Chennai Soru

28/04/2014

L'Amandier - The Bistro, R A Puram

Shadir 20:26:00

Bistros in Chennai have become the latest trend. One of the recent entrants to this scene is L'Amandier - The Bistro. It has been open for a couple of months now and I have been constantly hearing rave reviews. While taking a stroll down the road on a Sunday one would find it jam packed. This weekend I braved the crowd and entered the joint. I must thank my friend who had made the reservations or I would have been the person waiting outside for a table. From the moment I entered the restaurant it looked and felt as the most happening place in the city. From old grand parents to foreigners, everyone seemed to be here.

Food:

I was here for the Sunday brunch, and this is the one which most people had raved about. I am not much of a soup person so gave that a pass. Salads looked really tempting, so grabbed a plate and took a bit of the fresh cut veggies and also tired the pasta salads. My favourite of them all was the Chicken Salad. Maybe I am a little biased as I am a Non-veggie, but I loved it the best.

After a short stint with the salads I quickly headed to the main course. I skipped the steamed rice and the two veggie sides. The non-veg sides looked really appetising. I severed myself the Creamy Fusilli Pasta with Corn, Stuffed Aubergines, Chicken Sausages, Grilled Herbed Chicken and finally the Grilled Fillet of Fish with Marinade sauce. The dishes which I had served myself ticks all the boxes. They were absolutely delicious. No knit picking here. Of the lot I loved the grilled fish the best. Fish felt reasonably fresh in a non-fishing season.

They do have a live egg counter with various sides which one could add. With so many permutations and combinations in the way egg could be made, one would need a supercomputer to figure out the different variations. Of the top of my head I am thinking of 40 different ways it could be made, maybe even more. I had gone in with the Cheese and Chicken Sausage Egg, which I loved. Maybe the next time I should ask if they would not mind making me a local special Kalaki! :P

Finally headed to the desserts, I grabbed the Vanilla Panna cotta, Chocolate Tart and Custard Cake. The desserts were decent. They also had some freshly cut fruits which I skipped. On the whole the food here is really good.

Ambiance:

The decor looks nice, but I found the restaurant bit crowded because of the buffet. Will surely visit some other time and enjoy their dining space.

Service:

The service was reasonable with water being refilled and empty plates taken away.

Price:

Here comes the best part. The meal was priced at Rs 400/- person which I think is the best bit. A VFM!

Food - 7.5/10

Ambiance - 7/10

Service - 8/10

Price - 8/10

L'Amandier - The Bistro is located in RA Puram right next to Cream Center.

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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.

24/04/2014

Sandwiches

Foody Call - All Night Home Delivery

Shadir 19:16:00

Late night snacks, mid-night munchies, Hungry Kya?? No food in your refrigerator? No worries. Now there is "Foody Call." Of late Chennai has seen a surge in this all night food deliver sector. A recent entrant to this scene is the Foody Call. I came across them while I was just browsing around on Facebook. So on one movie night I decided to order from Foody Call.

Food:
So far I have ordered atleast 5 times. On all my previous occasions my order has been restricted to Continental section of the menu. I just love their Beef Sandwich and I can swear by it. It is one of the best I have ever had. Even my mom who is not a big fan of beef, loved it. The beef is really soft, you might think it is actually mutton. I have had the Chicken Classic Burger as well as the Beef Burger. No battles here. Beef burger wins hands down. After trying the continental a couple of times, I decided to have their the Chinese section. So this time I ordered Chicken Noodles and Chilli Lamb. Yup, the portions are huge. Very filling for one person. The noodles is loaded to the brim with pieces of chicken and Chilli Lamb was spicy with a mild peppery flavour. Inspite of the great flavours present in the noodles and lamb, I still prefer the Beef Sandwich and Burger.

Service:
They promise a delivery time under 45 minutes and I have received it well under 30mins on most occasions. So cheers to that!

Price:
Pricing is pretty decent a burger and sandwich should cost around Rs 330 odd. Plus the delivery is free, so total value for money. Also they do not have a minimum billing amount for delivery.

Food - 8/10
Service - 9/10
Price - 8/10

Foody Call is a home delivery joint, which starts functioning from 7pm to 5am.
For home delivery call - 044 - 42384444 or you can look it up at www.foodycall.in

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13/04/2014

Steaks

Tangerine, Alwarpet - New Intros

Shadir 12:46:00

Sizzlers in Chennai and Tangerine have become synonomous. If people ask for a good place to dine and have tasty sizzlers, only one suggestion comes to my mind and that is Tangerine. There used to be a point of time in during my undergrad days when I used to frequent Tangerine with friends. Then there small patch of time when the quality took a turn down south. They have fought it back and found their bearing. I was invited to check out their new additions to their menu sometime recently.

Food:

The meal started off with a stunning Lamb Calzone. The outer covering was sooper crispy which complimented the lip smacking lamb stuffing.It was served with a dash of Mayo. I would most certainly recommend this dish to all. This is most definitely going to be a regular order hence forth. Then we were served with a Crab Bisquie, one of the best I have ever had. Most Crab Bisquie I have had so far have been creamy soup with crab pieces in it. Here the crab's salty sea aroma just raised the experience to a whole new level. We were also served a Chicken and Peas Soup. A simple cream soup which was rich in flavours.

In between the round of soups we were served Chicken Skewers with Peanut Marinade. The chicken was loaded with flavors. It was a like symphony in the mouth. The Peanut marinade was in a different league. The combination did dull the flavor of the chicken. But it is another must order.

Finishing the skewers we moved to the main course. I chose to have my favorite Stuffed Chicken Bruno, which is essentially chicken stuffed with spinach served with jacket potatoes with a cheesy sauce. While others present had the Prawn Condolim which had a influence of Goan cuisine.

We had a serving a Mashed Potatoes in between all this. I must say, It was one of the best.A soft textured delight. As it was really tasty, I began experimenting and having it with a bit of the gravy of the Prawn Condilm. Voila! It was amazing. Do try this combo if you do order the Condolim. Then there was the Roasted Chicken, which was regular Roast Chicken - no surprises here. Finally a Beef Peruvian! To me a Beef Steak which is cooked well done is a crime. I like medium rare. I have not ventured into the part of it being rare. But this inspite of it being well done, was fabulous. After a heavy round of main course we proceeded to the desserts.

Desserts at Tangerine is usually Death by Chocolate, but for a change we had the Lemon Cheesecake and Strawberry Crumble. Lemon Cheesecake was a usual fair, but the Strawberry Crumble with a dallop of ice cream was just out of the world. A new favourite of mine.

Ambiance:

It remains the same even after years and I most definitely love the concept of candle light dinner on Fridays.

Price:

As I had mentioned in my previous post about tangerine a meal for two should cost Rs 1500/- odd.

Food - 8/10

Ambiance - 7.5/10

Price - 8/10

Tangerine is located in Murrays Gate Road which is the road parallel to Eldams Road.

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01/04/2014

Pub-fud

Hard Rock Cafe, Phoenix Market City, Velachery

Shadir 21:48:00

Food scene in Chennai just got a big boost. Enter Hard Rock Cafe. A place where music and food mix together to bring about a fun filled, memorable dine. Hard Rock Cafe at Chennai is yet to get its liqiour license, all the more reasons to visit it sooner than later, by non alcoholics such as me. I made a quick dash there when I was at Phoneix for another event.

Food:

Since we were not planning to have a full fledged dine, we ordered a Tupelo Chicken Tenders, Wildberry Smoothie for my friend and a Berrilious for myself. Tupelo Chicken Tenders was Boneless chicken which was seasoned and breaded served with Honey Mustard and BBQ sauce. Both the sauces were just blissful. One could not decide with which sauce the chicken tasted best. Both brought about a totally different taste which was just divine.

While my Berrilicious was nice, (more like a tonic) I just loved the Wildbery Smoothie which was rich mix of banana and pina coloda. This was all we had, but it gave me a picture of the great food here.

Ambiance:

The pub / restaurant / music theater is really great and they have different events organized on different days which should be interesting.

Service:

The service here is top notch. They really do take care of you and pamper you !

Price:

The pricing is on the higher side just two drinks and a 3 piece starter cost us Rs 890/- so a proper meal for two would cost Rs 2500 and upwards depending on what has been ordered.

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

Hard Rock Cafe is located inside Phoenix Market City in Velachery

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