Damu's Heritage Dine - A unique culinary experience!

To be honest, our over all dining experience at Arunachal Pradesh was nothing much to write home about. That was until we came across Damu's heritage dining which kind of blew us apart. This indigenous dine in housed almost in the middle of nowhere nestled somewhere along the interiors of the charming Chug Valley simply won our heart's over.

This fine dining restaurant prides on artisanal Monpa cuisine which is largely cultivated in house and consists of a pastiche of items made from millet, barley, buckwheat et al. The food is served as a set course meal and for once being vegetarian didn't make you feel out of place. The food tasted fresh and felt totally organic. The ambience gave a very radiant and colourful swirl. It was a boutique style restaurant housed across 2 floors with one of the floors making you witness the fresh greenery at the outset whereas the upper floor had a better design but was within a closed frontier.

We chose the open green space and began our foray with an item termed as 'Phursingh Gombu' which is a traditional dish made from corn flour dough shaped like tartlets with a juciy black lacquer overflowing over it. The black liquid tasted a bit bizarre but felt very unique and kind of medicinal. I guess you need to get acquired to such a taste but nevertheless it was quite an experience.

Next up we devoured a delightful green soup made up of tonnes of herbs where we could literally see swoons of those greeny leaves engulfing our liquid soup. This one felt extremely soothing and comforting being so rich in taste. On the main course section we also got to try a noodles made out of buckwheat. It almost appeared like being crusty on the outset but was anything but that. It was flavourful and went well with the accompanying salad.

The 2 dishes which were outright standouts happened to be the millet based momos and the green leafy tacos submerged with kidney beans aplenty. Both these were simply lip smacking awesome and felt so nice on the palette. The spinach effect pulverised it to a notch high above everything else.

We were also served rice which appeared a little thicker than normal which went well with the kidney bean lentil gravy. We were given a similar version of the rice as a sweet laced with a touch of jaggery. Apart from this we also had a shot of millet based pancake with sweeteners dolloped on top.

More than the taste of the food, this fine dining escapade was more to do with the experience which just hit home and felt so comforting and heart warming. We were taken care of magnificently well and explained about the finer points of each and every dish along with also knowing about the history and tradition of such a cuisine. On the whole it was a delectable experience which one should not miss especially when traversing across this neck of the woods.

Broken Bridge Cafe - When fusion trances with innovation for the win!

It was a delightful young early weekday evening and we decided to spend time at Broken Bridge Cafe which is a part of Somerset Hotel. The ambiance gives a breezy woody feel with hues of brown decor in addition to the plant like greenery surrounding. It gives a chiselled feel and ignites the laid back dictum in all it's vigour.

This is a recently opened restaurant specialising mainly on fusion cuisine. The menu is a simple slider but they've innovated tremendously within this space to bring out a lot of unique experiments. Amongst the items which we had, the majority hit the dart right at the center and it was just in a couple of stuff that felt the need for improvement. The menu comprises of small plates aka starters/appetisers and large plates meaning to convey the main course dishes. There are no gimmicks or over the top tomfoolery happening at all and the menu conveys the point as to what it intends to offer.

In the small plates, the show stealer was undoubtedly the Curd rice fritters. Innovation reached varying heights with fried golden balls made to mimic curd rice with hinges of lemon pickle. This was truly one 'one of a kind experience'. They resembled your usual fried cheese balls ala starter but on taste you get the riveting effect of mushy curd rice and to boot also was served a mayo dip with largely lime essence. Audacious work of fusion but I must admit it worked very well. The kalakki (scrambled eggs) with goat jam on bread was another delightful starter. The panneer Makhni papdi chaat was nothing much to write home about. Just a touch of makhni gravy over papdi puri's which were just decent. The spicy corn cakes were kind of nice and I thoroughly enjoyed the palak and Goat cheese flat bread. If you're able to withstand the smell and rawness of goat cheese, then you're bound to love it.

For the large plates, we tried achari 3 cheese kulcha melt as well as mushroom & olives goat cheese kulcha melt. These were really nice spread with melted cheese which was really hard hitting. I loved the flavours of these kulchas which gave a lovely crunch while consuming them and they good enough just to consume stand alone though they also came along with fries,dip and ketchup for company. Also got to try the blue cheese naan which if you are fond of the aroma of it, it'll dunk you in big time and to go along with it a juicily sumptuous panneer tikka masala gravy.

In the dessert draw, the filter coffee baileys tiramisu ruled the roost. Served in an ever silver tumbler, it was simply jaw dropping drool worthy. The skim of tiramisu infused with layers of coffee powder had everything in it to make you dig unabashedly. The nutella custard and maltova crumble was alao equally relishing.

The prices seem par for the course and not really in the vicinity to pinch your pockets. The service was amicable, friendly and on the button. Overall, a really pleasing experience dining at Broken Bridge. If you like a little bit of twists and fusion in your food without the core getting compromised, you should definitely head over to this place for a resolute fine dining encounter.

Spice Klub - When innovation makes a lapidary leap!

It was really hard to fault the food served at Spice Club. Innovation took a new leap and presentation reached a higher order. Molecular gastronomy was honoured in all it's splendour making it a breathtaking dine in experience. It was quite hard to fathom that so much of inventions were possible in good old well known vegetarian food.

On the drinks side, the mango on the rocks lorded the show with ice chilled mango served in a beaker and cooled to perfection. The kokum Margherita with chilli too was one of a kind and zipped up very well on presentation. The fruit lassi had so much of flavour and it was simply melt in the mouth leaving a lingering taste behind even after you'd gulped the spoonful. The guava mocktail gave the punch effect and most of the coolers had a divine taste to it with the gastronomy work being done to perfection.

 The appetisers side were loaded with surprises. The vada pav was the show stealer and it was a complete camouflage as it looked anything like a vada pav but instead the buns came with a yellow pasty gravy which looked way different but only on tasting it did we realise that it was the condensed mixtured form of the evergreen aloo wala vada which was supposed to be spread molten across the softish bun pieces and had. The edible chilli packets were another win ideal to get the zesty effect. The pav bhaji with a makhni wala gravy served in the form of a fondue was quite good as well. The pani puri's were more of the usual sans the tube sized bottles holding up the green water. The Dahi puri was excellent and the aloo tikki was master class with the moist foam slurped over the cutlet pieces providing such a jaw dropping taste with the bite of aroma biting at every level. The Naanza was another experiment in the form of a pizza bread topped with cheese and scrambled panneer which was really filling by being loaded with stuffing.

The main course was not left far behind. I especially took fondness to the chilli cheese naan as well as the sundried tomato and olive naan's. The panneer tikka masala was delectable and the aromatic lentils worked it's magic in full vigour in the Dal Makhni. The corn & mushroom gravy as well as the veg makhanwala proved to be of great support.

The desserts were again an area where they unleashed a trick or two showcasing their prowess in full spirit. The flower pot was a chocolate lovers delight with the add on of even spoons being carved with chocolate. The rasgulla cheese cake was a lovely conglomeration of western and Indian with the cake on the exterior being like any other but as you keep churning it was hidden rasgulla in the interior. The volcano was another showpiece chocolate bomb of a delicacy ideal to close out our meal.

The ambiance is well developed and they have high end descriptive wall arts giving it a lovely appeal. The service was spot on and well attended to despite the heavy duty crowd. The rates are a wee bit on the higher side. Agreed, lots of techniques are used and efforts made to whip up a feast of a gastronomical show but still going purely by the items at hand, it does feel expensive on most counts.

I believe Spice Club has made a mark in Mumbai and this is it's foray in the shores of Chennai. If you don't mind pinching your pockets for a marvelous food gastronomical fiesta, this is an outlet that you'd love to visit and taste vintage cuisine in an alternative mode but guaranteed to be in spectacular fashion.

Ice Kraft - A tryst with Ice & Cream!

Ice cream parlours are on the prowl. You literally find one opening every other day and there is an inherent similarity in most of them. However that's not the case with Ice Kraft. I didn't come with any great expectations but left with a sounding impression that this place is here to stay and going to capture the market.

The place is located in the main road of GN Chetty road in T Nagar. It's quite nicely done up with a small lawn space seating overseeing the inside portion where the ice cream action takes place. They also have a portion upstairs where it's a little more private and peaceful. There is an envelope of blue overseeing the place. A dash of white added along gives it a lovely little professional touch up. There isn't too much on the ambiance front except for portraits picturing ice creams with quotations.

We were here on an invite and tried a variety of their offerings. First up, had a shot at the Hurricane fries. It was powdery and that sprinkle was felt in the mouth. It wasn't spicy by any means but the spread could have been subdued a bit. The cheesy potato wedges were absolutely wonderful though. Just the right dosage of cheese laced on top and this was a delight to eat with the dip. The sweet potato was another stunner. It had everything going for it and tasted delectable and was a great combination with the peri peri sauce. The corn also was nice to taste with this spicy red peri sauce. We also had a couple of salads which were well done up with both the thousand island as well as the herbed garlic lebnah being pleasing in taste. It had the perfect mix of creaminess and tonnes of exotic veggies in the mix.

Now, coming to the main part of the programme, the sweet stakes. This was an area where they literally aced it. Almost all of their creations were really well played and it was rejoiceful trying their sweetened delicacies one after another. The freakshakes lorded the show with both the Nutella crunch as well as the Tiramisu being spectacular. If you like your shakes to be messy and overloaded, you should definitely try this one out. It was overflowing like a waterfall with the sweet avalanche gushing. I particularly took liking to the nutella which gave that socklodager chocolaty punch. We also were served a twist in the form of sweetened fries in the mode of red velvet oreo and red velvet brownie fries. The former was absolute kick ass. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, this one was certainly enjoyable taking a dab at. The latter didn't pass the muster as opposed to the former as the brownie taste didn't come across appealingly.

Finally I had my much awaited tryst with the black charcoal ice cream. This was a first for me and I was looking forward to have a dribble. It was quite nice though I really can't say about the taste because it was something totally new. But nevertheless, I kind of enjoyed the charcoal scrape with the tinge of coconut which was quite pleasing. We had a number of shots at different flavours served on the black charcoal waffle cone and each one of them was lip smacking. We also had ice cream coming along in taco shells which was done up really well. We tried the charcoal flavour as well as the berry which I took real fondness to.

On the whole, it was a roller coaster of an ice creamy experience. The quality of the highest order and they also seemed to have got most of their innovations bang on without trying to go too over the top. They are planning to bring many more sweetened inventions to their inventory and for the dessert craving aficionado, this is an outlet which can give your ice cool creamy instincts a definite high five.

Dialogue in the Dark - A Doorway to a different World!

Words will fail when describing about the experience at 'Dialogue in the Dark' because it is so unique and one of a kind. I can stress and harp further on this but trust me you may not be able to configure it unless you witness it first hand yourself.

I came with a bunch of pre-conceived notions about the place but it turned out being much beyond that and to put it simply it was an engaging, enthralling and exhilarating experience. It is based on the concept of darkness and I've not been subject to this kind of pitch blackness ever before. They ask you to deposit your gadgets, glasses and stuff before entering so as to prevent even the minutest ray of light being emitted.

The staffs and waiters are all visually impaired and it will give you a sense of enlightenment as to how much capability and potential is hidden inside these wonderful differently abled souls. Once you enter the aerodrome, you are lost and it's these folks who lighten up your life by taking you through the entire walk through and taking care of you when you're completely in a hopeless state not knowing what hit you. It makes you feel insignificant as a person and realise the livelihood of these individuals who are perennially in the dark day in and day out.

The whole purpose is about empowering the visually challenged through jobs which are ideally suited to them. And when you visit Dialogue in the Dark, trust me you will be bowled over by the ability which they possess. It felt like they were the boss and you really wouldn't be able to do anything without depending on them and following their assistance and guidance. It was quite baffling to see these individuals move about swiftly in an atmosphere where we are totally lights out and completely in the dark not knowing what to do.

I wouldn't want to disseminate details on what happens inside during the 45 odd minutes you spend as divulging will take the sheen off and I suggest you witness (or rather not witness :D) it for yourself. But I can however guarantee that you will have a fascinating experience.

This was meant to be a food review and I cannot but not speak about it. We were served Indian food in a tiffin container and I got to eat Roti, rice, starter and main course. Eating without clicking pictures and looking at the food was again a radical shift but for a change it was enjoyable. The rice was flavourful, the panneer starter had the right amount of punch and the gravy went well with both rice and roti. The meal was sans dessert but I believe it's just a matter of time before that will be subject to the set course menu. The service was admirable, our man was completely in charge and handled the situation with aplomb giving us step by step instructions and making our dining memorable. Also a point to note is that the menu changes everyday.

Visiting any restaurant, it's the food which always takes center stage but in Dialogue in the Dark, the food is just one element as part of a holistic experience which will leave you completely mesmerised. Operations in India began in Hyderabad in 2011 and since then branched out to Bangalore, Raipur, Chatisgarh and now in Chennai. It has been prevalent here since the last 2 years but tasting the darkness ie fine dining has started only very recently. It's a lovely concept and hoping there are more takers lapping it up.

It'll create an awareness, throw some enlightenment, showcase empowerment and display an experience which you will never get anywhere else. Do check out Dialogue in the Dark and enable your senses to make your world look beautiful. For me personally, this was a spellbinding roller coaster ride which I can certify as mind blowing.