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.

Tawa 9 - No Frills but Good Food!

Tawa 9 is quite a no frills place. It isn't like the perfect spot for a fine dining experience but nevertheless serves some pretty good food. If you're looking for a quick evening snack, this outlet is ideal to knock your door. They also have good enough options for lunch and dinner.

The ambiance is pretty simple. It's enlarged by large spaces of orange and the seating arrangements comprise of just plastic chairs. There is one big poster depicting the best of Chennai. Don't look too much in the ambiance space. This is more of a place which serves decently good food at reasonable prices.

We ordered for a corn cheese canope which was quite well made with lots of cheese, mayo and corn stuffing topped with podi. The cocktail idli was the best of the lot. It took a reddish avatar and was really crispy. It was lovely eating this dipped with the coconut chutney. The chilli cheese dosa was again quite good. The dosa's inside was infused with a paste of cheese and chilli and though not spectacular in taste, it did serve the intended purpose. The last of the items we had was a panneer pudina paratha which again they got right with the pasty mix consisting of flaky pieces of panneer doing the trick.

Overall, it was quite a pleasant meal. It's a little known outlet serving quite an extensive fare of vegetarian food viz of the North Indian, South Indian and Chaat variety. Don't expect too much in terms of fine dining experience and all but if you're looking for a quick bite of tasty food without flinching your pockets, Tawa 9 is a handy bet.

P. S: They have revamped the place and it's now well spread out and it portrays a far brighter picture. They've also added plenty of stuff on their menu and it's no more just a short eats snack place.

The crispy fried idli as usual were sensational. They lord over the corn canopes. Tawa has been added to their forte and they have brought in plenty of items made on a Tawa. Their Tawa dosa was very good and so was the fried rice. Options on shakes and desserts have also gone up the ladder. Would now recommend it as a good vegetarian restaurant down the alley which caters to a full on spread as well as possessing a fine spread of short eats and starters.

Chocolate Haven - A heaven for the chocolate aficianados!

The Chocolate Heaven prides itself in serving a plethora of stuff based predominantly on chocolate. Their menu is large and a majority have a presence of this brownish substance and the title of this outlet having the moniker 'chocolate' comes as no real surprise. Apart from the diverse variants of waffles, pan cakes, shakes, desserts etc, they also have reasonably good stuff on the savoury side much akin to a cafe style playbook.

The ambiance is fairly straightforward. It's a pretty small joint covered up with a nice green patch depicting the words inscribed "India's ultimate chocolate cafe". Apart from that there are wall arts highlighting food pictures and a few quirky quotes. The decor is colourful with mild alternative colours and the brick art which is mostly brown goes well in sync with the surrounding. The subdued dim lights also hold good stead.

We were here on an invite and tried pretty much most things on the menu. It is a pretty large one at that running into a number of pages. We loved most of the one's with overdose of chocolate in them. Immense liking was towards the waffles and pancakes. The Nutella one was just gooey and lickalicious. Absolutely insane it tasted. The waffle with mud biscuit pieces were no less and one other with layerings of 3 different versions of chocolate - white, dark and milk was totally sinister. The monster shake was an avalanche of chocolate with lovey dovey bits flowing across all directions. Even the other shakes be it the Ferrero Rocher and the kitkat was terrific. Chocolate is well and truly their forte and they got it bang on right on almost every item which had it's manifestation.

Contrary to the chocolate brilliance, the other items were a tad average and could have been better. The fries were the usual with the masala version not being special in any way with just powdered chilli rolled on. The pizza's were decent but felt like they were home made with the cheese rightly giving it away. The Mac'n'cheese lacked flavours and the salt content could have been managed better. The other cream farfelle pasta though was fairly good. The sandwich and the burger were par for the course but nothing really exceptional to mention about. The signature cheese fondue didn't really appease with neither the cheese being really flavourful nor the sides being good enough to back it. Nachos were topped with oodles of cheese with the bottom portion being exposed. And more so, the taco chips lacked crispiness. The drinks were overall okay but some had an extra sweet tinge which didn't go along well.

On the whole, the chocolate stuff reigned supreme and it's fair considering that's their flagship. And also with 80% of the items having it's influence, it can be easily said that it was a pretty satisfying experience. The other sides though can be aced up a wee bit in order to make the overall experience even better.

The service was fast with stuff coming to our tables in rather quick fashion. They were also helpful in going about with our orders and always willing to address our concerns. The outlet as such is located right on the dot at TTK road and it's difficult to miss . Parking could be a bit of an hassle but with streets adjoining here and there, shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If you are a lover of chocolate, there's no second thoughts that you'll end up falling in love with the Chocolate Heaven. This cafe is designed for the out and out chocolate loving aficionado.

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.

Triple B - Boats, Bessy & Beach!

There are very few stand alone resto pubs in the city which is not affiliated with a star property and Boats Beach resto bar happens to be one of them. Boats has a lot going for it. It is located centrally with a view facing the ever popular Elliots beach. Though the area is converged with eateries and restaurant's aplenty, there is not a single place nearby offering drinks. There is a leeway staircase to enter and Boats is located in the first floor of the compound.

The place seems a bit small but the atmosphere is quite electric. It was packed on a weekday evening and definitely seems happening from the looks of things. There is a dim dark aura about the place with lots of black engraving the surrounding. The glass set up is kind of chic and ignites a peppy feel. The sofa seating is comfortable and gives itself a positive vibe. It feels like a place where a good set of people can congregate, loosen up their spirits and have loads of fun.

Ambiance and decor apart, it's the vittle (food+drinks) which is key in deciding the stakes of any outlet and Boats did a fine job at it. The starters were not only presented well but also tasted great. I took immense liking to the panneer tikka, mushroom tacos and the cheesy potato blocks. The panneer was super succulent just rightly charred and totally of the melt in the mouth kinds. I found the crispness of the mushrooms inside the tacos to be a win. The crispy potato blocks with cheese overflowing generously like a lava was sinister. The Nachos weren't bad, just that the downward portion of the chips felt a little alienated. The top part though was cheesy and consisting of all the usual mexican veggies that you'd expect. I just had a small crack at the spinach corn dragon bites and found them pretty good.

In the main course section, we got a giant sized burger called the "Green Grocer". I felt it to be decent but difficult to consume as it was too tall and hard to bite. They absolutely nailed the Alfredo veg pasta which was suffused with cheese and abundant flavours. A good pasta always does wonders. The Kung Pao Vegetable dish was pretty average. It lacked the desired punch.

Coming to the desserts and drinks part, the roasted peach and cream was lovely and so was the cream brulee which was like a soft moth of chocolate covering. The mocktails were of high standard and the outright standout was the Bessie Beach Masala - a mango based drink with a tinge of chilli sprinkled along just aiding as the perfect refreshing tonic. They also have hard liquor and it's fun eating the kind of stuff Boats serves along with a chilled long shot glass of beer.

Viewing it as a holistic picture, Boats painted a caricature which looked appealing on most fronts. The service was spot on with not too much time interval in between stuff. The presentation of the items were of the highest order. There is also vibrant feel good music being played along adding to the excitement. The rates are not being mentioned as the meet was over an invite.

Boats is surely a place that is pulsating and of a gregarious nature where you can certainly have a ball of a time with a widespread mix of dine and drink options.