The cafe culture has caught on big time in Chennai. There is no better place to spend some lazy laid back time than in a cafe. Earlier these were generally perceived as a mid evening hang out spot but nowadays they have even become a viable option for lunch and dinner. There are no dearth of cafe's in the city and are spread across every nook and corner and Cafe Central is the latest one in the fray having spread it's wings in Dr Nair Road in T Nagar.
It's constructed in a 2 storey building having ample parking space. The ambiance strikes of being quirky and trendy. It doesn't adopt a particular theme but gives that shiz vibe about it. The rustic wall setup, the woodwork in place, the sparkle of different shades in the seatings/pillow designs, the colour papers sticking out, the lighting etc all give a lovely new age feel to it.
The menu in a newspaper style in different sections with a predominant red shade is quite elaborate. They are well categorised and options available almost equate to a fine dining restaurant. This is impressive as it gives the customer plenty of choices to gorge upon. We were here on an invite and below is a brief summary on the dine side of things.
- Fries in Ishtyle : Fries have become too cliche off late coming in different concoctions but what we got were the namma fries smeared with podi and infused with ghee. It had a liquidy bright dripping touch to it and we even got additional cup of ghee as condiment for the fries. This was totally different from all the kind of fries I've tasted and signalled a buttery way to start proceedings.
- Fry it out : Under this section, we got served the crumb fried paneer and I must say this was delightful. It came with potato wedges, salad and a dip for company and the rolls were well battered and breaded with juicy pieces of paneer going well with the accompaniments.
- Tit Bits : Here we got served the beer vengayam with the onion rings battered with beer with curry leaves and a dash of lemon giving it a chettinadu twist. They were fairly decent in taste but I would have preferred a more spicier dip as opposed to the regular mayonnaise.
- Cold Beverages/cold press/smoothies/milkshakes : We tried quite a bit in this side of the draw and what impressed were the healthy&mazedaar cold press juice which felt very fresh with a tonic of several fruits and the kiwi soda where the frothy layer over lemon ice cream did the trick. The melon breezer beverage was kinda nice but lacked the punch and the vanilla frosty was rather decent. Beat the Heat comprising beetroot, coconut water and flesh just didn't set ice with any of us and had a very putrid taste.
- Salads : Took a shot at the Greek salad where instantly I was appealed with the immaculate presentation. Feta cheese, olives and lettuces always do the job well and needless to say this one hit the mark.
- Mummy Ka Magical Maggi : This maggi thing has picked up quite a bit and I see lot's of places adopting the same. Different flavors of maggi are whipped up and what we were served was the chilli cheese version. It felt a little dry and being more soaky would have helped. Maggi being a home made snack, the jury is still not out on me regarding the feasibility of paying a higher premium for something you always eat in your house as a quick bite.
- Burger : Tried the Don't call me burger which was more of the usual stuff. It felt well curried with the insertion of tempura fried chilli pickle which added a bit to the zing.
- Sapad : In this section, we had a bite at the Mac & Cheese which was undoubtedly the star performer of the day. They nailed this one completely with the melting cheese macaroni being super slurpy and going jocularly well with olives and jalapeno's in being partners of cheesiness. The soft pieces of garlic bread were added joy. Every one of us thoroughly enjoyed this lip smacking dish. The other try we savoured was the Indian based Ghar ka Khana containing ghee rice, jeera aloo and dal makhni. This one too didn't lack intensity with the black based lentils being absolutely spectacular and enjoying a tete-a-tete with the flavoured rice. The jeera also too was made to perfection having a riveting aroma to it. You give particular importance to the main course especially and this one won the day hands down.
- Desserts : We had a shot at all 4 of the one's which were mentioned in the menu viz drunken doughnuts, crazy custard, golden ice cream and treslechees. Especially took favour to the fried coconut golden layered ice cream with tinge of jaggery. The drunken doughnuts infused with a chocolate coating and cream was pretty nice too. The custard and mango based one didn't really set the ball rolling. The waffles served with the maple syrup though was really soft and great to munch.
Overall it was a full on very satisfactory meal. We got to try a number of items from the attic and a majority of them were rewarding. Extra brownie points especially for dishing up the main course which pleased us to punch. The service was bang on time never really making us wait and also felt very friendly and hospitable. Pricing goes out of the picture as it was via an invite but however must say they are priced to the point and competitive.
Cafe Central is definitely a nice little place to head to if you're looking for a relaxed and comfortable time to spend your day over with the much important supplement of good food for company.
It's constructed in a 2 storey building having ample parking space. The ambiance strikes of being quirky and trendy. It doesn't adopt a particular theme but gives that shiz vibe about it. The rustic wall setup, the woodwork in place, the sparkle of different shades in the seatings/pillow designs, the colour papers sticking out, the lighting etc all give a lovely new age feel to it.
The menu in a newspaper style in different sections with a predominant red shade is quite elaborate. They are well categorised and options available almost equate to a fine dining restaurant. This is impressive as it gives the customer plenty of choices to gorge upon. We were here on an invite and below is a brief summary on the dine side of things.
- Fries in Ishtyle : Fries have become too cliche off late coming in different concoctions but what we got were the namma fries smeared with podi and infused with ghee. It had a liquidy bright dripping touch to it and we even got additional cup of ghee as condiment for the fries. This was totally different from all the kind of fries I've tasted and signalled a buttery way to start proceedings.
- Fry it out : Under this section, we got served the crumb fried paneer and I must say this was delightful. It came with potato wedges, salad and a dip for company and the rolls were well battered and breaded with juicy pieces of paneer going well with the accompaniments.
- Tit Bits : Here we got served the beer vengayam with the onion rings battered with beer with curry leaves and a dash of lemon giving it a chettinadu twist. They were fairly decent in taste but I would have preferred a more spicier dip as opposed to the regular mayonnaise.
- Cold Beverages/cold press/smoothies/milkshakes : We tried quite a bit in this side of the draw and what impressed were the healthy&mazedaar cold press juice which felt very fresh with a tonic of several fruits and the kiwi soda where the frothy layer over lemon ice cream did the trick. The melon breezer beverage was kinda nice but lacked the punch and the vanilla frosty was rather decent. Beat the Heat comprising beetroot, coconut water and flesh just didn't set ice with any of us and had a very putrid taste.
- Salads : Took a shot at the Greek salad where instantly I was appealed with the immaculate presentation. Feta cheese, olives and lettuces always do the job well and needless to say this one hit the mark.
- Mummy Ka Magical Maggi : This maggi thing has picked up quite a bit and I see lot's of places adopting the same. Different flavors of maggi are whipped up and what we were served was the chilli cheese version. It felt a little dry and being more soaky would have helped. Maggi being a home made snack, the jury is still not out on me regarding the feasibility of paying a higher premium for something you always eat in your house as a quick bite.
- Burger : Tried the Don't call me burger which was more of the usual stuff. It felt well curried with the insertion of tempura fried chilli pickle which added a bit to the zing.
- Sapad : In this section, we had a bite at the Mac & Cheese which was undoubtedly the star performer of the day. They nailed this one completely with the melting cheese macaroni being super slurpy and going jocularly well with olives and jalapeno's in being partners of cheesiness. The soft pieces of garlic bread were added joy. Every one of us thoroughly enjoyed this lip smacking dish. The other try we savoured was the Indian based Ghar ka Khana containing ghee rice, jeera aloo and dal makhni. This one too didn't lack intensity with the black based lentils being absolutely spectacular and enjoying a tete-a-tete with the flavoured rice. The jeera also too was made to perfection having a riveting aroma to it. You give particular importance to the main course especially and this one won the day hands down.
- Desserts : We had a shot at all 4 of the one's which were mentioned in the menu viz drunken doughnuts, crazy custard, golden ice cream and treslechees. Especially took favour to the fried coconut golden layered ice cream with tinge of jaggery. The drunken doughnuts infused with a chocolate coating and cream was pretty nice too. The custard and mango based one didn't really set the ball rolling. The waffles served with the maple syrup though was really soft and great to munch.
Overall it was a full on very satisfactory meal. We got to try a number of items from the attic and a majority of them were rewarding. Extra brownie points especially for dishing up the main course which pleased us to punch. The service was bang on time never really making us wait and also felt very friendly and hospitable. Pricing goes out of the picture as it was via an invite but however must say they are priced to the point and competitive.
Cafe Central is definitely a nice little place to head to if you're looking for a relaxed and comfortable time to spend your day over with the much important supplement of good food for company.
No comments:
Post a Comment