Kurtos - Chimney Cakes transported from Hungary!

The chimney cakes concept has caught on big time in a short stint of time. These have originated originally from Hungary and it's nice to see a specialty snack from Europe being transported to our very own Singara Chennai.

Kurtos is located by the side of Besant Nagar Beach and makes for a great evening snack. It is a little higher in rates than your usual short eats but comes across as being pretty stuffed and very filling. This outlet here is a little one and they have varied options on both the savory and sweetened side along with a bit of salads and shakes for company.

I was more aligned to try the savoury ones and hence went for an indian version of a butter panneer kurtos along with a traditional savoury Hungarian cake. I unfortunately didn't have the content to try the sweetened stuff and it's certainly reserved for another day as I'm greatly looking forward to try those ravishing looking cinnamon rolls.

The butter panneer chimney cone was nicely wrapped and what I liked about it was that the stuffing was right upto the brim and you did feel the masala in every bite of that soft dough roll. It was nicely herbed and the cheese garlic essence gave it the crackling taste it needed. I enjoyed relishing this hand held delight as I usually do adore these dunky delights and this one both had the taste and punch to give the perfect complementary effect.

The Hungarian classic chimney cake came with stuffings such as cheese, onion and paprika in a rolled over bread. This was more like a meal based option and the combination worked really well. It was a tad spicy largely due to the element of paprika but aligned very well on the taste factor. All in all, this too was quite enjoyable.

These chimney based items are a good addition to the ever growing Chennai food market and is perhaps another repertoire when it comes to one's snack craving appetite. The more the options always better and being the ever loving food denizen eagerly awaiting to to try varied spreads, these chimney based creations certainly gives an extra fillip to enjoy these fancy joyful wholesome cakes.

Theobrama for the first time!

 Investing in mutual funds comes with the disclaimer "Please read the offer document carefully before investing". Similarly investing in the cakes and pastries at Theobrama requires careful consideration as it's immensely deceitful and just the looks of these jaw dropping delicacies can lure in totally to fall for them. Even if you're the mild sweet craver, this place can hoodwink you and make you fall in love with the delightful creations that they dish out.

I was here at DLF Cyber Hub and the signboard 'food of the gods" led me into this store only to be bowled over by all the colourful stuff stacked on the arrays. Theobrama is famous for their brownies and though I haven't tasted the same from this flagship, I have however had a shot at brownies of different chocolate variations in different places. The one which caught my attention was the red velvet brownie with swirls of red and white coloured rays spllashed on the rectangular piece which seemed very appealing. Hence I decided to go for this varied brownie as opposed to other luscious and exotic cakes.

This one totally lived up to it's billing and I thoroughly enjoyed slurping this up. It looked just so attractive and ignited that forthcoming look of coming to you soon. In effect it slowly lures you in and gives the sucker punch smack to the mouth with all it's vigour. I couldn't try anything else as there were too many options to try at this sprawling hub and I did want to do justice elsewhere as well. But must say it was hard to resist.

The seating space outside comprising of teal green chairs and tables feels really comfortable and laidback. No doubt a truly landmark place to involve in some indulgence.

English Tea Room - Depicting the Victorian Era!

There is an airy chiaroscuro about 'The English Tea Room. It blends the old world charm with the new age quirkiness in a seamless manner to give itself a very vivacious look. I just loved the way they depicted the victorian style era by adding newness along the way not diluting the spirit of the vintage in any way. The rustic and urban are married here beautifully and merged to co exist appealingly. The pastel shades and the predominant teal green colour palette add to the dimensions of this well thought out intricately weaved interiors.

The decor comprising of cane chair seating arrangement gives it a very easy laid back and soothing atmosphere. It looks like a place where you can lose yourself over an Enid Blyton classic amidst aromatic tea and crumpets for company. The gallery set up gives it an artsy feel and more or less gives the impression of a set up espousing nonchalance.

It is located on Kasturi Rangan Road in Poes Garden, Alwarpet in a complex in the 2nd floor and as it's bang on the main road wouldn't cause too much concern in searching up the venue. There is sufficient parking space available for the cars and plenty of side space for stationing the 2 wheelers.

We were here on a dinner invite to try some of their signature offerings. The menu is in the story book style with blots of colour and scattered with interesting options. Attached is a brief summary on the items tried on the night.

Starters : We had a crack at the corn and cheese balls as well as the cheesy nachos. The former were small in size comprising of a pasty mix. A chilli mayonnaise dip would have done more justice as opposed to the salsa sauce which were served. The nachos true to it's moniker of cheesy was in fact insanely cheesy. The tortilla chips were well spread out with a gregarious coating of cheese with a hint of spice and it was enjoyable to slurp this up.

Mains : The mushroom onion pita pocket was our first tryst in this section. They were presented in a conch shell shaped avatar filled to the brim with cheese and inset spread of mushrooms and caramelised onions. The cheese was a little overpowering here subsiding the presence of the main mushrooms. Potato wedges as side were chunky and good substitute. Next on line were the herbed rice with grilled cottage cheese. This was lovely with couple of big sized juicy chunks of panneer doing the golden trick. The smoky barbecue sauce was finger licking good and gave great company to the esculent flavoured herbed rice. Then marching forward arrived the Alfredo penne pasta comprising a bunch of veggies. Though it was delightfully creamy, it lacked salt, felt bland and lacked flavours. A very sub standard pasta at best at the max.

Mocktails : The pina colada was the best of the lot. The frothy layer with the pineapple taste and subtle hinge of coconut worked well in combination. The cherry mojito was immensely refreshing and the rose lemonade with it's purifying essence was fairly decent and the ice lemon tea was more of the mundane run off the mill stuff.

Tea : Tea being prima facie the defacto in the scheme of things, we didn't want to miss out without tasting at least one of their signature creations. We had the saffron khawa green tea, a kashmiri based with spices, almonds, rose petals and a touch of saffron. It had a wonderful aroma around it and the olfactory got quite a punch devouring this luxurious tea.

Desserts : First had a shot at the carrot cake which was like a sandwich with cream cheese layered in the middle. It was soft and fluffy but the carrot taste wasn't too prevalent. Then up waa our final finale in the form of sticky toffee pudding. This one was a scrumptious feast with the rich toffee sauce oozing over a caky layer and a magnanimous coating of custard on top. This brown n yellow dessert surely helped give the finishing flurry in marvellous fashion.

The service was one front where things appeared patchy. It seemed lost and confused and the basic necessities such as re filling of water, clearing plates weren't taken care of appropriately. The pricing appears competitive and in tune with the environment at play.

On a holistic view, The English Tea Room scores more points than it missed. Some areas of amelioration will enable it to 'up the ante' a bit more. It's a lovely no frills place ideal to spend a relaxed and comfortable dosage of your time. It is more than just a cafe and a pretty chilled out space to infuse the insouciance over a wide spread of vittle.