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.

The best soundtrack from the Mani Ratnam - Ilayaraja duo!

Ah! This is an extremely hard proposition to nail down. It's almost like asking a mom to select the best of her kids. However zeroing on the options at hand, it's really hard to pick as each of the soundtracks had something or other going for them.

But narrowing down deeper, if I would have to select one album that truly defines the Mani-IR combo or even Tamizh cinema as a whole, I would have to go with Agni Natchathiram. The compositions were light years ahead of it's times and packed a punch by being way too uber cool.

The usage of drum kits came to the forefront with this album. The hep hipster version of Ninukori took the country by storm. It almost felt absurd to completely makeover an out and out carnatic composition in an all together new avatar but the result obtained was stupendous. The intro number Rajathi Raja was a trailblazer and Oru Poongavanam is a song which will make you float in air. Rojapoo Adivandhadhu was a monstrous composition with the bass bazooking from all sides and of course the seductive Thoongatha Vizhugal in Amrutha Varshini ragam is another scorching number.

The close competitors for this album include Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Thalapathi, Anjali and even the rather supposedly tame Pagal Nilavu and Idhaya Kovil which had very nice melodies as well as some foot tapping songs.

But for sheer versatility and dexterity, my unanimous vote goes to Agni Natchathiram, a revolutionary soundtrack for the ages. It still retains the impact and kick and that is likely to stay on forever.

Longest standing record in Test Cricket (1877 to till date) - Highest % of runs in a completed test innings

Records have been usurped time and again over generations and it is almost inevitable that most records tend to get broken as the game of test cricket keeps evolving. However I am not sure if this  particular record will ever be broken as it has stood the test of time and has stayed on as a record for a mind boggling 140 years now.

It took place in the very first official cricket test match played at Melbourne, Australia in March 1877 and despite over 2000 test matches played since then and almost one and a half centuries being passed, the owner still stakes coveted claim to this elusive title of owning the highest % of runs in a completed test innings.

Coming to the statistics now, Charles Bannerman who incidentally was also the first person to face a delivery in test cricket on Mar 15th 1877 ended up scoring 165* out of Australia's total of 245. No other person passed even 20 and his individual score made up a staggering 67.34 % of the total. He is the only one who has crossed the coveted figure of 2/3rds of the total runs made by the team individually.

There have been batsman carrying their bat through the innings, making individual scores of 400, one player alone standing ground resolutely with others caving in but nobody has gotten past the distinction of 2/3rd of the total score. The second in line who came very close to beating Bannerman’s record was Michael Slater who put up 123 out of Australia's score of 184 vs England at Sydney in 1999 which makes up being 66.84% of the total.

Test cricket is a strange game and you see records being broken time and again with new benchmarks being set often. But this record by Charles Bannerman has still not been obliterated and he is still a proud man atop the perch.

If at all this record is peaked, it will come to end the longest standing record ever witnessed in test cricket history as it dates back to the very first official test match ever being played.

A Century is not a Half Century - Googly Fact on recording a cricket metric!

This is an interesting fact which many don't know or realise. Whenever a batsman records a century, it no more gets accounted as a fifty in the statistics metrics of a player. This is because when accounting the stats for a batsman, there are two different metrics - 50′s and 100′s and scoring a hundred doesn't mean it'll get recorded as both a half century and a century. Thus, it means when a hundredth run is touched during an innings, the stat of it also being a 50 gets obliterated.

The only catch you need to know is if a person scores the fastest 50 and in the process goes on to get a century, he will hold the record for the fastest fifty but it won't be considered as a half century in the individual statistics of the player concerned. Classic case is AB DeVillers who scored a mind boggling 149 off 44 balls against the Windies where he blitzed away to both the fastest 50 off just 16 balls and also the fastest 100 off just 31 deliveries. Now, he does hold the record for both fastest 50 and fastest 100 in ODI's but what if i tell you that it never got recorded as a fifty in his stats. Quite perplexing, right?

The same thing does not hold good when you score a double hundred or triple hundred. These will still be accounted as a hundred. The reason is, if you see the border line stats of any player, only 2 metrics will be mentioned viz 50′s and 100′s. There is no column for number of 150's/200's/300's etc. So in case you need to know the total number of times a batsman has crossed 50, you need to add both the number listed under number of 50′s as well as those under number of 100′s.

Just to make the whole thing clear and lucid, let's see Virat Kohli’s test stats as of current status (End of home Sri Lanka test series 2017)
 No. of 50's scored - 15
 No. of 100's scored - 20
 No. of 200's scored - 6
If you want to know the number of times Virat has scored over 50 in an innings, it's 35 times (15+20) but the total number of times he has crossed 100 is 20 only. The six times he has gone beyond 200 happens to be within this tally of 20 only.

Thus, in a nutshell what you need to remember is 'A century is not a half century but a double century or triple century is counted as a century along with being a double or triple hundred as the case may be in the individual record books of a cricketer.

Mindblogging Charanam of Mannil Indha Kadhal!

The charanam of this song has always blown me away. Much before the album 'Breathless' came into existence, it was this composition which was known to stir a chord when it came to continuous singing before leaving a breath. It is so beautifully structured that it goes about the full monty in jaw dropping mode with subtle swara bits constantly going back and forth. The other eye liner is the way it reaches a crescendo and then in nonchalant fashion does a 'U' turn connecting the bridge handing over the baton to the Pallavi portion. SPB does an awe inspiring job crooning this really hard nosed passage and IR is a pioneer in his own right always inventive and creating marvels in the midst of a blink of an eyelid. 'Mannil Indha Kadhal' is an evergreen favourite and this is a humble attempt at trying this pyro-technic of a musical labyrinth which has always fascinated beyond imagination.

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The charanam of this song has always blown me away. Much before the album 'Breathless' came into existence, it was this composition which was known to stir a chord when it came to continuous singing before leaving a breath. It is so beautifully structured that it goes about the full monty in jaw dropping mode with subtle swara bits constantly going back and forth. The other eye liner is the way it reaches a crescendo and then in nonchalant fashion does a 'U' turn connecting the bridge handing over the baton to the Pallavi portion. SPB does an awe inspiring job crooning this really hard nosed passage and IR is a pioneer in his own right always inventive and creating marvels in the midst of a blink of an eyelid. 'Mannil Indha Kadhal' is an evergreen favourite and this is a humble attempt at trying this pyro-technic of a musical labyrinth which has always fascinated beyond imagination. #music #composition #mannilindha #keladikanmani #IR #SPB #song #pallavi #charanam #godmode #crescendo #pioneer #evergreen #1990 #movie #vintage

A post shared by Rajiv Shankar (@rajiv_revel) on Jan 20, 2018 at 7:57pm PST

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.

Ice Kraft - A tryst with Ice & Cream!

Ice cream parlours are on the prowl. You literally find one opening every other day and there is an inherent similarity in most of them. However that's not the case with Ice Kraft. I didn't come with any great expectations but left with a sounding impression that this place is here to stay and going to capture the market.

The place is located in the main road of GN Chetty road in T Nagar. It's quite nicely done up with a small lawn space seating overseeing the inside portion where the ice cream action takes place. They also have a portion upstairs where it's a little more private and peaceful. There is an envelope of blue overseeing the place. A dash of white added along gives it a lovely little professional touch up. There isn't too much on the ambiance front except for portraits picturing ice creams with quotations.

We were here on an invite and tried a variety of their offerings. First up, had a shot at the Hurricane fries. It was powdery and that sprinkle was felt in the mouth. It wasn't spicy by any means but the spread could have been subdued a bit. The cheesy potato wedges were absolutely wonderful though. Just the right dosage of cheese laced on top and this was a delight to eat with the dip. The sweet potato was another stunner. It had everything going for it and tasted delectable and was a great combination with the peri peri sauce. The corn also was nice to taste with this spicy red peri sauce. We also had a couple of salads which were well done up with both the thousand island as well as the herbed garlic lebnah being pleasing in taste. It had the perfect mix of creaminess and tonnes of exotic veggies in the mix.

Now, coming to the main part of the programme, the sweet stakes. This was an area where they literally aced it. Almost all of their creations were really well played and it was rejoiceful trying their sweetened delicacies one after another. The freakshakes lorded the show with both the Nutella crunch as well as the Tiramisu being spectacular. If you like your shakes to be messy and overloaded, you should definitely try this one out. It was overflowing like a waterfall with the sweet avalanche gushing. I particularly took liking to the nutella which gave that socklodager chocolaty punch. We also were served a twist in the form of sweetened fries in the mode of red velvet oreo and red velvet brownie fries. The former was absolute kick ass. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, this one was certainly enjoyable taking a dab at. The latter didn't pass the muster as opposed to the former as the brownie taste didn't come across appealingly.

Finally I had my much awaited tryst with the black charcoal ice cream. This was a first for me and I was looking forward to have a dribble. It was quite nice though I really can't say about the taste because it was something totally new. But nevertheless, I kind of enjoyed the charcoal scrape with the tinge of coconut which was quite pleasing. We had a number of shots at different flavours served on the black charcoal waffle cone and each one of them was lip smacking. We also had ice cream coming along in taco shells which was done up really well. We tried the charcoal flavour as well as the berry which I took real fondness to.

On the whole, it was a roller coaster of an ice creamy experience. The quality of the highest order and they also seemed to have got most of their innovations bang on without trying to go too over the top. They are planning to bring many more sweetened inventions to their inventory and for the dessert craving aficionado, this is an outlet which can give your ice cool creamy instincts a definite high five.

The Wharf 2.0 - A serene experience!

The Wharf provides the perfect atmosphere to chill on a lazy weekend with good food and an ambiance that screams serenity. It is perched completely away from the city limits and is located by the seaside of the temple bay resort. It is a wonderful getaway spot if you're looking for a long drive along with the mood for relaxation and combined with easy paced foodie delicacies.

There is both outside and inside seating arrangements. It is done up like a shack with thatched roofs with an open grilled cooking area and a bar counter. The place depicts insouciance and a laid back feeling in full vigour. It is like a fine opportunity to soak in the sun and slice up a lovely little meal away from the hustle and bustle of the city environment.

The place by itself has modified itself and received a face-lift. From being a purely sea food restaurant, they've revamped their set up in a major way. The version 2.0 is bright with a melange of colours making up the picture. Also on the food side, they've added in a skosh of items to satisfy everyone's palette. Sea food is still prima facie their torch bearer but also added along are grilled and barbecue food and also plenty of vegetarian options and an array of desserts.

They are based on the concept of the 5 elements of nature viz Earth, water, fire, air and space. Each have specific items categorised under them based on a logic. For example, fire denotes most of the stuff being grilled and fiery whereas the earthen side brings to the fore the vegetarian fest whereas the space is to depict the mass available after consumption of food, so in this case it covers the dessert draw.

We were here for a bloggers meet and were provided a set menu for the day comprising of a number of starters, main course and desserts along with a sample few welcome bites. We began with a bite of a herbed roasted mushroom starter along with a beetroot refresher. These were just to cleanse ourselves for the bigger picture awaiting us.

In the starter section, the crumb fried olives were top notch. This is an earthy creation with this appetiser comprising olives and coming along with a blue cheese & paprika dip. Spreading the blue cheese on those brownish crispy balls sure added some extra romance to the gnarling tongue. I thoroughly enjoyed slurping this one up. On the fiery side, the panneer tikka mustered up quite a fury. They were charcoal grilled, slathered with the right dosage of spices and super soft in texture. It was wonderful consuming them with the peanut and green chutney.

 The main course spread had a delightful mushroom based dish called Dastaan-e-Kumbh. Another of the vegetarian fare included the Bhutte Aur Gajar ka Sheekh. Both of these were fire creations and you could feel the dynamism striking the senses. The kumbh felt surprisingly smooth and the touch up of malai added wonders. The sheekh kabab laden with corn and veggies were one of the best I've had. The above two were more of the starter category though categorised under mains. However we did have a shot at Garlic Naan with a couple of sides viz Dal Makhni and Balti Panneer. The Naan was soluble and having strong aroma of garlic. The Dal Makhni was a little off the mark as I found it to be a bit too liquidy and the creaminess was sorely lacking. The Balti Panneer however was delectable and balancing the indian bread really well.

And the finale were the desserts. We opened our account with the Gulab Jamun cheese cake with candy floss. Gulab Jamun seems to be the new fad in the world of desserts. Experiments with this insanely mouth watering indian sweet is being tried out in various avatars. Not only does it walk the walk as a standalone sweet piece but is also rising a storm by providing a perfect blend of synergy by being used in various forms. This dessert was lacquered with a touch of liquor to mildly complement the sweet essence by giving a slightly bitter tinge. Not too sugary sweet but enables you to relish the smack and thwack it provides your sweet tooth. The other one we tried was the deconstructed cappuccino chocolate marquisse. Again, this wasn't too sweet and had a nice taste to it. To end it all, there was a big surprise waiting called by the name of 'Hard Surprise'. I would personally term it as the 'Brown Blown Bombshell'. This was a broken chocolate bomb nitrogenised and containing inside exotic delicacies like red velvet cake, mascarpone, white chocolate terrine and filled with cinnamon butter crumble, indian sweets and seasonal fruits with berries. It was quite a sight to see the raw material getting converted via the process of manufacture into this delightful finished product which was rich and sweet in abundance.

On the whole, it was a wonderful experience. The service was exemplary and the staff were at our beck and call waiting to serve us to the best of their ability. The twirling waves of the sea with the zephyr blowing across gently is a fantastic add-on and you seldom get to match this escapade anywhere else. Prices aren't mentioned as it was over an invite. I would strong recommend that you go visit The Wharf'. Not only do you get to chill by the sea but it comes with tremendous pluses in the mode of good food, laid back ambiance, generous service and an overall serenely cherished atmosphere which is sure to make your day/night a wonderful experience to remember.

Thaligai - Traditional Brahmin Heirloom Cuisine

Thaligai thrives on heirloom cuisine, the kind of food that has passed on from traditions down the ages. There is a lot of nostalgia involved with the kind of recipes and spread which is sure to inkle a memory especially for the age old brahmin households. The food here is predominantly from down south and more so of the kind which is dished up in yesteryear Iyengar homes.

The food is sans garlic and onion and looks to go the healthy route. Thaligai as such refers to a wholesome meal fit for a feast. They have a stack of tiffin based items which you usually wouldn't eat much except on those rare festival days. Their motto is to preserve the vintage cuisine made famous by grandmothers of bygone generation in a renewed slightly tweaked format to cater to the younger crowd.

I'm not sure how exactly it'll be lapped up but the effort to bring in authentic brahmin cuisine deserves the plaudits. My feeling is that they will be more popular during seasons such as the music festival in Dec and also for the US based return folks who would be longing to consume this kind of food.

We were here on an invite to savour some of their specialities. Apart from the dining space at the ground, they have a private dining area which is well done up and seems peaceful. We had a plethora of items ranging mostly from short eat snacks to evergreen favourites and a few rice items and ended up with sweet and degree coffee.

I wouldn't go into specifics of each of the items but some of the stuff i really liked was the Morkazhi, diamond dosa, neer Kozhukattai, bhajji and bonda. The Morkazhi had a delectable taste to it as it was smudged with a flavour which was really hitting the senses. Their Mor Kulambu was also absolutely lovely. The sandwich idli was pretty different with a dash of tomato chutney spread in between the layers for it to resemble a sandwich. This was a very interesting innovation. The Neer Kozhukattai was in fact a soup, i couldn't figure this out at all. It had a lilting aroma with pieces of kozhukatta floating inside and gave a slight avial kind of taste. A real different soup which was like never before. The bonda's had a nice aloo masala tinge and the mysore one was soft and fluffy. The ladies finger bhajji was also crispy and great to munch. The diamond dosa had a slightly spicy masala inset which I quite liked. And for enders we had a jaw dropping delicious Ashok Halwa which was simply melt in the mouth and final flourish was a resoundingly strong filter coffee.

On the whole, it was a lovely experience. The food was great and homely. It was a bit mild and more catering to the healthy side which may not please everyone but once in a way it's a nice option to try out. The prices are pretty reasonable. Thaligai will have it's legion of fans. I appreciate the fact that they are taking the efforts to preserve tradition by bringing in the lost wonders of Brahmin cuisine. They are also intent on adding twists along the way for that 'x factor' and keeping their target audience lured. I wish them all the best in this endeavour and hope they find a firm footing in this ever growing food circle of Chennai.

Fromage - A cheese friendly affair!

Fromage pronounced as "Fraw-mazh" is the French equivalent of cheese. It's apparent from the name that the ever loved delicacy 'cheese' forms the significant part of the items in their menu. The restaurant is located as part of the 'Somerset' property and is a perfect addendum complementing the happening resto bar 'Radio Room' just by it's wayside.

The interiors are well played. Lovely toned blue doors adorn the settings and the white wall touch ups with meaningful portraits hung showcase the show of this place. It isn't over the top by any means and in fact gives a rosy picture with regard to the surrounding environment.

On the food, they have a menu comprising of a cuisine which has a European touch. Cheese is something which gets instills the Cheshire cat instincts within me and it was a pleasure seeing a card laid out with cheese in all it's splendour.

We were here to try a selective hand picked menu chosen for the day. We started with the soup of the day in the form of a Gouda cheddar which was quite interesting. The cheese was quite subtle but the presence of it could be felt all along.

In the starter section, we had three kinds of veg servings. We began with the delightful spinach, corn and cheddar tarts. These were sinfully cheesy and mouth wateringly mushy. The tarts were so damn soft that it was a feast biting into them with the cheesy liquid melting jocularly inside the mouth. This appetiser was gob smacking awesome. Next, we moved on to the Onion Jam Goat Cheese Rolls. This is as exotic as it gets. The combination worked wonders with the tangoing of goat cheese and caramelised onions in these golden fried rolls coming along with a lip smacking sweet tinged jam. This was another top notch appetiser. And lastly, we had the Tomato confit bruschetta with parmesan. This was a little lesser in awesomeness compared to it's predecessors but nevertheless quite good on it's own fettle. There were tomatoes galore and the shearing of parmesan cheese over crusty slices of bread was quite nice to consume.

The main course was all about Pasta's and it's brethren. The speciality of this place is the cheese wheel where pasta is made in spectacular fashion by scraping and cooking it inside those big sized oval shaped parmesan cheese wheel. The cheesiness was tingling along meltingly over the layered pieces of penne/fusili and it was quite a delight consuming them. You could feel the cheese in all it's fullest fury. Apart from the pasta, we also tried the veg Lasagne which was pretty good made in a tomato base with oodles of cheese spread along. Also was tried the Mac'n'cheese pasta. Though i found this slurpy, the salt content felt a little off.

On the whole, it was a really pleasing and satisfactory meal. You don't get to consume such high quality stuff of imported variety of cheese in many places within the city. And the quality and taste of majority of the items were resoundingly good. The service was amiable and ever ready to help us out. The rates aren't mentioned as the meet was over an invite. Even otherwise for the kind of offerings, the pricing is definitely on the competitive bracket. A shout out to Eazy Diner for hosting us and ensuring that we have an enjoyable meal. You would also like to check their application which will enable you make reservations at various top restaurant's within the country at ease via a click of a button. All in all, it was a meet full of fun and frolic with the satisfaction of a quality meal aced by Fromage.