Cream Centre, RA Puram, Chennai

It was vegetarian season, thanks to an upcoming trip to Sabarimala. We had been frequenting the usual idli-dosa places, and wanted to try something different, but also particular that it had to be a full and only vegetarian restaurant. While Cream Centre was one of the options that night, i wasnt quite sure where it is located. Well, we found it without any difficulty. We were also lucky, we were early, in by 7pm, and managed to find a table within about 5-10 mins. As we entered, i was wondering where we had come, since it seemed decent but rather ordinary.

All that changed when we were seated and presented the menu. For once, the waiter at our table, gave us an extra menu, meaning more than the usual 2 or 3 normally provided at a table at restaurants. I wonder if we should start ranking restaurants based on ratio of menus to guests at a table. By that category, i would give this place a four star rating - "****". Anyway, the menu presented, was breathtaking, mind-blowing, and fantastic....(please insert any other accolades possible). The pictures, the presentation, the sampling provided, simply amazing. An appropriate movie dialogue would be from Jerry Macquire, "you had me at hello".

It soon turned into another problem. What to order.... or for the first time, in recent history, what not to order? It was tough choice to pick something and leave out another. It was like you were doing great injustice to the Onion Rings, by picking the Cheeseballs. But finally we did pick the cheeseballs and falafel as starters, lahori sizzlers (based on the my waiter's advice), veg panner sizzler, penne pasta and quesadilla (thats case-a-diya, not kusad-illa !!). Ordering out of the way, we settled for the usual long wait for food to arrive. Only to be surprised. The food came fast to the table, but in the wrong order and one at a time.

We had the Penne Pasta first, immediately followed by the falafel sandwich. In a few mins, just enough for the solitary falafel sandwich to go around the table, for a measly bite each, we had the cheeseballs and the quesadilla. So two dinners and the two starters. The quesdilla looked more like a starter, as we were waiting for the sizzler, we decided we must augment the order. And we ordered an aloo methi parantha!. The penne pasta was still be worked by my kid, but everything else had disappeared from the table. We were then presented the veg panneer sizzler. It is now that the waiter had realized that he was missing something, he soon came and apologized for the missing sizzler. I guess there is a reason why i am the butt of all the jokes, thanks to my blog. That was my sizzler, and my mouth that had watered at the menu stage was soon going dry. Still waiting for the sizzler, we received the parantha. I was done eating, or my appetite was gone. I had half the mind to cancel the order. Everyone else had finished their meal, and the parantha was like an extra filling and making its rounds.

Well, i did get my sizzler, all steaming and hot. I was hungry and so i swallowed my pride along with some of the hot steamy food. The sizzler was good, but i may have given it raving ratings, if it had come sooner. Now it was just too hot, and had to be transferred to another plate from the iron skillet, and seemed more messier than it should have been. All this wait and some extra food, ate into empty space for dessert. So it was left to me to slowly work my way through the sizzler, while others watched. A nearby table had a very similar problem, all but one order had reached the table. We exchanged glances, but i guess they too were in a similar state, one person hungry and still waiting for food.

In summary, it was a good place, good food, a tad bit expensive, but the service like most other places was just about average. In all this mess up, my waiter, was friendly, but his manager or bosses didnt make their appearance or even make apologies. I was tempted have a small chat, and cancel, but i had not eaten, and i kept wondering if this poor chappy's salary would be docked because of some mistake in the kitchen. I only wish people in the service business took some more care. It would help attract and retain customers.

But then who really cares. We finished our meal, paid up, with a decent tip (in-spite of the small mess up) and walked outside into a sea of people. From madi-sarai mammis to noisy children to english speaking tamil-girls to kurtha-pyjama daddies and many of the usual all-veggie desi crowd. At that point the wait would have been anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. What the hell, why would anyone care about attracting customers and more importantly retaining them!. In an country of a billion people, where almost 30% have all the money to spend, and fewer places to spend them in, you cant expect great service. Demand is always higher than supply.

Oh by the way, before i sign-off, a place that charges about Rs. 100 for small starter, can afford to have more than one bathroom per gender accessible.

Vrindavan, New Woodlands, Chennai

This is not new, its been there for ages. This is one of the restaurants inside the New Woodlands Hotel, on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai. This is their attempt to 'up the scale', i guess more on the monetary side, than on the service side. The restaurant is a multi-cusine vegetarian restaurant, and is also 'Jain food' friendly. I have been to this hotel a million times, but 99 times of a hundred it is to the faster 'south indian restaurant' now called Krishna Restaurant. The visit to the Vrindavan side is only when there are special 'guests' in the party, or if the other side is packed.

Food is not a problem here. It was never a problem with this or the other restaurant in New Woodlands. In fact, the name 'woodlands' has become quite generic, and i have not been disappointed visiting one of these copies or originals or branches (i dont think they are branches, but more like within the family or something like that !!, i dont know and so no judgement regarding that). It appears that if you name something woodlands, the food is decent to good.

The service on the other side is somewhere between indifferent to decent. It appears to be a common trait with all restaurants in India. It is difficult to get good quality service. This place wasnt so bad, but, i am sure there is scope to improve. We ordered Idly, Dosa (couple of different varities) and then later coffee. Well, if you go to a Woodlands, get the Idly and Dosa, not the noodles and roti/naan etc. Straying from this mantra is asking for unnecessary trouble. Not that it will suck, but hey, if you wanted roti/naan, go to a dabha. Yeah, except its difficult to find a vegetarian dabha.

I am sure they share kitchens at this hotel, because i couldnt find any spectacular difference in taste. They all tasted just as good. One thing that stands out, and caught my fancy, while sitting and eating, is the decor. There are some beautiful painting or pictures, primarily based on Krishna, but also mainly keeping with the theme of Vrindavan. I snapped the picture on the right, a long while ago using a camera phone. The reddish tinge, was because of the limited lighting inside.

One other comment about the Woodlands place, is the bathrooms. It is common to all the restaurants, and it is kept quite clean. There is a guy also standing there, watching like a hawk for split water etc., and cleaning it up fast and regularly. For that purpose alone, it is worth repeat visits. While this is great, the parking can be crazy when the marriage halls are full. So good to avoid the place when the marriage season is in full swing.

Ratna Cafe, T Nagar, Chennai

This is not the first visit to Ratna Cafe. I have been to original in Triplicane, as well as to this one in T Nagar before. While i did rave about the sambar-idly combo before, this time around, we were served a watered down version. It was clear, just as the clear liquid floating, when the sambar was presented in a sitting cup.

The ambience has deteriorated since my last visit a few years ago, when it was fairly new. The service too seems have become poorer since then. There wasnt any exceptional crowd in the A/C dining room upstairs, to warrant this bad service. The food was decent, if you were to excuse the sambar. The server did bring in some fresh can of sambar (this is the trademark dispensing dish), but it was not a major improvement. I think the sambar of the day was a disaster.

We may not visit this place again. Rather try the location in Velachery or probably brave the visit to original.

Osteria, Deccan Plaza, Royapettah, Chennai

This is vegetarian season, that is because of the Sabarimala mandalam time. And so there is frantic effort to constrain ourselves to Veggie places in the city. This in itself might throw people off. What looking for a veggie place in Chennai ? Well, yes, but it should not be a dosa idly place !!

Anyway back to Osteria. A recent article in The Hindu about a dosa festival let us to the Deccan Plaza Hotel. Only to find out that the Dosa buffet actually closes at 6:30 !! So not wanting to hit the streets, we walked across the lobby to Osteria, a vegetarian Italian dinning experience.

We were welcomed very warmly, considering that there was only one other patron seated inside. Jokes apart, the people were very friendly and even brought some popcorn to the table, because my kid had seen it inside. It is normally only served as sides when you order a drink. Hunger in the stomach, lead us to order fast. An appetizer, a salad and main courses.

Hummus was our choice. Dont ask me why. When i saw it, i felt like it. The salad was regular salad with ceaser dressing. The pasta was penne pasta with red sauce and a lazagna (with a request to hold zucchini). Soon, they delivered a loaf of hot garlic bread. Soft and succulent, it melted as you chewed on it. The hummus and salad arrived, both decent, but with no major shakes to talk about. I guess that was only because it paled in comparison (from a story view) on what was to follow.

The penne pasta arrived, hot and steaming, done very well and was quickly dished out to all of us. The sauce was well done and had coated the pasta well, making it a very nice and tasty meal. I was pleasantly surprised by this pasta meal. I guess that answers the expensive price tags. Authentic cooking or good chefs can be expensive. But the experience so far was shattered by the lasagna. I guess since we said 'no zucchini', we were to be punished.

The lasagna was filled with stuff, that included peas. But the taste was killing, the cheese (forget the name), was so pungent and sour that it immediately was rejected by all, except me. Well i am a fan of things sour, buttermilk, puliyodharai, sambar etc. Talking about sambar, this lasagna was close to sambar rice, or maybe we can call it sambar pasta with cheese. The veggie filling in between broken strips of pasta felt like you were eating some mashed sambar rice. Inspite of the pungent flavour, i did manage to take a couple of helpings (small tho'). But this would be on our avoid list in the future.

Not wanting to leave with a bad taste, we ordered chocolate cake, over tiramisu. And we were not to be disappointed.

To sum it all, it was a pleasant experience, a tad bit on the expensive side. The expensive part didnt reflect in portions, presentation, decor or otherwise. It however was served with a pleasing smile and friendly people. I must however, caution, that the restaurant was quite empty and not sure if the same experience can be expected under the duress of a full crowd.

Grains of Paradise, RA Puram, Chennai

This is a new place, about 8 months old, as admitted by one of the waiters at the restaurant. I had seen this place a few times, but never grabbed my attention. There is also an Italian restaurant named Mmmafia, just above this place, run by the same management.

First off, parking is a pain everywhere in Chennai, and this place is not different. And so, the thankful service of valet parking solves this frustration quickly. However, when you leave the keys, you are befuddled, as to how they are going to solve the problem.

One flight of stairs, and you are at the entrance of this interesting dining place in Chennai. Well, it is a vegetarian food place !! I was a little surprised, the decor, the menu, and all, you would have thought different. You are just used to this, vegetarian means Saravana Bhavan and Udipi places, and Tandoori/Chinese cuisine means non-veg is included.

The dining experience was mixed. They had a good collection of food (new names, combinations you may not have heard off before). The specialty choices appears mostly from the north (Jaipuri, Rajasthani etc find mention in the menu). One interesting started we tried was Makki Sheekh, a combination of panneer and corn/maize. Panneer in many forms appears all over their menu. Thanks to the large crowd we went with, we had to settle for the tame, malai kofta and panneer butter masala along with some rotis, to ensure that it was acceptable by most. The malai kofta had a distinct taste, while the panneer butter masala was a disappointment. Their rotis and naans had nothing noteworthy to speak about, but were good enough and as expected from a decent tandoor oven.

A few people from our party also ventured into chinese food and were not disappointed. I tasted a lil bit of the american chopsuey, and it was good, but i chose to stick with my pudhina parota (they were out of methi !!) and garlic naan. As is usual, in these group dining efforts, there is roti/naan left at the end of the curry dish, or the roti/naan run out soon. And then the second order takes long enough to kill all appetite. This time was not very different.

Somewhere in the middle i was enthused to try out lassi, considering the food so far looked and tasted decent. And i was thoroughly disappointed with the watery buttermilk mixed in with some dry fruits, which looked more like crap floating. But the people were kind enough to try a second time, with no major improvements. I must now state, that the service was better than par, and people took care to serve and attentive in general.

The dessert was a limited menu. They were also had only vanilla, strawberry, choclate, butterscotch and mango ice-creams !! I mean they should have a problem carrying more flavours, considering they only had about 5 other items on the dessert section. The special of the day was jelebi with ice-cream. The other item ordered was the shahi-tukda. Both of these were awesome. The jelebi fresh and hot, and so a little late, but served with nice cold vanila ice cream. The shahi-tukda was neatly done, small pieces, mixed in with dried fruits and nuts, again the best i have tried of this dish so far.

All in all the experience was very welcoming and pleasureful. The prices were also not exorbitant, but reasonable for the place. I plan to go back, and try some different items on the menu. I will be sticking to the tandoor and Indian cuisine, 'cause if i want chinese, i think there are other options.

BR Matsya, TNagar, Chennai

Something new, something not talked about much in the press or web so far. I think the restaurant has been around for sometime, as in atleast a few months, or maybe even about a year. I read about it somewhere, i dont completely recall, but i never did locate it before. The road it is located on, Thanickachalam Rd, is one of the less traveled, atleast for me, cause it leads to the busy intersection at Pondy Bazar.

It was by happenstance that i located it. And yesterday, saturday, when my better half, chooses to vegetate (i mean eat vegetarian only), i chose this over the many other options. And no disappointment there, it was a clear winner. The ambiance, the service and the food, all rolled in together to create a pleasurable experience.

They had wide variety of choices. The most tempting as is usual when it is available, was the dinner buffet. "its only 199 sir", said the host, as he tried to lure us towards this option. If it werent for a heavy lunch, it would have been a no brainer. But the spirits decided otherwise, as were to taste the choice of offerings on the menu, 'a la carte'.

As i said, a quick read of the menu, showed there is so much more to vegetarianism, than just thayir sadam and idly/dosa. Each menu item read better than the other, and there were even some pictures to help you, in case you had a doubt about the label used. Mexican, Pasta, some italian, fries and such, punjabi, chat, and the regular udipi variety.

Well, i was here for the udipi fare today. And so, it was Manglore Bonda, Kara Uppu Puli Dosa for me. The rest of the family went with some staid fare, wife and mom-in-law deciding to eat lite, and my kids, food is just a method to pacify their parents, so that we can go to bed easy. It doesnt really matter, they really like nothing specific, and most everything mashed or mixed together looks and tastes almost the same. But yesterday, my son chose the Fried Panneer, to which he has taken to liking recently.

Manglore bonda arrived first, along with the Fried Panneer. Must tell you know that we had a pleasing chappy who was waiting on us. Indian service in India is much better when compared to the same indian service dished out in desi restaurants in the US, one must wonder if it is something to do with visa and bonded labour. The Manglore Bonda was a tad bit small, small tiny balls, but had the same great taste all the same. The chutneys offered was nothing much to write about.
But the Panneer, was just out of the world. We have tasted this dish in about 2 or 3 forms, thanks to my son's insistence at the dinner table. This was by far, the best we had tasted ever. It wasnt dry, a bit of gravy. The panneer was the best, nice and firm, but still chewy, and nicely fried, but not oily. The gravy managed to coat itself well around each block of panneer. Both these items were quickly vanishing from the table.

Just before we reached a point where we may have had to wait around twiddling thumbs, came the idly for my wife and the Kara Uppu Puli dosai. Idly, a bit i tasted was great as usual, which anyway is a dish difficult to screw up. But the Kara Uppu Puli dosai, was out of the world. It had all the three ingredients as advertised in its name. But the sambhar that came along with it, seemed to dent accolades that would have been solely poured out on the dosai. The sambhar was so tasty that i had to ask for extra serving.

Now, what remained was the rest of the menu. Well, it will have to wait for another trip. And since we have now added this to the list of officially certified and must-visit places, it could be as early as next saturday. 'Cause there's a lot to offer on the menu.

The visit is not complete without a few words on the ambiance. As you enter, on the left is a children play area. Enough to entice parent to make repeat visits. But what will catch your eye, is the intricate glass painting of the Matsya Avataram. A beautiful representation in itself, the artist had also paid a lot of attention to detail. Walk inside the restaurant, its clean, spacey, and nicely chilled. You are again treated to more artwork, this time, it is intricate carvings on wood. It forms the outer frame around a Balaji and Padmavati tanjore style painting. Since we were already seated, couldnt spend time admiring this work. But from where we sat, it looked imposing.