CalamiTEA!

So there I was at the threshold of this wonderful place that put me in mind of an Agatha Christie novel (you remember the one where Tommy and Tuppence form their delightful partnership in a tea shop? - but I'm sure that was really dingy as compared to this!) It was BEAUTIFUL! The flowered wall-paper, the marble-top tables, the cute little half-cut suitcases on the wall, the cozy couches with travel motifs. Brilliant! It was exactly the kind of place one might imagine Miss Marple would stop to have her cuppa before solving the mystery. (Agatha Christie nostalgia setting in, need to read one quickly!)

Well, as I was tired and my throat felt a bit scratchy, went for a Masala Chai. Now I've usually avoided masala chai in the south. I had a hideous experience in the office where he served me payasam in a cup, and that taught me to stick to coffee! But this was Lloyds TEA house... how could they mess it up? Well, I'll tell you how: there was no "kadak-ness" to the tea, it was waaaaay tooo miiiillllkkkyy and the masala was non-existent. They'd put tulsi, which is rather nice, when it complements instead of takes over. I added sugar, just so I could get it down my throat, but it ended up being a payasam - which I could have gotten in the office for FREE!

I also had a chilli cheese toast - a complete misnomer - for there was very little heat, a miserable excuse for cheese, and the bread was as white as untoasted bread! Frankly, there are many ways to get a good chilli cheese toast - the cheese must be nice and mild, the chillis hot, and the toast nice and brown. The taste wasn't too bad for all that. I think they used jalapeneos - normal desi chillis would have been much better, and much cheaper!

Then finally, tried the roasted veggie pizza. It looked rather scary - could not make out one vegetable from the other - basically brown gloop interspersed with cheese. The base was sad and couldn't really hold the toppings - it kept breaking or bending and let everything slide back on the plate. I made do by calling for chilli flakes and adding copiously. The taste was ok. The bread was not very nice, the sauce was insipid, but the roasted veggies were nicely herbed and tasted ok.

Damages: to my pocket about Rs. 400, to my soul IMMEASURABLE!

I was so excited about this place, and the ambiance and decor were PERFECT! Too bad the food didn't live up to it's mark. I'm really dejected.

Will I go again - Possibly! Given the sad lack of nice joints in Chennai, I'll probably go back - and stick to the rose hips tea which most other reviewers have recommended.

Item: Masala Chai, Roasted Veggie Pizza, Chilli Cheese Toast
Price: Rs 407
Cafe: Lloyds Tea House
Address: Lloyds Rd, Gopalapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600086
VFM: Meh! Better make tea and toast at home.
The Queen's Verdict: Off with their heads!

Hunger at midnight

Well, it was closer to 2 am than to midnight, and I was STAARVING!  Now what to do! Too sleepy to cook or even put together a sandwich!
My first GO TO is bread and butter, but tonight, that just wouldn't do! Then I remembered: Choccocarre by Swiss Delice. Wafer biscuits with a thin layer of hazelnut covered by a droolicious layer of Swiss milk chocolate. OH MY GOD!
The chocolate was molten as had forgotten to refrigerate the pack (Chennai HEAT!) But that just added to the overall deliciousness of this oh so yummy treat!
I had planned to take pics of the actual pieces, but once I'd opened the packet, I decided to not waste any time dawdling and went right for the biscuits. So you'll have to content yourself with a photo of the box!

Item: Chococarre by Swiss Delice
Available at: Nuts & spices and Browntree (maybe others, I'm not sure)
Price: Rs. 250 (hideously expensive for 8-10 pieces but, TOTALLY WORTH IT!)
Rating: As many crowns as I can spare!

An unexpected feast

So there I was STAAARVING! Having forgotten my dabba at home, I'd relegated myself to living like a Somalian for a few hours (There are some that might imply I should do this more often, but i choose to ignore these trogledytes and move on!)

Well, so to get back to me, there I was STAAARVING! stomach rumbling, wondering how I could face the next couple of hours before I could escape and find the nearest eatery when my colleagues came down and told me we had lunch on the house (or rather, the office!) today from the Taj Club House!

WOOHOO! The food Gods must be pleased with me! So I thanked the food Gods that be, and went to indulge in this unexpected feast!

It started with a sweet corn soup, which I avoided coz they generally make 'em too salty for my taste. The Papdi chaat was MEH! The pasta salad was alright, a bit sour - I have no idea why! - and the moong dal salad, which I had high expectations from didn't really meet the mark.

So then I moved on to the mains - there was a very nice veggie pulav made just right and bland enough to set off the veggies - paneer lababdar & gobi malai masala (or some such!). The paneer was comme-ci-comme-ça but the gobi was WONDERFUL! Well cooked, the sauce was a perfect foil for the tender florets. This was followed by the star of the meal - a Spinach-corn bake! yummmmm! There was a dal indus, but it really didn't make any impact one way or the other.

The desert table had malai sandwich, moong dal halwa and icecream. I tried the first two. The malai sandwich was DISAPPOINTING! I can get better at Shree Mithai! But the halwa - wah wah! SUPERLATIVE! Now if only there was a nice coffee to follow it... but I guess I'll have to go home for that.


Item: Lunch Buffet
Price: Unknown
Caterer: Taj Club House
Address: No. 2, Club House Road, Anna Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600002
Phone: 044 6631 3131
VFM: Considering free, and I was starving - TOTALLY!
Rating:

Veggie Quesadilla at The Movies at the Spring Hotel

So if you're ever in Chennai, and want to grab a bite, there are many places I could recommend - but in this post I'm covering a gem I discovered very recently called "the Movies" at the Spring Hotel. The movies is open 24/7 and offers a wide variety of dishes that could tempt any discerning foodie. The decor is based on the theme of movies, so the place is a bit dim on the lighting, but don't let that put you off! The food is DELIGHTFUL!

I was really not very hungry, so I ordered a quesadilla. Now I have had some HORRIFYING experiences in the past with dry, rubbery, even cardboardy quesadillas. The problem with quesadillas is that people just don't seem to care about them. It needs to be stuffed, but not too stuffed; firm, but not too firm; cheesy, but not too cheesy... it's a delicate balancing act that most restaurants just don't care about.

So when I ordered it, I sent up a silent prayer to the Gods that be, and BOY did they listen! The Quesadilla served up was a true delight! Chock-full of veggies (including cauliflower, broccoli, assorted bell peppers, beans, carrots, onions and peas) tossed in a piquant red sauce, held with a nice mild cheese, enveloped in a thin (yet sufficient!) flour tortilla and last (but certainly not the least!) partnered with a spicy hot salsa! This is the quesadilla I've been dreaming about for all these years!

Oh my God! It was brilliant! I had asked and the food Gods (or rather, Chef Raja Ramaswamy!) had delivered. I was estatic!

Item: Veggie Quesadilla
Price: Rs 180
Restaurant: The Movies at the Spring Hotel
Address: 11, Kodambakkam High Rd, Taylor Estate, Kodambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034
Phone: 044 4050 9999
VFM: TOTALLY!
Rating: