Krishnavilasam- Home food at a price

A get together by mates of a Facebook group made me go this beautiful restaurant. When you step in to Krishnavillasam situated in Haddows Road, Nungambakkam it is a different world all together. Situated  on the main road with near by government offices and a huge corporate nearby, the positioning of the restaurant posh area seems to be a great idea.

The ambience is good. The restaurant is actually on the second and the third floor. There is a lift and was so happy to see a wheelchair there for the elderly and the differently abled. I was After waiting for an hour and half and trying to decide where to get us seated, we finally found ourselves in the Second floor overlooking the main road. A tad disappointed about not being served even water until 10 mins after we got seated.

We had a special menu with 20 dishes and it was an experience to share. Am going to avoid writing much about the blah blah and get down to the dishes right away.

The welcome drink was just another drink, added sugar and watered down heavily . Nothing much to comment about it. It would have been nice if we had a starter or two given along with the welcome drink.

Fried Appalam or Pappad was served as a appetiser or whatever category it fits. Personally speaking its a no go for me as it was too salty. Not my way to start off a meal.

                                                                   
Nice mix of spices and well cooked paneer which was soft and yum. Paneer being a vegetarian's delight. I loved the taste of it. The first batch of it was good but the second serving on, it became very chewy.

Baby Corn cut into long strips , steamed and fried with Palak (Spinach ) and spices. Was tasty and did not get soggy till the end. Palak Vepudu

Paruppu Vada or Vada made with lentils. Lovely to taste and not oily. The vada however felt very out of place in the menu. May be it was to give a south indian twist to the dish but it definitely did not blend in with the other starters.

The Sambar rice was good and I was surprised with lil strips of raw mango in the dish. Tasted much like home made sambar rice with not much masalas.

The sole accompaniment to the Sambar rice was this mash of Potato and Yam fry. Though yam and potato combination are not exactly my favortie, it did taste good. I did not however go for a second helping of either the Sambar rice or the accompaniment

We had an avial and a eruseri as the other two dishes. Aviyal was good while Eruseri tasted like an authentic home made preparation.

The Morkozhambu felt a lil out of place but it tasted nice.  The dessert was a Chinthamani halwa but tasted more like a regular halwa that you have in South India weddings.

I left the halwa at my table to do some socializing and by the time I got back to my dessert, I had to use all my energy to separate my fork and the halwa. It took me about a minute to take the halwa out of the cup to just gulp it down without even relishing it.

To summarize, the food is as good as home food and delicious. On the flip side, would I even go to a restaurant and pay my pocket for home food however delicious it may be when I can get the same thing at home. To add on, the service was terrible. The waiters were running around not knowing what to do next. I had to ask for water to be served thrice before I was served. The so called special menu did not gel well together and left much to be desired.

Krishnavillasam- Not quire what I expected it to be. Hoping the next time around it gets better.

Sangeetha-The song to the Stomach !!

A best evening is when one does not have to go back home after a hard day's work and re heat or cook all over again. And what better than to spend it at a restaurant close to home and talk about everything under the sun. It was an interesting conversation which was shut by the most delectable food. 

Sangeetha on OMR has been my go to place whenever I wanted a South Indian touch to my food but eventually end up home delivering their north Indian fare. This time when we decided to go I recommended Sangeetha more due to the proximity and ofcourse I can for sure say that food cannot go wrong here.

A perfect ambiance with a laid back atomosphere and pleasant lighting started of what was to be a gastronomic delight. 

We started off with a starter of Mushroom Chukka. Mushrooms can go absolutely dry if cooked for too long. This one was however very succulent and juicy. The spice in the chukka was pepper but just about the right amount of it. And we just about loved the taste of it. The quantity was so much that it was good enough for 3 people to share the starter and not feel heavy at the end of the meal. 

The main course was garlic naan and onion kulcha with an accompaniment of Paneer Patiala. The garlic naan for me could have had more flavor of Garlic but then again its an acquired taste and I could enjoy with what was given to me. The onion kulcha was good and interesting mix of the onions with the white sesame seeds bursting with flavor at each bite. 

 

The surprise was however the Paneer Patiala which was completely different from what I actually ate. I expected to have chunks of paneer (the huge slabs) with a different gravy base. What I got however was a spring roll like stuffing cooked along with the gravy. When I did my research on the filling, it was actually the same kind of taste that you get in Khandvi (a Gujrati dish) but it had nothing to do with besan (kadala maavu). It was pure pure paneer powdered and packed with spices then (hold your breath) wrapped in soaked roasted papad (lijjad variety) and cooked along with the gravy. It was granished with grated paneer which was also cooked perfectly. 

My verdict - Yumm. It was most satisfying to note that restos like these are trying to make a difference to the end customers by giving them different dishes. What comes as a surprise is that this comes from an all vegetarian restaurant. I also saw a diet menu of ragi dosa and stuff but could not over burden the stomach and no time to explore it. One extra addition of onion slices and lemon pieces would have made a whole lot of difference to any North Indian fare. We asked for it and we got one small triangular cut piece lemon and chopped onions usually used for Chat items.

We washed down the meal with a lime mint cooler which was nice in taste but not exactly cool. We had asked ice cubes to be added to it. 

A totally satisfying meal worth Rs 600 odd for two people which is total VFM. I also saw a wheel chair which added more joy to the fact that they are differently abled and elderly friendly too. The spacing between tables was quite sufficient to wheel in and out. 

My ratings

Food : 4/5

Ambiance : 5/5

Elderly and Differently abled friendly : 5/5

Try this place and am sure you wont be disappointed.

Fun, Food and Friends- A Precious experience at Amethyst

Amethyst is supposed to be something that's precious and beauty personified. I had been to the Amethyst at the old location in Padmavathi Road, Gopalapuram and was quite miffed at the service. This time when a bunch of friends suggested Amthyst, I really wanted to so not go. Finally I did and I loved the place. This place is much bigger and much more serene though when you step outside, its a chaos due to the traffic.

The ancient statues, the pond,water bodies, immense natural surroundings and the open air set up made it all the more relaxing.

 

I did go there and man I was very happy with what I had ordered. My friends ordered too and they seem to like what was given there.

We ordered the below items

1. Virgin Mojito
2. Peach flavored ice tea
3. Lemon Iced Tea
4. Chicken Club Sandwich
5. Fusili with Chicken and tomatoes
6. Veg Club Sandwich
7. Cold Coffee with Icecream
8. Pita Bread and Hummus

The Virgin Mojito was a tad bland but the iced teas made up for the lack of flavor there. The Peach flavor in the Iced tea immensely pleased the palate. The Lemon tea too was refreshing.

The cold coffee with icecream was good as well just a tad bitter.

The sandwiches were good. Fillings were of sufficient quantity. The only part that was left wanted was the brown bread that wasn't mentioned on the menu. Atleast they did not mention that we had an option to choose the bread for the sandwich. The kids were quite happy though with the food.

The fusili was huge on quantity but was left wantingon the taste. The tomato base wasn't sufficient and tasted a lil bland. The chicken was however well cooked.

Altogether an it was a good fare and I loved the place for its natural settings.

Food : 3.5 on 5
Accessability : 5/5