Surf Turf - Ambiance Plus Food Minus

This was our second back to back venture at a sea side restaurant across the side of ECR. After having experienced Bay6 just about a fortnight ago, we decided to try Surf Turf located at Kovalam. This is a restaurant elevated to a nice degree and beautifully overlooking the sea. It seems like an apt place to visit especially in this summer heat.

The ambiance is definitely a plus point going for this place. It gives a laidback feel and the breeze blowing across certainly adds a positive touch. The place is spacious with the center portion dealing with smirking up drinks and giving a buzzing atmosphere on the whole.

Beach side ambiance apart, the experience was pretty pedestrian on the food side. The vegetarian options were almost devoid and had absolutely nothing really noteworthy to order. There were just a couple of starters and every item took it's own sweet time to arrive at our table.

The Nachos were very plain and just run of the mill stuff. It was neither appetizing to look at nor really had anything interesting to hit the taste buds. The center portion was drizzled with melted cheese and chopped tomatoes. That was all there was to it and lacked the bite. Thankfully at least the nachos were crispy and not soggy avoiding it from being a complete whimper.

The cheesy fries also left a lot to be desired. It was again just plain fries with a tomato puree and layer of cheese sprayed over it. It didn't really go along well and it also made the fries appear drenched and not giving it the punch that it required. Certainly it could have been decorated much better and some spices and seasoning could have definitely helped.

The Cheese Garlic bread again was garden variety.  It seemed like a home made substitute of bread coated with cheese. It wasn't bad by any stretch but you surely expect better quality in a restaurant.

On the main course, tried the Malabar Parotta with the Paneer Butter Masala for company. There were just 2 side dishes available on the veg side and had no other option but to choose this. It was pretty decent overall in taste with just the only blip being the Panneer could have been a tad softer. 

Surf Turf is clearly a case of ambiance going all right but lacking on the foremost front which is food. One ultimately comes to a restaurant for having flavourful food and experiencing variety. This was sorely missing and they certainly need to up the ante by first enhancing the menu with surely a bit more vegetarian options and secondly working on the taste factor which goes without saying. As of it's current state, it purely looks like it's only the ambience which is keeping this place stay afloat.

Toscana - Tantalizingly Italian!

Toscana is located in the busy and bustling Dame Street which is packed with restaurant's aplenty. When most eat outs these days are hardly in existence for a year or two, this one sees it's entrance from way back since 1999. One good thing with most eateries in Dublin is that they place the menu along with the prices right at the outside giving a glimpse of what to expect for the customers. I happened to see a two course lunch meal for a price of about 20 Euros and decided to give it a shot. The rate looked like quite a deal especially since most singular items themselves cost around the same and with this you get to try 2 items for more or less the same fare.

Being a vegetarian however, options are limited to the bottom. With less choices available at hand, it wasn't much of a hassle choosing the appetizer and main course. In the appetizer section, I went in for the 'Suppli' which are basically Italian breaded rice balls in the form of a croquette. There were 4 of them and the plating was done up nicely with each of them given separate space and coming along with a garlic dip. The arborio rice inside stuffed with mozzarella tasted quite creamy and fresh.

On the main course side of things checked out the Vegetarian Lasagna. This was pretty tantalizing with cheese infused all over the plate surrounding the layered sheets of pasta which themselves were quite hard hitting and deliciously creamy comprising major portions of broccoli florets along with pomodoro, courgette, spinach and ricotta cheese. It would have been nice if there could have been a piece or two of garlic bread to additionally complement it but however the dish overall felt quite full fledged and nice on the tongue.

The service was quite quick with hardly much waiting time. They were also quite sweet to check in regularly if things were fine. The rates in general seem a bit on the higher side but thankfully with this combo deal didn't really set back too much. The ambience is designed in the form of a pub and gives a laidback insouciant feel with dim lights and dark color palette doing a tango. Overall a nice little eatery for craving Italian delicacies which has been serving customers right from even before the turn of this century.

Madras Kitchen Company (MKC) - Touch of fusion yet artisanal!

MKC or Madras Kitchen Company is a newly opened restaurant as part of the sprawling Westin property in Velachery. The first impression gives you an instant thumbs up with the decor being striking and the ambiance aesthetic and appealing.

It gives a very laidback as well as an insouciant atmosphere with it's signature wood work and artisanal surroundings. The menu has been created in a very crafty manner coming in the form of a large newspaper with lots of snippets thrown in not only about the food but also the city of Chennai in general. The cuisine is largely regional with a twist as there is a lot of fusion element interspersed to it. A little bit of Asian too has been added to the fray.

We were here for lunch on a lazy weekday afternoon and looking forward to what the place has to offer. The first item itself blew us away which was an amalgamation of Amul cheese and a guntur chilli spread on a bed of bread. The fill over not only looked magnificent but also tasted superlative. Next up we tried the Asian Bao's. This was an open bao stuffed to the brim consisting of juicy pieces of tofu, capsules of edamame green gram and laced with drooly layers of mayo. This was messy, junky, dunky and damn tasty. After this we tried their innovative ghee tossed podi Idly which came with a delightful kurma and a chilli coconut relish. This was served in the school tiffin style and had an old world charm about it. From the starter section, we also tried the curd rice which came with interesting concoctions which we had towards the end of our meal.

The starter section was totally top notch and no two ways about it. In the main course, we had the bombay sampler of ragda, misal and bhaji with butter pao. Though bhaji is a popular dish down south, we very rarely get to taste ragda or misal and this was a well done up 3 in 1 combo. Apart from this we also had a crack at the aloo chole with kulche. This was decent but however the chole felt a little less boiled and the taste did not come out very apparently.

We polished our meal with two gorgeous desserts. The 54℅ chocolate textures with berries had a really rich and smooth taste to it. The Madras Kitchen Sundae with a cheese cake slitted in was really yummy and mellow.

The service was friendly and the staff were very welcoming in not only answering our queries but also suggesting us on how to go about with our choices. If you're looking for regional cuisine with a sleek fusion element interlaced to it, you should certainly check out Madras Kitchen Company.

Desi Di - Sounding the Dinchak!

Taking Desi Di at face value, it will surely pique your interest. The place comes with the caption 'Dhinchak' which roughly translates to attitude and that is quite clearly seen in their interiors which has a sparkle about it. It embosses and makes use of multitudes of colour giving itself a quirky and bohemian feel. It captures desiness in full vigour and it's the kitschy set up that brightens up the atmosphere and gives it a zany outlook. The seating arrangement is pretty large and converged into different enclosures and you see each of them portraying the shiz through its wall paintings, miniatures, antiques, colour co ordinations etc.

Talking about the food, it goes in tune with the name of the place and is all desi. They have deliberately avoided South Indian cuisine but brought forth a lot of different items from canteen style to road side to hardcore Punjabi flavour and much more. A lot of innovations also came to the forefront with regard to taste and presentation. One more thing is that they have tweaked some of the items mildly in order for it to suit the palette of the localites.

We started our foray with a few drinks and chai. The lemon barley shikanji was more of a refreshing tonic to beat the heat. The Punjabi Lassi with nuts was pretty frothy and flavourful. The kala khatta soda was a lovely iced drink. The red hibiscus ice tea which was presented in a large beaker looked very appealing but somehow I didn't find it to be too distinctive on taste to any other usual fruit infused tea.

There was a section in the menu titled "All Day Menu" comprising of snacks and starters. The paneer bhurji papad waa very nice with smudged pieces of cottage cheese gregariously spread across the roundish oval along with sprucing of masala and inter laden in the center with a delectable pumpkin dip. The samosas were served in a canteen style box with 2 kinds of chutneys and a bunch of chilli's. These contained the usual potato masala but the texture of it was very good. The Arbi Pakoda was super crispy and slathered with the rightful dosage of spices making it a great snacker. The vada bao was quite lovely with the aloo loaded vada made Bombay style dunked in steamed bao buns. This one defined the Dhinchak as it was made in true Bambayya style with generous garnishing of podi mixture in addition to gentle spraying of chutneys and to infuse the spice quotient lengthy pieces of green chilli's were provided as accompaniment. The sambar kichdi was another one dish which was absolutely yummy and this one was great eating with the crispy papads. The Pav Bhaji fondue however was quite a disappointment. It was the usual pav buns torn as pieces and kept like bread sticks to eat dipped with the bhaji. The masala lacked a bit of creaminess and surely could have been better.

In the main course part, we had a Gujarati special item called Panki. We tried the palak corn version and this was basically a stuffing inside a green leaf that needed to be scraped and eaten. Quite a different experience trying this one. We also got naan with Malai Kofta which was done with the right ammunition and went very well with the Indian bread. The best of the lot was the Paneer Kurchan which was an aromatic panneer gravy cooked with much love and going really well with Naan. It was also served interestingly in a cooker and the flavour was very vehement.

The desserts were a complete win. The Pudina chai brulee was toothsome and really rich in taste with a subtle hint of pudina flavour in a cream brulee base. The gulab jamun cheesecake was a conglomeration well done with the mellow effect of the cake and the juicy taste of the jamuns being simply melt in the mouth. And we rounded the proceedings in superlative style through the Gajar Ka Halwa samosa with candy floss. This was totally bindaas with the samosas containing a sweetened pasty essence and coming along with a bowl of Malai floating with nuts and a fruit infused cotton candy floss. The whole dessert was a sinister creation and a wonderful workout for the sweet craving aficionado.

The rates seem fairly reasonable for the quantity and quality of stuff served. The service was quick witted. It was a pleasure conversing with the host who had complete knowledge of the items in the menu and about the specialities of each dish. Parking is of least concern as it's located in a club with abundant space being available. The place radiates with a kaleidoscope of colours and showcases dhinchak (attitude) in resolute fashion. This is a nice little place to visit especially with large groups and spend some good noteworthy time by soaking in the colour co ordinated ambiance and eat sumptuous food to your hearts content.

Broken Bridge Cafe - When fusion trances with innovation for the win!

It was a delightful young early weekday evening and we decided to spend time at Broken Bridge Cafe which is a part of Somerset Hotel. The ambiance gives a breezy woody feel with hues of brown decor in addition to the plant like greenery surrounding. It gives a chiselled feel and ignites the laid back dictum in all it's vigour.

This is a recently opened restaurant specialising mainly on fusion cuisine. The menu is a simple slider but they've innovated tremendously within this space to bring out a lot of unique experiments. Amongst the items which we had, the majority hit the dart right at the center and it was just in a couple of stuff that felt the need for improvement. The menu comprises of small plates aka starters/appetisers and large plates meaning to convey the main course dishes. There are no gimmicks or over the top tomfoolery happening at all and the menu conveys the point as to what it intends to offer.

In the small plates, the show stealer was undoubtedly the Curd rice fritters. Innovation reached varying heights with fried golden balls made to mimic curd rice with hinges of lemon pickle. This was truly one 'one of a kind experience'. They resembled your usual fried cheese balls ala starter but on taste you get the riveting effect of mushy curd rice and to boot also was served a mayo dip with largely lime essence. Audacious work of fusion but I must admit it worked very well. The kalakki (scrambled eggs) with goat jam on bread was another delightful starter. The panneer Makhni papdi chaat was nothing much to write home about. Just a touch of makhni gravy over papdi puri's which were just decent. The spicy corn cakes were kind of nice and I thoroughly enjoyed the palak and Goat cheese flat bread. If you're able to withstand the smell and rawness of goat cheese, then you're bound to love it.

For the large plates, we tried achari 3 cheese kulcha melt as well as mushroom & olives goat cheese kulcha melt. These were really nice spread with melted cheese which was really hard hitting. I loved the flavours of these kulchas which gave a lovely crunch while consuming them and they good enough just to consume stand alone though they also came along with fries,dip and ketchup for company. Also got to try the blue cheese naan which if you are fond of the aroma of it, it'll dunk you in big time and to go along with it a juicily sumptuous panneer tikka masala gravy.

In the dessert draw, the filter coffee baileys tiramisu ruled the roost. Served in an ever silver tumbler, it was simply jaw dropping drool worthy. The skim of tiramisu infused with layers of coffee powder had everything in it to make you dig unabashedly. The nutella custard and maltova crumble was alao equally relishing.

The prices seem par for the course and not really in the vicinity to pinch your pockets. The service was amicable, friendly and on the button. Overall, a really pleasing experience dining at Broken Bridge. If you like a little bit of twists and fusion in your food without the core getting compromised, you should definitely head over to this place for a resolute fine dining encounter.

Chai Galli - Eminently Desi with a twist!

'Chai Galli' plays it simple and yields the desired results. It capitalises on age old traditions, masala and flavours to bring about a glorified confluence celebrating the vintage in a modern redefined avatar. It brings to light popular street food from various regions across India with a cutting edge. The best part is you would find that local essence intact giving it a lovely old school feel. They have also innovated to varying degrees by blending Indian with Indian as also other cuisines to add a diverse portfolio.

From the moniker, it's pretty clear that tea is the most prominent factor. Tea is the most consumed beverage across India and it has a history to the way it's made, viewed and drank in different parts of the country. The beverage epitomises a local element and it's in petty shops that it's most popular with loud dance music playing at the background. They've captured this beautifully by serving them in those small glass shots retaining the flavour with the presence of loud epoch Bollywood music playing from yesteryear. Movies play a major role in the ambiance setup and you would find wall arts depicting posters of popular movies from down the years.

Food, music and movies are perhaps the 3 most loved things in the country and kudos that they've been able to make justice to it and in fact with the setup and ambiance, pay quite a homage to these ever loved delights. I admired the fact that they could put this across rather well without sounding too obtrusive and on your face. It's been carved out artistically and you wouldn't call it as being over the top with the interiors. It appears larger than life but yet within limits and not too garish. The colour combinations have been used very well and you'll surely associate with the bright spots paying tribute to the colour and retro era from around the 60's onwards.

What they have in their attic to consume is quite a lot. Apart from the traditional fare, innovation is the name of the game here. Tea occupied almost a third of the menu with variants of classic, capturing borders - from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, western touch with imported flavours, green tea, black tea, white tea and even handcrafted ones. They also have iced versions and for that tete a tete, a few coffee varieties also along with oolong tea and those classic drinks ranging from Shikanji, kokam, masala soda etc. There was too much to try but I would suggest you give a shot at one of the authentic classical ones. We had the Adrak chai with parle G biscuit and it was quite an effect drinking it held up in small glass containers. The hibiscus tea which a mild majanta colour to it was invigorating and in the iced kind, the Bulldozer which is a chilled drink drawing upon the combination of ice tea and red bull was kick ass and killer, just about ideal for the scorching heat.

They have a section "Chai ke murmur dost" which underlines the accompaniments that go along with your tea. They had further sub sections highlighting on the shandaar (popular), chatpata (crispy), samosa/vada pav alternatives, puchka shots and pakhoda and Baaki sab (everything else). We tried two of the pani puri shots viz Namkeen and a Corn based one which was enjoyable. It was served with a twist as the puri's in the former were ballooned up with a sweet/salt mixture and the latter had a gregarious coating of cheese with tartlets of corn inside. The absolute stunner from the chai's company side, well and truly happened to be the Dal pakwaan. It was absolutely delectable with flavourful lentils on top of a papad base and soaked with a sweet as well as savoury tinge and topped with salad veggies. The poha layered on a papad base somehow didn't appease me much.

The main course section is categorised as "Khana Shuru" which loosely translates as start the food. We had an aloo paratha which was well made with nice stuffings of potato inside that comes with a tomato & chilli dip. The Tadke wali maggi with zing of fried onions was quite lovely to slurp. In pizza's, the Italian flag which is the usual expectant pizza was quite nice but what took the cake was the concocted one in the form of the 'Veggies on a Khakra' which in the sense is the marrying of pizza and khakra infusing italian pizza ingredients over a quintessential Indian crisp khakra base. This Gujarati classic corks up a feast with a melange of sauces, spices and veggies generously spread along making the eating experience both crispy and crunchy. The pink sauce panther pasta was another winner as it had all the ammunition to rise to the top being creamy with just the right amount of herbs and spices to go along with exotic ingredients like broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini and garlic.

The final finale was no less. The watermelon juice was of the usual kind. I took a liking to the dry fruit falooda which was bunched with a pleasing degree of assortments and also being creamy on the bottom layer. The chikku cream had that sappota twang right on the button and you could feel the flavour hitting on every spoon. However the outright starlet in the dessert section was the "Chai Galli special falooda". It had a perfect motley of fruit, sweet and nuts with the texture and thickness being bang on. It was a delectation decorated to devour. Easily would say, one of the best falooda's I've ever had.

On the whole, Chai Galli turned out to be really pleasing and engaging. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if you fall in love with the place. I had a personal connect with the decorations and the music playing in the background which had a lot to do with the 90's which is in sync to my growing up childhood phase. The service was quick witted and they were more than willing to help us with our choices. The prices won't worry you much as they are all rated within the normal border range.

This place would surely ignite a tinge of nostalgia within you. Your love for Bollywood and happy loud good ol music will be satiated here. It's lovely the way they have captured and brought in all these quirky elements within the minimalistic surrounding environment. It definitely felt nice visiting this outlet and if you're the one looking for some shiz in a local langoti set-up, 'Chai Galli' is your direction forward.

Godka - Class and Finesse!

Godka impresses immensely with its ambiance and that's one of the sterling factors giving it a major head start. The interiors are intricately weaved and the vibe suggested a beautiful subtle confluence between a vintage olden style diaspora and a relatively modern quirky avatar. I found the whole place reeking of splendor and the artisan touch was pretty prevalent with the surroundings being quite artistic. Combination of music, movies and sports as themes was another well played part giving it a theatrical influence. The portraits of superstars from respective fields along with few fancy motivational quotes and places of importance definitely helped in hefting up the atmosphere of the place. Also the inherent middle eastern touch was evident with the Arabian Jewel boxes, rich flowy curtains, chandeliers, miniatures and antiques. The dim lit lighting played to the gallery and the color palette comprising hues of asparagus green with predominantly brown wooden based decor gave quite a fine imprint about the aura of the place.

We were here on an invite to savor some of the signature specialties dished up by this restaurant. The sabzi shorba soup had a lovely essence to it with the veggies being very finely grated. This one wasn't usually as light as a shorba and felt riveting to taste. On the mocktail front, we got to sample quite a few varieties and the one which stole the show was the Litchi based one having a flavorful punch to it. The orange + vanilla medley mix was fairly decent but the pineapple drink with several cut pieces inset seemed a dampener. The other drink was more like a mirinda fizz with thin shredded mangoes and felt a little extra sweet.

For starters, we were initially served a platter comprising of Sheekh kababs, mushrooms, panneer tikkas and cutlets. They weren't too impressive except for the minced cutlets. The Panneer Tikka and Sheekh Kababs also came as standalone starters and felt much better separately. There were also some cheesy rolls served which were breaded on the outside comprising oodles of cheese inside with french fries for accompaniments. It was lovely, just that would have loved a nice mayo to dip in those delectable rolls. In the main course side, we began our foray with Thai food in the form of rice with both green and red curry. The green curry lacked that authentic Thai flavor but the red one more than made up for it having a nice pleasing coconuty aroma with exotic veggies to boot. The veg biryani was one of the best I've tasted anywhere. It was wonderfully well curried and flavored and it was a delight consuming those colorful morsels. The Pizza comprising of a bunch of exquisite toppings was another crowd pleaser. The Roti's were soft and well prepared and the Panneer gravy which came along was passable although felt a bit too pureed and artificial. The white sauce spaghetti intermingled with olives, corn and rosemary felt slurpy and creamy. Didn't have much of a shot at the desserts, but they were really good from whatever little I could conjure up. There was a strawberry panacota, brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate and strawberry ice creams.

Overall, the food seemed to have passed the test with more hits than misses. The service seemed a little extra slow and there was a really long waiting time between items. However the staff seemed really courteous and more than willing to help us by whatever means. I'll skip commenting on the pricing as it was over an on the house invite. Other facilities like valet parking is very much available which is a boost.

'Godka' seems a nice little place to chill out and for those looking for an insouciant easy paced dining option, this seems such an apt and perfect place to relax over a comfortable and relaxed meal. It can also be considered a good stop over point for those heading on the ECR stretch.

Above Sea Level @Raintree, St Mary's Road

Its the ambiance which blows you away. Surely stakes claim for being one of the best outdoor restaurant's in the city. The panoramic view is just wondrous and has to be witnessed to be believed. Its a place to experience the beauty of the night sky over a quiet dinner.

The food is primarily of North Indian and Sea food and you would be hard done if you're vegetarian. However at Above Sea Level its more about being there and enjoying the zephyr billow across your face than about the food and drinks you have.

I went plain sailing on this occasion and just had a mocktail, a baked nachos for a starter and a grilled panneer dish for main course. The mocktail was a concoction of apple , orange and lemon and pretty nice on the mouth. The Nachos was strictly ok, i found the juiciness and creaminess to be missing and also expected it to be more wholesome and evenly spread out but it didn't turn out that way with some being abundantly layered with cheese , jalapeno and toppings and some being just plain dry tortilla chips with nothing on them. The grilled paneer was a skewer type also containing brocolis in between the chunks of cottage cheese with some salad and potato wedges for company. Both the panneer and brocolli were well cooked but however felt the zing was missing.

It really wasn't a night where I was in the mood to go full out on the food. Quite interested to try out some of their North Indian Bread and Curries on another visit perhaps. The rates are obviously expensive burning quite a fire hole on your credit card. Felt the service to be slow taking enormous amount of time to bring in the food.

But whatever said of the minuses , this is a place to enjoy the scenery and sereneness engulfing you. A perfect place for a candlelit dinner , special occasion or even just to enjoy a relaxed soothing dinner away from the vicissitude of life. You should experience Above Sea Level atleast once!.