Price:
The buffet for a person is priced 1600 plus taxes. But if you have AMEX card you can knock 20% off the Bill thanks to AMEX alliance with SPG and Marriot group. So we ended up paying 2550/- for the two of us.

Would I visit again, 100% I will.

Food -  9 /10
Ambiance - 10 /10
Service - 10 /10
Price - 10/ 10

Disclaimer - I paid for the meal.

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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.

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My last visit to Pasta Bar Veneto was way before my blog happened and my source for new joints in Chennai was Mr.Chennai Foodie. I had visited their Egmore outlet and the food save the Mud Pie was a total disappointment. But this visit to Pasta Bar Veneto, T-Nagar as a part of CFG Showcase was a class apart. I think it is enough of me doing small talk and get down to the food.



The Veggies started their innings with Bruschetta topped of with diced tomato and cheese. It was crispy and fresh. There was another Bruschetta for the veggies topped with Mushroom and loaded to the brim with cheese. This was one cheesy delight


Next up, it was a round for the non-veggies. We were served with Panko Fried Chicken Wings. I have always loved Panko fried stuff and this too did not disappoint me. So far all the dishes were fabulous. No disappoints unlike my previous visit.




Next up came the Chicken Sausages in Spicy Masala. Seemed a little Indianized. I am not a big fan of Sausages, but this one was awesome. It was well marinated and was juicy with none of the side effects of cold storage. The next round went for the veggies. They had a Cheese Fritters. Cheese at its best.


Guess an Italian restaurant cannot be Italian without serving the Pizza. Please do not compare these with the one you get at Tuscana. But these were great in their own right. We were served two veg and two non-veg pizzas. I personally like the veg pizzas. They seemed to have the right balance between the juiciness and cheesiness. The non-veg pizzas were a little overloaded. At this point we were all beginning to feel a little stuffed.


Out came the Lasagnas! With two veg and two non-veg. Non-veggies had Roasted Chicken Lasagna and a Fish Lasagna. My personal fav was the Roasted Chicken. It brought back memories of dining at Red-E. At this point I was so stuffed I could eat no further.




Just when I started thinking I had, had enough of food, we were served with Grilled Chicken and Grilled Fish. Both Seemed to have the same marinate in them. I took a bite into the fish while it was fresh out of the kitchen. This turned out to be a serious mistake, it burnt my tongue. The marinade did not seem to suite the fish well, while the chicken was better. The grilled chicken and fish were served along with some freshly cut veggies and a piece of bread.




My previous visit to the Pasta Bar Veneto ended with me liking just the desserts.  So I had huge expectations on the desserts. We had Tiramisu, Mud Pie and Chocolate Mousse. Off the lot, I loved the Mud Pie and the Chocolate Mousse. Tiramisu had something a miss. All in all the entire meal was a killer and the meal wiped clean of my memory my previous experience.

Ambiance:
The T-Nagar outlet was swanky looking and in my opinion was way better in ambiance than the Egmore outlet ( one I had visited some time before ).

Price:
A dish here is priced around Rs 200 and thereabouts. A meal for two would roughly cost around Rs 1000/-.

Pasta Bar Veneto is located on Burkit Road. I used the GPS to head here so cant give you any landmarks. They do have outlets in Egmore and Anna Nagar.

After a hard days work if you want to unwind with a nice fruit flavored no non-sense ice cream in your hand or you just want hang out with your buddies when your pocket is a bit tight, Arun Unlimited parlour is the place to be in. Arun has been in the ice cream industry for quite some time. But they kind of had a rough patch with the invasion of Kwality Walls into the mass ice cream foray in India. But in the past 2 to 3yrs they seem to have a come back of sorts with Arun Unlimited Outlets.

After an awesome dinner at Zaitoon everyone was keen on having an ice cream. Me with a sore throat was not so keen on having an ice cream but then we ended up heading to Arun for Ice Cream joint. It was worth the visit.  We had a blast.You get maximum bang for your buck here. With Rs 45/- for a single scoop. The Single scoop is much larger than the value scoop you get in Baskin Robbins. The variety available in an outlet is also large. With around 70 different flavors available, Arun Ice Cream can cater to a variety of sweet tooth people.

My personal favourites being Mango Ice Cream, Fresh Strawberry with Strawberry Sauce and Chocolate Chips and also Queens Dessert and my all time favorite in Arun being Swiss Almond with Chocolate Fudge and Chocolate Chips. Whatever the flavour, they taste really good over here. Most Indian flavors like Kulfi , Kesar and Badam are very rich and royal. They have loads of toppings to go with your ice cream as well. It's a good place to go if you have family and especially if you have kids who hate to be in their best behavior on an outing.

Ice Cream - 8/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Price - 9/10

Arun Unlimited is located in Manikeshwari Road in Kilpauk. There are over 100 outlets in Chennai and also around 600 outlets in South India.

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