A Refreshing Snack At Lloyd's Tea House

Should be 7 o' clock in the evening. I just got down from the bus after a tedious long journey, which is supposed to take less than an hour. When I got down, I felt as if I was relieved of some great burden and but I had a severe headache. Walking back home, I remembered Lloyd's Tea House had opened a new branch some months before at R A Puram 2nd Main Road. So I walked in to have some snacks and tea.

The name and the interiors made me wonder if they would serve cup cakes and Teas like how Brits serve. Anyhow nothing like that. The menu card had the same old Fries, Pizzas and Burgers. The waiter got me the Beverage menu first and upon request he also brought the snack menu, both well bonded in a leather case.

When it comes to evening snack I always choose French Fries and when it comes to beverages, Coffee will be my obvious choice. But this time, I was looking for a different thing to drink. Why not a Desi Tea, I thought.

I asked the waiter to get French Fries first and patiently, I was looking at the menu. Taking a deeper look at the Beverage menu, there were options like Indian Masala Chai, Bombay Cutting Chai and Kolkata Street Chai.

Reading the descriptions below, Kolkata Street Chai stuck me. Because of the ingredients. The description specifically said it has Nutmeg. Somewhere I heard Nutmeg is good to cure headache, but if taken more than a tea spoon or so it would let you go crazy. I also remember reading the story of a guy who once behaved erratically after tasting more than a spoon of Nutmeg. I wondered. So I thought I should it taste and see how it is.

While I was having my French Fries, the Tea also arrived. Cup of tea in a hand and Fries in the other. A sip of this and a bite of that. I thought I should also dip it in the Tomato sauce. But no. It would spoil the whole taste.

It went on for nearly 30 minutes that people were gave a weird look at me. Then finally the Tea got over and Fries plate went empty as well. I wondered if I ask for another cup of Tea. But no. After finishing it off, I felt my headache vanished and I felt much better.

Ambiance is also another favourable factor for the restaurant. But the service could have been a bit faster.

So overall I would rate the restaurant as 3.5 out of 5.  

Food Cures Depression At Carnival

Should be an afternoon time in April. I was roaming around in C P Ramaswamy Road, searching for a particular company. It has been a month since I stepped out of the previous office. I had to quit the place due to some differences between me and the management. I thought there would be aplenty of jobs awaiting, but the vice versa. It would be a month since I had left the job and the companies I went for interview, never gave me an opportunity for some reason or the other. Then one day I identified, there is something wrong with my approach. Some of my friends a new CV, while some asked me to go for a higher studies. But after all these, there weren't any companies left out to ask for a job. One fine day, I walked into an office and dropped my resume. The front office managers never ever bothered to look at me. They simply said, "No vacancies. You may leave."

Frustrated, agitated and a feeling of low self esteem was haunting me that day and it was lunch time. When I looked around there were hardly any restaurants near Juice World. I was sauntering for some distance in the same road and found out a place Carnival. Looking from the outside, it looked like a bakery. I thought a Puff with a Cake would do.

But when I stepped in, there were tables serving proper food. So I can have a proper meal. Looking at the menu, I first ordered for a Cream of Tomato Soup and then an Egg Biryani followed by a Black Forest Cake to be had at the end.

The waiter said, "10 minutes sir. You would get your soup." Then he gave a warm smile.

Adjacent to my table was a rectangular photo frame which had a picture of How Indians were using the Ambassador car and the different dialects in which it was called. One clip art had it like a marriage band wagon, another one like a vehicle to transport your home furniture and the interestingly like a race car. 10 minutes went on like so fast and the soup had reached my table. While the colour of the soup looked pale with more cream, the hot gulp gave a therapeutic feel. Then in no time, I finished the soup and after sometime there came the Egg Biryani.

Unlike other restaurants, Carnival serves two eggs, which is a rare site nowadays. Many have confined themselves with one and some with an even more stringent half. More than that the egg quality was much better. The egg yolk had more yellow colour than the predominant black in most of the places, which means the restaurant is making use of fresh eggs.

Like the soup I never felt how the Biryani went off and it overall never looked heavy. The restaurant has a very good ambiance with temperatures that would comfort everyone and a decent seating arrangement. In many places we see chairs the tables nearby clashing each other. But here all are free to move anytime and anywhere possible.

Now it is the time for Desert. While I was expecting something from the display racks, the waiter had brought it from inside. It simply looked like a slice of a freshly made cake. I asked him, "I thought you would get it from there."

"You're lucky today sir. One who ordered for a two kg cake has cancelled it. So we are making slice to serve. You get the first slice," he said with a smile.

I wish I was lucky enough to get a job. Anyway, my luck was to get a slice of fresh cake.

All over and I turned up searching for hand wash. Before I could ask, the waiter came up with a finger bowl.

Looking at the bill, all these came for less than 500, which is not too expensive and not too cheaper. But in a range that one can afford. More than all, I forgot what happened earlier the day and stepped out with fresh energy. Getting a job is in my hands now.

A Filling Meal At An Affordable Cost

A sultry afternoon time, hefty work on hands with hungry stomach as well. I was about to faint while crossing the signal near T. Nagar Bus depot. But before that could happen i saved myself by getting into INDIAN COFFEE HOUSE. It is one of the oldest surviving restaurants in Chennai. But at the same time, the proprietor failed to spend on ambiance, which makes some people like us to stay away. But hunger never realizes certain things. 

I ordered for a meal. It came with a beetroot halwa, some mixed rice, curry, curd etc. I was amazed. The proprietor rather spent on food quality than on ambiance. Finally, it rejuvenated my day and i proceeded, completed my hefty tasks efficiently and effectively. Not only because of food also due to cost effectiveness. The meal was less than 100 rupees.

If you are looking out for cost effective and tasty meal, go for this place for sure. But do not expect better ambiance as mentioned earlier. 

Hence my score for the place would be 75 out of 100. But forgetting ambiance and the other things, just for the food, I would give it a score of 95.

Mesmerizing Tourists With Authentic South Indian Delicacies

A fine evening, one of my friend from Kolkata had visited Chennai for the first time. I took him to show the nook and corner of the city to show its difference. But when it comes to food, he said that he wanted something different other than idly and dosa.

By evening 4 o' clock, we were hungry. He was very sure about something different. After visiting Mylapore Kapaleshwarar temple, i had a quick glance at the hotels surrounding the temple.




Luckily, i noted a sign board with the name "Mylai Karpagambal Mess". I remembered somebody telling that it is one of the oldest surviving mess in Chennai city.

So i took him in. He said, "You have to order. I don't know anything". So i called upon the waiter and asked him, "What do you serve now?" The waiter replied with some set of dishes such as, dosa, parotta, chapathi and sevai. 

I ordered for sevai and my friend asked me, what is Sevai made of? Its made of powdered rice, i replied. And the billing counter had small packs of some sweets like Badam halwa. I got one and gave it to him. He enjoyed eating it.

Meanwhile, we received our sevai. After eating it, the guys taste bud made him order one more, one more and another one in a sequence. He was so excited to eat it.

Finally, i was happy for making my friend eat something different other than idly and dosa.

Pleasant Sea Breeze MASHed With Tasty Food

Spending a Sunday evening at Elliot's Beach is what we love to do. But isn't it fun to do it with a
difference? So we began our search for a place that would give us a beautiful glimpse of the beach and a food that matches the same.

We alighted when we found a board "Mash- Live To Eat" upstairs. A small garden like setup in a tiny place with some couple of tables. We took a two seater and once we sat a cool breeze lashed out thereby making us feel so excited. With the same on mind, we ordered for a Pina Colada (pine apple, coconut milk mixed together as a juice, which gave us a feel of travelling in a ship by sipping it. Being in an elevated spot, we were not disturbed by the traffic outside.

Then we chose to have a Mexican style Potato wedges as well as a Spinach and Mushroom Pasta. Creamy, fluffy, tasty and not spicy was how the pasta tasted thereby adding justice to its originality. 

Potato wedges was crispy despite its thickness but dipped terribly in masala. Not sure mexicans would eat so. But anyway it was quite good. 

All these came for somewhere between 300-500 rupees. Hence a meal for two could cost some between 600-700 rupees as per our assumptions. Not too expensive as well as too economical.

The person who accompanied me gave a total score of 4 out of 5 for all the dishes, with the natural sea breeze and even some more criterias.

My score for the place considering ambience, food taste and space would be 75 out of 100.

In Tryst With ID Cafe

Last time when I went for a night show movie in Sathyam Cinemas, I thought of having my dinner at ID Cafe. But unlikely, I was late for the movie and never got the chance to eat. Not only last time, but a couple of times. One day made up my mind to deliberately go to ID Cafe.

It looked like the same old restaurants in the city, but definitely no issues with the ambiance as well as space. I opted to sit in a two seater table that had a single large square plate. Other tables had two, but one looked weird with just one plate and I felt I'm destined to sit there.

After a few seconds of my seating, there came a waiter with a tensed face and still managed to smile to make me feel better. I ordered Idiyappam and Appam. He prompted me to take up "Eat All You Can", where I can eat as many things as possible for just Rs. 159. Will you say no if you're getting such a deal? I definitely won't as the combos of all other restaurants disappointed me so much, I wished to see if this one can satisfy me to some extent atleast.

After a few minutes, I got a big cup of Coconut milk and Kurma. Then came the hot, soft and well textured Idiyappam. When I tried to dip it into the coconut milk cup, it got split, but I was fast enough to grab all together by inserting my fingers into the cup. After that came the hot and crispy Appam which was small but with a thick base, I had to retain the same cup of coconut milk and Kurma for Appam too. 

After finishing these two, I wondered if the waiter has been serving Eat All You Can deal. So I called him up and asked, "I hope you're giving me according to the unlimited deal". He smiled and said, "Yes don't worry. So shall I get you a Keera Vadai?"

"Yes of course. Also get me a Ghee Dosa," I told him.

The square plate was so comfortable to eat and keep the small cups aside.

After a few minutes, I got three cups of Chutneys. 1. Coconut, 2. Pudina, 3. Chilli and all these along with a Keera Vadai. I took the Vada and started dipping it in all Chutney cups. Then came the Bada Ghee Dosa. I thought of asking for a soft one, but never thought of it before. Anyways still the Dosa was good with a big cup of Sambar they served.

Still my tummy wanted one more thing I loved since childhood and till now. That is, "Idli". Mini Idlis in the menu were of different kinds. I opted Karuvepilai (Curry Leaves) Idly and got it within a few seconds. Not so spicy and not so bland. Just perfectly tossed in Curry Leaves powder. I never wanted to leave the restaurant, but the number of waiting were increasing from time to time. So I had to make way for all.

Ambiance: 7.5/10. Jut because it was crowded.
Service: 9/10. Despite attending more than 3 or 4 tables at a time, the waiter was fast enough to serve me.
Food: 9/10 Even Saravana Bhavan never delivered such a taste(according to me)

Overall: 8.5/10. The best dinner I have ever had in my life.

Bevarages could've been part of "Eat All You Can".