Quattro - A melange of Mexican and an interim of Italian

'Quattro' was impressive in parts. They are one of the forerunner restaurants when it comes to whipping up a fest of a gastronomic food adventure mainly utilizing Italian and Mexican cuisine.

We were here on a hot weekend afternoon to look forward to a slurp feast of the best that Italian and Mexican can offer. We started our journey with a Jalapeno Queso. We asked for a small portion and it contained 3 batter fried balls submerged with cheese and spread with a Jalapeno cloud. It was cheesy and smacked flavour fully on to the taste buds. Next up was a crack at the Quesadillas. Went for a Chipotle cottage cheese filling with Mexican beans and a slice of sour cream and Mexican rice for company. This one was well stuffed and punchy with the hard hitting taste.

For main course we tried the Primavera pizza. This frankly was quite a disappointment and seemed more like a run off the mill stuff. It was just that the stuffing were well covered but did expect a more sumptuous offering. However things evened out with the spectacular Mexican cottage cheese sizzler. This one was a belted being heavily loaded with veggies and chunks of cottage cheese cubes with mashed potato and a molten dripping layer of cheese sauce to boot. It was indeed a relishing and wholesome dish.

On the dessert side we polished off a chocolate Saturn and hot chocolate soup. This had all the ammunition to win you over with effervescent essence of chocolate bowling you over. The touch up of orange, mango and jelly enhanced it further.

All in all it was a decent experience. The presentation was lovely and we also had our servings in quick time. One grouse however is on the quantity. Except the sizzler all the other items felt too minimal on serving. You do expect a little more portion and it was a tad disappointing to see such granular portions. Rate wise they are on the higher side.

Quattro on the whole can be termed as an exclusive fine dining restaurant and one of the real better one's when it comes to food experience.

Summer House Eatery - 80% continental and 20% everything else!

The Summer House Eatery is a well crafted cafetaria which has blossomed on the by lanes of Alwarpet in a really peaceful locality. The outlet is constructed out of a residential home and shares a co working space with a couple of other ventures. There is sufficient parking space available and the place oozes fanciness in terms of it's decor and on the quirk factor.

The space is well bifurcated and there is also a lawn passage outside seating arrangement. It infuses the perfect ambiance and this looks like the kind of getaway spot to head to for cozy laidback lunch offering. It induces the rightful insouciance and appeals on every angle with the way it's done up.

The food, from the monicker can be easily made out to be continental but to widen the radar, they have added along some fusion with an Indian touch as add on. So primarily can be summarised as 80% continental and the other 20% has a mix of Indian, Mexican, Thai et al.

The outlet as such is opening very soon but we were here for an invite to savour some of their benefactors. They are still on an experimental mode and as the days pass along, you can expect a lot of interesting stuff in store.

First up on the appetiser section were the Arancini balls. These were big in size, juicy on the exterior containing dumplings of risotto rice and veggies on the inside. It was presented quite well too over a spreading of a delightful chilli mayo dip. Next up were the Avocado and corn crostini bruschetta. The bread was super soft and slashed along was an interesting slurpy dip called the mexican goddess which is made up predominantly with avacado and other dressings. Sauteed corn was garnished and this one was a winner. And then arrived the Truffle fries. This was a bit of a damp squib as the flavour of truffles didn't come across at all. Felt like eating normal crispy French fries with powdered cheese coated along. The cauliflower taco with thecha and sour cream was passable. They are still working on this one and it'll be served with a salad in the upcoming days.

On the main course section, we got a bite at their delightful savoury crepe options. Both the creamy mushroom as well as the caprese crepe with tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella were done up in sterling style with the taste of the ingredients coming out very well embedded on those loose egg beaten sheets. One area which totally ruled the roost were the pasta's. Virtually each one of them were so enjoyable to consume. If you're a pasta aficionado, the Summer House is like the ideal outlet to gorge sumptuous drool worthy pasta's to your utter delight. They have some really rare creations such as spaghetti with thai chilli jam and shitake mushrooms. This one was a bit of fusion but worked really well with the essence coming out wonderfully. The cacio e pepe spaghetti was another starlet with the garnishing of pepper and parmesan doing the magic. Their aglio e olio was easily one of the best I've ever had. The roasted garlic flavour was beautifully well played. Other than the set of pasta's, we also had a coastal based vegetable in goan coconut curry with steamed rice. This was strictly decent and nothing of the kind to get excited about.

On the dessert section, we tried a number of their sweetened crepes. Going along in line with the savoury based one's, these also passed the test with flying colours. It was just about rightly presented with the spreading of the assortments underneath the layering coming out top on taste. The nutella as well as the caramel one was much sought after. We also had a shot at a few shakes viz peanut butter, salted caramel etc. These were quite normal and lacked a bit of thickness. This is just a selective stock house of desserts and many more will be coming up really soon.

On the whole, it was a lovely lazy sunday lunch with delicious victuals for company to go along with a classy environmental sunlight surrounding. The prices have not yet been finalised and hence will refrain from commenting on that front. On a holistic picture, The Summer House Eatery is a fantastic add-on to Chennai's bustling food circle. And from initial feelers and the way things are already set up, this eatery should surely be enjoying a rosy ride from it's customer base. Wishing the team of 'The Summer House Eatery' all the very best.

Chilli's - Ready to Unleash!

Chilli's in one word can be described as kick ass. It has such a pulsating atmosphere going for it and there's an inherent buzz about the place which makes it really happening. It is located in Express Avenue and is the first non alcohol venture in the country. Located on the top floor directly opposite Escape cinema's it sizzles with suave and swankiness and has a lovely vibe going for it. Seems like the perfect outlet to chill and cool your heels.

The place is hardly weeks old and it was stuffed to the brim on a weekday evening. Just from the initial insights, looks like Chennai has well and truly lapped up Chilli's. We were here as early bird visitors for a food trail to savor the drinks and delicacies which this restobar has to offer.

Chilli's is known for it's margherita's and hence we went for a couple of them in the form of Wild Raspberry and a Chilli Mango Margerita. The former had a strong punch to it and was delivered in a huge glass. The latter was well played with the concoction of mango and chilli and the two tangoed along beautifully. The other drink we had was the Peach breezer which was immensely refreshing and a great thirst quencher.

The starters dazzled in every way you could expect. The presentation was immaculate with the stuff being lined on a plate and right in the middle was a holder holding dips of varied kinds. The ones served for veg included Cheese poppers, Quesa bites and Breaded panneer rolls and all of them rocked big time. My favorite among them all were the cheese poppers which had a pasty stuffing of yellowish cheese inside those soft brown balls. And not to forget, the dips played great sport to the starters going hand in hand in perfect sync.

For main course we went with the Santa Fe Panneer Quesadillas, another winner on the night. The Quesadillas had a glorious creamy veg mix underneath and it was delectable to say the least. The cheese Nachos had a lavish coating of cheese with a jalapeno arranged on top but somehow lacked that extra zing. However the Mushroom Jack Fajitas Panneer more than made up for the slight misgiving by being remarkable in it's own right. Served in a pan with cottage cheese and mushroom scattered all over, this is one dish you would savor to stuff your rolls with the curry leaving your mouth to do the rest.

And on the dessert front, we had a molten chocolate cake with a vanilla ice cream and chocolate lathering on top. This was soft and yummy and something which melts in your mouth. And the second one was the cheesecake served in a jar with whipped cream. The cream somehow didn't seem to gel well, but the cheesecake inside had a good taste to it with crumbled oreo slathered in and seemed to taste better as the bites got going. One thing though it was a little hard and you except your cheesecake to be soft, moist and curl as you slice them with your spoon which was missing here.

Overall, it was a really engaging evening with great food and drinks with a buzzing atmosphere to boot. The service was rapid and the staff seemed to be knowledgeable about the items in store. The price is a wee bit on the higher side but good things come with a price.

Chilli's has embarked on a really bright start and looks all set to march it's way to glory. Definitely a great addition to Chennai's ever growing F&B market.

Hola, by the beach side!

Woke up on a Monday morning to find a surprise mail from Zomato inviting me for their year end celebrations at this restaurant named 'Hola'. The excitement turned into disappointment as my wavering mind started to think that surely such a restaurant doesn't exist in Chennai only to find out how wrong I was. It was very much in Namma Ooru and somewhat even closer to home. Coming to know that it was a roof top restaurant and looking at the scenic beauty in the pictures made me palpably excited and that very moment I decided that come what may , I am surely not going to let go of this opportunity :).

The cornerstone of this restaurant is the ambiance which wins hands down. Strategically located close to the beach , this is an ideal place to have a peaceful , laidback lunch/dinner amidst the gentle zephyr blowing across serenely. It is located in a 2 storied building called Malgaadi adjacent to the age old Dhabba Express and looks like the only real upscale restaurant in that area especially since its surrounded by a cluster of smaller restaurants closer to the beach.

On the food side , they primarily focus on Italian and Mexican. On this starry evening managed to lay my hands and mouth on the following :
Drink - Curry Leaves Mojito
Starter - Italian Cheese Baked Nachos
Main Course - 4 summers Pizza , 4 cheese Pasta
Dessert - Chilled Cheese Cake

The Mojito was decent however the big sized curry leaves were quite a dampener disturbing the flow in relishing the drink.The Italian Cheese Baked Nachos were copious in quantity but wasn't as luxuriating and decorated as I expected. The tortilla chips were kind of dry and the spread of the topping was not judicious with some of the pieces being alienated with nothing on them. As condiment they had the Cheese\Salsa\Cream sauce and Kidney beans to toss up but being the lazy kind would have ideally liked them to have been already prevalent in the standalone dish. The Main course was the best on the day with both the 4 summers Pizza and 4 cheese Pasta living close to expectation. The Pizza was thin crust spruced up with Mushroom , Brocolli , Zucchini , Bell Peppers etc and gave a nice crunchy feel. The four cheese pasta again like the Pizza were loaded with similar ingredients and gave an aromatic lingering taste. The Cheese cake was a complete hoodwink , it wasn't one by any stretch of the imagination and was just a normal pastry which tasted decent.

Overall the food was a mixed bag with the Main course taking the prize and the others occupying a distant subaltern position. Must be said that they still have quite a lot of ground to cover. The rates seem to be extremely exorbitant which almost relegates it to being a restaurant apt to be visited only on a special occasion. The service was amiable and would expect the same irrespective of this being an invite only event.

I would like to Thank Team Zomato for taking the efforts and arranging this Eatles meetup. It surely was a memorable evening visiting this new resplendent restaurant, confabulating in food talk with like minded foodies and receiving all those wonderful presents.
Truly, an experience to remember!.