Jupiter Express - Modeled on the Railways!

When I heard about this new restaurant 'Jupiter Express' modelled on the Indian railways, I was more than eager to check it out. Come to think of it, you do have cafe's pertaining to all kind of themes but a full fledged restaurant made to resemble a high end luxury train was something new and exciting. It is surely one of a kind at least in the city of Chennai.

Jupiter express is located in Gopalapuram and comes across as you take the passerby lane adjacent to Gangotree and is housed in a complex in between 'The Katti roll shop' and 'Bayleaf'. From the outset, there's no way you could imagine what you will encounter inset.

As you get upstairs to the first floor to the restaurant, you see a quirky door resembling that of a train compartment and also there is a booking counter by the side. Found it quite imaginative and attractive.

Once you enter you will be bowled by the set up. It is designed so beautifully that it gives you the feel of dining in a high styled upscale luxury coach. There is a lot of inventiveness in place with add-on's like platform, boggie, name plate of train, number and class of coach, seat and reservation list, replica of train windows, handle railing etc. There are also cartoons and wallpapers depicting passengers, luggages, porters, ticket collector, goods train and a host of other things bringing to light the cream of everything associated with the railways. It was quite exhilarating to witness all this and young kids am sure will really find favour with this train themed restaurant.

The seating is polarised into 3 fold. A massive table placed just outside where the train is situated and then a side enclosure which is your usual restaurant kind with elevated cushions and then there is the prominent coach bastion as you board the train which comprises the major portion and also is easily the most happening of the lot.

Coming to the food it is a full on vegetarian fare and they have plenty load of options spanning majorly North Indian and also quite a bit of Italian, Chinese and Continental added to the fray. The menu is very elaborate and keeps running into a number of pages. Even in a luxury train your options on food maybe limited but there is no shortage of choices here. Each of the items have a label attached to it and the categories are divided well with interesting taglines like soups are titled "The Opening Act", Salads come with the moniker of "The Insalate fix", Starters are termed as "Before the Ride" and the Main course is described as "The Masterpiece".

We decided to go Indian for the day and ordered a couple of starters viz Paneer Tikka and Veg Sheekh Kabab. The former was succulent and super soft and delicious. The latter had an a nice pasty mix to it. Didn't taste like the usual Sheekh Kabab's I've had but nevertheless was fairly nice. For main course we had Garlic Naan, Veg biryani, Peas Pulav and a couple of tandoor gravies in the form of a Paneer Makhani and Dal Makhani. The Indian bread was how it should be, both the rice items were decent enough but far away from anything remotely greatness. I liked the Paneer Makhani which had a nice twang to it but the Dal Makhani was a little watery and the quantity served especially was shocking.

We refrained from having desserts. Overall the food was pretty decent with not much to complain on the taste angle but the biggest blip was the pricing. Almost every single dish costs upwards towards the 300 range and with taxes and service charge to boot comes up to being extremely expensive. The service too was rather slow taking plenty amount of time to bring the food.

Since they have a pretty gargantuan spread, I will like to visit again to try more of their offerings. It does have it's moments and am pretty sure it will attract crowds in the days to come especially young children and teenagers. At this point of time however, it's too early to give a call and time will tell how Jupiter Exprezz will embark on it's journey.

Thattu Vadai Settu Kadai - Taste of Salem

I am a big fan of Murukku Sandwich and have never missed out on a chance to gorge the decorated delicacy which gives such a crunchy taste when you bite on those crispy small murukkus smeared with the requisite spices and dollops of cheese. And when I read a review in the paper's that there is a settu kadai from Salem serving a South Indian equivalent of the same, was quite eager to check what they have in store.

Thattu Vadai Settu Kadai is a small kiosk run by a busy young lady and is situated outside a supermarket in Gopalapuram. You also have few more kiosks offering different kind of stuff in the same surrounding.

The concept here is set based chaats and they have different varieties of sets - plain, onion, tomato, mango, garlic etc and I went for the combo comprising of all of the ones mentioned. Here the Thattai's replace the murukkus and the ingredients spread are to suit the south indian taste buds. It also happens to be a more healthier version. I enjoyed my Mix chaat or rather 'settu' which was nicely flavored and crunchy and even quite appealing to look at. They have 2 tubed versions of sauces which adds a nice touch to the texture - a red chilli based one and a yellowish mustard onion like paste.

The prices are very meager and there are quite a few set options which you would want to try. Also looks like a few more of these traditional stuff are going to be added to the menu. If you happen to pass by this place, do not forget to have a bite at this uniquely invigorating offering from the heart of Salem.