Summer House Eatery - 80% continental and 20% everything else!

The Summer House Eatery is a well crafted cafetaria which has blossomed on the by lanes of Alwarpet in a really peaceful locality. The outlet is constructed out of a residential home and shares a co working space with a couple of other ventures. There is sufficient parking space available and the place oozes fanciness in terms of it's decor and on the quirk factor.

The space is well bifurcated and there is also a lawn passage outside seating arrangement. It infuses the perfect ambiance and this looks like the kind of getaway spot to head to for cozy laidback lunch offering. It induces the rightful insouciance and appeals on every angle with the way it's done up.

The food, from the monicker can be easily made out to be continental but to widen the radar, they have added along some fusion with an Indian touch as add on. So primarily can be summarised as 80% continental and the other 20% has a mix of Indian, Mexican, Thai et al.

The outlet as such is opening very soon but we were here for an invite to savour some of their benefactors. They are still on an experimental mode and as the days pass along, you can expect a lot of interesting stuff in store.

First up on the appetiser section were the Arancini balls. These were big in size, juicy on the exterior containing dumplings of risotto rice and veggies on the inside. It was presented quite well too over a spreading of a delightful chilli mayo dip. Next up were the Avocado and corn crostini bruschetta. The bread was super soft and slashed along was an interesting slurpy dip called the mexican goddess which is made up predominantly with avacado and other dressings. Sauteed corn was garnished and this one was a winner. And then arrived the Truffle fries. This was a bit of a damp squib as the flavour of truffles didn't come across at all. Felt like eating normal crispy French fries with powdered cheese coated along. The cauliflower taco with thecha and sour cream was passable. They are still working on this one and it'll be served with a salad in the upcoming days.

On the main course section, we got a bite at their delightful savoury crepe options. Both the creamy mushroom as well as the caprese crepe with tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella were done up in sterling style with the taste of the ingredients coming out very well embedded on those loose egg beaten sheets. One area which totally ruled the roost were the pasta's. Virtually each one of them were so enjoyable to consume. If you're a pasta aficionado, the Summer House is like the ideal outlet to gorge sumptuous drool worthy pasta's to your utter delight. They have some really rare creations such as spaghetti with thai chilli jam and shitake mushrooms. This one was a bit of fusion but worked really well with the essence coming out wonderfully. The cacio e pepe spaghetti was another starlet with the garnishing of pepper and parmesan doing the magic. Their aglio e olio was easily one of the best I've ever had. The roasted garlic flavour was beautifully well played. Other than the set of pasta's, we also had a coastal based vegetable in goan coconut curry with steamed rice. This was strictly decent and nothing of the kind to get excited about.

On the dessert section, we tried a number of their sweetened crepes. Going along in line with the savoury based one's, these also passed the test with flying colours. It was just about rightly presented with the spreading of the assortments underneath the layering coming out top on taste. The nutella as well as the caramel one was much sought after. We also had a shot at a few shakes viz peanut butter, salted caramel etc. These were quite normal and lacked a bit of thickness. This is just a selective stock house of desserts and many more will be coming up really soon.

On the whole, it was a lovely lazy sunday lunch with delicious victuals for company to go along with a classy environmental sunlight surrounding. The prices have not yet been finalised and hence will refrain from commenting on that front. On a holistic picture, The Summer House Eatery is a fantastic add-on to Chennai's bustling food circle. And from initial feelers and the way things are already set up, this eatery should surely be enjoying a rosy ride from it's customer base. Wishing the team of 'The Summer House Eatery' all the very best.

Noodle Theory - Simple and Effective!

The Noodle theory is a simple but effective model. It works on the ad-lib concept of making your own wok. They have plenty of options and a few of their sauces are killer. They also have couple of starters, bao buns, drinks and brownies to complement the stringy noodle intake.

It's virtually a 5 step process where you first get to choose the base product ie the rice or noodles. You have bountiful options here with some rare choices also such as vermicelli rice, udon, soba etc. Once you're clear with the base product, next up is choosing the protein where you have tofu, panneer and just veggies. Once you're sorted on that front, you need to pick your veggies. You can choose as much as 5 types ranging across basic as well as exotic kinds. After that it's about picking the sauce which you want to cook your noodles/rice with. This is the one that can confuse you as you have plethora of choices from mild ones to the really wild spicy one's. Interesting concoctions such as japanese red wine, mallaka etc are available. And then the finale is closing out with the garnish. You can choose any 2 products from a stack of 7.

We were a group and tried a number of rice and noodle options. I found most of the sauces to be really good and the noodles were well constructed with abundance of flavours. There were certain surprises such as the vermicelli rice noodles cooked with a teriyaki sauce which was terrific. The jasmine rice aroma took our breath away. And almost all the noodle fare pressed the right buttons.

On the starters, we tried all of them which were available and the winners happened to be tofu in pepper overdose and the crispy chilli potato. The former especially packed a punch and the raw spiciness with the chunky tofu garnished with Chinese spices satisfied my desideratum.

We also tried a couple of their Bao buns namely the veggie and chilli panneer version and both were quite nice. The brownies were quite average but this was more of a filler to our meal and it isn't fair to expect too much out of them. They also have a bunch of drinks named after interesting personalities. The lemon based ones with a tinge of ginger were especially refreshing and ideal for the tongue.

Overall, it was a resounding thumbs up. They've done their best within the limited arrangements. It seems to be buzzing with people thronging the outlets at regular intervals. It isn't a traditional fine dining kind of outlet but the quantity and taste makes you think otherwise as what they served ticked the boxes on almost every front.

If you like your noodles and sauces and want to consume a slurpy based meal filled with an aroma flavours and interesting ingredients, the Noodle Theory is sure to entice you.

Deconstructed Cafe - Experimenting to the hilt!

 In a time where restaurant's blatantly copy ideas from existing well known chains/outlets and camouflage as their own, Deconstructed Cafe has completely beaten off from the trodden path and created a unique niche for themselves. It looks a simple concept from the outside with tried and tested items being presented in a different and almost topsy turvy manner by changing the form but to pull it off without compromising on the core taste requires tremendous efforts. I'm not sure where they are in their endeavour currently but just the attempt to go their own way recreating and giving a varied touch to well loved food by presenting it in a distinctive fashion deserves the plaudits.

We were here on a weekday evening and the first thing which impressed me was when i took a cursory glance at the menu. It was detailed with pin point information as to what goes into the making of the item. It was really well described and gave a fair idea of what to expect. The place as such is located in a small 2 storey complex and the surrounding atmosphere is classy without being too over the top. They had lot of exciting stuff and it was interesting to have a crack at some of their signature fare.

In the drinks section, I did have a sip at most of em but what really impressed me was the cupcake milkshake. It was beautifully presented with a big piece of the cake rotated and perched at the top. The particles of the cupcake were distilled in the drink and the taste was vehement. I have enjoyed having red velvet flavoured cup cake in stand alone form but having in a milkshake avatar was quite something else. Apart from this, the popcorn milkshake also was very well rolled up with the essence of the buttered corn perfectly captured in the milky drink. The brownie shake as well as the peanut butter were also pretty good but they were more on expected lines and nothing vastly different from the rest of the crop.

The starters had bulky samosas stuffed inside with a juicy layer of chilli cheese mix. This was a cheesy delight with it being interspersed in large quantity​ inside the triangular piece. It was a little chewy but being the quintessential cheese grown lover, I slurped this one up big time. The cocktail burger was a complete surprise. It was sans the bread bun itself and instead cute crusted fried idlies acted as the ersatz holding a patty done out of beetroot and touched up with a dollop of chilli dip and placed on top with an olive. The cajun panneer was well presented but had large contents of salt which diluted the taste somewhat. The bread items viz mushroom toast as well as the spaghetti sandwich were strictly okay. There wasn't anything really worth raving about them either in form, taste or presentation. The sushi though was a stunner. I must admit being a vegetarian having never liked any sushi offerings but this one with rice softened and flavoured gave it a lovely taste. The spring rolls however failed to appease. Served in wafer thin paper cups, they were just not firm enough to hold the stuffings and nothing to write home about on the veggie inside portion as well.

The starters were more of hit and miss but the main course punched the target on most counts. The puffed spinach and ricotta pie slightly torn up from the middle layer was slathered with a powering portion of pesto and I absolutely enjoyed it. The spiced Aloo pickle Paratha was more of the routine stuff but the taste was good especially the dry Dal Makhni gravy which went really well with the paratha. The deconstructed burger was completely off the customary form and this one was more of a big sized stuffed oval bun containing fillings inside. The potato masala as well as the ricotta mushroom were both decent in taste but nothing of the kind to bowl you over. The deconstructed pizza came in a twisted rolled outlook with the ingredients spread across which was pretty interesting. My favourite among the lot was the Deconstructed Dhokla. They made a delectable paste out of the khaman dhokla and garnished it with crispy mini bread pieces making it feel like a fondue and it was served artistically in a cycled carrier. I immensely enjoyed dipping and eating the buns soaked in dhokla sauce. This was truly a work of fusion done right.

In the desserts, we had 2 sets of ice creams viz the chocoffeine which basically comes with a mix of chocolate and coffee and the citric burst with a twang of tang and jujups with citric fruits by the side. The former was pretty average but the latter won the brownie points big time. It had a remarkably nice taste to it with the tangy essence and sticky jujups intermingling really well with the ice cream. We ended our dinner sojourn with the very berry cheese cake. This was transformed with the blue berry sauce placed at one corner, the cake in a creamy moth taking the center position and crumbed pieces of bread at the other end. It worked wonders as when combined it tasted really well and ended our dinner sojourn on a favourable note.

Overall, it was a very interesting experience. They got some things right with the work of fusion being done up in a really innovative way and also ensuring the taste doesn't get botched up. But on some areas, they played it a little too cheeky which didn't go down well and it also begged the question of what was actually intended.

The service was sharp with hardly much waiting time. The rates seem a little steep with some items touching the higher end of the spectrum. The decor is pleasing and it infuses a comfortable fine dining style. Adumbrating on the big picture, Deconstructed Cafe was overall a win for me. They are into experimental fusion where they do not have too much precedence and it's fair enough not to expect everything to come out perfect in every way to the 'T'. I strongly feel they have some interesting head turners on the menu already sorted out and with a little amelioration, they should only be improving further going forward. Deconstructed is different not just to grab eye balls but is in essence different for a reason. Kudos for venturing out on to this diverse field of fusion food and bringing out varied experimental cuisine to the shores of Chennai.

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.