TechieFoodie

My friend and I had gone to Sheikh Palace in Rivonia couple of times, to get a takeaway and later for dining in. Second Visit: We ordered Chicken Shawarma, Hummus, and Pita. Shawarma: Chunks of chicken, well cooked and yummy. One of nice Shawarma places we found in Johannesburg Hummus and Pita: As always, my favorite and Sheikh palace delivered good. First Visit: After some intense discussions and taking suggestions from the steward, we ordered for 3 pitas, a beef steak (which came with fries) and a Baba ghanoush. Beef Steak: Too little for the price being charged. Only consolation was the fries that came with it. My friend found it decent. Baba ghanoush: Decent fare again. Not something you’d rave about, but not very bad either. Note: Peri Peri sauce supplied with the steak and Baba ghanoush still had the raw onion flavor and wasn’t ground well. It was a put off, considering the price we paid for the food. Total bill: R 220 Total bill (Second visit): R 255 Quality: 3/5 Quantity: 2.5/5...

My friend and I went to Mi Vami in Sunninghill few days back for getting some Shawarma. We placed our orders for a Chicken Shawarma, Beef Shawarma and a Falafel. Chicken Shawarma: Ok Ok kind. First time I had a Shawarma made with chunks of meat, instead of shredded meat. Made me crave more for the shawarmas I used to get back in India Beef Shawarma: My friend was the one who had it. He felt it was very average. Falafel: 2 bites and we felt like gagging. It had a very sour taste and somehow didn’t click. This one went to the bin. Total bill: R 150 and odd. VFM: Most definitely not. Quantity: 4/5 Taste: 2/5 Quality: 2/5 Service: 4/5 Will I visit this place again? – Most definitely not.

I went to Primi Piatti on Midrand for a dinner with my colleague today, as both of us were quite hungry. We initially ordered for couple of pastas: Recco, Recco Con Pollo and I ordered for a Blue Lagoon (Smirnoff with Blue Curacao, it was freezing outside and I had forgotten to take my jacket in the morning 😛 ) and my colleague went for a Mango juice. We had both requested white sauce for the pastas. After a considerable amount of time, our steward informed us that they’ve missed our order and asked us to re-order, which we did. When we did, the steward informed us that it isn’t possible to make the Recco Con Pollo with white sauce, so my colleague went with Pasta Campognola. When I mentioned white sauce for Recco (Veg), the steward sadly didn’t make any such observations. After another considerable amount of time, when our food finally came, I was in for a shock. Recco was red sauce ! And an even worse shock was that it smelt exactly like a Ghee-full, South Indian Sambar r...

I went to Taste of Punjab with a colleague of mine last night for a quick Indian meal. Our order was: Hot & Sour Soup – Quite decent, not really hot though, had to add a large amount of pepper to make it ‘hot’. Paneer Tikka Masala – Decent, but don’t expect the Indian taste here. At best this would be the distant cousin of Paneer Butter Masala you get in India. Tangy tomato-ish taste. Tandoori Rotis – Usual. Point to note: Rotis are always served with rice here, so plan some room on your tummy accordingly. Bill: 3 rotis, Soup (Split as 1/2), Paneer Tikka Masala together came to R 111 and some odd. 1 R = INR 5.57 last I checked. So around 550. Quantity: Quite sufficient for 2 healthy eaters. We even had some rice left. Service: As a standard, service is excellent in South Africa, with people being friendly. But, in return, we as customers are expected to return the politeness and if we’re to go about “ordering” them around, then I guess we won’t get stuff done over here. Note: W...

1st Visit: I was invited for the soft-launch of Absolute Barbecues in T. Nagar, Chennai, for dinner, the first time. The dinner was on the house by the team and they were keen to collect our feedback and make necessary improvements. Visits 2 – 6: Impressed every time and the review hasn’t changed much from the first visit. Now, let me proceed to the review part of it. Location: Bit tucked in. It is located near Pothys and Manyavar. If you’re coming from T. Nagar, then go past the signal near Manyavar, park under the bridge and you can see this place on the opposite side. It’s located on the 3rd floor. Ambiance: Because of the number of people, it was noisy of course, grills smoking on all the tables. But I personally didn’t feel it disturbing at the least. Sure, this is not the place to go for a romantic candle light dinner, but this is definitely a cool place to hang out. Service: One word: Awesome. Extremely polite, very friendly, insisted on our feedback whatever they might be and v...

So, I was coming back from work last week, got completely drenched in the rain and was very hungry. Nearer to my home, I took a small detour and ended up on Kettle. I wish I had gone there earlier now. I’ve been missing out on a great place for a long time. Now let’s get to the review. My order consisted of a Creamy Fusilli with Mushroom, Scones Combo and an Organic Kala Moti. Creamy Fusilli with Mushroom: This is the usual mushroom fusilli pasta, with some added cream. It tasted food(nothing to rave about) and started me on the path towards a full tummy 😛 Scones Combo: This is the first time I’m having Scones, so can’t compare them. But I liked what they had to offer. Organic Kala Moti: Now this, this I can rave about all I want. Being a Tea fanatic, I loved every sip of this divine blend from Kettle. For Rs. 80, the quantity offered is humongous. I had two cups of this and there was still some more left over in the Kettle(may be for another cup). It’s total VFM ! Service:...

Cream Centre ! One of the jain friendly, heavenly abodes for vegetarian foodies in Chennai ! I went with my family here on the 23rd of September, for celebrating my mom’s birthday. Since my parents are strict, orthodox vegetarians, I wanted a jain friendly place where they can eat without feeling uncomfortable. Cream Centre was the obvious choice for me then. We were greeted cordially by the stewards and were seated in a cozy table for four. I ordered for 2 tandoori rotis, 2 naans, 1 Malai Kofta, 1 Macaroni Magic and a Italian herbed chilli cheese toast. Malai Kofta: One word: WOW ! Macaroni Magic: Lovely, Yummilicious, heavily loaded with calories. Italian Herbed Chilli Cheese toast: Light on the stomach, but filled with calories, thanks to the cheese. Yummy as well. Total cost: Rs. 1134 for 3 of us, incl. all taxes and service charge. I went here for a second visit with my friend. This time we ordered the World’s Best Nachos, Half and Half Enchiladas, All in one Pasta, American Corn ...

Pantry d’or, the cozy little cafe on Anna Nagar will definitely make your tongue dance. Couple of my friends and I went here few days ago, to have a chit chat over good food. The place was very crowded and we had to wait for around 10 minutes to find a comfortable seating. I promptly placed an order for Cream of Broccoli Soup, Veg Wrap platter, Pesto Pasta and a 12″ Margherita with Olives and Jalapenos. The soup was the first to arrive, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration when I say it’s one of the cream soups I’ve had in recent times. It prepared our tongues for what was to be a feast. Next came the Pesto Pasta. Oh no, next went the pesto pasta. I mean, before I could even click a pic, it was half gone. I had to openly ask my friend to leave some, so that I can click a pic and taste it. It was that heavenly and all of us loved it ! Now came the Margherita. It was 6 slices of finger-licking, droolicious heaven for us. No seriously, this is one of the awesome pizzas I’ve had in Chennai a...

My college friends and I met together in Crimson Chakra after a long time, as one of our friends was leaving for their Masters. Apart from fun-filled banter we engage in, we needed a place that offered the best and CC became the obvious choice, as we were looking for a place near Besant Nagar. Our order consisted of: Starters: Karuveppillai Urulai Varuval, Kaikari Urundai, Sutta Milagu Kozhi Curries: Methi Malai Mutter, Murg Makhanwala,(and one more Chicken based curry recommended by the steward, whose name is eluding my memory. Refer pic). Main Course: Bread basket, Smoked Chicken rice, Grilled Cheese, Potato and Herb Steak(I think so, not so sure, refer pic) Starters: Karuveppillai Urulai Varuval: Finger chips with a good coating of karuveppillai podi. Tasted great ! Kaikari Urundai: Vegetable balls basically. Loved it. Sutta Milagu Kozhi: My friends made me taste this one, by raving about it ! And it was worth their raving. Another awesome dish. Curries: Methi Malai Mutter: This was...

This is my first time ordering a cake from Linu, a home baker from Chetpet. And I must say, I was wowed by her. I had placed the order last Monday, for taking the delivery today. She carefully noted the points I had listed about, patiently helped me choose the cake and the filling and helped me in choosing the right frosting as well. When I went today morning to collect the cake, I was wowed because she had tried her best to meet my requirements. The cake that I got was marvelous. Of course, it got a bit messed up while bringing it home in a scooter, in the summer heat, through bumpy roads.(as it is in the picture). But after few hours in the refrigerator, it got better and it tasted heavenly. I particularly enjoyed the cream frosting. Overall: Taste: 4/5 Cost/VFM: 4/5 Overall: 4/5 Looking forward to ordering more cakes from her for the future celebrations !