Burger Buzzing at Burgerman!

Burgerman was a kiosk based entity serving burgers at reasonable prices and it used to be quite a rage back in the hey days more than a decade or so ago. After opening around 130 outlets all over the country they are now back in a renewed vigour with a complete new look and make over. The place still dishes out burgers but it's no more in the kiosk form but in a stand alone joint spread across 2 floors all for themselves. The burgers are more premium and they've added a lot of sides and being located in the ever buzzing beach side of Besant Nagar, they are sure to get good crowds thronging in at regular intervals.

We were here for the pre launch to try some of the stuff dished out. Burgers being their flagship, they have a number of variety of them both on the non veg and vegetarian side. It was interesting too see lots of options and the most appealing thing was they were starkly different from each other and you could feel the distinctiveness. The burgers are all made of brown bread and the patties inside are grilled and with the requisite sauces, toppings and ingredients proved to be a quite a good foil. Smoked BBQ had the fiery black sauce base, the panneer Makhni had the delectable gravy spread and the other versions all were different from one another. The buns were super soft and it was a delight slurping them over. I saw a small gap towards the edge of the bread which meant the inside portion wasn't overflowing and pretty easy to consume without getting too messy.

Other than the burgers, they also have a few starters, salads, toasts, shakes and ice cream. The cottage cheese nachos was very nice and so was the toastie. The shakes and ice creams weren't bad but you would expect a touch better.

The ambiance is predominantly of black and yellow colours and gives it a very trendy feel. The seating arrangements are more pointing towards the fast food culture and overall the setup paints a rosy picture. The service may be bit of an issue on heavily crowded days for which they can take some measures to mend the gap. The pricing seems apt and reasonable. For the quality and size of burgers, they don't seem to be overpriced on any count.

There is already an inherent buzz about Burgerman and having a bite of their burgers, it's perhaps safe to conclude that this outlet is here to stay and pull in major crowds going forward. Wishing the team of Burgerman all the best and hope they embark on a smooth journey in the shores of Chennai.

Little Italy - A sumptuous Fest!

I can't hold back my excitement when it comes to Italian food and the buffet offering on weekdays by Little Italy was an offer too hard to resist. It's always quite a high to see your tongue getting squishy with exotic delicacies and what better way than a cheese friendly affair from the land of Italiana to make your mouth melt with happiness. So here was I on a working day taking a day off from work to soak in a lavish fair put across by Little Italy in the form of a buffet for 500 bucks net. (Inclusive of all taxes).

                                                 
The outlet is located in a small by-lane in Besant Nagar and is the road you need to take in where you see the Wordsworth bookstore right at the center tip point. It is in a residential locality and parking really shouldn't be much of a hassle. It is a restaurant converted from an olden day house which seems to be nicely done up. The ambiance inside is pleasant and neat and polarized into different enclaves which gives it quite a private feel. There is nothing over the top by any stretch and they've ensured to keep it plain and simple which works well here. You would also hear music playing at the background which is unobtrusive and doesn't hamper the proceedings in any way.

They have the buffet concept on each of the weekdays and a larger brunch spread on Sunday apart from the everyday Ala-Carte. Listed below is a brief take on the items served as part of the weekday buffet.

• Drinks:They served 2 kind of welcome drinks viz the Blue Curacao and a Watermelon based one. The former was a really lovely refreshing drink. Apt for the heat and a a great tonic to set the tone. It had a punch to it and the fact that it was unlimited made me use it as an ersatz to the usual water. I also got to taste a small glass of Watermelon juice which was the run off the mill expected stuff.

• Soup:There were 2 soups as part of the spread - Minestrone and Brocolli. I decided to go in for the Zupa de Brocolli. It was a pretty light soup and you could see the presence of thinly chopped pieces of brocolli floating along the brownish soupy water. It was decent but I felt it lacked the creaminess and ended up a bit too plain for the liking.

• Salad:I'm not much of a salad person but whatever was delivered kind of changed my perception to salad eating. It works on the ad-lib style where you need to choose your veggies of which I chose the most essential ones and then all the mixing and matching is done to produce the end product. It was dressed beautifully with the add-on of a mustard mayonnaise and the tinge of creaminess layered across gave it just the rightful feel to enjoy a great salad eating experience.
  
                    
  
• Starters:There were plenty on this front. You had a few items to pick from the table such as Caprese - a piece of cheese inset on a slice of tomato, plain garlic bread, a fondue kind of dish to eat along with bread and also Pita bread with Hummus. But what really enticed the taste buds were the ones which were brought directly to the table. The Cheese garlic bread was noteworthy with a dollop of cheese over the bread which was very soft with the inherent flavoring of garlic. I thoroughly enjoyed the garlic bread and even jocularly put a bit of the curried red chilli flakes sauce which also went very well. Then there was a portion of Fried Onion Rings which were deep fried and having the apt amount of crispiness and the added bonus of cheese at the side edges made it quite a feast. And then I cannot but shower encomiums on another show stealer - the quintessential Nachos with cheese sauce. It was quite a largesse with yellowish cheese sprayed across copiously and with a little smattering of the salsa dip, it was indeed quite a mouth watering delight.
  
                      
  
• Main Course: Here you need to choose from a set menu and I went for Pasta - A white sauce mushroom based one and a Pesto Pizza. The Pasta was immaculate and certainly one of the best I've eaten. It had the right dose of cream with a bevy of mushrooms, asparagus and an essence of garlic flavor and requisite flakes and seasoning. It just seemed so perfect that I didn't want to modify it by any means by adding anything extra. The Pesto pizza had a pungent taste of pesto and garlic covered up with oodles of cheese and a capsule of potato to boot. Might not be the best tongue twister but you will surely like it if you could handle the heaviness of the flavoring.
  
               
  
• Desserts: They had a variety of cheesecakes in the form of Strawberry, Mango and Black currant and the ratings go along the order of listing. The strawberry one especially was exceptional whereas the black currant felt a little bland. Also got a shot of a Panacota which was remarkable and to complete the duties ended up with a scoop of chocolate and butterscotch ice-cream with walnuts and nuts magnanimously mizzled in.
               

Overall it was quite a sumptuous fest and a really satisfactory meal. The food talked the talk and the signals from virtually every angle gave the thumbs up. The service was decent with the staff wearing a smile and adhering to requests but however it felt a little longer than expected for some items to arrive on the table. Nothing really to crib about though and can just be classified as a minor blip. It was certainly a delightful experience and the good news is that they have a host of other stuff on the anvil and I wouldn't mind paying a repeat visit to savor more of their offerings and also to have a shot at the extravagant Sunday Brunch.

The Italian human race is supposed to be bestowed with extremely good looks. I can't comment on that front but can certainly vouch for Italian food being not only alluring to look at but also possessing all the relevant features for it to taste jaw dropping and with 'Fashion' being at the fore front in Italy, it's a given to see Fashion and Food going hand in hand having quite a tete-a-tete :).

Down Bessy side at Cafe Downtown

Downtown is one nice little up street cafe. Located right on the intersecting Besant Nagar road in a 2 storey duplex, this one ticks all the right boxes from what you would expect normally at a cafe. There is a nice easy feel about the place and the food is great with a plethora of options in store. This is one place where you can yak yak leisurely to your heart's content with fellow like minded companions.

The ambiance is done up based on a lot of wood work and the decor is simple with brown wooden furniture. There is some comforting music playing at the background and the yellow cubicle bulbs gives it a gloomy touch. It's not hard to configure that this cafe points towards the right direction when you are especially looking to chill and relax with some beverages and nic-nacs for company.

The color palette is done up tastefully with a lot of cream and fabric making it look elegant and professional. There is nothing over the top and they haven't done anything extra to elevate on the kitsch factor. They have kept the surrounding minimal which works well here.

We were invited for an 'On the House' meal where we got to savor a host of stuff from their attic. We were a big crowd and happily ensconced to the top floor and as we were the only one's there, turned out to be a double whammy. We had a shot at their different coolers, beverages. smoothies and milkshakes of which many of them stuck the right chord. The shakes were very thick and large in size and will surely make you feel heavy. After the dosage of drinks, it was the turn of the Waldorf Salad comprising predominantly of apple chunks laced with a tad of walnuts and capsicum and glazed with honey. It had a creamy tangy taste to it. Next was the turn of the Quesadillas which resembled triangular chappathies stuffed with veggies. The filling was to the brim with an assortment of vegetables and it tasted good. Then marked the arrival of the much raved about Rice balls. They were in the form of cutlets and had the perfect combination of being crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside. Was unique in taste and surely one of their signature specialties. The only blip was the accompaniment sauce was a little wee bit on the quantity front.

Once the starters were done, we moved onto the main course where we first got to have a bite into their boxed panneer burgers. The burger was simple with big square chunk of cottage cheese interspersed inside the bun along with your usual lettuce and tomatoes. It wasn't outstanding but nevertheless tasted fairly decent. The pizza was nicely made with lots of cheese intermingled with a few exotic veggies. It was pretty good however there was a heavy overpowering of tomato ketchup which could have been minimal. The pink sauce spaghetti pasta coated with cheese and basil was a winner though it also had a slightly high tomato puree taste. It will be better however if they replace their burger bun with a slice of garlic bread to go with the pasta. And for sandwiches they gave us a Mexican/Club sandwich combo with one tier being curried and the other more in the european style. Biting into both the layers together was an epicurean treat. Would have surely gobbled another piece if I had the wherewithal to do so. The food more or less made our tummies packed to the rafters but we had to also give the desserts a shot :). Got to taste the special fudge brownie with ice-cream which was kinda disappointing because the brownie was a little chicky and didn't blend well. But this was just a one off as the crepe with nutella was marvelous. The waffles were nice too and so was the caramel cake which was a delight.

It was a great roster and they made sure we got to have a crack at virtually most of the items from the different segments. And most of what we tasted was surely a win. A little amelioration can help in making it even better. The service was exemplary and the managing partner was very sweet in hearing our views and taking suggestions. The rates are akin to similar cafe based chains.

The Downtown cafe caters to the best of both worlds. If you're the one looking for insouciance and cooling your heels over a cup of coffee you will get that. And if you're looking to come as a big crowd wanting to confabulate nineteen to the dozen with your set of friends as we experienced, that's also possible. This cafe is surely one of the better upmarket cafe's worth recommending. It was indeed a pleasure to dine in at the Downtown.