TechieFoodie

We went to California Pizza Kitchen last week. It was a different experience. Our order consisted of: Berry Mango Smoothie, Tuscan Hummus, California Veggie Pizza, Garlic Cream Fettucini, Red Velvet Cake. The Positives: Yummilicious food, good quantity, pleasant(and a bit over-enthusiastic) service. Berry Mango Smoothie: Our steward suggested us to take a 1/2 portion of this and when this arrived, we were glad we took his advice. If you see the attached pic, that’s how the half-portion looked like after I had tasted it. I wonder if I would’ve felt full if I had taken a full one. And the taste was divine. Tuscan Hummus: Another divine item. I loved it. (Yeah, am a huge fan of Hummus). California Veggie Pizza: This was loaded with veggies and we enjoyed it. In fact, I should say it was over-loaded. It was pretty good. Garlic Cream Fettucini: I loved the pasta, but it was a little too bland. We were later informed that they typically make all their cream pastas bland, unless the customers

We went here couple of weeks ago and it was a pleasurable experience ! Our Order: Zuppa di funghi(Soup), Arancani di riso, Siciliana , Pasta Alla Norma, Cappuccino, Zocciata The Positives: Decent food, Good service, Ambience(though the place was noisy, it still looked nice). Zuppa di funghi: Hands down, this is one of the best soups we had so far. I simply loved it. Arancani di riso: Priced at Rs. 335, this wasn’t all that great to be jumping about, but it wasn’t bad either. It was just ok. Siciliana: Though the pizza was good, I felt it’s not worth it’s price tag. I agree Tuscana is a premium resto, but still the price felt a little too high for this. Pasta Alla Norma: My companion felt the pasta was good. I didn’t taste it because I have a strong dislike towards any pasta made with red sauce or has a slightest hint of red sauce in it. Cappucino: Good. Zucciata: Yummy. I loved their service most of all. The stewards were polite, helpful and attentive. Negatives: I feel that Tuscana’s

We went here for a quick lunch recently. The experience was just average to be honest. The Positives: 1. Ambience 2. Taste 3. Quantity 4. VFM Coming to the menu, This is what we ordered: Hummus(Medium), Kuboos, Cheese Naan, Paneer Hariyali Tikka, Punjabi Kofta, Zaitoon Favaco and Mini Falooda. Ignoring the breads which almost taste the same in most places, Hummus: This was plain hummus without any flavors. I like hummus in any form, so I had no complaints, though my companion felt it was too plain and bland. I would rate this ok. Paneer Hariyali Tikka: Again this tasted like most other places and no special touch was present. Punjabi Kofta: Very average. Wouldn’t mind missing it. Zaitoon Favaco: This was the King of our lunch. I absolutely loved it. I was starting to feel I would never visit Zaitoon Anna Nagar again,(Will be mentioning why shortly), but this made me change my mind. It was brilliant and lovely and yummy. I wish I had treated the place like a desserts-only, instead of tr

I went to Nando’s for a Dinner date recently. And I absolutely loved it! Let me start with the positives first. The Positives: Service Taste Quantity VFM Ambience – Ok I’ll stop here, the list might go endless. Now for the individual items: Peri Peri Hummus and Pita: I literally drooled after tasting this. It was awesome ! I would definitely go again and again for this. Must try. Peri Peri Paneer Kebabs: The Paneer was well cooked and I loved the Kebab. Veg Burger: I loved the burger. Unlike the burgers I’ve had in the regular burger outlets, this one was large in size and was cooked well. It was juicy and tasted mighty fine. I loooovvvveeed it ! Veg Wrap + Potata Wedges Combo: Though this was a combo, they didn’t cut any slack on the quantity of the wedges.(Ref. Picture). The wedges were fried well, quantity was more than sufficient combined with the other items and they were not too oily like in most places. The wrap tasted fine(I tasted only a little of it as I was already full), Po

This review is few weeks old. 3 of us went to Jakob’s Kitchen before new year for lunch. This review is based on the taste buds of pure vegetarians. The Positives: The time taken by them to prepare and deliver the food. The Quantity of the food. Taste I’ll go over the individual items. Murungaikkai Soup: The soup was very good, not too watery and I enjoyed it a lot. Vazhaipoo Vadai: This is a favourite of mine at home(where they cook it for me like maybe once a year). So I went ahead and chose this. Without doubt, this was a choice well made. And the quantity was sufficient for the 3 of us. Baby Corn Varuval: This was just like the usual Baby Corn Fry and tasted usual. Jawahar Jaloor Parotta Veg: Perhaps I expected a lot from this, it was very ordinary in all respects, though filling enough for one. I didn’t feel that happy about ordering this item. Pallipalayam Kaai Biriyani: It tasted very well. It wasn’t too spicy at the same time, it wasn’t bland. The taste was perfect and it rated

I was little hungry, happened to be around Velachery and came across Haven Sampoorna, which I’ve always wanted to try out. Grabbing my chance, I went in here. I was greeted with the Bon Appetit on the door and the Vegetarians are Awesome, Sexy and Brainy banner. I immediately fell in love with the place, as I’m a vegetarian and proud about it. Next came the decor. The ambience, though a little noisy with all the customers, was pretty impressive and fitting for a fine-dining place. Now for the foodie part. As I had gone alone, I ordered for a Tomato Basil Soup, a haven pasta and a yellow bird lighted mocktail. My hunger took control of me and I couldn’t capture the soup or pasta. I did, however, manage to capture the mocktail before I finished it. Soup: I enjoyed the soup. It was not very thick, but wasn’t watery either. It was perfect and tasted good. Haven Pasta: The waiter must have thought me to be a novice foodie because when I ordered for Haven Pasta, he repeatedly asked me if am

The review is a bit old, as my last visit to this place was some weeks ago. I’ve been busy since then, and was able to write only now. I’ve been here couple of times and both the times, I found the place just ok. The first time I was here, it was a lazy afternoon, I ordered for a Badam Kheer and a Ghee roast. The waiter was polite, served the item and left without further ado and didn’t come till I was almost finished, to ask if I want anything else. The kheer was pretty decent and the dosa was ok. For the price they charge for the ghee roast, it could’ve been better. The second time I was here, I settled for a simple chapathi and coffee. They were decent enough. I’ll skip to the ratings now: Overall rating: Quantity: 3 / 5 Taste: 3.5/5 Cost/VFM: 3 /5 Service: 3.5/5 Ambience: 4.0/5 Total: 3.5 / 5 The place is better if you wanna spend some peaceful time with your family. Not good for a quick bite. Originally posted a month ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/zvEkb

This review is for our visit few weeks back. It was a lazy afternoon when we decided to try out this place, over Pasta Bar Veneto. We were greeted politely by the persons here, who also helped us with our orders. We ordered for a thin crust pizza, veg pasta, mushroom omelette, vitamin drink and a jaljeera juice, paneer tikka. Pasta: Pasta was ok. I would not say over the top or very bad. It was ok. Pizza: Maybe I’ve had too much of conventional pizza to appreciate this one. The taste was good, but the crust was bad. They said they prepare their dough and make their own crust. But I would rather call it as a Papad pizza rather than a thin crust pizza. The crust was that thin. In fact, I’ve had Masala Papads as thick as this crust. Again, taste was good. Drinks: I’ve no complaints on this department. They were good. Mushroom Omelette: I didn’t taste this, but my companion who did, said this one wasn’t up-to the mark. Apparently the taste was very bad. And it made them sick later on the d

We went for a family outing here. We opted for the Dinner Buffet. We started off with the soup. Before I proceed further, I should point out that the buffet has both Veg/Non Veg options and you can take any of it or if you’re a great foodie, you can take all of it. The tomato soup served to us was too watery compared to the other places I’ve been to, but it tasted ok. Being a vegetarian mostly, I opted for the vegetarian dishes on the buffet. The starters were fine. I loved the paneer tikka. But few people in my family felt that the paneer was over-burnt. The veg seekh kabab was pretty good. The gravies were the highlight, as all of them tasted pretty well. The rice was decent. Now coming to the service part. Breads are the part of the buffet, which we’ve to order. We had to ask for the breads to 3 different people in order to get them. The same was the case when we had to ask for the breads again. And in the buffets I’ve been to, they generally keep refilling the items and restocking

Went here when I was very hungry. It was just getting started, so there wasn’t much of a crowd here. We were accommodated into a nice corner table with a view of the busy Tharamani Link Road via the Glass Wall on the front(Sarcasm unintended). Placed our orders for a Cream of Mushroom Soup , Paneer Fingers, Vegetable Biriyani and Veg. Chettinadu gravy. Cream of Mushroom Soup: It was very good. Thick and yummy. Paneer Fingers: For the price they were charging for this one, I was surprised to find the quantity and taste exceeding my expectations. Vegetable Biriyani: I was reluctant about this initially, as Buhari primarily a NV place, I thought their Veg dishes wouldn’t be up to the mark. Again a surprise here. It was very good, among the best I’ve had. Veg Chettinadu: Now this is something that was a slight let down. There was nothing ‘Chettinadu’ about it. Very average. Finally, we ordered a caramel custard for dessert. It wasn’t exactly out of the world, but it wasn’t bad either. Tota

Went to the Pind, a Punjabi dining place at Velachery. When I entered, I was taken back with their ambience and service. A pleasant ambience and courteous staff impressed me as soon as I entered here. We chose the tables with the bamboo chairs to sit and placed our orders for a Cream of Mushroom soup, Stuffed Dhingri(Stuffed Button Mushroom), Paneer Takatak(It was a recommended item by the chef), Stuffed Naan, Roomali Roti and Tawa Ghee Phulka. Individual reviews are as follows: Soup: Too sweet. Way too sweet. I literally emptied half of the pepper and salt shakers that they had kept in the table, and it was still too sweet. They told all the cream soups will be sweet, but it wasn’t the case in the other fine dining places I’ve been to. The sweetness spoiled the taste of the soup. Stuffed Dhingri: No complaints here. It tasted well, not too spicy, not too bland, just fine. I liked it personally. Paneer Takatak: I guess I expected a little too much from this dish, because it had the “Ch

Tried their Andhra Bhojanam. Priced at 153(incl. taxes) it’s a total VFM ! And they are pretty decent at their service too. The Andhra Bhojanam spread has some 12 items + Unlimited Rice + Podis + Pickles + Ice Cream + a banana. And the items are based on Andhra Cuisine(what else can you expect from a Specialty Andhra restaurant? ) As for the taste, it is pretty decent. I wouldn’t call it out of the world, but it’s worth every paisa that you pay. Ratings: Quantity: 4.5/5 Ambience: 2/5 Service: 3.5/5 Taste: 3.5/5 VFM/Cost: 4/5 Overall: 3.5/5 Originally posted 6 months ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/BLOvd

Went here with my girl. After settling on the table we were directed to, we had to wait like 10 – 15 minutes to even get the Menu card. This was after me calling up the steward serving the adjacent table and asking him for it. We wanted to order the Weekend meal, but they simply said it’s not available. I was like, “But why? Isn’t it supposed to be a weekend and shouldn’t the meal option be available?”. Not wanting to argue, I opted for the feast for 2, placed my orders and waited. The Peach flavored Ice Teas came first, which tasted just ok, nothing exciting there, even the ice tea I make at home using the Nestea mix tastes much better. The came the Paneer El Rancho pizza I ordered, along with the Onion Rings. The pizza was perfect, bread not too stale, perfectly cooked and tasted great. That was the only good thing in the so called feast. The onion rings were a complete disaster in my opinion. They tasted, well, I shouldn’t say ‘tasted’ here, as they had no taste at all. It was like

Went here for a quick bite, after a longer, round-about travel after work. Ordered some sponge cake thing(forgot the name) and a Yogurt Blueberry Cake and a Diet Pepsi. The sponge cake was not upto the mark and was just ok. The Yogurt Blueberry cake on the other hand was quite yummy and tasted pretty good. As for diet pepsi, I don’t feel it qualifies for a review Ratings: Service: 3/5 Taste: 4/5 Quantity: 3/5 VFM: 2.5/5 (I still feel French Loaf is over-priced, not worth the price tag) Ambience: 3/5 Overall: 3.5/5 Originally posted 6 months ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/voARg

When we went here, We were the first guests for the evening there. The stewards were ever so courteous, they helped us with our orders, as it was my first visit to a proper Chinese joining and I’m not familiar with the foods. Being a vegan, I went for the sizzlers, corn fritters and vegetable dumplings. They surprised us with a complimentary spring roll, which was followed by corn fritters. The fritters were ok, not much to talk about them. They were followed a little later by the sizzler. And I must really say it was awesome. My girl, who was accompanying me, had been to a few Chinese joints before including Wangs, Wonton and Mainland China and her feedback was that Dimsum’s sizzlers tasted better than the ones she had at these joints. Then came the vegetable dumplings. They were something of a let down actually, considering that they charge around 185 bucks for the dumplings, they are supposed to keep more than 6 pieces or at least have a better filling. They were something like the

As it was lunchtime, and I was rather hungry, I went straight for the Vegetarian Meals. I think it’s unlimited meals here. Am not really sure about the quantity part because my hunger was gone with the quantity provided at the beginning itself so I didn’t even bother to ask for more. Now for the items. It’s the usual spread. Rice, Sambar, Rasam, Buttermilk, Poriyal, Kootu, Pickle, Salt, Appalam, Buttermilk Chilli etc. The best thing I enjoyed was their sambar. It was served in a large bowl and all I ate was only their Sambar mixed with rice. Rasam and Buttermilk I drank in the end, because I was full by the time I finished with Sambar ! Sambar tasted that good actually. Kerala style of course, not our regular HSB type of Sambar, but it had a special taste to it that made all my taste buds dance to it ! Finally, I had a cup of tea and left with my tummy full and my pocket not feeling too light ! Ratings: Taste: 4/5 Service: 4/5 Ambience: 4/5 Value for Money / Cost: 4.5/5 Quantity: 4/5 O

Tried the Weekend Buffet at Hotel Saravanan Bhavan in Mylapore and Anna Nagar. I must really say HSB has now hit on something VFM ! This is the Menu Spread for the buffet: 1 Welcome Drink 2 varieties of Soups 3 varieties of starters(One of them will mostly be based on Vada) Tandoori Roti Plain Naan 2 varieties of Indian Gravies 2 varieties of Chinese Gravies 1 Biriyani 1 Fried Rice 1 Noodles Pizza(On order) Poriyal Sambar Rasam Plain Rice Curd Rice 3 varieties of Salads Papads Appalams Vadagams Pickles Raita Bread Variety with Butter Idly(On order) Dosai(On order) Uthappam(On order) Assorted Sweets Assorted Pastries(Some 2 – 3 varieties of them) Ice Cream Coffee(On order) Tea(On order) Cost for the Buffer: Rs. 300 per person VFM: Totally! Ofc it’s an unlimited buffet, so it’s total VFM Taste: As is the general standard by HSB, the overall Buffet rocked in taste. My View: It’s a great move by HSB now,in their attempt to set straight their falling standard

This was actually a follow-up visit after my previous experience here  (link directs to my Zomato review), which was very poor. This time though it was considerably better than last time. The food was served in a decent amount of time(The service was still slower than most other places I’ve been to, but compared to my last visit, it was much better this time) The food was, as usual, great. Overall, it was a pleasant experience. Will keep visiting this place to see if the speed of service improves(there is still room for some improvement, but no complaints this time as it was not too slow) Ratings : Cost : 3.5 / 5 Ambience : 3.5 / 5 Quality, taste : 4 / 5 Service : 3.5 / 5 Overall : 3.5 / 5 Originally posted 7 months ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/OxkXL

Went there a couple of days back with my friends. The first thing that struck me was the poor ambience. Next came the beginning of what was going to be poorest service. The guy who took our orders insisted on having us order whatever we want in the beginning itself. We placed our orders and waited. When it came, what shocked us was the quantity. The orders placed by 4 of us, 4 Indian Breads, 2 Main Courses, 1 starter and 1 Rice, wasn’t enough for feed even 1 or 2 persons. Other places we’ve been to usually serve 2 pieces of Indian Breads. But this place serves only one small piece. And that’s it. And when we tried to place order for extra items again as we were hungry and this wouldn’t be enough, the waiter said he wouldn’t take the order. I mean how difficult it really is to prepare some extra rotis? It wasn’t like they had already exhausted their supply of dough. But no. No luck there. And when the bill came, we noticed that we had been charged SC for a place where the service was am

First restaurant to get 5/5 from me! Chef Arora has nailed it! Went with my girl here. We ordered an Ambi Panna and Matha for Aperitif, then the Tadka Talk Kebab Tasting Menu(I always fall for the Tikkas and Kebabs) initially. Ambi Panna tasted great. But the speciality was Matha. I never knew Buttermilk could taste so good,especially when you consider that am a great fan of Buttermilk and I’ve tasted it almost in every place I’ve been to, provided they serve it. Then came the Kebab platter. And I was like OMG! The kebabs were the best I’ve ever tasted so far. They make one’s mouth drool just by looking at them. Then we ordered a Lahori Subji Biriyani. It arrived promptly and I was surprised to see so many side dishes like Raitha, Papads, Pickle and Onions being served along with it. I mean, most restaurants serve only the raitha, that too, only a small quantity. But here, it was sufficient for two people. During all this, Chef Arora himself visited us twice. Once to welcome us and the

Went with my girl and mom here. Though it was a busy time, we were able to get a table immediately. We ordered a soup, two starters(a tikka and a roll), a salad, one bhaingan bartha, couple of phulkas and couple of naans. With my previous experiences I was expecting to get the food after 30 minutes. Therefore, I was surprised when I got the soup in 5 mins. Within 5 mins from that a starter arrived. We finish it the next one comes. And this continued till the end. Only the salad was delayed but then it had so many ingredients in it that it’s a meal by itself. After that we ordered a ice cream and 2 sundaes, which arrived in the next 5 mins. In the end, the bill arrived, which was considerably nominal considering the amount of food we had consumed. Except for the first 5 mins for the soup to arrive, and the last 5 mins for the ice cream, we never had to wait. Now for the marks, Ambience : 7/10 Service: 8/10 Food: 9/10 Cost: 8/10 Overall: 8.5/10 Would I recommend it? Yes I’ll definit

Went to PIZZA REPUBLIC at Mogappair with a friend. Had a very great experience. Ordered a Thin Crust pizza initially(well, except for Classic Crust and Thin Crust, no other crusts were available and there weren’t much to choose from either, something that is worth improving), customized the toppings and ordered a pasta too, as the waiter said it’ll take 15 mins for the thin crust pizza to be ready and pasta will be ready in 10 minutes. But in the end, Pizza arrived in 18 minutes, pasta arrived only after 25 mins sadly. We ordered another Classic crust pizza. It took almost 15 mins to arrive, but our bill arrived before that ! Then I had to remind the waiter about the undelivered pizza, after which he apologized and brought it immediately. That was for the experience. As for the food, the pizzas were fine, tasted much much better than Dominoes, Pizza Hut or Pizza Corner, still not so good as Papa John’s , but very much decent. Among the best I’ve had though. The pasta on the other hand,

Food: 4.5 / 5 Service: 3.5 / 5 Ambience: 3.5 / 5 Cost: 4 / 5 Healthy vegetarian food. Starting with the herbal drinking water served, the restaurant is recommended for the health conscious. Originally posted 11 months ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/bNByv

Pizza: 4.5 / 5 Service: 3.5 / 5 Ambience: 3.5 / 5 Cost: 3 / 5 Among the best pizza outlets I’ve been to. The only downside is the average service and the TAXES! In the end, almost 25% of your bill amount is added as service charges and tax. Originally posted 11 months ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/lxeyQ

Food: 4/5 Service: 4.5 / 5 Ambience: 4 / 5 Overall: 4 / 5 Recommended place. 1 star taken out because the menu is very limited. There doesn’t seem to be much to choose from. Originally posted 11 months ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/AnlXR

Decent food, but the service is among the poorest I’ve seen and the thali that we were served had couple of items missing. The waiter never brought them though we called him and pointed this out and requested for it and didn’t come near our table till the time to serve the bill came and even then didn’t even look at us, just kept the bill on the table and went. Overall a very bad experience for us. Only good thing was the food. Food 4.5/5 Ambience 4/5 Cost 3.5/5 Service 2.5/5 Originally posted 11 months ago on Zomato:  http://www.zomato.com/review/nRZyK