To recreate the euphoria again in a standalone place, restaurant aggregators have started exploring newer and newer concepts to catch the eye of the young and hep population. One such concept is The Box Project in Woods Road.


Box Project as the name implies, is boxes of restaurants. Concept is to take old shipping containers revamp em to take in a nice cozy kitchen and Vola! you have Box Project. They look really really cute and also as the shipping containers are re-purposed they are recycled for use.

The Box Project has options to cover all the basis. Chaat stall in the form of the Brunch, Idly and Dosa from Little Idli, Juices in the form of Goli Soda, Chinese dishes from Tago, Succulent Kebabs from Hatimy's and finally Desserts from The Waffle Place.

Food:
Since I was invited over along with a friend we settled on  the restaurants serving us one or two of their best dishes to sample. Down below is my experience on the same.

We started the proceedings with Goli Soda & Yummy delicious Sambhar Idly in Mud Pot from Little Italy. I have not had such a kind of idly preparation before. Apparently it is a specialty in Andhra, something which I have never heard before. I usually relate Andhra to the spicy food. The idly is broken drown to upma consistency topped off with hot Sambhar, spices, nuts and ghee. It tastes more like kitchida than sambhar idly. But a brilliant dish, I would say.


Next up we had the Muruku Cheese Sandwich from Brunch, which was neat.



After this we got to sample the Tago Fried Chicken and Tago Bento Box. Tago Fried Chicken was oriental version of crispy fried chicken. The Bento box had the Fried Rice, Pepper Coleslaw and Chicken Redang Curry a very good bento box. You get to have all the items.


Now coming to the stand-out part. The following items were served from Hatimy's. Each dish was one level better than the other. We start with the Kheema Samosa. Muslim household style wholesome samosa. I would not mind gobbling down a couple. Then came the Hatimy's Spl Crispy Chicken. Totally different take, superb concept. Using wonton paper to give the crispy texture.



After this we had the showstoppers. Shanghai Mutton Chops and Iranian Chicken Leg. My - o - My! Fusion food at its best. Using chinese spices to cream cheese to amp up the taste in tender mutton chops. Mind blown!  Iranian Chicken leg is the epitome to kick-ass. I would definitely be going back for this.

I heard about the eid - iftar combo plans. It sounds amazing, cant wait to try them out.



Finally we finished off with Veg Sandwich from brunch and Waffles & Mini Pancakes from That Waffle Place.

Ambiance:
The Box Project does well to aggregate different cuisines in a open air atmosphere. The Box Project  has car & bike parking next door.

Service:
NA

Price:
A meal here for two should cost around Rs 600 to 800/- depending on the order.

Disclaimer - I was invited for the meal

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Ever wondered what people of India ate in restaurants about 40 years ago. Ever wondered what the affluent had on the eve of Indian Independence in 1947 . Taj has dug through their archives and found the menu which was served 70 years ago for dinner, on 14th  of August 1947 at their Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai.

They have recreated the menu which was originally written in French by French Chefs along with Indian Chefs of Goan or Bengali origin. The menu has been slightly altered to suit the current tastes but the core ingredients and flavours remain the same. Portion sizes are also the exact same size  as people had a voracious appetite back then. Also there was no concept of ala carte dining - only set menu.

Food:
The images below are the dishes which are recreated for the special 1947 menu.

Veloute d'Amandes

Consomme al'Indienne

Delices al'Hindustan - Tandoori Jhinga, Zafrani Murgh, MuttonSeekh Kebab

Delices al'Hindustan - Palak ki Shammi, Kasundi Broccoli, Kali mirch ka paneer tikka

Poularde shuffle independence Legumes varies

Vegetable fricassee with herb pilaf

Vacherin de Peches liberation

Finally the best picture - Lord Mountbatten in front of Taj before he bid farewell to India.
Price:
This wonderful meal experience is priced at Rs 1947 + taxes and is available at Anise, Taj Coromandel for dinner until the 14th August 2017 .

Disclaimer : Invited Review

Anise is located inside Taj Coromandel, Nungumbakkam.

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Dhaba By Claridges has been my on cards ever since they opened shop in Chennai. I decided to surprise my wife with a Valentines day dinner here. So I made my reservation for a table on Feb 14 and we walked into the restaurant only to be declined a seat. The manager informs me that the reservation made was a temporary reservation and it would take another 45 minutes to get a table. So we decided to walk off and celebrate our First Valentines Day elsewhere.

Putting this incident behind, I still wanted to dine here and see what the fuss was all about. So we walked in,  the following week and got our seat.


Food:
We started our innings here with the Virgin Paan Mojito. Yes! I am a sucker for Gulkand and Yes! it was refreshingly tasty. I had recently introduced my wife to Galouti Kebab at Bombay Brasserie, so she was keen on having it, as she had glanced through the pages. So Galouti Kebab it was! She absolutely loved it. I on the other hand found it just above average. It seemed to miss the mark of a kebab and landed more into the cutlet territory in terms of consistency.


I being a Chicken lover settled on Murgh Malai Tikka. Cheesy juicy delights they were. This was followed by Mutton Seekh. I must say I was blown away. The best I have had thus far. They were juicy, tender and absolutely mouth-watering.

For mains we settled on a Chitta Butter Chicken and a Amritsari Kulcha. A single large Kulcha was cut down into 4 pieces. The Kulcha was served piping hot and the combination with the Chitta Butter Chicken was simply divine. By the end of the mains we were too full, so we skipped the desserts

Ambiance:
Dhaba by Claridges interiors looked and felt like a Dhaba with modern twist. Zing Zang Bling lights and quirky colourful interiors

Service:
Full marks here. Our waiter for the day Mr. Vincent was exceptional. He knew the dishes like the back of his hand and was able give valuable inputs

Price:
This rich experience cost us Rs 2435/-

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

Disclaimer: I paid for the meal

Dhaba By Claridges is located inside Ishpahani Center, Nungumbakkam

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Food:
Something interesting which I had found was, you would be required to order only the side dishes here while the the Kubus is served on the table free of cost. Also the gorgeous looking bowl of salads was served for free!!! Surprise surprise... I hope some Arabian cuisine restaurant back home emulates this model. Anyway, coming to what we had:


We ordered a portion of Hummus and Moutabbal to go with Shish Tawouk, Half portion of Grilled Chicken and a portion of Chicken Liver. Both Shish Tawouk and Grilled Chicken came with a portion of French Fries and were served on a bed of toasted Kubus. I wonder how the French Fries had become an Arabian food! Nevertheless, the crispy fries were yummy and went well with the garlic paste.



My standout dish was the Chicken Liver. Kubus with Hummus and a dash of garlic sauce with small portions of Liver was simply amazing. The lemon played a major role in bringing out the wonderful flavours of the liver. Must try, for chicken liver lovers. The Grilled Chicken was comparable to the ones I have had back home, so was not wowed by it. Shish Tawouk was on slightly the spicy side when compared to the one I had at Il podio. I really wanted to have their Shawarma, but I was unlucky as they had run out of Shawarmas for the day.

Ambiance:
Simple dining comparable to the ambiance at Zaitoon or Sea Shells back home in Chennai.

Service:
No complaints here.

Price:
The meal here set us back by 100 AED.

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

Disclaimer : We 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.

Food:
They served up some tasty papads along with sweet mango pickles which we binged on while we waited for our food. My mom wanted to slurp on a Lassi. So we got her Mango and Caramel Lassi which was definitely slurppy. Salty Lassi complemented by the sweet Mango and Caramel.

 Finally finished off the starters with the Jheenga Shan e Nisha. This was king prawns marinated in Yoghurt, Cheese and infused with cardamon and finally crispy fried. But that was not the kicker. The shocker came in the form of portion size which was just two pieces. Taste again not so great which was down to the mild flavour.




Moving to the main course we had the Dhaniya Murg, Dhal Makhani to go with Roti and the signature Kesar Biryani. Soft roti's with the simply outstanding Dhal Makhani, Yes!! Veg gravy was great. Dhaniya Murg which was chicken cooked in yoghurt and cashew nut gravy was another stunner. Despite it being a stunner combination, it was still mild for my taste. But I bet the Emeratis love it, because the restaurant was packed. We were too stuffed with this food and we skipped desserts.

Ambiance:
Typical to the mall style diner. Still had a few Indian touches to it.

Service:
We were served by Chap from Erode and I must say the service which was rendered to us was simply exemplary.

Price:
This meal here set back 420 AED for the four of us.

Food - 7/10 ( If you wouldnt mind Westernised Indian)
Ambiance - 7/10
Service - 9/10
Price - 6.5/10

Disclaimer : We paid for the meal.

Asha's is located in the Ground Floor of Mall of Emirates, Dubai.

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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.

Awadhi cuisine - Galouti Kebab - Marriott. These keywords were enough. I said yes to trying out the Awadhi food festival at Courtyard Marriott. Marriott had flown in Chef Younis Khan who specializes in this cuisine for the special food festival. For those who don't know what Awadhi cuisine is.... It is essentially a Lucknowi food which specialises in Dum cooking and is heavily influenced by the Mughal and Persian style of food. As I have said a numerous times I am sucker for Galouti / Goluti / Galwati Kebabs and this was just another reason to dine here.




The meal started of with Malai Prawns. I must say it was out of the world. Okay, I missed saying I love Seafood as well. I just cant resist them. If this was not enough we were blown away with veggie version of Galouti Kebab. For once I thought this could pass off as an alternative to the original. Just as I was binging on the doupelgangers we were served with a Masala Paneer and Malai Paneer. The Maiai paneer was a little flat in  flavors. It was soft no doubt, but a little flat in the spices department.  Masala Paneer was the one, everyone would relished.



With all these dishes being served I was beginning to become impatient. I was waiting for the star attraction, the Galouti Kebab. Finally after all the waiting, it was served. Looked great, was definitely soft, but on eating I found the taste to be a little different which I did not mind as it was still melt in your mouth types. Finally if this was not enough we were served with Tandoori Lamb chops. OMG! It was delicious, soft, tender and decadent.


Finishing off the starters I was too stuffed to even move around. But then the smell of the Awadhi Biryani and Lamb Nihari shook me up. The Biryani had a different color, but was packed with richness. It is safe to say that this is one of the best Biryanis I have ever had in a Star Hotel. On the other end the Lamb Nihari was a stunner. Tender cooked lamb with roti was just what the royals would want. I was way too stuffed after the main course to even sample the desserts.

Chennai has become the home of many poor buffet. But this was the only time I felt that the major portion of the buffet was great.

Awadhi food festival is on till July 21st. It is priced at Rs 1250/- Do try em, don't miss out on this unique food festival.

Courtyard Marriott is located on Anna Salai next to Manyavar.

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