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If you are wishing for some authentic Chinese food and variety of dishes that is not easily seen elsewhere, then you deserve to go and treat yourself at China Town. Located right in the middle of the city on the famous Cathedral Road and just opposite Chola Sheraton its easily accessible.

It is in a complex that houses 4 more restaurants, Zara is one of those that has already been reviewed before. Anyway, you’ll have to walk through a passage before you reach a landing from where you take an elevator up to China Town. Once you enter, you are greeted with pleasant lighting and a relaxing décor. I must say, in many ways it reminded me of Cascade. And it was confirmed when I saw the menu card. The menu was quite similar with a wide variety of non vegetarian dishes with enough to keep the veggie happy too.

To start off, you have a long list of starters and soups which come in generously sized proportions. The main course consists of many different variations of rice and noodles. Non vegetarian dishes range from poultry, sea food, etc. You also have a long list of side dishes in both veg and non veg to choose from. All the items on the menu seem to border on expensive, but the quantity makes up for it. They do have different types of desserts too. One of those, for which China Town is quite famous is the fried ice cream. Its ice cream in cube shape that is fried to have a crispy surface. Its something innovative and is a must try for anyone visiting the place.

One of things i was not happy with was their lack of response. You’ll have long periods of wait, before you can place your order and even longer waits till you get your food. So, if you are looking for a quick meal, this is not the place for you. Rather, if you want to just relax over the weekend and not bother about the time going by, then this would be just fine. On an average, a meal for 2 people would work out to about Rs. 400 which is quite reasonable.

I am not sure about the address, but I will just elaborate more on the location. If you are coming from the direction of marina beach on cathedral road, then take the U-turn immediately after the Music academy flyover near Chola Sheraton. Once you’ve made the U-turn, take the road on the left side of the fly over and you should find China Town immediately on the Left.

It stands big on the buzzing Nungambakkam High Road and it stands out among the numerous hangouts all along the road. Ispahani is very easily accessible and the gleaming glass structure gives a great welcoming experience.

While you do get the feeling of entering a large mall, only the first 2 floors have places to hangout and above which are mostly corporate offices. Though there are only a few places where you can hangout it is a good way to spend sometime catching up with your friends or even if you just want to relax away from the routine.

A few years back it was a really happening place as it was new and one of the few malls in Chennai. But with bigger and better malls springing up all over the city, this has gone down on the list of favorites among hangouts. This actually turns out to be good in a way, as the crowd is less and you have more peace and quiet around you.

Also situated in the street next to Ispahani is one of the city’s renowned girls’ college, MOP Vaishnav. So this place has got a continuous stream of girls filling the place up and because of that, you will also find guys just wishing to pass some time ‘usefully’.

Once you enter Ispahani, on the ground floor, you will find Marry Brown and Sweet Chariot. There is also a boutique, an unisex salon, Swarovski and HiDesign (for leather accessories). You have even got a BOSE showroom if you want to buy some high end audio equipment and The Mobile Store. Go up to the first floor, and you have Café Coffee Day (its been redone recently). You can choose to buy some gifts at Archies. There are also a few branded apparel outlets like Indian Terrain, Levi’s, etc.

Overall, it’s fun to hangout at Ispahani, but do it more than once in a couple of weeks and it gets boring, simply because of the sheer lack of shops or eatouts to check out.

It is one of Chennai’s very popular restaurants and is just a short walk from Elliot’s Beach. They have now opened up branches in Nungambakkam and Anna Nagar as well. For those people who are paranoid about non-vegetarian food, then this is just the place for you. Even though they serve only vegetarian, this place has something for everyone to have a satisfying meal. So don’t miss it.

Eden is a purely vegetarian cuisine and along with great quality food there is no compromise on the variety of dishes available. You’ve got the usual soups and starters. Then you’ll find yourself a reasonably long list of continental dishes which are lip-smackingly tasty. Also included in the menus is North Indian food such as Roti, quite a few side dishes and variations of Fried Rice.

I just can wait to recommend you to try out ‘Corn Florentine’ (Rs. 100) which you’ll find among the Continentals. It’s a baked cheese bowl along with spinach and corn. Its simply ‘yummy’. And I’ve confirmed that its not just me, but I know lot of people who love it. I don’t think I’ve ever had North Indian over here, but knowing Eden’s standard, I can say with some certainty that it would be among the best you’ve tried. Finally you’ve got a whole page of desserts and ice creams on the menu to finish off your meal at a high.

Apart from the food, the service is pretty good and waiters are friendly. But I must warn you, its popularity in food quality lures a lot of people from all over the city. So, if you are planning to come in as a group, you’d better make reservations to avoid getting disappointed. It gets really crowded at weekends at some people end up waiting for over an hour. Nevertheless, I believe that just speaks for Eden’s universal liking across all categories of people.

Its quite affordable especially for what it has got to offer. A meal for 2 people including everything from soups and starters to the desserts would work out to about Rs. 400. I would call that real value for money as there are few places that can give you such good food.

By now (if you are like any other normal foodie) I guess you would have the urge to find out what all the buzz is about. Go Right Ahead! You can find Eden by going straight down the road from the Besant Nagar Bus depot away from Adyar. Its right before the ICICI Bank on the Left. I’m sure anyone around there must be able to guide you.