Moving to the box contents.

Grape Juice - 1
Bottle Water (200ml) - 1
Haleem - 1
BBQ Chicken - 1
Mutton Biryani - 1
Chicken Kothu parotta - 1
Dates - 2
Assorted Fruits - 1
Kheema Samosa - 1
Kheema Roll - 1
Raita - 1
Gulab Jamun - 1

The box is priced at Rs 199/- net


First this box has had some items deleted from it since the 2013 and hence the mark down on the price. At Rs 199/- it was fantastic value for money for the dishes it is loaded with.


The positives first. I loved the Grape Pulp Juice. It was fantastic. Absolutely refreshing! The Haleem was really nice and almost comparable to the Sea Shells Haleem. The quantity served in the box is quite less, but never the less it was tasty. Also a huge improvement over their previous attempts. BBQ chicken was juicy and tasty.


Kheema Roll and Samosa were decent in-spite of it being a little dry. Chicken Kothu Parotta had loads of flavour, but sadly I could not consume more than a few spoonfuls as it was spicy hot. I strongly believe they should reduce the spiciness of the Kothu Parotta as consuming spicy food at the time of Iftar is quite difficult.  Finally the finishing touches with Gulab Jamun was quite nice.


My only gripe with this Iftar box was their Mutton Biryani which was way off the mark. It tasted more like ginger rice.

Smaller but significant touches which I liked were the small fork given for consuming the assorted fruits and also separate pack containing cutlery, tomato ketchup, paper tissue, toothpick and mouth freshener.

This box is fit for a consumption by a single person only. But for the price it is well worth it.

Food - 8/10
Price - 8.5/10

Disclaimer : I paid for the meal.

Copper Kitchen Saligramam is located diagonally opposite to Prasad Studios.

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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.

Next up to complete the comparo I took a couple of spoonfuls from the Haleem in the Sea Shells container. This haleem was a part of the Iftar box and I had not purchased a separate container.

The box contents:
Tata Gluco+ - 1
Nombu Kanji ( Porridge) - 1
Dates -2
Chicken Cutlet - 2
Iddiyappam Biryani - 1
Mixed Fruits - 1
The entire box costs Rs99/-

Nombu Kanji aka Rice Porridge which is a spicy porridge with a bit of rice, vegetables, dhal and a small helping of mutton. The chicken cutlet seems to have dropped in size compared to the previous year's box. A little minuscule but right on the spices. Finally you get a small serving of Iddiyappam Biryani with small pieces of chicken in it, which is rich in south indian flavours. You do get some Mixed fruits to cool down your digestive system. The entire box is a total value for money priced at Rs 99/-

Food - 7/10
Price - 9/10

The Iftar box is available from 5pm onwards during the month Ramadan.

Hotel Blue Diamond is located on E.V.R Perriyar Salai next to K.J. Hospital.

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Each year, Muslims spend the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observing a community-wide fast. The annual fast of Ramadan is considered one of the five "pillars" of Islam. Muslims who are physically able, are required to fast each day of the entire month, from sunrise to sunset. The evenings are usually spent enjoying family and community meals, engaging in prayer and spiritual reflection, and reading from the Koran.

Fast-forward to the present day. It has becoming increasingly difficult for families to sit down and dine together as one during the month of Ramadan. Knowing this all Muslim and certain non-Muslim restaurants across town have geared up to serve filling meal at the time of Iftar to cater to the Muslim community. 

It's been raining Iftar Packs all over Chennai. Every Muslim owned restaurant in the city and even some non-Muslim restaurants have gone out of the way to woo this particular cliental this Ramzan season. Hopefully my last stop in Iftar boxes this year was at Sea Shells, Anna Nagar.

The Box Contents:
Fresh Juice - 1 glass
Bottle Water - 1 (250ml)
Dates - 1
Assorted Fruits -1
Vegetable Samosa - 1(Large)
Chicken Shawarma Roll - 1
BBQ Chicken - 1 piece
Kubbus - 1
Kerala Parotta - 1
Haleem - 1
Mutton Biryani - 1
Chicken Gravy - 1
Mayo - small container

The entire box costs - Rs 280/- plus taxes.

Two Arabian speciality restaurants fighting it out on the same side of the town this Ramadan. So the food has got to be ultra competitive.  I have already tasted from the first and this is the next.

Firstly the fresh juice served in the box was the Papaya Juice which could be the perfect start to breaking a fast. The Vegetable Samosa is really large and it kind of reminded me of the samosa's from Sree Mithai. Coming to Chicken Shawarma, this is by far the best shawarma which came out of  an Iftar pack. Really juicy and loaded to the brim with chicken. BBQ Chicken with the Khubbus was perfect. The chicken remained tender even though it was cool. Haleem in this box is the best in the city this season. If you are a Haleem lover do not miss it. Perfect soft texture, combined with great flavor beats the other haleems hands down. The negative elements of the box the Mutton Biryani was a little dry and the Chicken Gravy was a bit gingery. But overall this Iftar box is the best I have had this Ramzan Season.

One box would easily feed two!

Food - 8/10
Price - 7.5/10

Sea Shells, Anna Nagar is near the the main roundtana in Anna Nagar East.

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 I have been trying out the Iftar Packs from different hotels, this Ramzan. I was stuck in college with a duty upto 8pm. This gave me the opportunity to the try the Iftar pack served in Copper Kitchen, Porur. I placed the order over phone and the person on the other end of the call was more than happy to explain to me about the contents of the box. Since Shawarma was not a part of the box I decided to order one separately. Also as I was eating alone in my car, I could not take proper pictures of the entire box contents.

The Box contents:
Fresh Juice - 1 glass
Bottle water - 200 ml
Dates - 2
Assorted Fruits - 1
Kheema Samosa - 2
Shawarma Sandwich - 1 Half
Tandoori Chicken - 1 piece
Haleem - 1 container
Chicken Kothu Parotta - 1 container
Mutton Biryani - 1
Sweet Sauce - 1 very small container
Mayo - 1 small container

The entire box costs - Rs 275/- net
First this box has a different group of target audience and I feel they might have just got the box right for the intended group. The box has a mix of both old school items such as Kothu Parotta and Biryani and a blend of the new such as the Haleem and Shawarma Sandwich which could tempt people to order them separately.

Good things first, the stand-out for me was the Sharwarma sandwich, which is the shawarma chicken packaged inside a two slices of bread and toasted. This is something new to me, because I am used to having it in a roll. It was a little soggy by the time I had it, but still worth it. The Kheema Samosa was nice. It was like having samosa in buhari hotel during the early 90's. The fresh juice which came along with the package was a fresh made watermelon juice, which was perfect and refreshing. The Tandoori Chicken was really juicy and very spicy and this is the right thing to serve for Iftar. Mutton Biryani was nice considering it was hotel made. I was also happy that they stuck to serving Tamil style biryani instead of the other variations. Now coming to bad side of things, the Chicken Kothu Parotta lacked flavor and the Haleem was a disaster, it was liquidy and was more like a mix of mutton and tomato.

Other minor elements, the package even had mouth refreshers and a couple of tooth picks which is a neat addition. Is it worth Rs 275, just maybe, since the intended audience might like it.

The Chicken Shawarma which I had ordered separately was huge, in-fact the contents were  about  to spill out. The chicken was creamy and juicy but it lacked authenticity. It was more like their own version of a shawarma.

Food - 7.5/10
Price - 8/10

Copper Kitchen is located in arcot road next to porur signal.

Iftar is the time when we dine together as a community, as one family and I believe in such a practice rather than heading to a restaurant. So I picked up a couple of Iftar boxes from Hotel Blue Diamond to break my fast.

The Box comprises of the following:
Juice - 1
Nombu Kanju ( Porridge) - 1
Dates -2
Chicken Cutlet - 2
Iddiyappa Biryani - 1
Assorted Fruits - 1
The entire box costs Rs99/-

Now this at Rs 99/, is a price which many restaurants are going to find it difficult to match. If you are thinking of  ordering this for a whole bunch of people,  it is the best option available. Coming to the contents:  The Nombu Kanji ( Porridge) is heavenly. Nombu Kanji is a spicy porridge with a bit of every thing in it, rice, dhal, vegetables and non-veg pieces. Nombu Kanji has been on the Iftar menu for years and years in Tamil Nadu. One full bowl of this porridge would satiate one till the next meal. Please note: Haleem a new entrant from Hyderabad is not part of this box. Coming to the Blue Diamond Iftar Box, the chicken cutlets in it, have the right amount of spiciness. A lovely delicacy for the people who have abstained from eating the whole day. The Iddiyappa Biryani, has a south indian masala twist to it which is decent in taste. Then there is a bit of  fruit salad, two dates, a sachet of tomato sauce and a tetra pack of cooling juice to wash all this down.The entire box is true value for money and one box is more than sufficient for a person.

Food - 7.5/10
Price - 9/10

The Iftar special box is available from 5pm onwards.

Hotel Blue Diamond is located on E.V.R Perriyar Salai next to K.J. Hospital.

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I have had the 'Iftar in a Box' from Zaitoon, the previous year and I raved about it being worth the cost and one of the best budget friendly ways to break one's fast. So I wanted to check the Iftar box this year also to see what had changed. Has it become better or still remains the same?

The Box contained the following:
Bottle of Water - 1
Dates -1
Mutton Kheema Puff - 1
Chicken Shawarma - 1
Haleem - 1
Tandoori Chicken - 1 piece
Khubus - 1
Parotta - 1
Chicken Gravy - 1
Mutton Biryani - 1
Assorted Fruits - 1
Small container of Mayo
The entire box cost Rs 333/-

A few changes noted over the previous year seems like the deletion of the fresh juice, and smaller size containers for the mayo. Visibly much smaller amount of Haleem. Apart from that the box maintains the standards set the previous year. The shawarma is whole-some, something which was missed last year. The Mutton Kheema Puff had trace amounts of mutton in it. Chicken gravy was so spicy that if one finishes off the gravy, he/she would fail to fast the coming days due to gastric reflux. Also the mutton biryani was so-so. All the deletions in dishes plus the drop in standards and price higher at Rs 333/- before tax, this does not seem to have value-for-money  proposition which the previous year box had. Point to note Haleem still rocks!

Food - 5/10
Price - 7.5/10

The link to 2012's Iftar box
http://chennaisoru.blogspot.in/2012/07/zaitoon-anna-nagar-iftar-special.html

Zaitoon is located in Chintamani opposite to Natural Spa. There are various other outlets spread across town.

For the mains, the box contained Parotta and Chicken White Gravy. Though the parotta was good, it was let down by the chicken gravy, which was not that good. Sampling all this after breaking the fast was really difficult. But still I soldiered on. I tasted the Mutton Biryani. The biryani was light on spices similar to Hyderabadi biryani but with a  Zaitoon twist to it. This was followed by me finishing off by gulping down the Sweet Drink ( Paayasum ). A very tasty meal, also a nice Iftar food!


I had an another Iftar Box the following day as well. The box had a few changes to it, such as the drink had changed to Sweet Lemon Juice and the Parotta had changed to Iddiyapam ( Indian Noodles ) and Chicken White Gravy had become a Butter Chicken. Also the sweet Paayasum had become Milkmaid custard.

Food - 8/10
Price - 8.5/10

The food in the box serves two. A very valuable box. Whether it is considered as a Iftar Box for the Muslims or as a Sampler by the others, it is up to you. The boxes are available between 4:30pm and 6:30pm everyday during this Ramzan season.

Zaitoon is located in Chintamani opposite to Naturals Spa.

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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.