Eating Circles - Crunch along to the finest of Karnatic tiffin variety!

Eating Circles brings the best of Karnataka cuisine to the shores of Chennai. It is largely to do with tiffin variety and a majority of the stuff they serve are very good. The name Eating Circles stems out of the fact that a majority of south indian delicacies are circular in shape such as Idli, Vada, Pongal and even Dosa in few cases.

The place is situated in a central location at CP Ramaswamy Road in Alwarpet. It's more of a quick eatery joint as opposed to a regular fine dining restaurant. But they've made all efforts to make it spic and span and it does project a neat picture. The open kitchen is an add on with the aroma smearing over you. The ambiance is well played. There isn't much to depict in a limited space but they've got a lovely optical illusion of coffee flowing from a tumbler.

Coming to the food, the menu is limited and they stick to their guns. They haven't really flooded it with options to make up the numbers which I think is a good thing as they play to their forte. We started with a refreshing rose milk and mint lemonade twister. The former is simply melt material and is easily one of the best rose milks you could have anywhere in the city. The lemonade drink was kind of different and pleasing with a hint of kesar added in.

We crunched along a number of delectable snack based tiffin items starting with rava idly. I'm not the one who is usually very fond of idli's but this greenish idli was simply superb. The neer dosa was quite good as well. The thatta idly could have been a tad better. It looked appealing but didn't really blow away in taste. All the dosa based stuff were very good be it the red rice dosa, mysore masala dosa, special butter dosa or the open masala dosa. The open masala dosa was one of my personal favourites being done up in jaw dropping fashion.

Other than the siege of dosa's, we also tried Khara bath pongal based on sabudana and it was arresting in taste with a subtle hint of black pepper. We also tried Medhu Vada which was reasonable, a crispy mettur vada and also Mangalore buns. We ended our eating encounter with an aromatically rich filter coffee served in traditional steel tumbler. The accompaniments in the form of chutneys were very good and I took a fond liking to the Bangalore sambar which is mildly sweet.

On the whole, it was a very pleasing experience. The rates are nominal and more importantly gives you your moneys worth. The service is quick and you will get your stuff in a jiffy.

If you like tiffin items and want to try them the Karnataka style, 'Eating Circles' Gate should certainly welcome you with open arms and will definitely ensure that you go back delightfully happy after consuming some really top notch stuff.

Thirukkural Unavagam - Simply Traditional!

There are very few restaurant's which have been resoundingly good from start to end and Thirukural Unavagam rightfully falls in that positive bracket. All the items dished out here are of the traditional kind made from millets and herbal products.

The place is located in a quiet suburb in Gandhi Nagar and shouldn't be much of a hassle finding it with maps coming to aid. No valet facility but as it's situated in a silent lane away from the hoot of the streets, sufficient space is available for parking your vehicles.

It is a converted restaurant from a quaint old house and consists of a portion downstairs as well as upstairs. There is a very local and rustic feel about the surrounding and you find scriptures of the ancient Thirukural scrips and the bommais (soft toys) bring out the cultural feel of the rural land. It is very simple in it's outlook with no gimmicks whatsoever.

They usually allow for upside seating only once the ground portion is filled and that was the case when we reached here at around mid 8ish prompting us to be sent to the top. We were the only one's there and the cane chair seating gave a very cozy and languid feel. We were apprehensive on the service whether we would at all be checked upon being the only exclusive guests on top but that was put to rest immediately with a dedicated waiter being assigned to us who was very adroit and not only helped us with our order but also brought along the food in doubly quick time.

The menu is just a 2 sider laminated copy with one side having the dine options and the other comprising of the drinks. Interesting point to note is that all the food items are written in local tamil language. We first had a shot at the soup titled "Thoothuvazhai" which set the tone beautifully for things to follow. It was a light spicy soup consisting inset shredded pieces of potatoes, carrots, beans and spices. The dosa section had interesting choices and we enjoyed a sumptuous feast here. The Vendhiya keerai dosa was simply ravishing with the essence of the vendhiya keerai lingering for long. A word of praise should also be reserved for the coconut/onion chutney and the sambar which were such joyful accompaniments. The millet and herbal dosa too went along expected lines as the former turning out to be ravishing in taste. We also had a hand made millet kozhakattai which had a nice sweet tinge to it. The beetroot chappathi looked all pink with the strong odour of beetroot and went along in sync with the delightful veg kurma. Another show stealer of our dinner sojourn was the veg omelette made with paasi payaru with a strong peppery hint and cut pieces of onions. This was infectious in taste prompting us to go for a repeat. The pachai payaru payasam was close to the equilavent of chakra pongal and felt sweet and the goodness in taste was apparent.

For closure, we went with white pumpkin juice, amla buttermilk and herbal (mooligai theneer) tea. The first two were more of the 'mor' kinds and felt very refreshing. You could also feel the presence of pumpkin and amla along with the elongated butter milk froth. After a heavy meal these come in really handy and can give infuse the perfect signal to finish proceedings. But the best was reserved for the last. The herbal tea at an insanely low cost price of 20 bucks was one of the best tonics I've ever had. It had such a divine taste and was to devour. It was like the final sockdolager punch and was simply killer. I will revisit this place just to have a slice of the tea yet again.

We were very satisfied customers and all the stuff we had pushed us back by just a wee bit above 500 bucks. The taste on offer and value for money will guarantee give you something to relish about. This is a gem of a restaurant and trust me you can take my word and go feel the simple, homely and divine taste of Thirukural. I'm more than confident you won't come disappointed. Highly recommended for a wholesome south indian aromatic experience.