The Samosa Factory

The Samosa Factory is a relatively new store that has opened in Anna Nagar. Its a little - and I mean tiny - desk! on the sidewalk.


You order something and they have it pre-packaged in little bags. If they're out, the lady at the desk, runs upstairs (where the kitchen is) and brings some down - hot, fresh fabulous mini samosas. You could alternatively eat there, and they have a microwave to heat it up for you!


They have 4 kinds - Indian, Chinese, Potato and Jain. I really like the Chinese - its unique (carrot, beans, potatoes, cabbage sauteed in a chilli-soy sauce. The Indian and Potato ones are almost identical (the lady wasn't too sure either what the difference was). And the Jain...well, its a Jain samosa (no root vegetables - onion, garlic, potato...).


You get a package of 12 mini samosas for Rs. 20. I thought that was extremely reasonable. And it was delicious. Perfect to pick-up as appetizers for a last-minute party!

Address and phone numbers on their website.

Bay Leaf

For the best Kathi Rolls in Chennai, try Bay Leaf. They have a huge menu with north Indian, Bengali and Chinese food, but their Kathi Rolls are really superb.

If you like paneer, try the Achari Paneer Roll. And the mutton and chicken egg rolls are also supposedly superb.

The restaurant is pretty old - they did close down for a few months, but are back up and running now. They have a simple restaurant with modest decor and clean tables - but I always end up doing take-out/ delivery.


Give it a try. Its really the best kathi rolls I've had in Chennai (ok maybe tied with Tic Tac).

Bay Leaf
14 Gopalapuram,
Chennai

+91 44 28114558‎

+91 44 28114557

Restaurant Review: Lotus

I've eaten at Lotus numerous times. So much, infact, that my usual dining companion and I have a special sauce there that they bring out only when we dine there!! I couldn't believe that I hadn't reviewed it here. I did mention it briefly, but not nearly enough.

Lotus, located at The Park Hotel, has the best Thai food in Chennai. And maybe in south India. A cozy restaurant with ample plush seating, the ambience invites you to linger over your food and have 3 hour lunches with a good friend.

Now to the exciting food. We always start with the Vietnamese spring rolls that are fresh and crunchy and served with a special dipping sauce that is incredible. The must order salads are the Mango Salad and the ever popular raw Papaya salad. They also have a Banana Blossoms salad that we tried recently which is very nice.



Then comes the Thai spicy fried rice, Pahd Thai, honey glazed crunchy vegetables, chicken satay and a vegetarian green curry. I must say here that every single one of those dishes is Excellent.



We usually end with the black sticky rice pudding, which is tremendous. I've been angling to get the recipe for a year now, and haven't managed to! One order might be enough for about 4 people - its really really rich.

If you love Thai food, head to Lotus for a delectable meal.

Lotus Thai
Park Hotel
601, Anna Salai
Chennai

Phone - (044) 4214 4000 for reservations

Restaurant Review: Somethin' Fishy

Though everyone seems to love Somethin' Fishy, I was a little skeptical, being vegetarian. I understand they have great seafood, but did they have good veggie food? Well, I tried it out, and though they don't have a huge selection for a veggie, the food was quite good.

Located on the rooftop of a hotel on busy Mount Road, the only major drawback of the restaurant was that there was no air-conditioning. In Chennai, that's a huge deterrent, and with all the fans and a thatch roof, it was still very hot. The ambience is non-fussy with wrought iron furniture, fish nets, shells and plain wood tables. On a Saturday night, I was surprised that the restaurant was empty the entire time we were there!



The owner and chef, Kadir, and his wife, Nimmi, are so nice that they accommodate most requests. My friend had grilled fish skewers, and I had a "mixed vegetables in spicy sauce". The sauce, which was super, turned out to be an unusual avocado sauce. It was definitely something I'd order again.

But the biggest hit of the evening was the Chocolate Mousse. Please order it if you remotely enjoy chocolate. Good Stuff!

Somethin' Fishy
Inn Chennai
578, Anna Salai
open for dinner only from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Phone # 9884110113 for details or reservations.

Tangerine: Restaurant Review

Though this restaurant is right around the corner from us, we never managed to make it there for a while. This past weekend, we finally drove by and decided to stop for lunch. The decor is very stark and not a lot of fuss. The restaurant is known for its sizzlers, and sure enough, they had a menu that boasted about 15-20 kinds of sizzlers.

We ordered some bruschetta with garlic bread and crab bisque for our appetizers. The bruschetta was fabulous. Tomatoes were fresh and there was just a hint of basil and the garlic bread alone might get us to come back to this restaurant. My husband didn't enjoy his bisque at all.



For our entrees, I ordered a vegetarian Creole sizzler which wasn't pretty to look at but quite tasty. It didn't taste of anything Creole, but overall was still good.



At about Rs.100/ a head, I thought it was a good deal for a quick lunch. Not bad for a restaurant around the corner.

5, Murray's Gate Road,
Alwarpet,
Chennai
Phone: (044) 42038800

BBQ Nation

There's been a lot of press lately about a new restaurant in town called BBQ Nation at a little hotel called Sri Devi Park in T Nagar. We simply had to try it out and we went last night.



The hotel is in some remote little corner of T Nagar, but once you get into the restaurant, its a pleasant surprise. Very tastefully done up and efficient, polite staff. We had kids with us and they even brought little toys for the kids to play with! The appetizer portion is served at the table - its almost dim sum style where the waitstaff walk around with different skewers of BBQed food. You choose what you want and then heat it up for a minute or two on the grill in the middle of your table.



There were skewers of baby potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, shrimp, chicken and fish. I personally loved the baby potatoes - they had a whole mustard dressing which was really great. They also had various dipping sauces at the table which looked very interesting.

After the appetizer portion of the meal, we were all ready to leave. But you can also have the usual fare of biryani, fish, chicken curry etc at an enormous buffet that is set up at the corner of the restaurant. Overall this is great and much needed in Chennai!

Ente Keralam 2

There was a lot of comments (both positive and negative) about my post on Ente Keralam. I must say that I did enjoy when I ate there. And the past few months it has gotten even better. I'm convinced they must have a new chef. The food is really superb. They are at the moment having a Moplah food festival (Moplah refers to a Muslim Keralite).

I must agree though that the prices are a tad high, but once in a little while, I find it's worth it. I drive by the restaurant regularly on my way to and from work and its almost always full. Do try and stop by again and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Prego

After the sad demise of the Patio, we were all waiting with bated breath for the opening of the replacement. Everyone hoped it would still have that great ambience, a relaxed elegance and a haven to escape to when you needed a long lunch with a good friend or a special place to celebrate a family birthday.

Well, Prego opened with much fanfare and I was lucky enough to be invited to a tasting menu and a pre-opening lunch. Well, the ambience was not relaxed and a little "flashy", the menu was nouveau Italian, and the waitstaff was very well trained. I went truly hoping that the food would speak for itself. It did not. I had an appetizer of different cheeses which was superb, and ordered fettuccine for the entree which was just passe. Another diner ordered chicken which was terribly overcooked.

The wines were superb though, and the one redeeming quality. The sommelier was very knowledgeable and recommended excellent wines. And, of course, you can't go wrong with chocolate - and so the desserts were amazing.

When we tried to make a reservation for a birthday, we wanted the private dining room and it was very difficult to organize with Prego. In the end, we decided we didn't want to go there anyway.

Peshawri

After my favorite restaurant, Patio, closed down, my friend and I tried desperately to find an alternative place to have our leisurely lunches. And then, only because we had tried every place else, we decided to give Peshawri a shot. We hadn't been there in years and vaguely remembered the food as being pretty good. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised - the food was excellent.



They serve appetizers of fried papads topped with chopped tomatoes, onions and chaat masala that is just what you need to nibble while waiting for the food. The ambience has stayed exactly the same. The very same wooden menu cards, and chairs and tables that look like they are just polished tree trunks! They even have little cloth "bibs" for everyone instead of napkins. Forks and spoons are available on request, but people are encouraged to use their hands to eat. And let me tell you, its way easier when you are scooping up that last bit of dal with the roti!



We ordered paneer tikkas, seekh kababs, romali rotis and dal makhani. Everything was super. We ate up every last morsel, while drinking some chilled chaas and jal jeera. And we even licked our fingers shamelessly!

Hip Hip Asia

We've been to Hip Asia at the Taj Connemara several times, but last night was the first time we absolutely loved the food. Either the chef has changed or he has started to make stuff that he's comfortable with. The menu has changed and the lovely ambience stays the same. They specialize in most parts of Asian cuisine with parts of their menu devoted to Vietnamese, Malay and Thai food and a separate menu with Teppenyaki specials.

We ordered appetizers recommended by our waiter, who was spot on! He suggested the Lotus Stem Honey Chilli for the vegetarians (ie. me!) which was superb. It was spicy and sweet and crunchy and my phone's camera just doesn't do it justice. It looked orange and red and lovely. We also got some fish and chilli chicken which was much appreciated. I ordered the veitnamese rice paper rolls filled with crunchy vermecelli and vegetables that was also very good.

For our entrees we had teppenyaki fried rice with vegetables and garlic that I always order, and as expected, it was delicious. They are served in small bowls that are meant to be individual portions, but are quite enough for two people. We also ordered some shrimp that my dining companions were left scraping up the sauce.

We were absolutely too stuffed for dessert, but definitely tempted when they rolled out the dessert cart with lots of chocolate stuff that looked delicious. Next time...

Hip Asia
Taj Connemara
Binny Road
Chennai - 600 002
Tel : (91-44) 6600 0000

Noodle House

Noodle House, a part of Mahadevan's enormous range of restaurants (which include Benjarong and Ente Keralam), is located at the end of Nungambakkam High Road. I love love love noodles. Especially spicy and sauteed with crisp vegetables. I used to enjoy "american chopsuey" with crispy noodles and those sweet and sour sauces. Given the health kick, I've stopped eating that, but still cant completely ever stop eating noodles.

The menu and photographs on the wall sound and look better than the actual food. We ordered steamed chicken dumplings and egg rolls. The dumplings were very well received. I wanted to get some spicy stir-fried vegetables without ANY sauce, but it appeared with sauce. I somehow have not been able to ever get vegetables without sauce. I try really hard too. I guess they just don't understand how someone won't like sauce!

My dining companions got some shrimp which they almost breathed in because they liked it so much. The taste of the noodles was very good - it was recommended by the waiter - a steamed noodles with a spicy vegetable sauce - think american chopsuey with steamed instead of crispy noodles. Very nice.



The highlight for me was the chef standing in the corner making noodles. That was very cool to watch!

The Noodle House, Sterling Road, 044-43596043 for reservations.

Ente Keralam

After waiting breathlessly (my husband literally checked on its progress every week!), Ente Keralam finally opened a couple of weeks ago. Translated into English, Ente Keralam means My Kerala. The restaurant, located just off Kasturi Rangan Road, in the old La Madeline building is a stone's throw away from our home! Uh oh!

We finally inaugurated the restaurant last night. The ambience is very nice - the place has been renovated to be a very chic and modern establishment. As the owner, Liz, once told me, Kerala food isn't very well-known among the non-Keralites, and Ente Keralam is hoping to change that. And I think they might very well succeed.

We ordered a whole range of different food. My husband literally wanted to try everything on the menu! The authentic flaky parottas, melt-in-your-mouth okra, spiced just right kadala (garbanzos) were all great. Thats the vegetarian bit that I can vouch for. My husband got mutton curry and syrian fried beef which he said was borderline superb. Thats a high compliment from him - he's very picky about his meat.

I would slot the restaurant in the Syrian Christian-type food category with a few choice samples from Nair Kerala food. It's a must-do place.

It is located at 1, Kasturi Estate, Kasturi Rangan Road, Chennai- 18. For reservations, call 42328585.

Wanna Zyng?

Zyng Asian Grill at Chennai Citi Center is quite a revolution to restaurants in Chennai. They have a mongolian-bbq-style counter where you basically pick your sauces, veggies and spices and they cook it for you at the counter.

Studying in Ann Arbor, BD's Mongolian Barbecue a favorite restaurant. I absolutely loved creating my own lunch/dinner. I've looked for a similar kind of place all over the US - and though there are several along the same lines, they dont come close to the quality of the original in Ann Arbor.

Zyng doesn't come close either but I still feel we need to send up a cheer for Chennai. Atleast they are trying. The one dish that stands out in the menu is the cold sesame peanut noodles. Its delicious. The rest of the stuff is pretty average and I have a vague feeling that the same sauce is used for several dishes. They nice part is anything on the menu can be made vegetarian and all the sauces, broths etc are 100% vegetarian.

I had the Asian Market Veggie Bowl with Shanghai Noodles. Both weren't what I expected and didn't hold my attention for long. The potstickers are tough and the Mu-Shu lettuce wraps are alright - though I am highly suspicious of the origins and cleanliness of the lettuce. The sauce was not really mu-shu and the vegetables weren't even cut in the mu-shu style.

Overall, a little disappointing. But I'm gonna hope that they get better with time. I'd go back for the cold noodles though!

Dinner on the Beach

Yes, ON the beach, with the crabs scrambling around your feet, your toes in the sand, the waves about 20 feet away! It was an incredible setting!

Fisherman's Cove has a mediterranean restaurant called Upper Deck which now offers a special dinner on the beach experience. The table is laid out on the beach and there are 2-3 servers standing at a distance who bring your food, course by delicious course. We even had a little bell on our table to summon the server!

We started with cheese and crackers, and went on to a mediterranean appetizer sampler plate - grilled cottage cheese with harissa, mushroom and cheese bruschetta, falafel and hummus with pita, olive tapenade and fresh mozzarella with cherry tomatoes. The harissa was especially good.

After that, we pretty much couldn't eat another bite! But forced ourselves to sample the entrees. The vegetarian plate was skewers of grilled veggies, corn risotto and fusilli with an arrabiata sauce. The veggies were very good but the risotto was downright bad - made from long-grained rice and not arborio (basic mistake!!). The seafood dish was lobster (apparently very good!), shrimp and potato wedges.

This was followed by a dessert plate of brownies, tarts, cakes...They aren't really known for their desserts!!

And I want to add that the service is very good - they were incredibly fast for the fact that they had to run up and down to the restaurant kitchen and back to the beach! Kudos to them. All in all, a fabulous setting for dinner. And if the conversation isn't too interesting, you can always watch the waves that come almost up to your table!

Benjarong

Lunch at Benjarong is really nice. They have an executive lunch menu that is excellent value for money, and the choice is quite varied, from roti-curry to pahd thai to thai-style indian biryani!

The highlight of any meal in Benjarong is the complimentary appetizer called Mein Kam. Its a plate of spinach leaves accompanied by little pots of various fillings - small pieces of lemon, peanuts, onion, red chilli, ginger, flakes of dry roasted coconut and a base paste made of palm sugar. Its much like eating Paan - you fill in the ingredients that you want and fold it and pop it in your mouth. I must say, its delicious!


We ordered the roti-curry, the crispy vegetables with red chilli and sweet basil, chicken in oyster sauce and egg fried rice. It was a little too much but we tend to want to taste a little of several dishes. The roti-curry was very good.

I do recommend the executive lunch menu. Where else can you have a 3 course lunch meal in a upscale restaurant in Chennai for approximately Rs. 300 a head? Its a great deal! For dessert, the Tub Tim Siam (water chestnuts in chilled sweet coconut milk) was super!

At the end of the day though, I prefer Lotus for the food and the ambience. But Benjarong is a close second.

FYI, don't use the restrooms. They are downright atrocious.

The French Laundry

After eating at The French Laundry, you know you'll never have such a meal again in your life. Its a treat, a very rare treat that is only appreciated by those few who truly enjoy food. Chef Thomas Keller is a miracle-maker.















Its been over two years since I ate there, but I remember it like it was yesterday. We arrived at noon, 15 minutes early for our reservation. The reservation, btw, was taken 8 months prior. That is the scheduled waiting time they had given us. Needless to say, the lunch was much-awaited. While we sat outside enjoying the weather in Yountville, we sipped Champagne and made ourselves comfortable in the rustic cottage-like setting.



We then proceeded to the dining room, where we went on to sample the chef's tasting menu. Each morsel of food dazzled not only the palate, but the scent as well. I can still remember the aroma when a server grated fresh trufffles over our risottos. Now everyone has heard of Keller's "icecream cone" of salmon tartare and his other signature dishes, but when you actually see it and taste it, they elicit surprise and delight.

Being vegetarian was not a handicap here. Every course was so cleverly executed that you could not decide whether to be excited about the next one or disappointed that this one was over. It was a marvelous experience. Four hours later, we were finished with the meal, but two years or so later, and I still remember every bit of it.

French Laundry was by far the most expensive restaurant I have been to. But would I go there again? In a heartbeat.

Cascade

The new Cascade is pretty nice. The decor is alright and the view is great (lots of greenery and a little rock garden on the patio). Its in the new Man Mandir building on Khader Nawaz Khan road.

We had a healthful meal of steamed vegetable dimsum, steamed rice and a really nice, spicy vegetable sizzler. It was all of Rs. 600/- or approx $15 for two. The service was fine, except the waiters couldn't speak English and didn't look like they spoke Hindi or Tamil either. That bothers me - why don't they get people who can actually help you and communicate with you - to wait on you?

We doggy-bagged the left-overs and it was a wonderful surprise that they had vacuum sealed the bags for us. Thats just a great excuse to get take-out next time.

The Patio

To me it signifies lazy afternoons over a long lunch, lots of wine, great bread and excellent food. Its supposedly a French restaurant but they serve pasta and my favorite, asian veggies with a side of rice.

Today we had appetizers of green salad with asparagus and mushrooms, perfect-for-a-rainy-day tomato soup, and um..cream of celery soup (not so good!). Entrees were grilled veggies with a side of herb rice, veggie crepes and cheese and broccoli phyllo
pastries. And lots of good wine. I also recommend the excellent camembert souffle and if you have room for dessert, the chocolate fondant.


Patio is the perfect place to spend a quiet afternoon with good friends. The service is excellent - accomodating, at-hand but not intrusive and very efficient. The decor is inviting, seating very comfortable. Ok, I'll stop!















Drawbacks - a tad expensive and not everyone likes small portions and/or French food. I do. The sad thing is that they are gonna close soon. As I said not many people in Chennai like that kind of food, and they don't serve kids under 18 (plus side - no noise!)

I've suggested to the maitre d' that they start a weekly wine tasting event or even a full-blown wine appreciation course that might attract people to come to the restaurant. Maybe that way they'll stay open. Its my family's restaurant of choice and I would personally hate to see it closed to make way for another run-of-the-mill restaurant.












n.b. The Patio did close down. Under renovation right now. Make way for an Italian restaurant.

The much-awaited Kabab Factory

We've been trying to go to the Kabab Factory at the Radisson Hotel in Chennai for approximately a year now! And we finally managed to go last night. Not sure if it was worth a year of waiting.

The restaurant is unique in that you only get to order a thali - a non-vegetarian or vegetarian thali - and the rest is taken care of.

We got about 6 kababs, dal, roti, biryani and a host of chutneys. And though the 4 (+1/2) of us drove together in one car, we might have needed 2 cars to come back!! We were so stuffed that we actually got up and took a walk in the middle of dinner! The only other time I've done that was at French Laundry - and that was because it was a 11-course, 4-hour exquisite French experience.

The kababs were pretty good - I really cant comment having eaten the veggie version - but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. Except for the lamb that was sent back twice because it was too tough. Let me see, I got 1 piece of paneer, 2 pieces of babycorn, 1 spinach kabab, and 1 sweet potato kabab. I tell you, it was difficult to walk after that meal. Which leads me to wonder, how many tubs of butter goes into the kababs to make them that rich? :(


Would've been nice to partake of the hookah after the meal, but it was only on display. Not like Off the Hookah... :)

Dahlia

First off, I can't imagine south Indians like Japanese food very much. They are mostly vegetarians who are quite loyal to their own spices - mustard seeds, cumin etc. Japanese food is *very* different. Still we have TWO Japanese restaurants in Chennai. One is Haka Saka on the ECR, which I've yet to go to, but haven't heard good reviews of. The other is Dahlia.

Dahlia has been in the same location for the last 14 years (yes! 14 years! for those of you who are going - No Way was it there when I was in college!). Its located behind Ganpat Hotel at the end of Nungambakkam High Road. And even the decor has remained the same except for a new tv and a fish tank. The tv shows delightful Japanese programs that I thoroughly enjoyed watching while I was there.

The food was delicious! The noodle soup was great as was the fresh tofu with peanut-wasabi sauce. I enjoyed the stir-fried vegetable+udon though my dining companions complained that it could have MSG. And being vegetarian was not a problem - they accomodated special requests (the sweet potato instead of the calamari) and were very hospitable. Everything went down well with all the sake.... :)
Dahlia Rocks!