Cafe Chokolade

Read about this place on CFG and wanted to go there on the day of opening. But I did go there with my family the next day, on a Saturday, after my lunch at 3 kingdoms (I shall review 3 kingdoms next). It's a small place, which is very much suitable for college students. We ordered a chocolate sandwich, chocolate milkshake and chikoo ice cream.

We were eagerly waiting like small kids and drooling over the milkshake pictures on the wall. The service was quick. The chocolate sandwich was smashing... It was a pretty big sandwich. This is one sandwich that I would happily lick my fingers to satisfy my craving. Likewise, the milkshake was very nice as well.  It's a really thick shake that they give spoon :D..The chikoo ice cream tasted like the natural ones and we quite enjoyed it.

This place is definitely easy on the pocket. The bill was bout Rs. 150 for above three. Each item was priced around Rs. 50. I would be visiting this place often. The only problem with this place is the parking :(

I've heard they have a branch at T-Nagar as well.

Note: As I'm writing this review, I'm craving for chocolate sandwich. I'm definitely visiting this place this weekend

Fusion 9

I chose this place to catch up with a friend of mine for lunch. We reached there about 1 - 1:15 pm and about 5 tables were occupied. They informed us about the buffet available for Rs. 500, but we decided to check out the A la carte menu. We didn't order any starter and jumped straight to our main course. I did order a pizza, but they later told me their oven was not working. So I ended up ordering a quesadilla while my friend ordered a chicken steak.

The menu for buffet also seemed interesting and looked worth the money. The service was pretty quick on that day. My quesadilla was nice and yumm and my friend was enjoying his food as well, especially the sauce of his steak. The only negative aspect about this restaurant is there is limited choice for vegetarian.

Overall it's a good place to have lunch or dinner. It's one of the few restaurants in Chennai, which serve you alcohol. Price-wise, each dish is priced around Rs. 300. Would definitely be visiting this place again

Ecstacy

I love desserts and one night while having my dinner at home, I suddenly announced that I wanted to have Sizzling brownie with ice cream. 

Hubby: Right now?

Me: Yup.. ( Giving him the sweetest smile)

Hubby: Where do you want to go for dessert?

Me: Cream centre, that is closer to our house and I can't think of any other place?

Hubby: You want to go there and just have brownie with ice cream?

Me: Yeah... We'll leave in sometime

I go to my room and God knows what happened.. I slept (I'm sure hubby might have been very happy when he came to the room). The next day we are off to see "Nanban" movie with family at Satyam Theatre. After the movie, while walking back to the car:

Hubby: You want to have dessert at Ecstacy or want to have only brownie with ice cream

Me: <Confused Look>

Hubby: You want both?

Me: I'll settle for dessert here :)

We ordered three desserts and all to go. We ordered blueberry cheese cake, Le chocolatier and Coffee Tiramisu. It was neatly packed with spoons and tissues. All three were fantastic and I couldn't choose the best of the three. Blueberry Cheese Cake was one of the best I've had in Chennai. Le Chocolatier was a complete chocolate dessert in a very pretty shape. It is every chocolate lover's dessert. Coffee Tiramisu was light and fantastic.

The decor is  really nice and they have interesting flavours. Overall it is an amazing place to have desserts. The portions are small but the quality is good. It is a bit on the expensive side but I can indulge here once in a while. 

Kryptos

I had been to Kryptos long time ago, while my husband didn't like it much, I loved that place.  We thought it's time he gives it a second chance and went there along with my MIL on Saturday for dinner. The decor is classy and as soon as you enter, you are greeted with a warm smile. We were given a corner table along with welcome drink, which I think tasted like peach iced tea (I'm not really sure about it but I liked it). 

It was easy for my MIL to decide what she wanted while my husband and me were confused. My MIL went along with the Veg Salad buffet which comes along with Soup. We ordered Kalitsounia for starter. It's a pastry filled with Ricotta cheese, pumpkin and asparagus. For Main course, I ordered Kritiko Boureki and hubby ordered Spanáki kai Tyrí Kotópoulo. I was not sure how to pronounce the names but the waiter took care of everything. He would explain in detail about the dish and make you feel comfortable. 


The service was quick. The starter came along fast and the first impression that they serve only 4 pieces!!! The starter came along with tzatziki dip and aubergine chip. It was the first time I was tasting aubergine chip and quite enjoyed it. Even though the starter looked small in portion, it is super filling. 

The main course followed soon. My Kritiko Boureki was a pastry filled with potato and cheese. Hubby's main course was big in portion and I immediately knew he would not finish it. He kept praising about his main course. I saw chicken breast, potato wedges and tzatziki on his plate. ( Since I'm a vegetarian, I really can't comment). Coming to my main course, I really enjoyed it. I generally tend to like more spicy things but wanted to try something different. My main course came along with a small portion of rice, channa and veg saute (There could be different names in Greek for the items mentioned). I truly enjoyed my main course and couldn't finish the entire portion.


While we were relishing our food, MIL quite enjoyed her soup and salad. She liked the variety and flavours in salad. We were debating for a while if we should order dessert. Of course, we couldn't step out without having one. We ordered Milopita Nissiotiki, which is ricotta cheese cake with orange topping. It's the best ending we could have to our meal. It had a nice richness and freshness to it. It added quite a zing to my mouth. Absolutely refreshing dessert.


I think the bill came to about 2k for our dinner. Overall, hubby changed his opinion about this place and we are sure to visit this place. 

The Madaras Kafe

I had seen the hoarding at Ispahani Centre and read about it at http://aromasofkitchens.blogspot.com. While shopping on Saturday afternoon, I wanted to grab a quick bite. I thought it was the best opportunity to try this place. It is at the basement of Ispahani Centre. It had a decent store space which can accommodate about 40 people. They have tried to bring the Madras feel in the decor.

My husband had been to this place earlier and wanted me to try the fried podi idly, while he had Lime Mint cooler. The fried podi idly is mini idly, which is fried and coated with podi. While it was still crunchy on the outside, it had a softness on the inside. It came along with coconut chutney. We then ordered Gumman Kuthu Idly. This was again mini idly sautéed with onion and tomato served with coconut chutney. The flavour was fine but I still did prefer friend podi idly over this. 

Overall, the service was very quick. Price-wise, the place was good. For above 3 mentioned items, we paid Rs. 130. I was not wowed by this place that I would go to this place to eat. If I happen to be at Ispahani and I'm hungry, I would definitely go down and eat

Bellaria

I came to know about this through Facebook and I've been wanting to go there for a long time. While travelling back from my parents place, hubby mentions that he wants to have coffee. I told him why don't we have ice cream, since I know a new place nearby. We parked our car just outside the gate and went inside. It's a small place, which has 2 tables and can accommodate 8 people. 

Just as we step into the store, the power goes off. They tell us it generally comes back in 10 minutes and it did come back within 5 minutes. I ordered a Chocolate Brownie ice cream, while hubby ordered a Ferrero Rocher ice cream. They have a very interesting process of making ice cream. They blended Milk, Sugar and Ferrero Rocher / Chocolate. The puree was  poured a pan and while mixing, it became ice cream right in front of my eyes. I didn't add any topping, while hubby added almonds to his. 

Trust me, it's the best Ferrero Rocher ice cream I've had. I could really get the taste of the chocolate. The chocolate brownie ice cream also didn't disappoint. I like the fact that I can see how it's made and I'm assured that there is no preservatives or artificial flavour. I'm waiting to go back there and try different flavours. We did pack brownie and cupcakes for home. We didn't have a chance to try them since we had guests over. So I really can't comment about the cakes but the ice creams are great

The only hitch is no parking spot. Otherwise, I love this place and would recommend it to all. Oh by the way, if punch a card every time you buy an ice cream. If you have 9 punches, you get the 10th ice cream free :)

The Serai - Chikmagalur

My husband was born exactly a day after me. Since this was the first year we were celebrating our birthday together, we wanted to go out somewhere. More so, because we were scared if any of his family members will throw a "birthday party". I was debating between Kumarakom and Chikmagalur. I chose Chikmagalur, considering the cost as well as staying at Bangalore for the weekend. 

I was planning to stay from 14th Dec to 17th Dec. The first time I called, they said they were sold out. Later when I did tell them I wanted to spend my birthday there, they said they would confirm and get back to me. Later she did get back to me saying 16th was unavailable. I told her it was my husband's birthday and I'd want to stay there. She later did take in my request and gave me a confirmation. I made an online payment to confirm the booking. I booked an Estate pool villa for 3 night, which was about Rs, 38,499 and included all meals for both of us. 

Next came the hurdle of booking tickets. I appreciate the fact that Indian Railway ticket can be booked online, but it is so damn slow. I left on 13th Dec through Bangalore Mail and reached Bangalore at 5:10 in the morning. I then caught a train from Bangalore and reached Birur by 10:00 am. The train was late by about 40 minutes. I had asked the resort to arrange for a car to pick me up from Birur station. The driver who came to pick us up spoke good english and was really nice. It was 1.5 hr drive from station to the resort. My husband was unhappy about the fact that we were travelling so much and said I was not going to plan trips any more. 

We reached the resort by about 11:30 am and the resort was beautiful to look at. Christmas decoration was up everywhere. The welcome drink was Cold Coffee and it was super yumm. We were taken to our villa and it was gorgeous. It was a huge villa. As soon as you open the gate to your villa, there is a path that leads you to your room. Opposite to your room door, you have a pool and a place to lie down. The landscape is dressed beautifully with grass and plants. As soon as you open your room door, the first thing you notice is the huge bed. There is a TV, a sitting area, mini bar and wardrobe in the room. When you open the bathroom, you are in for a treat. First, it is soooo big!!! You have washbasin on either side of the bathroom, so we don't have to fight for the place to get ready. There is a bathtub in the middle. The right side door leads to the shower area and left side door leads to the washroom. There is a small passage between the bathtub and shower area, which leads to the outer shower area. If I ever get a chance, I would definitely build such a huge bathroom for me. 

The food here is ok. I really enjoyed my breakfast here, especially Masala Dosa. They do have lot of options like Indoor Games, Outdoor Games, Swimming Pool, Gym, Billiards, Library, Movie option, etc. The sad part was it was a bit cold out there and I couldn't use the Swimming Pool that much. Should have booked the villa with Jaccuzzi :(. We hardly stepped out of the resort as we wanted to just relax in the resort.  The resort did arrange for us to go to the Siva Temple nearby, where you need to climb about 500 steps and its the highest peak in Karnataka. The view from there was brilliant. We tried the spa at the resort and it was good. 

View from Shiva Temple:

The resort does offer romantic dinner option for a couple, which includes candle light dinner under a tree and in the swimming pool. We didn't take any of the option and wanted to surprise each other. The surprise that we planned for each other, didn't turn out so well but we did have a hearty laugh about it.

Random Resort pics:

Overall, this resort is fantastic and would recommend it to anyone for 2/3 night stay. I did check out on 17th Dec at 8:00 am to catch my train from Birur at 10:00 am. Stupid train came to the station more than an hour late and I reached Bangalore by 3 pm. I spent the weekend with my friends in Bangalore and came back to Chennai.


By the way, my husband did say the trip was worth it and I'm back to planning all the trips again :D