Chennai Burps

A lot can happen over coffee, and coffee shops have become the preferred hang out for a short eat and long talks.

With that premise we hit the Ispahani CCD. The spread of CCD is acceptable and has been accepted because if you look closely the new comers on the menu are few and far in between. A cursory look in the menu will tell you that their claim to fame is one Kaapi Nirvana that won a silver in some competition in 2002, much water has flown under the bridge since.

I also felt that their eats were always passable when fresh, high priced though they may be due to their huge over heads and rentals. I even started liking their spinach and the chicken sandwiches which till some time back was served with fries and in my last visit (a month or so ago)was served with some namkeen that reeked of rock salt and made me absolutely throw up in disgust. The sofas I must add are rather uncomfortable for large persons like myself and despite trying various postures it was difficult to get a comfortable seating position.

Anyway this is a food review so I will hit the topic, we declined on the eats, more so because the namkeen episode was still fresh in my mind, I asked a Moccachillo which I was informed was the only thing not available in that page. So I settled for the second option of a Choco Frappe (Rs. 65), my friend took the strawberry shake (Rs. 65) though I told him it would be a flavoured one. The waiter said would you like a chocolate or black forest topping, which in the din of the music sounded like a sauce topping to both of us and we went for the black forest.

The service if you are not used to it is painfully slow and you have to really wave hard to get noticed, not a bad thing when you want to talk sweet nothings without being disturbed, but a very bad idea when you are hungry or in a hurry.

Our order was served and we were shocked to see a small slice of stale black forest cake shoved in to the tall glasses that contained our respective drinks. The operative term is stale and the drink by itself was passable the cake did nothing to highlight or increase the taste component except to pile on the calories. Come on, you don't expect to find a pastry sunk into your coffee do you?

The bitter taste started when we got the bill, with the black forest costing Rs. 47 each. A lot can happen over coffee...you can get ripped off too.

The bottom line is CCD has a stale menu and often stale food but being a life style option, it gets away with it probably because there is no other equal alternative which comes with all the fringe benefits like good parking (esp in Ispahani).

Rating ▼

It was Dad’s birthday and we planned to hit an “Appam” place for dinner. Our original destination was the Annanagar outlet of Kumarakom but due to some abysmal parking facilities we found ourselves at Kairali which goes with the tagline “heavenly food at earthly prices”.

So this was not our first choice but it was not a NOA (no other alternative) option as Annanagar is blessed with a couple of others so we actually were spoilt for choice. Let me now add that I consider myself to be 25% Malayalee coming from that descent and so appams, puttu and coconut drenched fish curry are regular at home.

Kairali is in a renovated or remodeled bungalow and the entrance up a broad winding stairway makes you feel very cosy and far removed from the utilitarian and often ugly looking commercial complexes that house other restaurants.

We entered a nearly empty restaurant and so we enjoyed prompt service. As we went with a determination to have appams we ended up dispensing with the run of the mill starters and jumped into appams, sear fish curry, chicken stew, puttu and kadala curry. Let me go straight to the food,:

Appams: delightful, slightly sweet and just like mum makes at home, priced at Rs. 12 each, you just can’t stop at 1.

Sear fish curry: the waiter warned us that it would be spicy and he made it sound as a mismatch for the appams but we insisted and found that it was quite taste. You love the kodampuli or you hate it, I loved it. It was a great accompaniment to the appams. Price Rs. 70.

Chicken stew: again with some sweet coconut milk (did they add sugar?), this was just the way you expect a good home made stew to be and the chicken was also cooked well. Price Rs. 70.

The puttu and kadalai curry: I dispensed with it but I found out that they were a little tight fisted with salt and during a later discussion with some other diners we found out that maybe their vegetarian dishes are cooked with just that little less salt than desirable. Price Rs. 65.

Their dessert selection was restricted to ice cream which we rejected and payasam that we declined as we were already stuffed. I was a tad disappointed that they have discontinued their tender coconut pudding which I had enjoyed once earlier.

It was reasonable service, good food and good pricing in a comfortable ambience.

Final verdict: I think Kairali should change their tagline to “Homely food at earthly prices”, for it really is.

Rating: ▲

Take a good look at the image, this is the logo of the original Thalapakatti (turbaned) Biriyani hotel, a Google search will tell you that there is a case going on in the Madras High Court between two parties for the rights to use the name Thalapakatti, though me too companies call them selves Thalapakattu. It would mean effectively one means "turbaned" and the other "tie turban". Anyway cutting to the chase the self proclaimed (with merit) originals have landed in Chennai and since I am a fan of biriyani they feature as my first post.

Situated near Valliammal college in a calm lane of Annanagar the first sore point as you approach is the usual lack of adequate parking space. But since space is at a premium in Annanagar I will let that pass. The restaurant is simple, elegant and tastefully decorated. The service again from the North East of the country is passable but can be improved; you would expect empty water glasses to be refilled without a frantic wave of the hand.

Now the proof of the pudding… we (my family) ordered the house specialty boneless mutton biriyani, one special non vegetarian meals and their special chicken that strangely did not figure on their menu but was mentioned by our waiter. I will now dissect the food:
The Biriyani – Thalapakatti are known for using the seeraga samba strain of rice, which are small grained and have a distinct taste from the normal often low quality basmati rice that is used in normal hotels. The meat is boneless as mentioned earlier, tender and the biriyani is quite tasty but when you are halfway through your meal you realize that it is over. The portions at Rs. 100 are rather small and you would need the additional white rice and rasam (Rs. 25) or the plain biriyani (Rs. 60) to feel satisfied. If limited meals are your preference then go for it.

The special non vegetarian meals (Rs. 120) on the other hand is sumptuous and packs quite a spread with the usual non vegetarian curries, soup, ice cream et al. If you wish to get stuffed go for it, after all it is unlimited, but you need to keep calling the waiters for refills.

The special chicken was yummy with a distinct flavour that I have not seen around; often you get the usual batter fried and shockingly coloured chicken, but this was yummy and worth a try. ( I forget the price).

The owner takes you through the history of the company and their heritage and checks on your satisfaction levels, I did mention about the portions in the feed back form and if you feel satisfied you know whom to thank.

The end verdict: Go for the original, though pricy and limited in quantity their taste is unique and feels almost homely.

Rating: ▲

Bon appétit.

Disclaimer: I have tried to mention the right price but since we dined some days earlier I may be a little off the mark.