Bandipur

This was a last minute trip that was planned just 2 days before our birthday. I had heard good things about this place and wanted to try this destination for long. Also, I wanted to do a safari. I got to know about a direct flight to mysore and decided to make the plan.

There were no rooms available online, but my travel agent got one for me. We booked a Mountain log hut room with all meals included for Rs.45000. I booked a round trip to Mysore on trujet for about Rs. 4000 per person. Regarding transfer, I decided to take a taxi from the airport. So all booking books were done and I was quite excited to go.

The trujet flight, which was to leave chennai airport by 11:00 am left only by 2:15 pm. There was absolutely no message sent to us regarding the delay. I felt it was more of a bus service. The flight lands. By the time passengers get down from the flight, the next set of passengers are waiting on the ground to board. The flight is on the ground only for 10 minutes!!! You get on the flight and they immediately serve you tamarind rice and water. Once you are done, its time to get off. While I was getting off the plane, I saw the next set of passengers ready to board.

Anyways, the mysore airport is literally empty. This is the only flight that operates from that airport as of now. So you have a handful of ground staff. So there are few taxi drivers waiting outside. We booked one for Rs. 2000 one way to the property. It took about 2 hours to reach. The last stretch to reach the hotel was quite bumpy. We took down his number and called him for our return from property as well.

As soon as we entered the property, the manager briefed us. Our room was beautiful. The whole resort was lit up in light and looked splendid. The food at the resort is quite good. There are quite a few activities like table tennis, carrom,  foosball, snooker, etc. There is a playground and kids play area. The swimming pool was quite cold but we still enjoyed ourselves. You can pick up cycles near the reception and can use it till 6 pm.

The only thing I would definitely recommend is getting a better masseuse at the spa. They do organize safari and nature walk. We did do the jungle safari but no luck, we didn't spot any big cats.

The staff were sweet enough to pack lunch for my kid for my journey back. We had a wonderful 2 day break. Luckily, our return flight was delayed only by an hour. Loved our short and sweet vacation

Little Italy

It was my long pending treat from my brother, so we decided to go to Little Italy for lunch.. I'm pretty regular to this place and I started loving Italian cuisine because of this place. We wanted to start on a healthy note, because we knew the ones to follow were gonna be loaded with cheese. For soup, we ordered a broccoli soup and for starter we ordered crispy potato skin with mayonnaise. For main course I ordered my favourite Lasagna, while my brother ordered ravioli pasta in white sauce. I don't exactly remember the name of his dish.

The soup arrived fast. I was extremely hungry and I finished it in no time. I found the soup to be a tad salty. After that it ended up being a long wait. My hunger was reaching its peak. There was a huge group of ladies who came about 10 minutes after we did (We finished ordering by then). They started getting their starters but we didn't get any food. We were looking at waiters coming through the kitchen door to see if our food was coming!! I know I was really hungry... We reminded the waiter about our order and he said it's coming right away.. But obviously it didn't come right away. At one point, I was so mad that I thought I should cancel my order and eat some where else. 

The starter did come along with our main course. I'm pretty sure they forgot about my starter and only when I did ask the waiter did he realise about it.. Anyways coming back to the food.. The potato skin was fabulous. My anger and hunger went down after snacking it. Now on to the main course. I go to Little Italy just for their cheese Lasagna. I think it's by far the best I've had it town.. I sometime go and order only the lasagna. Even during their brunch, I mostly end up eating only Lasagna. My brother's pasta was also nice

We didn't order any dessert because my tummy was happy and needed no more.. Their lasagna always makes me extremely happy and it's superlicous. I noticed that the place definitely needs renovation. I'm not happy with their service but I'm sure i'll keep going back for the pasta :)

5 Senses again

I've been eating out a lot these days but not been reviewing anything really... It was my anniversary and my husband decided to take me to 5 senses for a quick bite. We wanted to give this place another shot, since our previous experience with this place was not so good.

We went there for lunch and we were surprised to see a set menu for Rs. 650 apart from a-la carte option. I went for the vegetarian option while my husband went for the non-vegetarian. I chose iced tea as my drink and got a mezze platter as my starter. The starters are yumm and a delight to look at. Next came the salad. It was mixed greens with beetroot. The salad was really nice but the wasabi was too much for my liking. It started to irritate my nose that I couldn't really eat the salad. But, it was light and fresh. 

Next was the super yummy pizza. I ordered the Giardino e piri piri. I asked him not to add pineapples in my pizza. The pizza was spicy and yummy for my tummy. It was the size of a personal pan.. By this time I was full and I was telling myself there is more to come!!! For main course, I ordered "Penne alla capagnola", which is pasta in red sauce. Again a delightful main course. For dessert I ordered a tiramisu.. Perfect end to my perfect dinner :)

Overall this place is amazing. The presentation is definitely the best I've seen in this city. The food is really nice. This time I didn't have any problem with the service, but the real service can be tested when the restaurant is full

I enjoyed spending my anniversary here and we did go for our family dinner to Kefi on the same day. Wonderful day spent thanks to my husband :)

3 kingdoms

I saw it on burrp that a new place has opened in KNK Road and I was excited to try it. I called up the restaurant for direction and went along with my family. I went to this place quite a while ago and I really don't remember the name of the dishes we ordered. 

My husband being a non-vegetarian opted for the lunch buffet. My sister-in-law, my niece and myself being vegetarian decided to order. When we opened the menu card, we could hardly find vegetarian dishes. I was pretty disappointed seeing the menu card while my husband was laughing away to glory. We ordered a potato dish for starter, which was basically french fries dipped in sweetest sauce.. It was quite good. Then came the hot and sour soup, which was again good. There is no Thai veg curry in menu but they said they could make one for us. It came along with rice, which again was good.

My husband commented that his non-veg was good. Overall the flavours were good but there is limited vegetarian option. They do have a private place for having parties and the menu can be customized to the occasion. 

I don't think I would be visiting this place again but the non-vegetarians would like this place a lot.

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

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 :)

5 Senses

5 senses is one of the new and happening restaurant in Chennai at the moment. I've visited this restaurant earlier with my husband and loved it. We decided to visit the place once again with my Sister-in law's family for dinner yesterday. The restaurant is huge and the interiors are very well done. You have an option to sit in the open area or inside. We decided to sit inside. The lighting in our seating area was a bit dim and the waiters gave us torch to read out the menu card.


The waiter took a while to take our order. For appetizers, we ordered Mezze Platter (Vegetarian) and Minestrone soup. For main course, we ordered Roma basillica pizza, Cilantro cream poached prawns, Veg lasagna, Assorted veggies and Spaghetti, and Baby corn cannelloni. We did order Spanish Sangria and midsummer dream to drink.


The soup was quick to arrive and absolutely fresh. The Mezze Platter was fine. I found that the portion was quite small. We were waiting for quite sometime before our Main course arrived. But, we got 3 of our Main course, leaving out the pizza and cannelloni. We started digging into the ones arrived. The presentation of the food were brilliant. The food is a complete treat to your eyes. The portions are fine. One person can easily finish a dish. 


We all finished the food served to us and were waiting for the pizza and cannelloni. We figured they might have forgotten and tried to call the waiters. They just don't look at you and all are lost in their own world!!! After a long time, we tried to get the attention of our waiter and asked him about our order. He came back to tell us that the cannelloni had gone to another table by mistake. When I questioned if the pizza had also gone to another table, he gave a stupid response saying they are still making the pizza. I'm surprised that it takes more than an hour to make a single pizza!!!


Anyway we got our food in the next 10-15 mins. The pizza was yumm and so was the cannelloni. They didn't serve any seasoning for the pizza and that took another 10 minutes to arrive. We were pretty irritated that we didn't try the deserts :(


Overall: the food is amazing and service is bad. It is a bit expensive but you are paying for the quality of food, presentation of food and service. The third factor did let me down big time. I'm doubtful if I want to try this place again because of the service. I'm trying to convince myself that I did go on a wrong day and should visit this place once again. If the service does not improve, this place is a big no-no in spite of amazing food