Sunset Grill, Westin, Chennai

We recently visited the latest offering at Westin, the Sunset Grill, and boy, was it an experience. Situated on the rooftop, it offers a sweeping view of the Chennai skyline and a good breeze to accompany the cozy dinner or an elaborate group affair. Being an open space, rains are a foreseeable threat, however it did not rain the night we were there; and instead, the excellent sea breeze accompanied a memorable dinner with eclectic music, a no-frills ambiance, delicious food and hospitable service. The Executive chef was kind enough to join us and offer his delightful company; he took us through the elaborate meal and explained the thought and insight behind every dish.

The food is, as the name suggests, a good mix of grills and on the outset, will certainly do any meat lover proud. Don't get me wrong, the vegetarian options are quite the sizzle too, but if you have a meat lover in your circle, then Sunset grill will not disappoint.
Cooked to order in the open kitchen in vicinity of the restaurant, not only does the chef take pride in the freshness of the meals he dishes out, but also the breads that are served along side the meal. These breads, including focaccia and assorted buns are freshly baked in their oven. This ensures the freshest, tastiest  loaves to accompany the rest of the meal. Needless to say, we were impressed!

Moving onto the meal, their peri peri prawns and boti talwar lamb kebab in the appetizers section are dishes to look out for. The peri peri prawns are juicy and the peri peri rub lends a flavor unlike any other. They have an eternal fan in me with their bharawan e khumb, it is a mushroom dish, stuffed with cheese and spices, and cooked in the tandoor.  The boti talwar kebab was an instant hit, tender and moist, seeing as it is baby lamb legs in spiced yogurt and cooked in a clay oven to retain all the flavor. The other veg dish of note was the lahori paneer tikka, the freshest and softest paneer with a hint of  spices and again, cooked in a clay oven. They were succulent and left us asking for more. The murg hawa mahal, coated in egg white and cooked in the clay oven was a different take on chicken, and was alright. Frankly, we were too busy with the lamb, mushroom and prawns to notice anything else! The ocean crumbed calamari was served with a garlic aioli and it would have tasted best if we had eaten it as soon as they brought it to the table - the constant breeze cools the food in a jiffy.

They take their salads seriously, with a short but interesting range, they are fancy and leave a refreshing hit. The mesclun with feta and orange segments was the favorite of the day, and the insalata parmigiano e limone came a close second - it is a vegetarian ceaser salad with parmesan dressing, a garlic baguette and arancini. Wholesome, light and refreshing! The tuna nicoise looked fascinating too, but we were ready to move onto the mains.

The mains blew us away with the Sunset grill signature dish, the Slow roasted spiced pork belly - it is a thyme, coriander, fennel and demerara sugar rubbed juicy belly ensconced in the crispiest crackling that just snaps and cracks with the knife passes through it. A delight to the senses, it is by far the best belly eaten here in Chennai.

The tenderloin steak is commendable, served on a bed of mash, the lamb chops knocked it out of the park, as did the jumbo prawns. The other main dish worthy of mention is the Norwegian Salmon. A point of mention at the Sunset Grill is, the quantity per portion. The Salmon weighing in at 10 oz. is a meal in itself. Fresh Salmon with crisped skin and served with a side of sauteed veggies, the meat, though a little overcooked was delicious.

As always, all's well that ends well, and so was the case here at the Sunset Grill as well - the desserts of course! The New York Cheesecake did not disappoint, and the Tiramisu was a crowd pleaser as well. The best dessert though, was the baked yogurt with a berry compote.

We are looking forward to the next visit, and can't wait to find out how they have maintained the initial standards. They are generous with the portioning and flavors, and that makes it easier on the conscience to order that extra jumbo prawn main course dish.

P.S: The food portions featured in the pictures were tailored for the photography and not the regular servings.

Masala Klub fare at Beyond Indus, Taj Club House

I was thrilled when invited and told that the Taj Club House here in Chennai was having a 10 day Masala Klub food festival - the idea of contemporary Indian food served with a twist made me push aside all my weekday commitments and head over to Beyond Indus with heady anticipation.

The Masala Klub is the Indian restaurant at the Taj West End in Bangalore and is known to specialize in Indian fare cooked with a healthy twist and using ingredients such as olive oil, pine nuts etc and western cooking techniques such as boiling and steaming as opposed to the traditional sauteing and frying of ingredients. As Chef Chandan of the Masala Klub explained to us, Masala Klub looks at serving Indian food with a healthy twist. They aim at making the diner feel at ease and not ''over fed'' with all rich fare that has been tucked in. All this sounded fascinating and I was even a bit skeptical wondering how a sumptuous Indian meal can leave a diner feeling anything but stuffed and this piqued my interest all the more.

We started with a pani puri with a twist - the pani had a strong smoked pineapple flavor and an assorted platter with the goodies: excellently seasoned pan seared sea bass, a delicious palak pappad ka kebab which was florets of broccoli with mustard, and fresh and succulent char grilled prawns. This was served with a portion of veggies picked in the usual suspect of vinegar and the more bizzare ingredient of rose water. But ,et it be noted that this seemingly alarming mix of ingredients did wonders to the palate and cleansed it paving way for the main course.

The main course was a more subdued affair with a few different types of bread, with the chili naan deserving special call out and four gravies. I personally found my favorite in the water chestnut and lotus stem curry and had dollops of it with the roti. I also felt that that it would pair excellent with plain white rice as well. The Anardana Jhinga or fresh prawns tossed on the griddle with roasted coriander seeds and topped with pomegranate seeds was the second favorite - the gravy paired excellently well with chili naan. The Dal Indus also deserves special mention, it is a black lentil curry simmered for over 40 hours and then finished with fresh tomatoes. It was thick, creamy and reminiscent of dal makhani, but different in aspects. I didn't taste the Patiala Mutton curry myself but my friends at the table found it alright, though it was remarked that one of the spices stood out and eclipsed the flavor of the others.

Dessert was a baked anjeer halwa - mashed figs topped with thickened milk and baked and served hot. It came with a side of coconut ice cream, which was very crystallized and sliced figs and kiwi.

An interesting turn of events was, the famous galouti kebab which was not on the menu for our dinner that night, but is available as part of Masala Klub's festival. A couple of my kebab connoisseur friends stayed back to taste it after all of us left, and they can't stop raving about it. I take their word for the fact that it was delicious, and strongly recommend you try the galouti kebab if you are at the restaurant.

The Masala Klub festival is on from the 12th to 22nd of June at Beyond Indus, Taj Club House, Chennai

Spectra, The Leela Palace, Chennai - Restaurant Review

The newest addition to the luxury hotel scene in Chennai is The Leela Palace, Chennai . Having experienced their luxe, opulent and hospitable way of life at The Leela Kovalam and The Leela Palace Bangalore, we were more than excited when Chennai figured in The Leela's scheme of things.

This was my second visit to The Leela Palace, Chennai in less than a month, and i think that speaks volumes in itself. The first time i was there was on an official trip and i vowed to back soon. Newspapers claimed that they'd just opened the doors to their restaurants this week and their all day dining café, Spectra beckoned.

 

The Leela is well known for their gracious hospitality. In fact, their motto is Atithi Devo Bhava, translated to mean, 'The Guest is God'. I believe i can safely say, their courtesy and etiquette is second to none. Their USP is making you feel comfortable in their extravagant settings, and they more than succeed. I told them i'd be clicking pictures, and they happily obliged.

Now, onto the food. P.S: You must know, we  headed out for lunch thinking we'd go à la carte, but all such aspirations were brushed aside on entering the restaurant. As we were led to our table facing the Adyar river, and beyond that, the Bay of Bengal (yes, the view was spectacular), an array of strategically placed buffet food counters caught our eye. A quick run through only piqued our interest and we were sold (though we had only about 15 minutes to the close of the buffet, but the restaurant manager seeing our dilemma, kindly volunteered and obliged to extend it by half an hour).

 By far the most extensive lunch buffet, it was massive. The word 'café' does not do justice to the dining experience. They have 7 live counters, with the likes of a well stocked Sushi bar, a Pasta bar, a Grill section, a Chinese corner (with the crispiest fried chicken), Pizza, Salads and Appams (that would put any authentic Kerala restaurant to shame)!

and we started. The cold cuts and the salad bar is innovative. Presented beautifully, they serve tastefully cut or shaved vegetables in bowls and beside that is an array of sauces and dressings. We loved the idea of being able to make our own salad with the sauces we wanted, and i tripped on the garlic aioli and another fine dressing with the likes of olives, radishes and beets. A refreshing and interesting water melon mint cooler in a shooter glass took things to another level.

Sufficient intake of veggies, check. We moved on to the hard core stuff. There was a stuffed zucchini that had an interesting stuffing. Their prawn curry was brilliant with the prawns cooked perfectly. The Chinese counter is not to be missed. Their crispy fried chicken is tender on the inside, and so crispy on the outside, and cut up in such convenient small portions, eating by the platefuls is easy. On the downside, the momos had a slightly smokey after-taste and the Thai calamari curry had some overcooked calamari rings.

Over at the sushi counter, the tuna and salmon sushi deserve special mention, the flavors were clean, and as a welcome change, not dry and bland as in many other restaurants.

In the Grill section, the lamb tenderloin was succulent and juicy without any overpowering flavors. The grilled prawn was commendable, with just a light dressing of lemon juice. The grilled fish stood out with its clean flavors and it was cooked perfectly.

Important point to note, the Appams are to die for. Striking the perfect balance between sweet, a hint of fermented tanginess, these lacy wonders go brilliantly well with the creamy seafood mappas or the chicken curry. The seafood mappas easily makes it to the top three dishes of the day, it is creamy, light and is the most delectable mix of prawns, calamari and fish.

They offer a vegetarian pizza with artichoke and peppers drenched in International flavors and a non vegetarian pizza of tandoori chicken. We somehow preferred the veg pizza. Sadly, we could not try the pasta counter, we were short on time and frankly, our tummies wouldn't have been to handle more. Besides, we were saving space for the spread you will see below.

Always the most looked forward to part of any meal for me, the dessert always makes or breaks a meal for me. and the Leela lunch was made. Their desserts were unpretentious and a refreshing change from the usual suspects. The homemade hazelnut ice cream, served with hazelnut butter will give any specialized ice cream place a run for their money. In fact, we'd go back just for that. It is a perfect mix of creamy, light and smacking of yummy hazelnut goodness. The pear frangipane tart served with a dollop vanilla bean ice cream is good. The berry parfait topped with a macaron and a crumble was a tangy, refreshing twist to the usual fruit parafits. And the crème brulée. THE crème brulée. Saying that it would by far be the creamiest and lightest crème brulée would not be taking it too far. Not cloyingly sweet or teeniest bit eggy, it was a ramekin of perfectly cooked, perfectly balanced crème served with a strawberry. (Though the we did miss tapping on the 'brulée' layer and cracking through it).

Priced at 1700 nett per head, the Spectra buffet has much on offer, and many of them star dishes. We are definitely going back

The hotel's pastry shop called the Cake Shop has a very impressive looking array of baked goodies. Proudly showing off a varied hue of macs, chocolates, croissants, donuts, breads, cheesecakes and cakes studded with macs i was literally in candy heaven.

The executive chef, Dharmen Makawana graciously took a good one hour off his time to talk to us and show us around the hotel. He regaled us with anecdotes from his rich experience in the hotel industry as part of many illustrious hotels. He gave us a background to how the Leela Chennai came into being and that left us at nothing short of awe and inspiration. He took us to the Library Blu Bar, and i for one can't wait till they start serving alcohol there. It imparts a mood like no other and will  be a bar to reckon on the Chennai map.
 

 

 

Like the other Leelas, the Chennai Leela has gone all out and pulled out all the stops to make it the epitome in class and opulence. Their eye for detail and attention paid to every tiny speck is mindblowing. But like Chef Dharmen said, none of it would really matter if it did not have their trademark hospitality. and that is what makes The Leela, The Leela.

 

The Azulia, GRT Grand, Chennai - Restaurant Review

I love Arabic cuisine and Mediterranean is definitely a fav. To add to that, authentic Mediterranean fare is difficult to come by here but the uber chic and extremely cool Azulia in GRT Grand, T Nagar, Chennai is one of the most popular choices you have because of an array of reasons. So the opportunity to visit Azulia presented itself and I went with a group of fun foodies  and had one of the longest spanning lunches. Well, they do have 161 dishes to offer. and it spans the breadth of 10 countries that share a border with the Mediterranean - Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Malta to name a few. So...! But that was not the only reason our lunch ran into 4 odd hours. Yes, there' more to Azulia that just their food!

They offer a truly Mediterranean spread (leaning slightly towards the Turkish when it comes to Baklava though! :)) Chef Ethem is a charming Turk gentleman and has a career spanning decades backing his experience. Engaging and easy going, we chatted him up and he regaled us with his intriguing stories. He comes from a family of cooks where cooking is the way of life and has been for generations. So when he takes you through the menu and when he comes and checks on you occasionally, you can't help but feel you are in good cheffy hands. The décor has Moroccan lanterns, glass mosaic ware, and ethnically dressed servers amongst other beautiful things. The excellent lighting, the practical seating and the sophisticated décor lend a very good feel to the place.and if you were not feeling Mediterranean enough already, check this out: They have live performers dishing out their fare up in front of the restaurant. They have a sax performace lined up as well. Talk about being swanky!

The staff are very hospitable and in a change from many other restaurants, they know what they are serving. You could ask them what goes into a dish and they can help you without fumbling. and dig this: the Chef comes in and checks on you every once a way and you could always ask for a dish in a style you prefer. They also cater to various preferences like vegan, lactose intolerant, gluten free and so on and so forth.  (They would need some notice to get that dish ready as it is not featured on the menu though). The menu does justice to the vegetarian palate as well.
Enough said, now, moving onto the stuff you've been really waiting for: The food! They have an extensive drinks menu where making a choice is not very difficult. i went for the Reviver, it is a lemon and mint concoction topped off with ice. and revive me it did.
The food menu on the other hand is another affair altogether. Designed as a coffee table book, it looks and feels every bit like one. With those glossy and extremely appetising pics of food looking up at you, this super neat menu  not only mentions what fare they have to offer but also gives you a brief intro about the countries that have their dishes featured there.

For the appetisers, we got a cold Mezze platter and a hot Mezze platter. The cold Mezze included the kubbus, the tzakziki, hummus, dolamdes and moussakka marakkech. The hummus and moussakka marakkech were extremely good while the dolmades or the vine stuffed with onion, rice, raisin and pine nut and flavored with cinnamon  is indeed an acquired flavor. The hot mezze offered us falafel, fatayer and bourak bel jibneh for the vegetarians and jawaneh for the non vegetarians. The bourak bel jibneh was this interesting looking plate of rolled up cigars with a stuffing of halloumi, feta and gruyere chesse infused with onions and dried herbs. For the chicken wings sucker, the bourak will interest you. It is deep fried wings sauteed with garlic lemon and coriander. And of course, the pizza! The manakish pizza is of course a thin crust with such balanced finesse, it is beautiful. The toppings were the zaatar with tomato, cheese, fresh mint and olives. The sumac shone, which is an essential middle eastern spice: it is tart in flavour and will go very well with chicken, fish, salad dressing or hummus - pretty much everything! It can also substitute lemon and bring a different zing to any dish.

For the main course, i had a Poisson a l'Estragon which is fish fillet in white wine and white butter served with grilled vegetables. The star dish was however the prawn marrakech with gnocchi. It is not on the menu but the chef would make it if you asked him for it. Its grilled prawns with gnocchi, spinach, mushroom, garlic in creamy parmesan cheese sauce. The flavors were spot on and the prawn cooked beautifully : juicy and succulent. They have a decent steak for the meat lovers. The castalata is the Australian lamb chops marinated in wild mustard and served with feta olive struddle. The Cannelloni à la Bolognaise is a treat for the eyes and is fresh cannelloni filled with lamb meat topped with a creamy cheese sauce. The Risotto Tortufo Fungi was a creamy mix of Italian porcini mushrooms and arborio rice drizzled with truffle oil.

We were all quite full but were definitely saving space for dessert. They have a good looking dessert spread and the Chef was gracious to bring out a platter of the desserts and we got the Baklava, orange cheesecake and hot chocolate soufflé. The baklava is the Turkish version meaning moist and a tad more sweet. The cheesecake was a combination of cream cheese and orange flavors. The hot chocolate soufflé is a Chef' special: it's a chocolate volcano with chocolate oozing from the inside.

What added to the experience was of course those unique little quirks that Azulia abounds in. They are the champions of this pretty little thing called Turkish magic. What happens is, once you come in and settle down at your table, you are served a tiny shots-like looking glass with water in it. No, dont drink it! They pop a small  pill of sorts into the water and you see it transform into a tightly wrapped wet napkin to refresh yourself with!! How neat is that?! They introduced this concept to the folks of Chennai when the restaurant started some 3 and a half years ago. Now, as i know it, there are other restaurants doing the same! That is how much of a novelty this has become :)

Apart from the napkin we all get to lay out on our lap before eating, each diner is given a pretty Azulia branded apron! i know! :) They believe Mediterranean food is best enjoyed when you go all in with your hands and if it gets messy, well, that's what the aprons are for!

Or like how they served a palette cleansing scoop of the most, i-cross-my-heart-delicious passion fruit sorbet. It came between courses and definitely served the purpose. and whetted my appetite for more (maybe that was the intention, but i don't really care!) That sorbet was one heck of sorbet: ultra smooth, balanced and so refreshing!

By the time we polished off the last crumb of the baklava (ok, i did that :P ) we were a table of satisfied and 'more-educated-about-the-Mediterranean-way-of-life' people. I liked the experience and is definitely a place i would go back to when i am in the mood to splurge a little and have a beautiful Mediterranean meal. Like the folks there say, 90 % of their stuff is imported, including the Chef  himself, so i believe the pricing is justified. 
A good meal for two including one appetiser, two main courses, two non alcoholic drinks and two desserts will come in the INR 3800 to 4000 range.
So what are you waiting for? Yalla yalla!


Ambiance: 8/10
Service:9/10
Taste:8/10
Portions:7.5/10
Price: 8/10
P.S: This post ran quite long and it was'nt intentional. i apologize for that. Next time maybe i should put my pics on a link and share that with you. Till then, stay happy! :)