Kumarakom, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, Chennai

This is only one of the many Kumarakom restaurants in chennai. The others that i know of are located in Shanti Colony, Annanagar and the first one that started it all is at Nungambakkam, near Palm Grove hotel. The main usp of this place is kerala style food, hence the name to show the link to the now famous backwater resort in kerala.

I have eaten from this place a lot. More often delivered to my home, than actually eating at the restaurant itself. The nice part of eating at the restaurant, apart from the food, is the music. There is a karaoke machine, and the people sing along, mainly malayalam songs, but also a few other songs. I have seen one person very regular, maybe the owner. He has decent voice, but the whole experience can be soothing when you are enjoying the food, or very irritating when you are hungry waiting for your food.

My favorite is Karimeen Pollichathu. I really never ate this fish before. But this is a constant order at home and so an acquired taste. But what i really like is the masala. The chilli paste that is rubbed all over the fish. That really sets the flavour for this dish. You can get the same if you order their regular meen fry too.

The other main attraction is the rice, the kerala style boiled rice. I have huge craving for this 'motta-motta chor', or rather the full blooded rice. One look and you would think that this rice will fill you up sooner than eating the regular thin grain variety. But you would be surprised. Kumarakom also serves kerala style parotta. At the restaurant you cannot go wrong by ordering the regular meals, which comes with pappadam, kachiya mullaga and moru. I have tried the drier varieties of chicken, but i am sure they are probably not as great as the beef ulathiyathu etc.

All in all, it is fine food. The service as always falls short, but its nothing to complain about. Its a small restaurant, and so the wait can be long depending on the time you land-up. I, luckily havent had to wait long at all. Most times we are either early for lunch or late, so we miss the peak time.

Tic Tac, Montieth Rd, Egmore, Chennai

I have been to this place a few times, but eaten the food from here (delivery) many times. Their rolls are the most awesome. Coming to think of it, thats all i really get from there. I was there at the restaurant recently, and was provided a similar quality of food.

We ordered egg rolls, panneer rolls, but passed on the chicken rolls (the tikka rolls are good too) because of trying to cut down on meat and non-vegetarian. We also got some rotis and dal-makhani. They also serve chinese too. Now, thats what is amazing in many restaurants in chennai and for that matter in India. They have everything under the sun, instead actually cooking what they are best in.

In any case, the service was not great at the place. It was crowded and full, which is not uncommon these days in any restaurant in Chennai, good or bad. I guess, with this kind of patronage, most restaurants are going to be lax in their service. The owner (i think) being around, helped in this case, he asked his people to reach out to us. So, while it was not bad service, i think extra care is possible.

The food, itself, specially their panneer rolls are amazing. I can easily say, its one of the best i have eaten. There is competition tho', so they need to make sure they keep their edge. And if you dont particularly like their service or having to wait for seating, you can order out (delivery).

Rasam, Purashawalkam, Chennai

Rasam, is the name of a new (not so new now) restaurant started by Sri Krishna Sweets. Rasam serves food from the land called Kongu Nadu. Ok, i too was a little flabbergasted when i heard the name first, not knowing the history or geography of Kongu. The hyperlink will take you to wikipedia which has all the information you may want to know about Kongu Nadu, or the land of the Gounders.

Some of the items that were on the menu, is something you are so used to, that you dont realize where they came from. Of course to most food lovers, the history of the food and its origins are so inconsequential compared to the joy of just tasting and eating the food itself. The restaurant and the decor inside reminds you of an old home, complete with furniture and art pieces.

We landed up there on a later thursday evening, to a crowded joint. We were greeted very politely and asked to wait in a spacious waiting area, with magazines and stuff to keep you occupied. Well, the only thing on our minds was food. We didnt have to wait very long. Smiling faces amongst the well groomed staff, helped a lot, in maintaining your peace as we waited for our turn.

The ordering was tough. The food is all vegetarian. But there a huge number of choices, that it was tough to decide which to try. And i think i will not be doing justice if i tried to list the options i tried. Everything we ordered, we wiped it clean of the serving plate. We picked a bunch of appetizers, and a couple of main course items, so that we got a sampling of the menu. But yet, i think, we didnt do justice. I intend to go back again. Soon.

The only downside, is the bathroom, not the wash room. The bathroom, toilet, loo or restroom, what ever you want to call it, was hidden away in the back, by the staff quarters. I am not sure why they didnt think it was important to keep one where patrons could access it easily. Now as to why, i wanted to use it so urgently? Well, with two kids, its tough to predict when they choose to use these services, usually its when it most difficult to access or find.

Basera, ECR Road, Chennai

This was long due, well atleast was more due, since i knew it was owned by my classmate from school. I had noticed this many times, but we were always in a hurry to get somewhere, Mahabs, Mayajal, Pondi, etc. And since it is located on left side of the road, when driving away from the city, it is not easy to stop by, when you are returning from your destination, to pick this out as a place to eat.
But that was before. Now that i have been there, tasted the food and service, i think i am ready for more. Even i as was turning into the restaurant entrance, i wasnt sure if this belonged to my friend or not. But the small writing on the entrance of the name of the company gave it away.

First things first, nice parking. Any decent restaurant must provide some amount of parking for its patrons. While this is difficult to expect inside the city, it is a must outside. Well there is plenty of parking and neatly laid out too. As we turned the corner inside the parking lot, the children squealed in delight on seeing the small playground. To my disappointment they were now planning to immly run into the playground. It was as life saver, considering that food always takes time to be delivered to your table.

They have multiple options in seating. You can be seated in the open, under a tree on wooden tree trunks for a table and stool, or you can opt the traditional indoor air-conditioned seating, or for the more adventurous, you can climb up to the room on stilts. We opted for the third, as we didnt want to loose out on the pleasant and breezy outdoor, but also didnt want to be dodging the sun, as it played hide and seek between the thick clump of trees and shrubs. Thats the other part, the number of trees, shrubs, plants and other stuff they have taken time and attention to grow and groom.

The main attraction was the food itself. It was good to great. We started with Chicken sheek kabab and Chicken Tikka kabab, both were well done and marinated. Its not one of my great favs but i do pop a piece of it every now and then. And this was good too. Basera, too had different cuisines to offer typical of most places in Chennai, it had the regular north-indian punjabi, chinese, continental and a small offering of south-indian too. We stuck with punjabi, since i was in the mood for bread (naan and roti). So quickly we ordered Butter Naan, Pudina Paratha and Aloo paratha, along with Daal Makhani and Dahi. An order of chicken biriyani completed the lunch order.

The butter naan was on the of flakiest and softest ever. The pudina paratha was soft and crisp too, meaning, it had a nice crisp exterior and a soft chewy inner layer. The aloo paratha was a little disappointing, but then i have never really eaten a good aloo paratha for a long long time. The chicken biriyani was tame, nothing to rave or complain about. But the Daal Makhani, is something to write about, was nice, creamy and flavourful. I have seen so many perversions of this dish that should be pretty easy to cook, that its not unusual to get disappointed. But this was just perfect Daal Makhani ever, there are a few other places i have eaten that dish out such good one.

Before i close out, i must also write about the dahi (yoghurt). Altho' it was not a perfect solid version, which would have been more pleasing to the eye, its the taste that matters at the end. Yoghurt taste can vary based on the culture or base used to develop the yoghurt. Well that is science, what mattered was, the dahi here again didnt disappoint me. Another basic item that restaurant ignore or are casual about, but an important part of the indian meal, that a small screw-up here, can ruin the entire appetite.

When everything but the chicken biriyani had been completely cleaned out. We ordered for Gulab Jamun, one order with ice cream. The Jamun appeared made from scratch, and so seemed a lil unshapely, but that also caused it to taste great, unlike coming from a box or factory like setting. And add ice cream to the syrup to get the one of the best dessert ever.

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.

Traffic Jam, Adyar, Chennai

I have eaten from this place many times, since my home is about 200 yards aways. We order deliver or have the food picked up by our watchman from this place quite often. Usually its to meet an immediate need to meet the carnivorous instinct within, that craves for meat.

Its kind of weird, that how your body craves for a particular food. I guess its all in the mind. Or maybe not, its probably more in your mouth, as the saliva oozes out of each pore of the mouth, filling it with taste that you think you had the last time you ate the same food.

Anyway, the food, specially the parrotta and fish fry is recommendable from here. I havent eaten too much other than this and boneless chicken fry, which by the way is also decent. But, while i may have some doubts if i will order from this place again (i will come to the reason later), i think there are a few plus points that one must consider before completely dismissing this place.

My Family and i, decided to take stroll from our home to the Food World or Spencer's Daily as it is now called. After buying noting much, we were trying to determine where to eat, as we were passing Traffic Jam. Since we had ordered from here before, we didnt think too much about walking in. Fortunately they have an airconditioned section, which keeps the hot/humid madras air and dust from the Sardar Patel road away from your food, but fortunately they are not well lit, so you dont know if you are in for any surprise.
And we were, as we sat and were looking thru the menu, a huge cockroach, ran right through the middle of us, across the front of the table, slighting us humans and daring us to kill him. Well, since we had invaded his or her privacy, i guess it was right for such a strike back. And it worked, we ran for our lives, because my wife cannot stand roaches, not even if they are a mile away. And the fact that there was a bold fella' running around, was not good for us.

Well, as to ordering from here, i may still choose to do so. One cause, we never had a problem before with the food, two, cause it is fast, and three, what are the other alternatives?

Raaj Bhavan, Nungambakkam, Chennai, India

Raaj Bhavan is located at the major intersection in Nungambakkam, where Village Road and Nungambakkam High Rd meets. It used to be haunt for me, thanks to the easy access from the sterling road, bus stand. Even after starting work at NIIT on college rd, and the opening of Nagas (closed since then, and now some Sangeeta), Raaj Bhavan was a place to meet and eat, when the budgets were low.

Since moving out of the area, i havent visited the real Raaj Bhavan. They do have a section on top, where they serve stuff in an air-conditioned environment. Unfortunately since they serve stuff thats not in their domain (idly dosa etc), its better to skip these. Downstairs on the other hand is probably best now only for an early morning weekend visit, because the place is crowded with office going staff, like me. Except that i am now, never hitting a restaurant for weekday breakfast or lunch.

Their claim to fame if any, was again sambar. When i used to eat there, i remember that they had one of the better tasting sambars. I, off course, hadnt tasted the Ratna Cafe sambar. So now the reasons to eat here is even less, when you think of the one thing that would draw you to it. Also in my recent visit to the more 'posh' looking upstairs, left me very displeased. The place has been neglected and requires a lot of maintenance. The food is still very decent, but i think it safe to pass, considering there are other options in the city today.

Its sad, when you think of the possibilities this place had, and the start. Most important of it all, like they say in the restaurant business, location. Its quite possible that this place is raking in the moolah, and the management couldnt care less about spending additional money in its upkeep. Today the real estate price for this location will be way higher that the business potential of the current restaurant.

Sri Krishna Sweets, Adyar, Chennai, India

Sri Krishna Sweets is not originally from Chennai, it is based on Coimbatore, further south in TamilNadu. But soon after it set base in Chennai, it has revolutionized the sweet-meats business in the city.

Of special note is the mysurpa (or mysorepak, altho' i dont think it has anything to do with mysore). Today if i were to buy or eat mysurpa, i wouldnt get it from anywhere else, other than from Krishna Sweets. It is difficult to believe that i used to occasionally nibble on something of this kind before, because it was called by the same name, but compared to what Krishna Sweets make, that was like eating plain sugar and flour mix. The mysurpa from Krishna Sweets is in a very volatile form, you must consume it immediately otherwise it would melt in your hands. You would rather have it melt in your mouth.

Krishna Sweets also makes a boat load of other stuff. They also have a ladoo which is supposed to be an imitation of the famous 'Thirupati' ladoo. Its close, but you will know it is an imitation. I also like the sweet and masala poli that they make fresh. Recently they introduced food and snacks, i guess keeping in line with their restaurant background. And it is pleasing offer from them.

Krishna Sweets also has something more than sweets and food to offer its patrons, music. Sometime back they introduced a concept of live music (classical kind). Although i havent visited the restaurant during a performance, i have seen the stage and all the prerequisites for such performance.

A daily event from Krishna Sweets

Hotel Saravana Bhavan, Royapettah, Chennai, India

Hotel Saravana Bhavan, or HSB as i call it now, has numerous branches. All over Chennai, there is one close to you, like finding an ATM. And now they have a few or more in other parts of the world. The hallmark of HSB, is consistency, unlike our Indian cricket team. Its like a McDonalds, only that the food is cooked fresh, unlike throwing 'boxed patties and french fries into boiling oil' fresh. The food tastes almost the same in every branch and location of HSB.

The only problem, i have, if any, is what to choose. I know HSB makes all kinds of stuff, including chinese and tandoori items, but i try to stick to our south-indian stuff. The reason, if i want chinese i would go to a chinese restaurant and for tandoor a punjabi place. I am at HSB, for their dosas, idlies, poori, and the likes. So, back to the choice, amongst this long list of south-indian stuff. Its always a tough choice, and i end up with some kind of dosa or dosai. Rava, Masala, Butter or some newer variant. If it is not Rava Dosai, then my instruction will include, soft dosai, not crisp like pappad. I hate paper dosai, what the hell, why would anyone eat it. My wife loves it, crispier the better. For me, dosai has to be crisp on the outside, kind of thick, and soft on the inside and of course flowing with butter.

HSB has started speciality restaurants, and the one i am writing about specifically here is the one on Peters Road, Royapettah, called Swathi. Go early, and you will find a place to sit, if you are any late, you will need to wait for your table, for a long time. Small place, but it can easily crowded. With all the restaurants in the city, a lot of them seem to want to wander here. For us it is place to be after a late nite movie, specially after a tiring and boring one. Its also close to the Satyam Cinemas.

The reason i stuck the logo picture (i couldnt grab a better picture), is because there are a lot of restaurants that have been using this name and passing-off as HSB. So dont get fooled about the quality when you visit a Saravan Bhavan, and find bad food, and then you realize its missing an 'a' in Saravana.

Hotel Saravana Bhavan

Mainland China, Nungambakkam, Chennai, India

Simply wow. This has to be the best, repeat, the best, chinese food place in town. I am sure there are smaller restaurants that can churn out this kind of food. But this is the best i have eaten ever, in India and in the US. I wonder if the chinese in China can cook better than this. Ok, thats carrying it too far.

I have been there many times, and is still one of the better joints to visit as a family. Its not cheap, but nor is it outrageously expensive. The environment is five-star class, and the service is great. The food service was mixed, in the sense sometimes fast and sometimes a tad-bit slow. But there has been nothing that has stuck in my head as an issue. The restaurant is spacious and restroom (i think is always a good indication of the quality of the place) is clean and well maintained.

Now the food, that is the best part. I am not so sure where to start. The starters, cripy spinach and fried corn are my favourites. There is of course the usual spring rolls and drumsticks and the unusual. In the main course, the pick is really just about anything. I have tasted a few of the chicken and veg dishes, and each one is unique and tastes great. The noodles, is one of the best i have tasted. I usually dont like noodles, but this place i recently took some, and it was awesome. I need to try somemore, the next time.

But before i finish i must talk about daarsaan and date pancake, the desserts. Each of these with ice-cream is the reason to save some space at the end of the meal. They also have a nice business lunch buffet during weekdays which offers a collection of dishes, and includes daarsaan and ice-cream. A reason to visit for lunch more often. But since i tend to skimp on food during lunch, it becomes a tough choice to go to a buffet place. There is something about buffet and over-eating. I wonder what !!

Visit to Mainland China can be pleasant experience. The hotel has also solved the car parking problem, by introducing valet parking (the new fad in town, thanks to the parking problem).

Mainland China