Mayflower - A melange of Multi-cuisine

Mayflower is a restaurant constructed out of an olden day house bungalow. It retains a lot of old world heritage and tradition and that seemed pretty appealing about the place. It is pretty spacious and you even have a compound space stacked up with books comprising the autobiographies of interesting personalities. The white pastel shades and the plants in the background give it an vibrant touch.

The restaurant is largely multi-cuisine tapering into a broad way of cuisines ranging from Continental, European, American, Italian, Asian, Mediterranean and many more. It doesn't stick to one particular nook and handling a finer variety of fare didn't seem to be hampering on the quality in any way.

We started our coarse with a broccoli soup. It was green and thick with laces of cheese stringed in. It had a rich taste and came well served up in a mug. On the appetizers section the dim sums comprising inset water chestnut, corn & broccoli were minced well and went really well with the range of dips. The crispy American corn as well as the lotus stems as the name suggested were crispy and well cooked. We also tried a Jamaican Panneer skewers which were a tad disappointing. The pieces were a bit hard and the taste didn't come out apparently.

The real show sealers were however on the main course section where virtually each of the items we encountered fought for bragging rights to be the best of the lot. The seven cheese pizza was marvelous. It was insanely cheesy with different variants and it was a joy pulling and playing with the pizza not to mention the delectable taste. We also tried an exotica pizza in addition as half and half along with another seven cheese version and this too was yum loaded with a mix of veggies and was also really cheesy. The one which smeared the aroma and roused the taste buds were however the khow-suey. It had a fantastic smattering taste with the Burmese aroma being really rich with a fine essence of coconut cream and this was insanely enjoyable. We also got to slurp a creamy pasta.This was a make your own version where we went with cream sauce, penne and a tinge of veggies. It was really cheesy with the contents floating dangling and dancing around and tasted fantastic.

In the desserts section, their stock is limited with just two specialized items namely the Orange Darsan Flambe and the Death by Chocolate. The former was quite nice with the orange essence over the crisp noodly pieces giving a lovely fine taste. The latter was decent but nothing much to rave about. I believe very soon there will be a few more specific stuff added to the attic. The drinks, beverage and shakes however are considerable in number. Among the ones tried, the Kit Kat shake easily stood out.

The service was friendly and suggestive. The pace of time taken to bring the items could be improved marginally as we had to encounter some waiting time. They are competitively priced and for the quality which you get as output seems justifiable. On the whole,a restaurant that specializes on a lot of stuff and also succeeds. Definitely worthy of giving a shot.

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.

Chai Galli - Eminently Desi with a twist!

'Chai Galli' plays it simple and yields the desired results. It capitalises on age old traditions, masala and flavours to bring about a glorified confluence celebrating the vintage in a modern redefined avatar. It brings to light popular street food from various regions across India with a cutting edge. The best part is you would find that local essence intact giving it a lovely old school feel. They have also innovated to varying degrees by blending Indian with Indian as also other cuisines to add a diverse portfolio.

From the moniker, it's pretty clear that tea is the most prominent factor. Tea is the most consumed beverage across India and it has a history to the way it's made, viewed and drank in different parts of the country. The beverage epitomises a local element and it's in petty shops that it's most popular with loud dance music playing at the background. They've captured this beautifully by serving them in those small glass shots retaining the flavour with the presence of loud epoch Bollywood music playing from yesteryear. Movies play a major role in the ambiance setup and you would find wall arts depicting posters of popular movies from down the years.

Food, music and movies are perhaps the 3 most loved things in the country and kudos that they've been able to make justice to it and in fact with the setup and ambiance, pay quite a homage to these ever loved delights. I admired the fact that they could put this across rather well without sounding too obtrusive and on your face. It's been carved out artistically and you wouldn't call it as being over the top with the interiors. It appears larger than life but yet within limits and not too garish. The colour combinations have been used very well and you'll surely associate with the bright spots paying tribute to the colour and retro era from around the 60's onwards.

What they have in their attic to consume is quite a lot. Apart from the traditional fare, innovation is the name of the game here. Tea occupied almost a third of the menu with variants of classic, capturing borders - from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, western touch with imported flavours, green tea, black tea, white tea and even handcrafted ones. They also have iced versions and for that tete a tete, a few coffee varieties also along with oolong tea and those classic drinks ranging from Shikanji, kokam, masala soda etc. There was too much to try but I would suggest you give a shot at one of the authentic classical ones. We had the Adrak chai with parle G biscuit and it was quite an effect drinking it held up in small glass containers. The hibiscus tea which a mild majanta colour to it was invigorating and in the iced kind, the Bulldozer which is a chilled drink drawing upon the combination of ice tea and red bull was kick ass and killer, just about ideal for the scorching heat.

They have a section "Chai ke murmur dost" which underlines the accompaniments that go along with your tea. They had further sub sections highlighting on the shandaar (popular), chatpata (crispy), samosa/vada pav alternatives, puchka shots and pakhoda and Baaki sab (everything else). We tried two of the pani puri shots viz Namkeen and a Corn based one which was enjoyable. It was served with a twist as the puri's in the former were ballooned up with a sweet/salt mixture and the latter had a gregarious coating of cheese with tartlets of corn inside. The absolute stunner from the chai's company side, well and truly happened to be the Dal pakwaan. It was absolutely delectable with flavourful lentils on top of a papad base and soaked with a sweet as well as savoury tinge and topped with salad veggies. The poha layered on a papad base somehow didn't appease me much.

The main course section is categorised as "Khana Shuru" which loosely translates as start the food. We had an aloo paratha which was well made with nice stuffings of potato inside that comes with a tomato & chilli dip. The Tadke wali maggi with zing of fried onions was quite lovely to slurp. In pizza's, the Italian flag which is the usual expectant pizza was quite nice but what took the cake was the concocted one in the form of the 'Veggies on a Khakra' which in the sense is the marrying of pizza and khakra infusing italian pizza ingredients over a quintessential Indian crisp khakra base. This Gujarati classic corks up a feast with a melange of sauces, spices and veggies generously spread along making the eating experience both crispy and crunchy. The pink sauce panther pasta was another winner as it had all the ammunition to rise to the top being creamy with just the right amount of herbs and spices to go along with exotic ingredients like broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini and garlic.

The final finale was no less. The watermelon juice was of the usual kind. I took a liking to the dry fruit falooda which was bunched with a pleasing degree of assortments and also being creamy on the bottom layer. The chikku cream had that sappota twang right on the button and you could feel the flavour hitting on every spoon. However the outright starlet in the dessert section was the "Chai Galli special falooda". It had a perfect motley of fruit, sweet and nuts with the texture and thickness being bang on. It was a delectation decorated to devour. Easily would say, one of the best falooda's I've ever had.

On the whole, Chai Galli turned out to be really pleasing and engaging. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if you fall in love with the place. I had a personal connect with the decorations and the music playing in the background which had a lot to do with the 90's which is in sync to my growing up childhood phase. The service was quick witted and they were more than willing to help us with our choices. The prices won't worry you much as they are all rated within the normal border range.

This place would surely ignite a tinge of nostalgia within you. Your love for Bollywood and happy loud good ol music will be satiated here. It's lovely the way they have captured and brought in all these quirky elements within the minimalistic surrounding environment. It definitely felt nice visiting this outlet and if you're the one looking for some shiz in a local langoti set-up, 'Chai Galli' is your direction forward.

Fat Boy - A pizza lover's delight!

There are a lot of Italian restaurant's in the city which obviously serve pizza but when you think of the dish as a prominent factor all by itself, only the well known branded MNC's come into picture. And it's the usual expected fare which you get from these Americanised chains and nothing beyond that. So when a little known outlet sprang up by the name "Fat boy" priding itself of serving pizza's, I was pretty curious to find out what they have in store and what difference they bring to the table.

The place resembles a fast food joint through it's environment. The decor is plain and simple and so is the surrounding ambiance which has been kept neat and tidy without any obvious over the top decorations. It gave a pretty clear indication that this place was cut out to have a quick bite and not much in tune with a fine dining setup.

I smelled something nice about the food but it ended up being far beyond expectations. Most of the stuff served was very good and their flagship product "pizza" was remarkable and truly top notch. The menu was a cute booklet not comprising too many sheets and just zeroing in on the variegated fare of pizza's along with a few starters, sandwiches and desserts.

The cheese garlic bread made of day old sour dough was super soft and meltingly lingering. A special word for some of their in house dips of 5 kinds viz siracha mayo, garlic aioli, mint&feta, spicy salsa and blue cheese which ignite excitement and are totally slurp slurp. The starters also had a couple of potato based ones barbecue and buffalo. Both were of baby size and roasted with the former comprising of a smoky mix sauce and the latter having a slight sweet twang. I immensely loved both of em which turned out being great snackers. The Parmesan stuffed mushroom was another highlight with the buttons of mushroom being stuffed inside with a pasty parmesan mix. The cheesy nachos weren't spectacular but I liked the way the salsa was spread across in an even proportion not alienating the taco chips at any point.

On the main course, the pizza's lorded the show and ended up being absolutely brilliant. They make half and half pizza's with fresh ingredients on a wood fire base. The 4 cheese and margherita half&half aptly titled The Fat boy & Hey boy respectively was really well delivered with a softish thin base and covered with just about the right dosage of cheese and sauce. The other two vegetarian which we tried made on the same base included the star boy which was packed with all the veg ingredients you could think of and the Hot boy which was also loaded with veggies but made in a fiery hot sauce and very spicy. I felt the confluence of the flavours did the trick. Each of them were distinct yet carved their own individual style and I must admit having loved all the 4 versions of vegetarian Pizza's that i had a crack at. It was not only about the pizza's as they have a wide offering of sandwiches as well and the one we tried was the "Good Boy" which was heavily infused with pesto and the flavour was really hard hitting and the added buffalo cheese added along went really well.

We also tried a couple of their shakes such as the oreo peanut butter and the caramel Parle G milkshake and also a cooler in the form of a masala lemonade. The drinks and shakes were rather nice albeit not of the highest order. We closed the evening with a Brownie sundae with caramel popcorn which was delicious. We also got a Theobrama which is sourced from outside and it was indeed a delight biting into every piece of that sinful delicacy.

The service was spot on and we got our food in regular intervals of time. The couple who own the restaurant were very sweet and more than happy to accede to all our needs. The pricing is not mentioned as it was over an invite. A glance at the menu may seem that the prices are at an upper trajectory but the pizza's are all '12 inches and hence feels justifiable. Only slightly felt that the rates of the starters seem a wee bit on the higher side. The outlet is located in a small lane off TTK road in a compound where there is sufficient space for parking vehicles.

To adumbrate, the experience at "The Fat Boy" was very pleasing and it was a pleasure to consume such high quality pizza's which you don't get so easily. I was definitely more than happy and am already looking forward to come again to have a shot at more of the stuff dished out by the Fat Boy.

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.