Cafe De Bangkok - Inviting Travel Vibes

Bangkok is a known to be a foodie's paradise apart from being a frequently hunted travel destination. It is known for it's mélange of cuisines ranging from Pan Asian and spreading across to continental, Pizza's and a host of bakery products.

Cafe De Bangkok is a new venture bringing the best of the world of Thai to the shore lands of Chennai. The place is located on a main road and the ambiance depicts a swirl of Thailand drawings with a diaspora of cute flower bouquets for infusing the vibration. Palettes of white and blue mostly adorn the surrounding.

The menu boasts of a mix of varied cuisines. I began proceedings with a broccoli soup encapsulated with shrivels of cheese which seemed to be a pretty good way to start on a cold evening. For the starters we tried the loaded fries which was basically potato fries topped up with salsa and cream. The fries were crunchy and the texture was just about right and it went well with the mix up. We also tried a bao in the form of cottage cheese & sundried tomato. This was one of my favorite dishes with the buns being juicy soft and stuffed inset were spicy rectangular chunks of paneer and dried tomatoes with the combination working very well. Another cottage cheese starter was attacked this time in the form of a skewer. This was of the Cajun variant and the pieces were fresh and somewhat in line with the traditional Indianized version of paneer tikka just that it was served in a different format. We also had a shot at the Thai spring rolls which went jocularly well with a lively tangy dip.

On the main course front, we went with the double cheese margarita pizza. I wouldn't say this was top notch. It was decent enough but somehow not melt in the mouth stuff that I expected it to be. The khow suey however was well dished up having a lovely aroma inherent to it. All the condiments added on made it quite an item to remember. This apart, a pink sauce penne pasta was also attempted. This one was creamy with the right stuffing and seemed well cooked and also tasted yummy.

They do not have too many options on the dessert front as of now. They had a chocolate danish and a blue berry cheese tart which seemed strictly average at best. I believe this is an area they are still working up to stack more options in the fray.

Overall it was a pretty pleasant experience. The waiters were friendly and the items were brought in at regular time intervals. The pricing seems par for the course. The ambiance and vibe works quite well especially if you're the kind who is looking forward to a pleasing experience. This cafe can definitely be tried for it's diverse epicurean cuisine.

Pumpkin Tales - Surely tells mouth watering stories!

Pumpkin Tales struck the right chords and how. Located in a quiet little shrub off a by lane in Alwarpet, the place appeals with it's nicely done up interiors. It gives a very good vibe and the alternating colours of orange, yellow and red makes it appear aesthetic. The space is well spread out and there is a sure shot buzz around it. A bakery is perched at the bottom where you get to purchase exotic stuff and in the top tier is the restaurant.

They have an elaborate breakfast menu as well to go on top of the fine dining spread they serve for lunch and dinner. They serve a diverse potpourri of eclectic cuisine touching upon American, continental, European, Singaporean in addition to a large fare of bakery products.

We were here for dinner and began our sojourn with the roasted fennel and tomato soup. This was delightfully done up with an abundance of flavours. Certainly a good way to begin proceedings. The cheese mood was prevalent in our meal and for our appetisers we went with a flat bread pizza and a calzone. The former was a roasted veggie version bunched up with zucchinis, roasted tomatoes, floored up by tomato sauce and consisting of a delectable squishy layer of cheddar and mozzarella. The calzone we tried was one containing spinach, mushroom and mozzarella. This one too was decked up with cheese and it was nice consuming this juicy mix of ingredients and the bread was super smooth.

On the small bite section, we had the garlic sherry mushrooms. These were very nice too with the crunchiness of the garlic going well in tandem with softish button pieces of mushroom and the slightly liquid texture also seemed enjoyable. Apart from this also tried one of their bakery products namely the cheese sticks. This was definitely a good bite to crunch along with the aroma of cheese hitting in hard.

For the main course, we tried the rainbow pasta. This was colourful to look at with a flurry of veggies being part of the fray with cheese smeared in giving it a lovely creamy texture. This was quite rich with the addendum of ricotta cheese, cashews, mushrooms, spinach along with red and yellow pepper making it like a swirl of colours and hence aptly titled the rainbow pasta.

On the dessert side, the display had some enticing creations and we decided to go with cheese cake and not one but two of them. First up the chocolate hazelnut was as lovely as it could get with the mellow of the soft cream with nuts luring you in. And then it was time to test the vanilla and strawberry bean one. This too was top notch and pressed all the right buttons.

On the whole, our encounter with Pumpkin Tales happened to be pretty pleasing. The service was quick witted and our dishes barring the calzone reached our tables well on time. The pricing seems a little high for the quantity served. However the quality makes up for it not making you slouch too much. This was a place of plusses and I would love to check out their breakfast fare quite soon.

Sitcom - The cafe enticing Friends & Food

Sitcom with the caption 'The Drama Diner' is one of the latest cafe's to hit tinseville. From the name it's rather apparent that it borrows heavily on the theme of tv series and this is where they cash in with their set up. It's located on the lengthy stretch of ECR in the Neelankarai road in a complex occupying 2 storeys. The downward side is predominantly a bakery cafe consisting of plenty of stuff like puffs, pastries, quiches, mousses, eclairs, sorbets and a host of other items in the attic. And on the upstairs is where the real dine out cafe action takes place.

The ever popular Friends and Big Bang Theory are the 2 serials which make a big impression on this place. They have quirky dialogues from the sitcoms plastered on the doors apart from having posters depicting characters and footage from the show. In tune with the drama culture, they have also placed sufficient tv screens playing episodes of these shows. I believe these large screens will also cater to sporting action as and when they occur. The decor feels laid back and relaxing with those bent orange couches igniting the comfort factor. It looks like an ideal place to come as large set of folks to spend quality free time and in the process also do some binge eating.

The menu touches different borders with American cuisine being the most significant. Whatever an outlet tries to showcase through it's ambiance, there's no denying that food plays the numero uno part and everything else takes a backseat. In that line, I must say for a new place the food served appeased quite a lot especially with the starters being of the highest order.

We began our dinner sojourn with a french onion soup which was wonderfully presented in a large bowl with a circular piece of soaked bread immersed right over floating on top of the soup. The sprinkle of caramelised onions was well played and this one was really flavourful and a good way to begin proceedings.

The starters totally lorded the show. First up, I fell in love with the Mozzarella cheese sticks. The orangish cheese sticking inside that hollow tunnel covered on the exterior by a breaded texture was all gooey and drool worthy. Dipping it with some chilli mayo added to the excitement. The cheese stuffed mushroom croquettes were not far off from the show. Just childishly poke these balls with a fork and you will witness cheesy awesomeness enveloped all over juicy chunks of mushroom. The outer layer comprising the breaded texture was super solid and the interior had a molten perfect liquid material oozing out providing for a delicious confluence which can be felt when inserted in the mouth. To add a crispy touch were the onion rings which was a great snacker to consume along side the white cheesy dip.

They have an interesting combination of momo's and we tried 3 veg versions viz spinach & corn, mushroom and the sticky rice dumplings. The former two were lovely to munch with just about the right bunch of ingredients and being delicious in taste but what really stole the headlines were the sticky riced one which was quite a revelation. They almost looked like a porcupine with thorns holding up firmly on all sides of the momo's and when picking them up they were so soft, floaty and loose that you almost wanted to play with them. It had a nice curried veg taste to it with the ingredients melding and mingling well. This was truly one of a kind and very interesting and innovatively made.

In the main course section, it was the pizza that was top notch. The 7 cheese pizza was messy with variants of cheese meltingly flowing across all directions but the joy I tell you of biting this cheesy delight was another level. The Sun-dried tomato pizza may not have had the same level of attraction as it's predecessor but it was strong on the base and that's what mattered. It was really delivered well and gave that feel of eating a good thin crust pizza. On continental, we tried the Fettuccini with Basil. I kind of felt this was slightly short on expectations and pretty pale on flavour not really embarking the desired taste. We were also served a thai green curry which was remarkable. It was a little darker than the usual one's I've had but the aromatic presence of coconut cream was hovering all over and it was lovely to eat with plain rice.

They have an extensive array of desserts and we just tried a sample few. The Peach flan was soft and creamy. The Mississippi mud pie was one amazing chocolate based cake. The choco caramel mousse could have been a tad better as the caramel taste was hardly prevalent. The Tiramisu was strictly okay and I've surely had much better ones. We also had a bite at few exotic pieces of little chocolates in various flavours and they were all nice. We ended the evening with sorbets where both the raspberry and blood orange hit the bulls eye. The iced chill which you get complementing a fruity sweetened essence is quite a surreal feeling. It was like the perfect tonic and it doubly sure ensured to end the show on a high.

Looking at it from a holistic picture, it was a very satisfying and engaging dinner with majority of the items denoting a plus point. The ambiance can be spruced up a little more as there are lots of empty grey spaces where lot more can be done. It felt a little gloomy and a dash of colour could invigorate the place all the more. From the little sample that we savoured, the food can be termed a real win. They have lot more stuff such as burgers and steaks which I'm looking forward to try. On the whole, Sitcom is a lovely little cafe in this neck of the woods where you can shower in a bit of nostalgia with the place invoking you snippets from memorable tv series from the bygone era and which also serves some appetising food to rejoice to your heart's content.