The Cycle Gap - Instantly Buzzing!

Adyar has a lot going for it but one striking missing link was that it was devoid of a hep and happening resto-bar. The Cycle Gap however fills the void with it's grand opening in a big complex right in the middle of LB road. The place instantly ignites a buzz feel about it with lot of local swag and designs with the color yellow coming out rather predominantly.

The music is hard hitting and it gives quite a fizz about the atmosphere. It just invokes the feel that will be enjoyed by youngsters who can congregate and drink to their hearts content with plenty of food by the side. The music also rekindled the good ol growing up days of 90's and it was a lovely little experience going back in time hearing the vintage classics which one has grown up and been associated with.

Their drinks menu is stacked up pretty well and they have a bar right at the center which is where all the action happens. The seats are all laid out particularly for large sets of groups to come in. They have lots of imported based stuff also on the attic which adds to the proceedings. We were here to thulp and see how their liquor fares out and overall it was more than impressive. The drinks had really interesting Chennai based local names and a number of them had interesting concoctions intertwined in them.

On the food side of things, we had some crispy and crunchy corn minced with chinese spices to begin our foray. The chinese tinge continued with a succulently delivered spicy panneer. To add some sweetness we also tried the Panneer tikka with slices of pineapple laid in between. The Hara Bara Veg kebab were decent and the Vol-au-vents which are basically puff pastries intermingled with cheese & mushroom were delightful to consume. One of the stand out appetizers happened to be the Chilli Bhajji which looked as local as ever but bulky in size and inset containing a delicious layer of potatoes and cheese and along with the red chutney it was simply jaw dropping in taste.

In the main course, I quite enjoyed the pizza's. They are all made in house and both the plain margarita as well as the one topped with veggies set our taste buds tingling. We also had a try at an Idiappam Parotha which was well made but the sterling stealer of the show was the beautifully made Vegetable Pie. A circle of cheese swarmed over the dish and as we unleashed the layer, the juicy cheesy vegetables were indeed spectacular. The desserts were also interesting and the fusion of mixing traditional Indian sweets with ice cream worked wonders.

The service was friendly and ever willing to help. The rates seem par for the course. On a holistic view, they've got the drinks side of it quite well in place with truckload of varieties and really interesting options. The food also is taking up shape with lot of interesting options muddled in.  On the whole, The Cycle Gap has all what it takes to attract. Though it's still very early days, one can well and truly expect them to see a surge in customer base very soon.

P.S : Review of Anna Nagar Outlet
Anna Nagar is flooded with cafes, restaurant's and eateries but one major missing link was not having a good resto bar. Cycle Gap however fills the void with it's presence in the by lanes of the Anna Nagar main road. Its situated in a complex and occupies the upper floor. The place instantly has a buzz feel about it with lot of local swag and designs with the colour yellow coming out rather predominantly.

The music is hard hitting and it gives quite a fizz about the atmosphere. It just invokes the feel that will be enjoyed by youngsters who can congregate and drink to their hearts content with plenty of food by the side.

Their drinks menu is stacked up pretty well and they have a bar right at the center point which is where all the action happens. The seats are all laid out particularly for large sets of groups to come in. They have lots of imported based stuff also on the attic which adds to the favours.

We were here as a big gang to thulp down and see how their liquor fares out and overall we were quite impressed. The drinks had really interesting chennai slang based names and a number of them had interesting concoctions intertwined in them. Even the beers were not your usual KF's and Brititsh empire but they also possessed Corona, Hoegarden etc which was a plus one.

On the food side, I just felt they were little short on few of the items. Their menu is still being designed and worked out but the vegetarian side of things didn't really brim upto expectations. They had aloo tikki, onion rings, sauteed baby corn, potato wedges, panneer tikka, veg tempura, veg nachos, veg tempura, creamy cheesy brocolli et al. Though no real complaints, they were a drift away from being extraordinary. The best of the lot was easily the cheesy cauliflower & brocolli. I wish they come out with interesting signature starters of their own than the usual run off the mill items.

On the main course, I quite enjoyed the white sauce pasta. It had the necessary ammunition to hit the bulls eye. However exact opposite was the curried pizza which was a complete damp squib. It lacked any sort of flavours whatsoever and came across as bland. The curried hot balls and rice were passable. We didn't try much of desserts.

We ended our sojourn on a high note with shots of baileys and tequila. This was the star piece of the whole afternoon and it was a euphoric way to finish proceedings. The service was amiable and ever willing to help. The rates seem par for the course. On a holistic view, they've got the drinks side of it quite well in place with truckload of varieties and really interesting options. The food however can be spruced up a wee bit. Once this combination takes shape, they'll surely be a fantastic resto pub to reckon with.

Cafe CakeBee - Luring in time and again!

Cafe CakeBee is another recent cafe which has cropped up in town. Located in a quaint location in a small suburb in Alwarpet, it rings the right noises. The space is quite massive with very nice open seating arrangements in the lower tier on top of a closed air conditioning surrounding at the top. You are also greeted to some lovely looking desserts and bakery products displayed as you enter.

We were here on a weekday evening and just had a couple of stuff. We started our foray with a starter in the form of New way Mac n cheese. These were fried nugget balls comprising inset a swirled up layer of mac n cheese and coming alongside a raunchy tomato dip.

For the mains, tried their Primavera pizza which was aced artistically. It had the cheese, the veggies, the sauces and the crust. All of them intermingled with each other delightfully giving the tongue a soul satisfying taste.

To round up with desserts, we had the brownie with salted caramel ice cream. It was gooey, chocolaty, fudgy, crumby, saucy, salty, icy and all that. It was wonderful to polish this one off.

On the whole it was a satisfying experience. The service was neat and tidy. The rates were little on the upper side. Overall, though Cafe CakeBee passed the test resolutely and if you're the kind looking for a cozy cafe associated with good food, this outlet can definitely be checked out.

P.S : I have been visiting this place time and again and have thoroughly enjoyed some of their crafty creations which I am specially describing below based on my experience.

Saffron Cream Sauce with splash of vodka pasta:
This was done up immaculately and simply watered along the mouth. Swish, swash, swirl - this pasta possessed the firepower to induce the taste buds to have a glorified gala.

Pistachio basil pesto pasta with pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes:
Relished slurping this one up. Deliciously creamy and a hard hitting flavour of pesto to give the requisite smack.

Mezze Platter:
A good old fashioned Mezze platter comprising all the essential Mediterranean goodies to sizzle up a feist!.

New York Cheese Cake with Sorbet Ice cream:
Simply devoured this mouth watering melting new york cheese cake with soft slushy marmalade mellow orange sorbet. Ended up being a dream combination and the mouth just floored delicately with excitement.

Asia Kitchen stirs up a Chinese Buffet!

There isn't much to fault with Asia's kitchen by Mainland China. The ambiance is chinese centric with a powerful presence of red and black colors, lovely little woodwork with chinese script inscribed at places. There are also beautiful portraits showcasing Chinese culture in all it's splendour. The lighting is mildly dim and just perfectly apt for a dine in restaurant of this kind. Being situated as part of a hotel, you also have the advantage of having a shot or two of cocktails. Apart from this the seating arrangement is very comfortable with a number of 6 seaters placed exclusively for families and the open kitchen with the smelling aroma adds a beautiful buzz to the surrounding.

We were here on a weekday afternoon and I had a swish at the lunch buffet priced at 565 bucks. The options were plenty in number and it felt pretty reasonable consuming high quality chinese food for this rate. The soup which was a 8 treasure Island one was more in line with the sweet corn one but with much more veggies to the fray.

The starters which were served directly on the table was my most favourite of the lot. The veg spring rolls were wonderful to eat with the sweet chilli sauce, potato kafir lime which were loosely fine thin french fries based with a dash of lime was delightful. But what took the cake was the crispy vegetable chilli plum which had such a delectable confluence of a tangy taste with a bit of sweetness infused to the mix. Equally jaw dropping were the basil dumplings which I thoroughly enjoyed which had a beautiful veg stuffing inside those soft and juicy greenish momo's.

The main course section was kind of decent. They had a veg hakka noodles which was nicely flavoured and a usual veg fried rice which was more run of the mill stuff. The sides had a nice variety with the broccoli corn water chestnut in chilli garlic sauce and the vegetable dumpling chilli soya sauce. On the less spicier side there was stir fried chinese greens.

The desserts were a good way to end the meal. There was darsaan, hot chocolate rolls, cake, mousse, fresh fruits and ice cream. The darsaan had a nice sweet tinge to it. The rolls were cute and stuffed with chocolate sauce. The cake and mousse was par for the course and in ice cream they had 3 different flavours - vanilla, butterscotch and strawberry.

On the whole, it was a pretty good meal and very much worth for the price. The service was quick and they did a good job in refilling the plates. They were always available at our beck and call. Other facilities like parking is not an issue as they have valet facility.

Overall, a good place for trying out Chinese cuisine. The buffet especially is a very good choice for those looking to hog a lot without striking a hole in the pocket.