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

A Kryptos by Wili- A Greek Experience

Kryptos by Willi, the name had been quite intriguing for quite sometime. I had been to  KNK road in Nungambakkam infinite number of times and I used to wonder what this place was all about. I knew Willi was a name but I did not know what it was all about. When I was invited to be a part of a dinner here, I did not hesitate to pass this Opportunity up. Driving through on a weekday, that too to the traffic zone of 

Chennai can be particularly cumbersome.I was late by the time I got here, everyone was already seated and the soup was just about to be served. We started out with the Asparagus Soup. I recently discovered the health benefits and the taste of Asparagus and was quite curious to the taste of the same in Soup. And it did not disappoint. It was smooth, creamy and delicious.

Rice Stuffed capsicum, the paneer kebab and the Feta and spinach pie was simply awesome. :)The next was the Spinach Stuffed Pie.I simply loved it. Being a thorough south Indian, it did remind me of a dish that we make out of spinach but this was very different. 

The Desserts came next and the Baklava was delicious.

 The place is situated right on the main road (Knk Road) and has a lift which takes you to the basement where the restaurant is. Altogether a great place for greek food. Must say that it was my first try and I did enjoy it.

Food : 4/5
Ambience : 5/5
Accessibility : 5/5

Adoniya-The Adonis of Desserts

Located in the heart of the city in Chetpet, this cute little haunt is just what I was looking for all the time. Spaced just enough for 4 tables, the place oozes oomph with the desserts on display. Adoniya Cafe is  complete with desserts, books and coffee ( my categorization).So when the CFG showcase came up for Adoniya, I simply could not resist.

The name means the Lord is God and one of Beauty n Desire and it turns out that this place IS the God of all beautiful and mouthwatering Desserts !! Set up in a small space, its my idea of a cafe where i can come, read books and enjoy eating too. Am a member of the a food group on Facebook and when they announced the showcase for Adoniya, I simply could not resist going. I am a food lover and grew up with the smell of fresh warm cake from the oven.The smell was simply tantalising. I had ordered for a cake about a year back and I loved at the creativity that was on displayed. And since then Maaria and me have been in touch. Maaria Kulusum Tanveer started this as an offshoot to her boutique (which is adjacent to the cafe and a must visit too :) ). Since this was a visit to her Cafe, we shall stick just to that.

First up was the stuffed bun that we had. I devoured it without even asking what it was all about. The taste was good and so was the filling of the bun. Usually there is a smatter of filling in the bun but this was quiet sufficient.

I quenched my thirst with a Lemon Tea a new favorite of mine. The cutlery matched the ambience perfectly :). Started to become a Lemon Tea aficionado with this :)

The corn sandwich was another tasty yet filling fare. Slightly different from what I usually taste in a corn sandwich. Then came the Katti roll. This was totally yumm and the sauces were too good. I loved the Pudina chutney flavor on the inside. It had the right balance of everything .

Next came the platter of desserts. Everyone of them absolutely divine.I personally loved the Lemon tart and the Savory Tart. A bite of the Chocolate cup cake and the red velvet mini took me to a different world altogether. The strawberry roulade was good but the others took my heart away.Pavlova was yummm too :D

The "my favorite" part comes now. Apple Crumble, Red Velvet cake with ice cream and the chocolate sundae. I loved the Chilli chocolate Sunday. The chocolate sauce had a hint of Chilli which gave a heavenly taste to the dessert.

Oh yea.. i almost missed mentioning about the Cupcakes which were droolicious. The one in the far left was a chocolate, middle one was a vanilla and the last one was the red velvet. I unfortunately since cream is not my forte I did not taste the ones displayed above but I did sneak in on a plain vanilla cupcake and it was totally yumm.

Approach wise, there are a lot of steps to climb and I struggled at the last 2 steps but the food more than made up for all of it.

My ratings on the place as below

Ambience - 4 /5
Food - 4/5
Accessability-2.5 /5

Rajdhani- A Chennai Express

Dinner plans abound and after deciding between Darios, Dhabba Express and Annalakshmi, we went for the fourth option of Rajdhani at Phoenix mall. I was excited as I have had food at Rajdhani in Bangalore, and was all excited to go and taste the same thing. The ambience was too good. Loved the way you are welcomed with a Chandan ka Tilak (a small line drawn on your forehead with a twig or small instrument). It was refreshing. Reminded me of cold towels given in flights. The place is well lit, very accessible (Naturally as the restaurant functions from a mall). Space is a constraint. It was not very difficult to get a table for 6 considering it was a Friday evening.

Was truly looking forward to eating food there. The expectations had been set and was looking to check if this will live up to the one in Blore. But I think today was just not my day. The food was just about ordinary and did not live up to what I had tasted. Certain dishes were great but some others a complete let down. Its definitely not something that I would rave about/  It did not match what I have had before. Maybe the location change or whatever somehow I was full but was not satisfied.

There was an array of items and they serve it all one after other. They do tell what you have been served but before you can even hear what  they said, they would have moved on.

We were given a chat item first which i think is dahi paapdi chat. The curd was good but otherwise it was tasteless. There were an array of side dishes.

1. Paneer Butter Masala
2. Moong Dal
3. Daal Baati Churma
4. Palak ki Subzi
5. Three varieties of Rotis.
6. Curd Rice
7. Pulao
8. Strawberry flavored Kesari
9. Kichidi
10. Gobi sabzi
11. Semiya Payasam
12. Kadhi
13. Kichidi

The roti and the paneer was good. I enjoyed the Daal Baati churma too. I was appaled by the amount of ghee that was poured on to my plate even before i could answer if I wanted it or not. The Kadhi was good and so was the Kichidi. It was piping hot and totally yumm.

Semiya Payasam and Kesari are not exactly Rajasthani dishes and trust me I would have had it else where too if thats what I came there for.

Service wise.. i wasnt too excited either. The service was too fast and there was no time given to eat and relish the food. It was both a hurried and harried affair.

Disappointed but will come back later if I see more good reviews.

Peaches- A fruity and flavorful destination

Food is such a comfort zone for most of us. Any food be it anything as simple as a chocolate to as exotic as caviar we all derive so much comfort from it. Coming from a family who love to cook, experiment within boundaries and come up with some fantastic dishes, I truly feel blessed.

Peaches. The name stuck a bell. I was wanting to go there for a long time now and I grabbed the opportunity when CFG had announced the showcase. Been to a lot of restos but this one seems a tad different.

The name Peaches  instantly reminded me of Madagascar and all nice memories associated with the movie and the restaurant came flooding into my mind. Located in the busy 100Ft bypass road in Velacherry, this place is definitely a go to when it comes to tasting different types of food and cuisine. Located on the first floor, I found the stairs fairly comfortable to climb (And No they do not have a lift provision).The restaurant is fairly spaced in terms of walking around and can squeeze in a small wheelchair user too.

The ambience is cosy and din have the feel of a "I am in a strange place". The food ofcourse took me to a different world altogether and left me with mixed feelings :)

I found the spacing between the table and the chair/sofa to be small that I had to squeeze myself in. Once settled, I set my eyes on FOOD !!

Started off with Phuket Paneer, Cheese corn balls and Tapas Mushroom. Phuket Paneer was really succulent and the paneer was simply out of the world !! It was cooked just about right and the flavours of the spices came out really well. The mushroom was well done and had the right amount of spices. But one thing that did puzzle me was the similarity in taste of the Paneer and Mushroom. Except for the main ingredient, everything else tasted same as each other !! :). I did taste the soup but it was a bit too heavy for me. The soup was Cream of Bell Pepper.

Cream of Bell Pepper Soup

Phuket Paneer

Phuket Paneer when cut. Wish I had a closer version of the pic. It would have given an idea as to how succulent it was.

Tapas Mushroom

We were given this blue Carcao drink called Deep Blue Sea. I found it interesting as it was topped with salt on the edges just like a shot. Nothing much to say about the drink though.

The main course followed and man it was a different palate experience. First to go was the accompaniments to the Indian Breads.  Dhabewali Dal which was yummy and a plain rice to along with it would have made it the yummiest Dal Chaawal you have ever tasted.

The next was the Bharwan Mirchi Kohlapuri which is basically stuffed mushroom (Stuffing of Paneer, Kohya and Potato) in a yellow gravy. Man!! This was really yumm. No hint of the mirchi (Chilli) any where. It was soo smooth and creamy though a bit too heavy for a gravy.

The next comes my favorite the Rajasthani Bhindi Khadi. Its the comfort food that all of us in India yearn for irrespective of which part you are from. It may be called by different names and a slight variation in taste but this is the ultimate close to any home food you can imagine. And Peaches nailed it completely on this. Again like the Dal, wished there was plain rice to go with this.

The bread accompaniments were good but not great. We had three different breads to choose from too. The preference for the breads and the gravies was to complement each other. Here either the Roti's or naan's were too heavy and the gravy heavy too or it was not a match for the roti.

The Pudhina Paratha arrived and I was waiting to taste this. I have always had a special liking for Pudhina and the first look was impressive. The taste was buttery and could hardly taste the Pudhina there. I kind of moved on to the next one hoping it will be better

The next was Chilli Cheese Paratha. A heavy dish again and by the time i got to this... i was so full that I did not want to drink even a drop of water. But that definitely wasnt to be :).

I thought it was all done and over when the Biriyanis were announced. My stomach was crying out loud for filling it so much :P. But the palate wanted to taste it and said do not miss.

Then came the eternal Indian food. Rice !!! We had two different varieties served that day and both were delicious. It was tasting like home cooked food. The first one was Dum Cooked Kofta Biriyani. It was wonderful to taste with lovely flavour.

The next one however did surprise me. I have'n't had a Soya Biriyani anywhere in Chennai. The Ambur Soya Biriyani was just about right. I am a diet freak and I love foods which will help me in the diet process.This was full of flavor and yumm.

 Then came the desserts. Strawberry Pannacotta and Harlem Brownie Wonton was too good. I was tasting the Harlem Brownie Wonton for the first time and i simply loved it. The chocolate Sauce on top of the wonton with the brownie inside the wonton was really surprising. I did not expect it. Was more like a fortune cookie inside except that it was a brownie. I washed it down with the non alcoholic mocktail called Florida Sunrise which was really too good.

I would rate Peaches as below

Food : 4/5
Ambience : 4/5
Accessability : 2.5/ 5