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.

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.

Kitchen 187 - Cafe of Creperies!

 I really like the setting of Kitchen 187. It gives a very languid feel and the blend of the colonial style vintage ambient with the new age brushstroke touches certainly points towards the right path. There are cafe's all over town but only some get that perfect laidback atmosphere right and Kitchen 187 falls in the affirmative. It is converted from a quaint old house and is located next to Raintree hotel in St Mary's road and it shares space with The cupcake company.

Brick walls surround the outside enclosure and on the inside is a splash of painted red walls and black sofa seating and lazy wooden chairs. The chess board style flooring adds a rather nice touch going in sync with the surrounding environment and the miniatures hanging are minimalistic and mild music is played at the background.

We were here on an invite to try out some of their offerings. We got to try various sections from their menu with different naming conventions such as All day breakfast, Salads, Sandwiches&burgers, Health bowls, Indian bites, Italia Cucina, Tex Mex, French crepes, smoothies, milk shakes, desserts, ice creams and hot&cold beverages.

The shakes and beverages were up on the mark and I personally enjoyed my Nutella chocolate milkshake having a strong essence of stirred nutella which was lip-smacking. Even the other shakes viz the hot fudge, cookie monster, nutella banana et al all were pretty good in their own sweet way. The lemonade drink in a conical shaped bottle was also quite refreshing.

In the Indian bites space both the onion rings and the Gongura potato were top notch and were stand out performers. The onion rings were crunchy and laced with a dripping of cheese and garlic aioli. The Gongura potato rolls were quite a revelation with an Andhra style mix inside a kathi roll. The salad in the form of Quinoah Tabouleh comprising of parsley, tomato and cucumbers wasn't much to speak about and on the Tex Mex side, the Nachos felt a tad too try with the cheese strangled awkwardly and but for the kidney beans by the side wasn't really too appetising. However the Quesadillas inset with mexican veggies and cheese made up more than lost ground by being remarkable. The Mexican corn on cob were pretty much your usual beach corn kinds with a mexican dressing to boot. We tried the Burmese Broth from the health bowl set and it was quite interesting. I've never tried such a thing before and I fairly enjoyed slurping this up. The fiery Mexican burger was pretty mainstream and managed to serve the purpose.

Both the pizza's we tried competed for top stakes and especially the Tomato basil pizza was one of the finest I've tasted. They nailed the spicy gravy mix which was superlative. The mushroom and cheese version was nice too. For pasta, we preferred the cream and mushroom spaghetti and though the dish was well delivered, that extra zing factor was slightly missing. The crepe lasagne was a master class and again something unique and divergent. And so was the egg in a hole under the all day breakfast category which was an interesting banter between bread, eggs and cheese. The vanilla cinnamon french toast went jocularly well with the maple syrup and the sweetened essence was tapped wonderfully.

The desserts too went in line with the high standards set by following it's predecessors. The nutella crepe with bananas is like your go to dish to satisfy your sweet cravings. Known for their crepes, it must be said they did a great job of it both on the savoury as well as on the sweetened avatars. The ice cream sandwich though hard to crack was regal and rich in taste.

The service was in adherence throughout and we never really had a long waiting time in between the items. Also they were very helpful with all our requests. Pricing is not applicable as it over an on the house. A glance at the rates would indicate they are a little on the higher side but considering the fest on offer seems a fair bet.

To adumbrate the experience at Kitchen 187, the positives far outweigh the negatives. You cannot ask for more from a place having the ideal cafe like setup with some lovely food on offer. If your quest is towards comfort and good food, Kitchen 187 will ensure to have that satisfied for you.