Food:
We started with Potato Wedges and BBQ Chicken Boneless as my one year old like both of them. The wedges were deep fried with skin and had a dash of cream and spices on it. This made the dish mildly spicy but with a really good zing to it. While the other dish had small morsels of chicken marinated in a typical smokey bbq sauce and shallow fried served along with mayo and blue cheese dip.

While we were munching on this we were served complimentary breads with herbed butter and Ice Lemon Tea.



For our mains we had Penne Cajun Chicken Pasta and Chicken Pot Pie. The Pasta was creamy with a hint of cajun spice which made it delicate. While the latter had a short crust pastry with a serving of chicken, bell peppers and cheese. I found the pastry slightly on the sweeter side, but definitely a tasty dish over all.

The menu does feature Indian dishes as well for the people who want Indian dishes.

Ambiance:
The restaurant design is contemporary with large glass areas to lend adequate light which enhances the appearance.

Service:
Service was good overall even though they were swapped with customers. One minor grouse is the restaurant had only one high chair for kids which was already taken by a group of customers. We had to wait until they were done to get the chair. I really do wish they invest in more high chairs which will drive in more young families.

Price:
This meal cost us 1428/- which we felt was worth the feast we were served.

Price - 8.5 / 10
Ambiance - 9 / 10
Service - 8 / 10
Price - 8 / 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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Met my school friends after Iftar recently.  I Introduced them to some Muslim food stuffs such as Nombu Kanju and Haleem. Post the small snack we headed over to Double Roti at around 8pm hoping to get a seat. One look at the crowd waiting at Double Roti, we knew it was not going to happen. So we contemplated on other options and headed over to TGI Friday's at Ramee Mall.

We walked in to the restaurant through the mall which was mostly deserted. The only other shop to be functioning in the mall, was TASMAC elite. Anyways we entered the restaurant and found hardly 3 tables occupied, which did not deter us as we just wanted to have a go at TGIF.

Food:
After a long look at the menu we settled on Ultimate Fridays Nachos (veg) and Spicy Chicken Wings (12 pcs). Nachos were served with monstrous load of toppings from black lentils, cheddar cheese, tomatoes to chillies. I was afraid that the toppings would make the nachos loose their crispiness, but that was not the case and it tasted just alright.


While the Spicy Chicken Wings had the flavours of Atomic Chicken Wings of Gallopin Gooseberries licked. My God! I would have definitely had atleast 4 of the 12 pieces. To quench our thirst we ordered Virgin Mojito and Strawberry Lemonade which were fine. Sadly the other mock-tails on the menu were not available.


For mains I picked the Ultimate Jack Daniels Tenderloin Burger - minus the bacon, while my friends had the Half Rack of Texas Spiced Ribs, Jack Daniels New York Steak and Shrimp and finally a Miami Cubano Chicken Stack - minus the bacon.

I had huge expectations for their signature burger but I have to say it left me disappointed. First I did not like the bun as it absorbed all the juice and began to break away. Secondly  tenderloin, though being soft and large, had a funny taste which could be down to Jack Daniels Sauce, which was sweet. The only redeeming points were the fries and the Cajun crusted onion rings. I skipped having the Texas Spiced Ribs and had a bit of the other two mains.


The Jack Daniels New York Steak and Shrimp was by far the star dish. The Jack Daniels sauce complemented the preparation of the chicken and the crispy fried shrimp was fantastic and the mashed potatoes it came with was simply smooth.


Finally the Miami Cubano Chicken Stack which was breaded chicken breasts with cheese, mushroom and lemon sauce  was served with Paella rice  The lemon with the breaded chicken was the kicker. It was fantastic. But the same cannot be said about Paella rice which was more like a lemon rice with tomato garnish. My friends who consumed the Texas Ribs were singing praises about the softness of the meat and taste.

Ambiance:
I think this could be one of the places were one would get a table easily as the mall was not a happening place to attract people. Thankfully the ambiance is quite nice. But a nightmare to click decent foodshots.

Service:
Quick, clean and efficient.

Price:
I went through the bill split up just to have look at the way they had charged us. Our total bill was Rs 5001/- of which food cost us Rs 3801/- while the rest went away as various taxes and service charge. Shocking. But we paid and walked away. Would I try again, just maybe.

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

Disclaimer : I paid for the meal.

TGI Friday's is located inside Ramee Mall on Teynampet.

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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.

Having had FoodyCall as my staple night time food delivery service, I decided to have a little change. I went about surfing the internet to see the other available options.  After careful filtering, I saw Dawn and Dusk. It used to be my goto delivery service way before the plethora of options, came into existence. They had a revamped menu card of course, which looked eye catching. So having spent considerable time going through the menu, I set my heart and tummy on what I wanted to eat. After placing my order, I waited.
Food:
As I had mentioned  earlier, my regular order at a Night Food Delivery service usually has a Burger in it. So I picked the Sloppy Joe Chicken Burger. Since I was really hungry, I ordered a Devil Chicken Wings and finally Chicken Parmigiana. After about 1 hour of wait, my food arrived. Thankfully, the food was warm due to the nice containers. After spending a few minutes clicking the shots, I went about doing the job of digging into the food.



The Devil Chicken Wings, was the way I had imagined it. A little on the charred side, but yeah it tasted fine. Very very similar to what I have had at Gallopin Gooseberries. Moving on the Sloppy Joe Burger, I had my doubts, if my burger had indeed been mixed with the Chilli Billy Burger. The burger failed to match the description of the dish which was mentioned on the menu. Then again I was really hungry I dived into it. The chicken patty was really thin, compared to many other take away joints. Pitting it next to FoodyCall or even Shaack patty makes this look anaemic. Leaving the size aside, the bun was perfect, did not crumble away. So that is a tick. The French Fries were a little soggy by the time I ate them, but then I was prepared for that.  Finally I bit into the Chicken Parmigiana. I had high hopes on this dish. Crumb fried chicken topped with Italian Tomato Sauce and Cheese. Crumb fried chicken that was a tick, tomato sauce - that seemed to have dried out but still liked what remained so thick, finally the cheese on top - nope, it was a disappointment. One sample bite of it and you knew they had skimped on the quality of the cheese. A better quality of the cheese would have definitely helped in lifting the flavours.

Service:
Time elapsed from order to deliver - 1hour and 15mins. Not as fast as the other options which i have had recently. But then again, with the spell of rains, roads being really bad, I can excuse this delay.

Price:
The price paid for these 3 dishes was Rs 672. Of which 60 rupees was charged as a delivery charge. I am not knit picking on the delivery charge. The prices of petrol are really high these days and finding help to deliver is another aspect, so I think it is alright.

Food - 7/10
Service - 7/10
Price - 7/10

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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.