Patina - When Desi meets Italian in Pataka style!

Patina is cushioned in a cozy space by the way side of the Woodpecker furniture store. The interiors are tastefully designed and a zingy appeal adorns the surroundings.

It has a very interesting menu comprising of street food, desi twist on Italian, a bit of North Indian and also added on are some delectable parsi dishes.

We were here on a weekday evening and tried a number of items on the attic and majority of it left us asking for more. First up the special carrot soup with coriander finely chopped was riveting. The taste was smattering containing a remarkable aroma.

On the snacks section, the okhra fries thatched with thecha aioli was crispy with a distinct taste. The anda pav which is the egg equivalent of the evergreen vada pav was a sure winner. The gun powder fries had a brittle feel to it subdued with an interesting tinge of masala which again was a tongue twister in a nice way. The aloo & peas samosa thought could have been a tad better with the mince of the flavour not appearing apparently. The best of all and rightfully the show stealer in the snacks side was the Papeta Pareeda a parsi dish comprising of sliced potatoes over a bed of tomato sauce bedecked with fried eggs on the up blossomed with a gooey center. This one was truly top notch.

For mains we tried the peas infused luchi. Now luchi is the upper North frontier version of the traditional puris. They tend to be a little more crispier and it went well with an aloo peas masala gravy. We also tried the Amritsari Panner Akhuri which were scrambled panneer pieces garnished with coriander and fried onions. This was like a high end version of panneer bhurji. We ended the show with a couple of pastas - the first one being the oil & herb version which had a lovely infusion of herbs, flakes and garlic. The second one and the better of the two was the Curry Macaroni pasta. Comprising of a tantalising creamy curry sauce topped up with corn & bell peppers these macaronis just danced away in full glory and it just tasted all the more exotic with a dripping layer of cheese dressed over the dish.

All in all, the food not only tingled out taste buds but also won over our hearts. It was a lovely experience with some fine churned up cuisine whipped up in a fashionable avatar which is not usually well associated within the city. Totally worth every bite.

Goddy's - The Entertainment Cafe!

Goddy's is a new resto cafe that has emerged in the ever happening Nungambakkam area in a complex off Haddows Road. The outlet is done up nicely and looks sporty and elegant. There are some couches to sit upon, a space for jams and open mic arena. It is believed that it will soon be a music cum food cafe with music being belted out by various bands in the evening hours.

Another point to note about this cafe is that it is open throughout the day starting as early as 7 in the morning. There's plenty of breakfast options in store apart from a very large main course as well as a dessert variety. They have 3 different menus with one each being reserved for starters, main course and desserts. It is stacked up with items aplenty. You are really put on a quandary with the varied spread running into pages and pages.

We were here during a sub afternoon time to savour in some breakfast as well as lunch options. The food was largely good with no real complaints. We tried a couple of avocado based toasts with one being the Californian bunched up with corn and Bell peppers. The other one was termed 'Avacadough' submerged with hard boiled eggs sprinkled with salt & pepper over a bed of avacado spread. Both of these were thoroughly enjoyable. With respect to the starters the cheesy bread pockets were of the melt in the mouth kinds. We also had a shot at four versions of their fries with all proving to be delicious with the honey chilli fries especially claiming top stake. They also gave a number of dips of various kinds which made the French fries eating experience all the more better. On the eggs side, the sunny peekaboo was slurpy to say the least with the eggs being super fluffy with the yolk right at the center.

In the main course, we tried the baked mac'n'cheese. This was well done up stuffed with a pop corn mixture spread over the pasta to give it a crunchy twist. The item of the day for me was however the mushroom pocket waffle. This was lip smacking to say the least with the waffles being engulfed with a rich creamy mushroom sauce.

On the dessert section, I tried my bit at a refresher popsicle which came interspersed with plenty of fruits. It was icy and decent but not something to take your breath away. The red velvet pancake was soft and juicy. A mock tail which we had with a tinge of coconut cream was kind of bitter. The cherry milk shake however was very well delivered and they got the taste bang on. We ended our sojourn with a binging waffle called the Dutch storm. It was of the bubble kind and loaded with chocolate enswirled on all sides making it truly a delectable delicacy.

All in all the majority of items seemed impressive. The pricing is a little on the higher side. The service needs to get a little quickened up as we had to wait a long period of time to receive our dishes. On the whole however it has a peppy sportive atmosphere and with music being central to the theme it gives itself an appearance of being a pretty happening themed cafe.

Tosai Club - A dosaic avatar!

Tosai Club is a franchise based model serving the evergreen all time favourite 'Dosa' in a renewed twisted avatar. Dosa in a potpourri of toppings has recently caught on big time and this model looks to capitalise the same by dishing out delightful Dosa's of varied kinds.

However this particular outlet located at Thoraipakkam also happens to be a full fledged restaurant serving a plethora of veg dishes spanning across Indian, continental and Chinese. The lunch time menu is sans Dosa and they have a really lavish spread.

The ambiance is lovely with it's garden theme as well as the ship based portrait as if we are over seeing the harbour. It's very well done up and it vividly shows that they've taken lots of efforts on the interiors.

We were here on a hot weekend afternoon to savour some of their specialty offerings. We began with a creamy greenish soup to set things ablaze. Then came a variety of starters one by one of which the Tandoori Gobi with a dash of cream was worth mentioning. The paneer tikka as well as the pineapple tikka was charred well and went well on to our mouth. The Aloo Ka Tikka was another winner of a starter. The panneer sheekh kabab however I felt lacked a bit of bite and the Nachos could have been better with a better measured topping. Overall however the appetisers were done up very well.

In the main course section, I loved the delightfully creamy pesto pasta topped in abundance with cheese strings and coming with couple of slices of garlic herbed bread. The paneer tikka biryani was also good with chunks of panneer interlaced inside a colourful rice mixture. The Indian bread with side dishes also proved fulfilling with both the cashew gravy as well as the panneer butter masala teaming out to be a good bet.

We ended with a bunch of desserts transcending into both Indian and Western and they were quite nice as well. On the whole the experience turned out to be a winner.

The service can get a tad quicker. The pricing is worth the quality of food. This is more of an experimental phase for the restaurant trying out a menu for lunch which does not include their treasured forte which is Dosai. I would say they have done a good job with the other items in the fray as well. The ambiance gives a cool vibe and it's a place you could certainly experiment with for lunch as the options available are wide and plenty.