Lloyd's tea house

                   The British are the true villains of the world. The original ones. There are very few countries in the world today that has not been under the English rule. The British were one of the main powers during both the World wars. They brought Industrial civilization to the world, not to mention a whole lot of other weird things and customs. Not only did they follow those customs they inspired their poor colonies to follow them. 

                                      

                                      And one of the good ones was the custom of drinking tea. No no no.. Not the made in ten seconds in a half clean glass with loads of sugar tea.... That's "Chai". We take pride in creating that. That's Ours! I'm talking about the tea leaves, brewed in hot water in a kettle and timed to determine the strength one. Just the way the poms love it. And incidentally, the most healthy way to have the oldest beverage known to mankind! The English didn't stop with tea, they made a cake to go with it and named it..? Right! Tea cake!

                                     Now Chennai, being one of the oldest and the modern cities in the country, and one that was once "The" most important city in Southern India during the English rule, people normally expect the city to have a major English influence. Yes, we do have places, streets and roads and major government buildings named after English Lords. But  for us, tea meant nair kadai chai. Even though there were few boutiques that had a cafeteria in it and served various kinds of tea, it was not until Lloyd's tea house that there was a place that served tea the "English" style and looked like an actual English tea house!

                                    That the owners went the extra mile to bring in decorators from France(not London!) to decorate the walls with typical English looking wall papers says a lot about how genuine they wanted the place to look. However small the place is, it can accommodate 20-25 people at a time. All the furniture,the drapes, the spoons, the forks, the plates and even the menu card are so "Pomish". So full marks to the designers and the owners for creating a very nice English ambiance. But that's just the start!

                                   It would take a person multiple visits to the place to actually taste every single flavor of tea given in the menu. I've been here quite a few times already and i've two favorite flavors. One is the mildly flavored and aromatic Zen Garden and the other is the sweet and fruity flavored Gourmet Apple. The service is good and the waiter advises on the time required for the perfect brew. Although, the temperature at which the tea was served could have been a little lower. 

                                   And now to the best part(to me at least!) of the tea house - the food! They had a good selection of pastas, sandwiches and salads. Not to mention a good selection of starters. Here again the temperature was quite not right. I mean, seriously! I burnt my tongue trying to take a bite of the cheese toast. But the best part of the best part of the tea house(i know.. i know..) was the range of desserts and cakes. The Pound cake is wonderful, soft and light. The Tiramisu is third best in the city. The raspberry cheesecake is great. And the chocolate truffle is pretty good. But one thing's for certain and that is where The Lloyd's tea house nails it. They have THE MOST prettiest cake in the city!! THE RAINBOW CAKE!!!! Even though it tastes pretty normal it can give your eyes a visual treat. Loved it!

Have a slice of rainbow cake - Check!

                                    Overall, The Lloyd's Tea House is correctly priced and a great place to hang out with friends, have some good food, drink some brilliantly flavored teas and enjoying the deserts. All the while getting soaked in the English ambiance!

Go and get some tea at The Lloyd's Tea House, Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Gopalapuram.

                                      

                                     

Burgundy's, Chennai

                        My love for food goes a long way. All the way back to the time when i was a toddler. My mum used to brag to her friends and relatives that i used to eat a whole bowl of baby food and then drink a whole glass of milk(which by the way I've stopped drinking. Completely!) without making a fuss. So it din't come much of a surprise to her when she watched me grow from a cute little chubby kid to a huge mass of muscle who hasn't spared any restaurant in the city from his gluttony! But then, I found it hard to believe, even for my pretty good standards, that i hadn't frequented Burgundy's at MRC Nagar. What got my attention at first was, unlike the eat outs and restaurants at Elliot's beach that are too crowded and cramped for anybody's good, Burgundy's not only had a lot of space but also had a good inflow of sea breeze!

                                                So, my friend who was working for CFG, invited me for the showcase event at Burgundy's. I was already late and the others who were invited for the showcase had begun the dinner with the starters. So without wasting time i went Geronimo!! There was a very good spread of salads, both veg and non-veg. Everything was fresh and yummy. I helped myself to three servings of the vegetarian salads. Among the vegetarian starters, my favorite were the panner tarlets. The base was crispy and the paneer was well cooked and tasty.

                                                Moving on to the mail course, the buffet was spread across four different cuisines. The Asian counter had Cilantro fried rice, Curry veg noodles, Salt & Pepper okra, Lotus stem, Thai red curry, Chilli paneer, oriental fusion koftas. All the dishes were cooked and maintained at the right temperature and were full of flavor.

                                                Moving further west to our very own Indian cuisine i found both North and South Indian dishes in the spread. Though i wasn't in the mood to eat the food that mom makes best, i did try a few of them. The Chettinadu melagu potato and the Podi kathirikai from the South Indian cuisine were cooked to perfection. And from the North Indian side, which by the way had much more options than its South Indian counterpart, the Kadai vegetable, Palak paneer and the Navarathna korma were really yummy.

                                               Finally in the main course was my personal favourite - Western Vegetarian. I stuffed myself with the super tasty Mushroom nuggets. They were just too damn delicious! And then there was this pasta with oven roasted tomato that was very fresh and light. Being a pasta lover i helped myself to two big servings of the pasta. My only disappointment was that i was not able to eat the Gnocchi as it had a pesto base. And i hate pesto! Apart form that there were roasted potato wedges, vegetable croquettes and the very creamy vegetable au gratin.

                                              And finally, to the best and my most favorite part of the dinner - The Desserts! They had quite a decent spread of assorted cakes, gelato and Indian sweets(All of which i had) apart from the brilliant lemon curd pie and profiteroles. But my favorite among the deserts was the caramel custard. It was served with the extra bit of caramel sauce and that's just the way i like it!

                                              I was too full to even stand up straight but then that's the indication of a dinner gone right. It wasn't just right. It was, as Jim Carrey would say, B-E-A-UTIFUL!!

Check out the restaurant at www.burgundyrestaurants.in

Kryptos by Willi, Chennai

       One of the very few things that I've done without having to be told or instructed or ordered to do is eat. So it was a no brainer when my friend who works for the Chennai food guide invited me to be a part of the showcase event organised by them. And the best part was, it was to one of my favourite restaurants in the city and the only one to serve Greek food. 

          So after a not so hectic day at work, i went to Kryptos to stuff myself with chicken pie, lamb moussaka & chicken in lemon sauce(My personal favourite). But, it was only when i got to the restaurant that it struck me that i was on a vegetarian diet for 6 months and so had to shut and sit and eat veggies. And eat veggies i did!

         Apart from the regular salad bar that served a variety of veggies, we were served the best dishes from a select menu. Not wanting to give the non-vegetarians a stomach ache, i decided not to bother myself getting to know what was on the non-veg menu(Moussakaaaa... My love!!!) I started with a nice big bowl of Soup of  Asparagus which had a really nice texture and the flavors were just perfect. 

        Having helped myself to a second serving of the soup while getting to know the people sitting around me, i jumped to the starters which was served in a platter. It had Kremidopita(tomato tarlets), Falafel (chickpea fritters), Kalitsounia (pumpkin pastry, which was my favourite) and Bourekia(mushroom filled phyllo parcels). Not to mention the parade of the pita bread with hummus that just didn't stop! Apart from the weird names, all the starters had great flavor and were served at the right temperature.

        By the time the main course i had made two new acquaintances. And in front of us, our plates were filled with colourful food that had great aroma. I started with the utterly butterly yummy spinach and feta pie that filled me up, followed it up with the Greek version of tandoori paneer and finished the main course with the basmathi rice and nuts filled colour peppers. The huge bowl of potato wedges that was served as a part of the main course played the same role as the pita bread and hummus did during the starters. 

        I was nearly full even for my pretty high capacity. But I'm a desert lover I opened the secret locker in my stomach. And into the locker went the beautiful baklava and prepossessing panna cotta. The yoghurt panna cotta that was served with honey glazed apricot pieces turned out to be the best way to end the dinner.

        We were the last ones to leave the restaurant and it was nearing midnight. But we left with both our tummies and our hearts full. And that is the mark of an award winning restaurant!

Check out the restaurant at www.tuscanakryptos.in