Crimson Chakra - For the nth time

So, CC launches a new menu and having been asked to be part of a group to give feedback on how this was, I can only say I was impressed.

There was a good number of vegetarian dishes, a lot of paneer amongst that. I loved every dish on the menu except the basil vegetable fried rice - which I loved a little less for want of more basil :)

The menu card was neatly rolled and tied with a satin ribbon. We began with a drumstick charu. I quite thought it was going to be like sambar but was pleasantly surprised that it was very light on the palate.

There were three veg starters, all of which had paneer in them. The paneer was soft and delicious and CC has nailed the paneer dishes.

On to the main course, the breads were soft even when they weren't hot, so much so that some of them couldn't wait for a fresh serving and gobbled the not-so-hot naans and kulchas. The veg jalfrezi was excellent and we ate a whole bowl without the breads. The pita bread was fresh and the filling sumptuous (more paneer)

The dessert was the quintessential Indian kulfi. Need I say more. It was the perfect end to this delicious meal.

As a side note, CC @ night caters to those night owls who stay up late and have a midnight craving for some amazing food. I've ordered from them and have had a fantastic experience. You can reach them on +919962996116. The menu is available here.

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CHAO - Pan Asian

Yet another CFG showcase; only this time the sole vegetarian (that's moi) was treated with great respect. That's one thing I constantly look for these days. After a miserable experience at another restaurant earlier last month, this was a refreshing change.

The ambiance was soothing and calm; not to mention the plethora of Buddha statues everywhere. We were guided to the private dining room in the basement.

The dishes served for this meal are not on the menu and you'd need to make reservations earlier and mention that you'd need the chef's special. This would be for a group of 10 or more, priced at 1500 upwards depending on the dishes.

And so the dinner began - Soup Sayur - a rasam kind of soup with lots of ginger - a perfect beginning to a rainy evening. It was spicy no doubt, but that spice is something you'd want to savor.

The crispy corn and spinach was crisp and delicious. It's the usual crispy corn but there was something to it that I couldn't really put my finger on. This was a clear winner even with the non vegetarians.

This was followed by poached Pok Choy with garlic and when they said garlic, you'd hope to see some bits of garlic here and there. But boy, this was doused in garlic, enough to feed an army. And no, there was no pungent taste and was quite mild on the palate. How? The chef wouldn't say!

Broccoli is my favorite and I've said that so many times on this blog. The braised broccoli with Tofu was excellent (notwithstanding the fact that I don't like tofu much). Next up was the drunken noodles with bang bang salad. Yes the noodles had a bit of alcohol, a teeny weeny bit. And the bang bang salad was a chicken salad. A variation without chicken was served for the lone vegetarian. This gesture is much appreciated. A variation of coconut rice was also served to round up the meal.

The portions were just right; the plates were wiped clean and that says a lot about the food.

Finally, chocolate mousse with orange chantalay and strawberries in reduced red wine - well what can I say! The berries in red wine was just too good. We even got a small bowl of dark chocolate to smell and taste. The chef explained how the red wine reduction was made and even suggested a couple of recipes to go, as I discussed how I made this at home a few weeks ago.

Overall, a double thumbs up and another visit is in order soon.

CHAO is located in North Boag Road, TNagar, Chennai 17.

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Southern Aroma - Residency Towers

It's been a while since I attended a CFG bloggers' meet, the last one being Southern Spice at the Taj. And after having some really mad evenings at work, I just wanted to break free and thought this would be the perfect way to unwind. The last time Aaroo, Shadir and I were at the Crown, Residency Towers, it was a brilliant experience and therefore, there was some expectation.

It was a rainy evening and the foodies were present along with their gadgets.

 We were supposed to check out their new menu and the dosa fest. Unfortunately, there was neither a new menu nor a dosa fest. We were served dishes from the regular menu card. And the dosa fest apparently starts from Monday (22-Jul-2013). There were plenty of non vegetarian dishes, and me - the lone vegetarian - was left uncared for.

The vegetarian fare was minimal. The veg starters included malli vada, kalaan fry and allepey home made paneer. The malli vada was dry and the Sr. Sous Chef said that's how it's supposed to be. The Kalaan fry was marginally better and though shaped like a mushroom, we really couldn't see any mushrooms inside. Minced, perhaps? The paneer was soft and succulent. While this was on the table, there were at least 5 non vegetarian starters that made their rounds.

It was now time for the main course. The non vegetarian dishes started flowing one by one and I was left gaping at their plates. Despite repeated reminders, the vegetarian dishes arrived only towards the end by which time I neither had the appetite nor the inclination to eat. There were at least 7 non vegetarian dishes that were on the table, compared to the measly 2 vegetarian dishes that arrived quite late.

The kadamba kurma was good enough while the methi beans curry was bitter from the methi and certainly not a combination with dosa / parotta. There was no rice, no idiyappam or aappam. The dosa was dry and saltless, much to my annoyance. The parotta though was flaky and good. And finally, as we all decided we've had enough to eat, a vendakka fry landed on the table. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, this was perhaps the best of the lot.

We rounded off the dinner with some delicious rasamalai.

This dinner leaves a lot to be desired including some mismatched prices on the water bottles, which the good doctor promptly spotted. Service was slow, which is fair enough if you have something on your plate to eat, but when the rest of your friends are eating and you have to watch them do so, well.. what can I say!

*This is part of Chennai Food Guide's Bloggers' Meet.

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Southern Spice - Taj Coromandel

When you are invited by the Taj for a hosted dinner (as part of CFG Bloggers Showcase), there's this feeling of exhilaration, a feeling of royalty. True to that, we were treated to the maharaja virundhu. (or maharani in my case ;-) ) As we waited in the lobby for someone to escort us to the private dining area of Southern Spice, we observed that security had been beefed up. As we wondered which VIP was staying there, we saw a line of Sun Risers Hyderabad players walking across the lobby towards the elevators. Waqar Younis, Ishanth Sharma and Dale Steyn (<3) were those that I could see :-)

As we all seated around the table and made ourselves comfortable, fresh wet turkish towels placed in front of us to freshen up. This was followed by a little explanation of what was special about this meal. A glass of ginger punch marked the beginning of this elaborate dinner. A plate of munchies with 4 types of chutneys were available.

The first dish on the plate was a mini idli, an idli so adorably tiny. This was followed by a banana dosa of sorts, slightly sweet and tasted excellent with the chutneys smeared on top. For the salad, the kosmalli (Injipuli koshambri), a mixture of grated carrot, coriander and urad dal wrapped in lettuce leaves made a lovely crunch.

A tiny shot glass in white was placed to the right side of the plate and was filled with the most aromatic and tangy mysore rasam. The teeny bit of jaggery in this rasam tasted well on the palate and was not overpowering at all. The final dish of the starter course was the molagu adai.

It's now time for the main course. The group indulged in a friendly banter and conversation ranged from various types of fish and from where each fish is imported to retaining the freshness of the gravies. Chef Anand stopped by to find out if we were happy.

The gold plated plate was set with little bowls decorating the top portion of the plate. Edomame Kurma (Pookose urlai kurma), Asparagus Paruppu usili, Zucchini thenga curry (Zucchini kaara poriyal), vegetable stew (Pachakari ishtew) and Channa gravy (Kadala gassi) constituted the vegetarian sides of this menu. A south Indian touch to international vegetables - the Japanese Edomame, the Mediterranean Asparagus and the Italian Zucchini truly makes one wonder if this is how food can unite the world! The mains included a parotta, idiyappam (string hoppers) and the fluffy aappam.

In between all this, my concentration was on the brilliant yet unobtrusive veena instrumental music curated specially for Southern Spice. I was lost in some of the brilliant renditions, especially Chinnan Chiru Kiliye. The ambiance calls for a special mention - compelling paintings of the kings whose kingdoms' kitchens  were instrumental in what is part of the maharaja virundhu this evening. 

We were beginning to get stuffed. And then they announce that there's going to be more. Rice with the quintessential paruppu podi with gheeeee (er..), small onion sambar (Arachivitta Sambhar - a recipe from Chef Anand's home) and more of the mysore rasam - were delightful. And no meal is complete without the thachi mummu (the one and only curd rice). This was served with a little manathakkali vethakozhambu - totally droolworthy and if you were like me, you wouldn't mind licking your fingers even at the Taj. This food is meant to be eaten with the hands and was sure finger lickin' good.

How can I forget the curry leaf juice spiked with vodka - ha! *sheepish grin* This was one of the best desi cocktail concoctions I've ever had.

Now for the dessert - the elaneer payasam - a hand-me-down recipe from the Mammens of the MRF family was absolutely a perfect way to end the meal. Also were served a Godhi-bella ice cream (banana jaggery ice cream) and belgian chocolate mousse cake filled with lentil, jaggery and coconut (Chocolate purnam mousse). Yum's the word for the chocolate mousse cake.

At the end of it all, if you want me to summarize this dinner, I can only say - Wah Taj boliye! 

* This meal is priced INR 5000 + tax. If you'd like to pair this with an Indian wine, it's priced at 8000 + tax and upwards for international wines. If you want a simple thali, it's priced at 2000 + tax.

* This was a hosted dinner. This is part of the CFG Showcase

* Southern Spice is part of Taj Coromandel, Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai. 

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Spoonbill - Exotic Street Food

2 months later, after having managed to inch closer to my weight loss target, I decided to go ahead with one of the CFG Showcases at Spoonbill, Alwarpet.

It was great to meet the bunch of naughty fellows from CFG and that was something I truly missed.

Without further ado, let me present to you Spoonbill.

Charlie owns and runs Spoonbill. It's a resto-cafe and is open from 11 am - 11 pm. A few more branches will be opened in Chennai, before Charlie ventures into other cities.

As Charlie explained the menu, the gang was super hungry and waited impatiently for the food to arrive. Afterwards, it was literally "digging in". The crepes were torn apart, the burritos butchered and the desserts were squeezed within an inch of their lives.

I cover the veg menu here. Overall I loved all the dishes (or items as Faz called them), except that it was a general opinion that the fillings were a tad salty. Perhaps we are used to less salt in our household?

The first to arrive on the table was the Piadina (OTC & Cheese), followed by mushroom crepes, corn and spinach crepes. We then moved on to the Indian menu - hara bhara kebab and palak paneer kebab. The mexican burritos had a lot of beans and not enough salsa to compensate, so the flavor was lacking. The mozarella + jalapeno empanada from the Portuguese menu was piping hot but again a tad salty.

We then dug into the Turkish falafel salad. The bread (Brötchen) that was served with the non vegetarian dishes was to die for. Slightly hard on the outside but super soft on the inside, it was THE accompaniment.

The nutella and ice cream crepes made the perfect end to the meal.

The dishes are priced Rs 110 upwards on the vegetarian front. The desserts are priced at Rs 180 upwards.

*This post is part of the CFG Showcase. 

** Spoonbill is located in TTK Road, Alwarpet, opp Samsung Showroom.

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