Posted by Navin Ganesh on Apr 30, 2007 in
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Today is the first time I actually entered Food Village on the ECR (East Coast Road) though I had been planning to do so for a few years. It just never happened. Anyway, I’m glad I finally did.
Entering the place, you could mistake it for anything but a restaurant. It looks like a park, has a lawn and some ducks and turkeys moving around the place. Anyway, now coming to how it does as a restaurant.
They have a number of wooden huts. Each of these are separated from the others, so its more like sitting in separate rooms. There is one hut, which has 2 levels. These huts are surrounded by trees on all sides and lots of greenery. So even if you go there for lunch, chennai’s heat doesn’t get to you. Also, each hut also features a fan. Lol.
I know there might be some of you (like me, 
) who just can’t stand the heat anyway. So for the likes of us, they have got an A/C facility, but then you don’t get to be one with nature inside the artificially cooled room. On the other hand, this place would be worth checking out for a relaxed dinner and then followed by a lazy drive back into the city.
Now to the food, the average meal for 2, works out to about Rs. 500 and that includes everything from soup and starters to your final dessert. The tomato soup that I ordered was pretty good. For the main course, some usual North Indian dishes along with some Shezwan Noodles. I must say, while the North Indian stuff were pretty good, having the Shezwan Noodles was kind of let down.
Finally, here is how I’ll put it. If you are just looking for a place to suppress your hunger then you will be better of going elsewhere. Food Village is a good option, for those wanting to spend some time outside the high paced life of the city and relax along the beaches of the ECR. A good plan would be to, go there as a group and after lunch take a ride along the ECR to one of the amusement parks or some beach.
Food Village is located on the ECR at Injambakkam, immediately after Prarthana Drive-In Theatre. They’ve got big boards put up, so its difficult to miss. You will find it on your left, if you are driving away from Chennai.
Posted by Kavitha Mohan on Apr 29, 2007 in
Hyderabad/Secunderabad “To err is human” – You bet! The best part is that we learn through our mistakes. I have made up my mind never to make the same mistake again. The mistake of eating at Bowl O’China. The Bowl O‘ China that I ate in, is situated in Kharkhana, Secunderabad, it also has another branch in Begumpet, Hyderabad. Bowl O’ China is a part of the famous food chain “The Hyderabad House”.
Hyderabad House is known for its mouth watering Biryani and that’s all the more reason why I was surprised when Bowl O’ China served such crappy food. I have been to Bowl O’China when they had first opened in Kharkhana. The food wasn’t that great on that day too, but I didn’t bother too much about it cause it was their first week and I gave them the benefit of doubt, thinking that they will be fine once they settle down. I guess I was wrong.
My sudden craving for Chinese food was the reason behind my decision to go to Bowl O’ China. I persuaded my boyfriend and he readily agreed cause that was the closest Chinese restaurant to Sainikpuri and therefore by going there we would be avoiding the horrendous city traffic. But little did we know that by avoiding traffic, we were compromising on a good meal. We got there and placed our order. We ordered for a Veg Manchurian (Rs 55) for starters, Veg Hakka Noodles (Rs 65) and Gobi Manchurian Gravy (Rs 60). We were really hungry and the thought of eating good Chinese food increased our anticipation even more.
We waited and waited and waited… and waited My appetite was now half of what it was when I initially got there. While we were waiting, I was observing the ambience of the place. The restaurant has used dark red and black (both my favorite colors) for the walls and the furniture. The highlights of the place are the lamps that they have hung from the ceiling. I would love to get couple of them for my own house. It is a very small restaurant with a seating capacity for 40 people or so.
While I was analyzing the ambiance my guy reminded them about our order for the second time. Finally they decided to be nice to us and brought the food. My appetite had vanished by the time they laid the plate. Then came the biggest disappointment. The Veg Manchurian turned out to be over cooked. It looked like they had already made the Manchurian and fried it again just before bringing it to our table. We somehow managed to eat it. Then we were served the Veg Hakka Noodles, and the Gobi Manchurian Gravy along with it. The noodles was nice so I was under the impression that the Gobi Manchurian will also be nice, but I was wrong once again. It was really hard and ‘kaccha’ you know what I mean right. It was like I was eating raw cauliflower soaked in some weird soya sauce gravy. That was the heights; we called the Manager and told him that this was not what we expected. He apologized and had the order changed to Veg Manchurian Gravy.
The Veg Manchurian Gravy arrived after we had finished eating more than half of the Hakka Noodles. It was the same starter we had had at the beginning of the meal, put in the same weird soya sauce of the previous gravy. We dint eat it. Why should we? Don’t we deserve value for our money? This was the first time in our lives that we had wasted so much food, and didn’t feel bad about it.
Bowl O’ China is all show and no quality. It is a sad attempt by Hyderabad House to satiate the needs of the Chinese food lovers. I think they need to improve or shut down and just stick to making what they do best, Biryani. The only thing that I liked about Bowl O’ China was the decor and the lamps.
For those who are still interested in checking it out, here is the address
Bowl O’ China, Plot No. 28, New Vasavi Nagar, Karkhana, Secunderabad.
Posted by Navin Ganesh on Apr 28, 2007 in
Bangalore Situated right in the middle of Cunningham Road, the wavy structure of Sigma Mall does get its vote as one of the hangout hotspots in Bangalore. This is a follow-up to my write up on Cunningham Road that I had posted earlier. Anyway, I decided to write about Sigma Mall separately, because there is much that can be said about it, that you should know as you dig for new and exciting hangouts.
Initially when I saw it from outside, it did look like any other mall. The McDonald’s (which needs no introduction – as the most popular place for Burgers and Fries) occupies a chunk of the front portion. Being a weekend, I went in prepared to face the crowd thronging the place, as is the case with any of the more popular in Bangalore such as Garuda Mall and Forum. But to my surprise, it was quite empty and the perfect atmosphere for relaxing on a Saturday afternoon while doing some shopping or sipping some coffee.
Its pretty big on the inside with 4 levels, and with one look I was sure that it had almost what every other mall has, probably on a slightly smaller scale. But it’s the kind of place that works for me. I decided to take a walk around the place and found shops where people of all ages and various interests can kill time.
At the Ground Level, as soon as you enter, Bread Bazaar on your left treats you to a number of bakery stuff to munch on. Go further in and you’ve got a nice setup by Cafe Coffee Day. Its not enclosed, giving you the feeling of being a part of the happenings at the Mall. But if you are looking for some privacy, check out the Food Court at Level 3. You’ve got Louis Philippe, Reebok, Nike, Levi’s, Pepe, Provogue, etc. to check out the latest trends in apparels. You can also find other outlets of Swarovski, Oyzterbay, Blue Sky (great collection of cooling glasses – slightly expensive range) and Solitaire (check out this place for its diamonds). There are also some shops exclusively for women.
Level 1 is fully occupied by a Pantaloons showroom having a great range of clothes.
At Level 2, for people into photography, there is an exclusive showroom called G.K. Vale which I believe has pretty much everything you’ll ever look for. Next to that is a Chinese Restaurant called Nan King, which I wasn’t able to check out on the inside, but it looked decent from the outside, but I cannot vouch for the food that you get there. If any of you have tried it, please enlighten us with your experience. There is electronics gadgets store called t-base that sells laptops, computers and various other tech accessories.
Level 3 is where you can hog at the Food Court, which has outlets of a number of restaurants. I liked the ambiance of the place, probably because of the relaxing lighting. That coupled with a variety of food to choose from makes the perfect solution for a quick date. You’ve also got Food Bazaar (a supermarket) to buy out your needs without needing to go elsewhere.
And finally, Fun Cinemas is coming up. I’m not sure as to how many screens they are going to put up, but I’m sure Sigma Mall is well on its way to becoming a regular hangout to many. So if you happen to be in Bangalore, don’t miss out on this great place which houses literally everything under one roof.
Posted by Narayanan Hariharan on Apr 24, 2007 in
Hyderabad/Secunderabad Fifth Avenue Bakery or FABS as it is famously called is located in Sainikpuri, Secunderabad. Eventhough prices are steeper than other bakeries, this place is always crowded because it serves two purposes, that of an eatout as well as a hangout. It is most frequented by the students of Bhavan’s College who sit there for hours together yapping nineteen to a dozen
FABS is well known for its burgers, pizzas, rolls, pastries, chaat items etc but the chocolate eclair tops it all. Priced at Rs. 15 it is such a delight! The eclairs are prepared at around 4.30 in the evening and is a great hit among all. In fact it is such a great hit that you will be lucky to get a chocolate eclair at 6.00 in the evening! The eclair has a whole lot of cream inside and therefore is much softer when compared to eclairs made at other bakeries.
FABS offers various combos for burgers and pizzas which come with a variety of pastries and soft drinks. The burger combos are priced under Rs.50 and pizza combos around Rs. 75. While at first look one may feel that they are slightly over priced, one must also understand that most people order something and sit there for hours together 
Another thing that I like about FABS is the cleanliness. Considering the high footfalls, they still manage to keep the place clean. Also, the person manning the counter, an elderly gentleman has a pleasant and cheerful smile on his face all the time which makes your experience even more better
Fifth Avenue Bakery also provides free home delivery (radius of 2 km i think) if your order is above Rs. 50. All those who wish to have their orders delivered can call +91 40 65270289 and your order will be delivered in half an hour or so.
So go ahead, check it out, don’t forget to eat the chocolate eclair, and let me know what you feel!
Posted by Navin Ganesh on Apr 23, 2007 in
Bangalore I was at Bangalore for the weekend to attend an interview on Sunday. But it had been a while since I had gone hanging out in Bangalore. And being the rave I am for checking out new places, it was my cousin with whom I was staying, who ended up taking me to every place I had on my request list.
I, like any other visitor to Bangalore wanted to go to the ever popular Forum and Garuda Malls. For some apparent reason, they have been assumed to be the happening places. Anyway, my cousin played down my ignorance and decided to take me to Cunningham Road. I was mad at him for a while, but I slowly realized that I was in for a pleasant surprise and finally ended up thanking him for his wise decision.
Well, for a person like me, who is freaked out about crowded places, especially when I want to chill out for a while, the likes of a crowded Garuda Mall and Forum are not of much interest. We first entered Sigma Mall which you can find to your right on Cunningham Road (Its One Way). I was very happy to see a pretty much empty mall with lots of nice shops and eateries to check out. I really liked the place, and it has got everything that you would need, when you need to take a few hours away from your routine.
We then walked out to check out the other hangouts on Cunningham Road. Though I was not able to check out each place fully, I can give you an overview of the kind of places that you can find there.
As soon as you enter the Cunningham Road, you will find Café Coffee Day on your right and a little further and you have Barista to your left. A few more meters and you can find a building on the right side called Prestige Centre Point which houses Pizza Hut, Sweet Chariot Café and Aura (which is a restaurant cum bar). Keep moving and you will find Sigma Mall on your right. Directly opposite to Sigma Mall, you can find a Tea bar called Infinitea. Next to Infinitea, i.e. on the Left Side you will find a weird looking restaurant called Shezan. It said Indian, Continental and Chinese on the Door, but check it out at your own risk, and not when you are terribly hungry. And finally, after crossing Sigma Mall, you will find a Dominos Pizza outlet on your left.
I will be reviewing Sigma Mall in a separate post, as there is quite a bit to say about it. I really liked the place. So, look forward to that post. I would like to add a few words about Aura I talked about earlier. I only got to check it out from outside due to some time constraints. Its quite upscale and hugely expensive, so don’t go there unless you have a fat wallet. Also I heard it has a dance floor, but if I get a chance to review that place, will go into full detail. Anyway, the point being, it is a place worth checking out, especially on a evening when you are loaded with money and have lots of time to burn.
That’s about everything there is on Cunningham Road, but I would like to share one other place with you all. It’s this Chinese Restaurant called Chung’s. To find it, keep going straight from Sigma Mall, and take the first right. As soon as you’ve made the turn, you’ll find Chung’s on your left. I haven’t been there myself, but I’ve been told that the food is delicious and that too at very affordable prices.
Phew! That’s been quite a recollection I’ve had to make from memory. I’ve talked about Cunningham Road on the whole, but if anyone can review the places separately, it would be great to have those posts (especially reviews of Aura and Infinitea).
Posted by Girish Ganesh on Apr 21, 2007 in
Chennai If it is Chinese then its Mandarin for me. I love Chinese food and have tried quiet a few places but again and again I keep comparing them with Mandarin and now I just stick to it.
The first time I went to this place with my friend I wasnt really impressed as it is located in a small street adjacent to Gangotree and you wont see it unless you look for it but I was in for a surprise, the ambience inside is calm with soft music in the background and the lighting was not too bright; just perfect for a dinner with someone special
My favorite is the Peking Soup which is a mix of non-vegetarian meats and lots of vegetables. Its absolutely delicious and wholesome in itself. They have starters which are good like Gobi or Chicken Manchurian and they go very well with the soup. I also love their Special-Mandarin Veg Chopsuey, Hakka Noodles and pretty much everything on the menu.
The best part is that all the dishes are served fresh and don’t have a lot of oil in them. They offer a wide variety particularly in the non-vegetarian category and if u are a non-vegetarian you will really love it. In addition to all this, they come at a reasonable price when compared to other places which offer chinese food, at around Rs. 70 per dish.
The desert section is not worth mentioning here. It is the usual icecreams, milk shakes, indian sweets and fruit salads that you get at every other restaurant.
The only drawback if any is the limited space. It is a small restaurant with a seating for around 50-60 people and most of the time it is full and has customers waiting at all times. With limited waiters attending, the food takes around 20 minutes to come but it is worth the wait.
It is a must visit for chinese food lovers in chennai.
Mandarin is right next to Gangotree and opposite to Stella Maris on Cathedral Road. And for those who don’t know either Gangotree or Stella Maris here it goes – 19, Thiruveediyan Street, Gopalapuram, Chennai.
Phone : +91-44-2827 7431.
Posted by Niveditha Ramaswamy on Apr 20, 2007 in
Chennai Heart of the city, neighbour to two famous city colleges, lip smacking food and ofcourse easy on your pocket. Its the magical combination that any eatery would dream of having.
Well it is the first place that strikes the mind at the slightest mention of the word ‘chaat’ in Chennai. Their quality and variety of food is unparalleled. Its almost addictive many a time. You just can’t stop eating till you are filled up to the throat.
My favorites are pani puri (5 servings) for Rs. 18, paneer rolls for Rs. 12 and dhoklas for Rs.12. You get a plethora of chaat items all being affordable at around Rs.25 to 30 each. More than affordability, the value of money is what is more impressive. The taste is simply irresistible and there is no compromise on quality either. The friendly guys behind the counters are ever ready to make you one of those mouth watering chaats. While you stand there watching them make it, its most likely that you are already picturing yourself savouring every bit of it.
It doesn’t stop with just chaats. You have the choice of sweets from all over India and you are pampered with a huge list of sandwiches (I love the chilly cheese! – Rs. 35), fruit juices, slushes, floats, fizz, milk shakes and ice creams and some other stuff which I’m not sure which category to put in.
The most famous Gangotree is on Cathedral Road, right opposite to stella maris college. Though its got a lot of tables, you will always find it cramped because of the floating crowd which keeps on flowing in. Go in the weekends, and you can consider yourself lucky to get a table. If you are not upto waiting through crowds to get a chaat, you can enjoy the same taste at other Gangotree outlets at Chennai Citi Centre, T.Nagar and Planet Yumm at Elliots Beach. Another fascinating thing is that its very clean inspite of the mad rushes that happen almost every evening. So, even if you are hygiene freak, you should be pretty impressed with the place.
It’s a great place to go out with your family or friends. If its just one of those days, when you are not upto a full dinner, then Gangotree is just what you are looking for.
You can find Gangotree at 42, Cathedral Road, Chennai – 600 086.
Other Gangotree Outlets in Chennai:
- Chennai Citi Centre on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai.
- Planet Yumm at Elliots Beach (Besant Nagar Beach).
- North Boag Road in T. Nagar.
Phone (Chennai): +91-44-2811 1664, +91-44-4202 9475.
Posted by Gayathri Jagannathan on Apr 20, 2007 in
Bangalore Hey Bowling lovers…
For those of you who don’t want to just have food and relax but would like some entertainment thrown in, Star City at Bangalore is the place for u.
They’ve got a 12-lane bowling alley where you get 20 throws for Rs 75 on weekdays and the same for Rs 100 on weekends. The place tends to get crowded during weekends. For a bite or a gulp in between games, you get anything from cool drinks (to recover from the dehydration after bowling!, lol.. kidding) to finger chips, paneer fries (very tasty!!) and veg fried rice all at a reasonable price. Compared to other similar places, this one gets the thumbs up for its pricing and spaciousness. Apart from bowling u have arcade video games and even Karting which again are affordable. And if that’s not enough, you also have the fun world theme park right behind.
I was really lucky that my first office (just after MBA) was located right next to this place. Every other day, I ended up spending some time here after my office hours. It kinda made up for me missing my fun from college days Great fun! The crowd is predominantly working professionals who come over to chill out after a hard day’s work. Corporates can avail of memberships and so can regulars, who get a membership card and enjoy special offers every now and then.
If you are a pro, and just bowling to burn time is not your cup of tea, then make sure you look out for the tournaments and coaching camps organized by Star City.
You will find Star City on Nandi Durga Road, just off Mekhri circle. It is on the road that will lead you to the commercial market / cantonment station.
Location: Palace Grounds, Munireddy Palya, J.C. Nagar, Bangalore 560006.
Phone: +91-80-2354 3291, +91-80-2357 3287.
Posted by Kavitha Mohan on Apr 18, 2007 in
Chennai Long gone are the days when we used to do fun things with friends. Things like spending time racing each other and bumping into rubber tyres. You guessed right, I’m talking about karting. Karting was the “in-thing” a few years ago, but not anymore. Now people are more caught up doing the rounds of newly cropped up ultra-hep malls. Ahem!! I’m part of the herd that goes to the ultra-hep city malls too, but I don’t know what took over me and my friends last weekend, we decided to do something different. After much thought we decided to go to Beach Kart – a karting track just before War Memorial. It comes on the left hand side while going from Santhome to Parrys. Look out for the banner, its quite hard to miss.
Though I was nervous, I decided to go along with them coz I didn’t have much of a choice. It has been a while since I went karting and I definitely wasn’t very good at it even the previous time. I made up my mind to give it a shot and not chicken out as I normally do. How bad could it be? Its like driving around in a toy car. When we finally got there, I was all geared, yes you heard me right “all geared” to hit the track and give it my best shot. There were not many people at the karting zone. Obviously, coz the whole of Chennai was in the mall. I was quite happy, coz the lesser the people, the lesser the chances of me making a fool of myself.
The prices were much lesser compared to what they were a few years back. They charge Rs 50 for 2 laps, Rs 100 for 5 laps and Rs 150 for 10 laps. They also have an option for single or double seater. I decided to risk only my life, so I opted for the single seater, and coaxed myself to settle for 10 laps. The track is not as big as the ones that I have seen in Hyderabad, but big enough. There were around seven men or should I say, “trained professionals” who are ready to come to your rescue when you hit against the lined up rubber tyres or when you just go haywire. Their presence didn’t make me feel very secure, but it at least gave me the peace of mind that if something were to go wrong, there are people to help.
The race started, everyone zoomed ahead of me. Me being an avid believer of the moral “Slow and steady wins the race”; went slowly and steadily. At the end of 10 laps I realized that I was racing all by myself. LOL! That really was a huge blow to my ego. I decided to be part of the next race as well, and this time I forgot all about the moral and raced like there was no tomorrow. I finished second last this time, but I felt better than the previous time. At the end of the race, I wanted to race more, but our need to eat took over and we decided to head towards the mall coz the restaurant there didn’t look very appealing. I guess they should do something about it. If they have a decent restaurant, then the crowd will stick around for a longer time.
We blew up 300 bucks per head in a matter of 1hr, but we felt elevated. The high that you get after racing is something that you wouldn’t experience while doing the rounds of city malls. Overall, the evening was well spent, so was our money.
Posted by Narayanan Hariharan on Apr 17, 2007 in
Hyderabad/Secunderabad My colleague and I had some work in Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad and were passing through L. B. Nagar when hunger pangs hit us. A few hundred meters away from Kamineni Hospitals, we found this surprisingly decent looking restaurant called High Street in an otherwise outskirt looking area.
High Street has a very good and pleasant décor and serves Indian delicacies. From the moment we entered, we liked the place. It was past three in the afternoon and both of us were very hungry. We ordered Veg Pulao and Kadai Vegetable and two cups of curd. The order came in about 10 minutes time and was very good. The Veg Pulao along with the Kadai Vegetable was more than sufficient for the both of us. Then they served curd which came in big bowls and was surprisingly better than the curd I have had at most places in Hyderabad. The best part was the bill was only a little above Rs. 200. All in all, it was a very nice experience eating at High Street.
A lot of people are not aware of High Street because it opened recently and more so because we don’t expect such good restaurants in the outskirts of the city. Being on the way to Ramoji Film City, High Street can be a good place for those who are on their way or coming from the Film City and are looking for a cheaper place when compared to the high cost restaurants located inside Ramoji Film City itself.
High Street is at 3-8-418/1, Suryodaya Colony, Road No. 4/1, L. B. Nagar Ring Road, Hyderabad – 500074.
Phone: +91 40 64545454, +91 98662 39997.
Email ID: info_highstreet@yahoo.co.in
