Jonah's Bistro

I LOVE BURGERS... not just any burgers.. its gotta be BEEF .. period

My love for burgers have made me try at almost every place possible. It must be grilled red meat and beef in particular.  I have visited a number of places ( no 5 star hotels) in Chennai hunting for the same. Eatalica, Pupil, Llyods Tea House, Sandy's all the usual suspects i can think off. Apart from Sandy's the rest of them have crumby buns and meat is okayish at the max.

Sandy's has  a nice flavorsome meat and the buns don't crumble but doesn't fill your stomach. I have been reading up nice reviews from other bloggers and in food groups about this place. So on quiet weekday decided to stop by at this place in Besant Nagar.

The ambiance was blissful and liked the setup. They had high chair tables as well and so got myself seated in the corner. I knew even before the menu was handed out to me what i needed there. Ordered myself the beef burger while the water was served in glass which carried the restaurants name and so did the coasters, nice touch.

Then came the burger and boy was i impressed, the shiny bun was tempting with egg partially covering the meat patty sitting beautifully on tomato cucumber and lettuce perched on the heel of the bun. I was salivating like a dog and had to fight the urge not to take a bite before i took a nice pic of it.  Also, it was served with fries and salad made of white and purple cabbage, red peppers with lemon dressing i guess. But focus on the burger only....

Big question will the bun crumble and after the first few bites it did not.. kudos to the Jonah's team.
Patty was acting slippery  until i poked the toothpick all the way to the heel of the burger. Patty was juicy at its best.. not mushy neither dry... clearly it was rested  post cooking to retain the juices in it. The burst of juices with every bite was too good.. cleanly finished the plate. Veggies were fresh and added the crunch to the dish.

Next time i would order without the egg, personally i dont like egg in a burger unless its an egg burger.  Also, if i have to pick a grouse, not fair on my part but for the sake of it. I would set the patty on the heel maybe leave the lettuce and move the tomatoes and cucumbers to the top and replace the egg with bacon rashes. Also, go for pickled cucumbers instead of  fresh ones.

Jonah's Bistro is located on the first floor above Sree Krishna Sweets on the lane  before the petawrap kiosk.

Food  9.5/10 Ambience 9/10 Service 9/10 Price 9/10
Would I Recommend?  Yes,totally without hesitation

Sam's Pizza -- What Zaa?

After a long time me, my cousin and friend decided to go out for dinner, we had two options hit BBQ   Chicken or Sam's Pizza. Since none of us had any particular choice we let destiny decide and by quick choice of selection between two fingers Sam's Pizza it was. Thinking back i should have just chopped that finger. 

We landed up on door step of Sam's Pizza - incidentally i had earlier come across this place during the setup and assumed it was Pizza Republic. Its in the same building as that of Moti Mahal Deluxe on Jaganathan street, off Nungambakkam. High Road. They have an underground parking for 2 wheelers and Car park in front. One has to take a flight of stairs to get to the joint, its quite a bright inside with a splash of vivid colors. Decor is very casual with transparent plastic chairs on one end and sofa types for the rest of the place. This place is not suited if you are looking for a quite place or for business/casual conversation cause one has to shout on top of their voice to be heard, noisy is an understatement.

It was Independence Day and the place was full  at around 8 PM, however we got seated immediately and by the time we got the menu card there were a couple of families waiting to be seated. The menu isnt exhaustive, they have their dinner combos which were priced at 299 for Non veg and 249 for Veg, one gets a soup, 26 varieties of salads, garlic bread, choice of 3 veg or 2 non-veg  deep pan pizza and one dessert.  They have set pizza type for different days, plus their prices for Saturday and sunday lunch  were higher by 50 rs ( beats me as to why the same stuff should cost more on weekend). Also, if you squint eyes enough one can find the wordings that say if the patron is seated for more than one hour you will be charged 50% more. Not sure if they actually time someone. Also, they have only two types of  crust thin and deep pan and neither of them are what they claim to be.

We ordered  french fries, one medium Veg thin crust pizza and a chicken pizza deep pan. It took roughly around 20 mins for the pizza's to arrive followed by french fries. I have never seen such small medium sized pizzas. The waiter said it was 9 inch pizza but i think it was only around 8 inches, imagine your regular pizza from domino's slightly larger and made of six slices instead of four. Coming to the taste of it the chicken pizza had a minimalistic topping, it didn't have any flavor of the sauce seemed like they hadn't put any sauce at all. Seasoning on the toppings were good, though they claim deep pan, it was just regular pan pizza. IMO deep pan will have twice the amount of toppings this was not the case with the one we got. Veg pizza was no different and thin crust was not crispy but merely 3/4 of the dough of the pan pizza.

Non Veg Chkn Pizza Deep Pan

Thin Crust Paneer Pizza

Thin Crust??!!

I have personally worked in a pizza place, made and served pizza's also tasted varieties of crusts in Chennai/UK and i would not rate the one's i had as pizzas. They are like the pizza's you get in your local bakeries.  French fries had the portion was over cooked and too crispy like biscuits and over salted. Total bill was Rs 1071. I felt it was a rip-off for the size and taste, moreover i could have got 2 medium pizzas, garlic bread and coke for far lesser $$$ at other places. Its italian for heavens sake.. and one would feel stuffed after a pizza meal... unfortunately not here.

Service was okay not so great and they charge 10% as service charge as well.

Food 3/10

Ambience 3/10

Service 6/10

Price 2/10

Would I Recommend?  No, PM me and will give you better ways to spend your money.

La Shaakahari

Late in the evening me and my friend wanted to have dinner outside, i was suggesting that we head to Pizza Republic only to find out that its not opened yet. As we were riding around Shashtri bhavan i remembered someone mentioning about  a food joint and i took the Pycrofts Garden street and ended up at La Shaakahari, vegetarian restaurant.

It was a medium sized restaurant that could accommodate atleast 50 people, we were quickly seated at a table and then asked to move to another table as  a bigger group turned up. The ambience isnt that great very noisy place and infact one of the noisiest that i had been too. 

Menu card was simple they had Continental and indiam cuisine, we decided to try the baked stuff for the main course. For starters, we ordered cheese bombs and roasted tomato soup followed by Roasted Lasagna Verdu and Vegetable Moussaka.

Starters came in no time at all, soup was an excuse for starch water with tomato flavoring. It lacked flavor and wasnt good.Cheese bombs was alright, wasn't gooey with cheese rather one gets hint of cheese in it and the batter is like the bajji batter.

Next was the roasted lasagna verdu which was served in a very hot plate, with the cutleries in it and though the waiter did mention that the plate was hot. I think they had put the cutleries also along in the oven. Almost burnt my fingers. Lasagna was just sheets of pasta with veggies in white sauce and some tomato sauce. First couple of bites were good however more you have it, gets tough to eat. Vegetable moussaka was totally unlike a mousakka, hardly any aubergines, looks they picked up the baby brinjals and sliced them up.  Though it looked alright with a rich tomato gravy, as one digs in its again diced veggies in cream sauce and just the top layer has aubergines. It tasted so-so and was definetly not a moussaka very pretentious stuff.

Vegetable Moussakka

Lasagna

 

We decided to leave and not try the desserts, the total bill came to 718 Rs. I have no clue about the Indian cuisine at this place, however unsure whether to check them out sometime later.

La Shaakahari is located on 20 Pycrofts Garden road, Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600006

 

Food 5/10
Ambience 5/10
Service 6/10
Price 6/10

Would I Recommend?  Hmm may be not.

Sandy's Chocolate Laboratory

It was time for our quarterly team lunch and the big decision of finding a good place within the budget was at mind. Decided to try Sandy's at Wallace Garden  Rd, Nungambakkam, since they didnt have their menu online called them up and was told that avg price is around 600 Rs. This was on the high side however, we decided to go anyway and if it was too much on the high side will walk out to either Jakobs Kitchen, Equinox or Mash Grill House.

We booked the table and i was the first to arrive, flipped through the menu and found that well within our budget. Decor was very simplistic, more like a cafe atmosphere, with interesting receptacles for serving such as conical flask, beaker etc. Ambience was quite good and the tables are spaced apart as well. Beneath this cafe type place was hidden a restaurant that dishes out amazing food. Soon my colleagues joined in and were ready to order.

For starters, we ordered Jalapeno potato fritters and potato wedges, we wanted to order Spanakopita but they were not having it that day. Spanakopita was a dish with Spinach, Feta and other stuff sounded yumm but alas not to be had; probably next time. Jalapeno potato fritters was served with salsa and it was crumb coated with a gooey centre made of creamy potato, jalapenos and cheese, simply irrestible. Potato wedges was served with ketchup, i would have love to have it some creamy dip. Nothing wrong with ketchup its just me.

Jalapeno Potato Fritters

Potato Wedges

For the main course, we ordered couple of tenderloin burgers, couple of ravioli with spinace and mushroom in white sauce and grilled fish with lemon sauce. First to arrive were the burgers and they looked just like burgers- meaty and yummy served with potato wedges, ketchup and pickled veggies. I had ordered mine medium and the other was welldone. The buns were not thick crumbly ones and held well until we chowed down the last morsel of it. Patty was flavorsome, well seasoned and stacked amongst bacon rashes, tomato, lettuce etc. By far the best burger i have had in town and with each and every bite, it was just too good and fanfare for the tastebuds.

Tenderloin Burger with Bacon and Cheese

Grilled fish with butter lemon sauce was served with mashed potatoes and was grilled close to perfection, not dry and the sauce had a zing to it. Combination of the sauce, fish and mash was pure bliss.

Grilled Fish on Lemon Sauce

Raviolli with Spinach n Mushroom on white sauce was in no way inferior to the previous dishes and was quite rich and the pasta was brilliant to say the least. Only sore thing being the portion could have had a bit more of ravioli since it didn't quite feel filling as the other dishes.

Raviolli with Mushroom n Spinach

Next, we ordered desserts chocolate ice cream, nutella chocolate bar, funky monkey and  that little tiny cake. No complaints there as the taste was just orgasmic, only oohs and aahs as we dug into them. All in all a lunch well spent and worth every penny of it.

Tiny Chocolate Cake

Nutella Chocolate Bar

 

Funky Monkey

Chocolate Icecream

The only not so good comment is the fact that one had to wait for a long time to get our glasses filled with water, waiters were oblivious to the presence of customers and one had to holler out to get their attention. An improvement would be much appreciated. Another thing that caught my attention was that they do no have any lamb dishes on their menu.

I would say that when you step out of Sandy's you would leave with satiated appetite and money spent on worthy dishes.

Average price of starters is 160 Rs, Main courses 300 Rs, Desserts 200 Rs. Our bill came to 2900 INR with the above dishes.

Thanks to Luke, Bharath, Deepa and Felita for the awesome company for the lunch.


Sandy's Chocolate Laboratory is located on 16, Wallace Garden, 2nd Street, Nungambakkam, Chennai 600006

Food  9.5/10
Ambience 6.5/10
Service 7.5/10
Price 7/10


Would I Recommend?  Yes,totally without hesitation

Kobe Sizzlers

I love steaks and IMO Kobe's serves really good ones. I have been visiting Kobe's for quite sometime now and have tried the different steaks in the menu. Not once i have found something to complain about, i always go for Beef . My friends have had the chicken and the paneer steaks and always managed to scrape the plate clean to the last morsel. The only complaint i have is that they have reduced the number of sauce bottles, earlier there used to be a tomato ketchup, chilli sauce, mustard sauce and a brown vinaigrette (i think). Then they took out mustard sauce and this time around only ketchup and chilli sauce.

Vegetarian sizzlers are served on bed of rice, boiled vegetables and French fries/ Mashed potatoes. Non vegetarian sizzlers are served sans the bed of rice but with the rest. You can get your steak rare, medium or well done. I prefer it medium done - succulent and juicy. 

Apart from the sizzlers they also offer soups,starters,fried rice, noodles, pizzas, pastas, burgers, sandwiches and desserts.

I have always stuck to the steaks and we never order any starters or sides for fear of not being able to finish the sizzler. By the time we are through with it, no space for desserts. I do not have any comments on the rest of the menu except that there are burgers aren't good, buns are two big when compared to the patty. Would advice people to stay away from it.

We ordered a Chicken satellite steak with Mushroom sauce, Beef steak on Szechuan sauce and Vegetarian sizzler with mushroom.  Beef steak was cooked as requested and the rest of food was good too. No complaints and am actually at loss of words to describe it. All i can say is money well spent. The total bill came  to around 1200 rs. This place is absolute value for money.

Vegetarian Sizzler

Chicken Satellite With Mushroom Sauce

Beef Steak with Szechuan Sauce

Kobe sizzlers is located on Khadar Nawaz Khan Road,  inside a compounded area next to cafe coffee day lounge. They are also located in EA.

Food  9/10
Ambience 9/10
Service 9/10
Price 8/10


Would I Recommend?  Yes, definitely

The Pasta Bar Veneto

Me, my cousin and a friend decided to go out for dinner. We decided to go for an Italian dinner, our regular pick would be Little Italy. This time we decided to try something new and Past Bar Veneto was shortlisted. Personally, I have been wanting to check this place out for quite sometime now too.

Called them up for reservation and they said it would not be required. Was surprised, but again being a Pongal day and city deserted thought it would be empty. There are two restaurants in Chennai, one on Alsamall, Egmore and the other at Burkit Road, T.Nagar. We were heading to the T Nagar restaurant and getting there is not that easy since its situated on a one-way road and one has to navigate through by-lanes to reach the destination.

The restaurant shares space with a boutique, and restaurant is located at the rear of the property. I guess it has a good capacity of about 50-60 people; upon entering one would find an open bar style setup. I just wished it was a well stocked bar, well my wishes are endless that never actually get materialized. Too much of boring info moving on...

The place definitely was not empty and we got  seated promptly, the table we were shown was not cleaned properly and the table next us were into an argument with the waiter. That was not a good sign for a first time visit to the restaurant, we were provided the menu, which looked quite exhaustive, but in reality its not actually. It just looks exhaustive, we had to wait quite sometime for the waiter to take the order. When they did come to take the order, we informed him about the sticky table and was told that he would take care of it once we ordered.

We ordered 2 starters, Sesame chicken and Cheesy Jalapenos, when we  placed an order for a soup to be shared, he refused stating that they don't offer soups to be shared. I have eaten at a fair share of restaurants and this was the first time i have come across such a policy by a restaurant that doesn't let you place "one by two" order of soup. We skipped it and waited for the starters to arrive and the table cleaned while we chose the main course.

The table was cleaned by another person who felt as though we were pointing stuff out and did i mention the person who waited was putting a grumpy face.

By this time i was pretty sure that the dinner was going to end on a sour note, more often than not my intuitions are right and this time it was wrong.

Then the starters came and we didn't have to wait too long, first the cheesy jalapenos served with tomato ketchup. The menu describes it as Jalapenos stuffed with Cheese, fried. Fried check, Cheese check, Jalapenos check but is it stuffed jalapenos with cheese nope. It was more like cheese bites with some chopped jalapenos in it. But it tasted good. Next was the sesame chicken, its breaded chicken strips fried and coated with sesame seeds served with thousand island dressing. It tasted good too.

For the main course we ordered, Primavera Al panna with Spaghetti, Chicken Bolognese, Diavolo Pizza and Pesto Con Spinaci Pizza. First, the Diavolo pizza, a 9 inch thin crusted pizza, it was delicious and was filled with flavors of the different ingredients. Our pizza was little burnt at one end but no complaints it was very good.

Diavolo Pizza

Next was the Primavera Al Panna, spaghetti on cream white sauce with veggies served with a garlic bread. It tasted well however lacked the creaminess and could have used a bit more of sauce for soaking the garlic bread. 

Primavera Al Panna

Similarly, the Chicken Bolognese was served with a garlic bread and it too lacked the sauce element plus the chicken element was missing. Chicken mince was way too fine than you find in a bolognese sauce that one doesn't even find chicken. Both the pastas even though the tasted quite nice left us wanting for more.

Chicken Bolognese

Pesto con spinaci was no different from the diavolo, was well cooked and tasted as good as the freshly baked smell.

Pesto Con Spinaci

We did not order any desserts, the total bill came to 1,062. The starters were 125 and 135 Rs, the pastas were 175 and 195 rs and the Pizzas were 165 each. Service charge and taxes extra.

To sum it up, easy on your pocket and tasty italian food. Pizzas are a step ahead of their pasta colleagues in the menu list. Portions of main course are good per person and  starter portions could be increased. In my opinion, its a nice and cheaper alternative for Italian food in city compared to the Tuscana and Little Italy.

The Pasta Bar Veneto is located on Burkit road, refer http://www.thepastabarveneto.com for more details

Food  7/10
Ambience 7/10
Service 6.5/10
Price 8/10


Would I Recommend?  Yes, definitely

Suggestions: Please inform the waiting staff to put a smiling face and keep the table surfaces clean. Cheesy jalapenos could actually be made like described in the menu and provide a better dipping sauce than just ketchup. Wee bit more sauce to soak the garlic bread  and don't change anything about the pizza.

Kabul - Too far from taste, just like the distance between Chennai and Kabul

Friday night returning from work, I suggested going out for dinner. However, Wifey was in no mood so decided to do a takeaway from Kabul. Kabul has moved to the new location from TTK road, to Radha Krishnan Salai, its right by the Royapettah –Mylapore flyover near the signal.

We ordered a Keema Biryani, Naan, Masala Paratha, Butter Chicken Masala and Dal Makhani.

Sorry totally forgot to click the pictures, was too hungry to focus on clicking photos.

Naan and Masala paratha were good both in terms of texture and taste. Just make sure its hot while you eat.

Butter chicken masala was nicely prepared not spicy at all with strips of shredded chicken bit on the oily side, no complaints though was a good accompaniment for the breads we had ordered.  Portion was good enough to serve three people.

Dal makhani, well any good restaurant wouldn’t get it wrong and Kabul didn’t screw it up.

Coming to the last dish of the day Gosht Dum Biryani aka Keema biryani or should i call it red rice with shredded mutton sheek kebab. This is where i feel a picture would be worth a thousand words. Don’t ever and never order the biryani, reason i say is not because it didn’t taste nice... its just not biryani. More like a greasy mutton sheek fried rice with lot of red color.  They definetly have got this one wrong and with a hefty tag of 300 bucks, total and utter disappointment.

Total bill came to 920 Rs, Biryani 300, Butter chkn masala 245, Dal 165, Naan 40 and Paratha 45.

Kabul is located on Dr.Radhakrishan Salai at the  Junction before Pizza Hut

Food 6/10 (mainly because of the pretentious biryani else 7.5/10)

Ambience NA

Service NA

Price 5/10

Would I Recommend?   Not really. if you're tired of other Punjabi restaurants then maybe,  not recommended for Biryani. I can think of numerous biryani outlets that can offer much better and cheaper alternatives.