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 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 Kavitha Mohan on Apr 15, 2007 in
Chennai I’m back in the city after a long time and there is so much to do and such little time. I had to meet friends, catch up with all the happening gossip, fill them in with whats happening in my life. All this had to be done and I just had time to do this over a cup of coffee. So there began my quest for a place that has a great ambience (preferably outdoors), good food, and no restrictions to express ourselves (my girl friends can get loud sometimes ). The first place that came to my mind was a coffee house situated in a calm locality in Gopalapuram, Chennai. No, No, I’m not gonna tell you about Cafe Coffee Day or Barista or any other run of the mill coffee pub, I’m gonna tell you about a coffee place that set the trend for many other coffee places – Amethyst. It also has a gallery where they have painting exhibitions, poetry reading, jewelery display etc. Its not just another coffee pub. It is that and much much more.
Amethyst is the ideal place for a group of friends to catch up. The neatly and accurately placed tables in the garden gives you the feeling of being at home and having your own tea-party or should I say coffee party I have been to Amethyst before, but today it felt like I was going there for the first time. The menu has changed from the last time that I had been there. Prices have increased by five or ten bucks, but who cares, all good things come with a price. I wouldn’t mind paying that extra ten for the ambiance and the experience that Amethyst offers.
After our animated hi, hello, how do you do, we got down to ordering. I ordered a Cafe Latte (Rs. 45) and a Chocolate Brownie (Rs. 55). There are other things on the menu that I would have ordered if only I hadn’t had lunch already. I’m told that the pasta here is very good, I will try it the next time I come to Amethyst. They also have milkshakes, cold coffee, pastries, desert, french fries etc etc. On the whole they offer a wide variety of food and drinks ranging from 35 (the normal coffee) to something around 200, (I don’t know for what).
Some feel that Amethyst is a bit too expensive. Yes it is, just a bit but I guess its worth it. The outdoor set up doesn’t make you feel restrained in any way. For a noisy bunch like ours, this is the ideal place. Amethyst is one of the few coffee pubs in the city that allow its customers to smoke. They have a non-smoking zone for people who are against passive smoking. Different people, different likes and thats exactly what Amethyst caters to. I had a wonderful evening sipping on my Cafe Latte and enjoying my hot Chocolate Brownie for hours. On the whole I would give Amethyst 8/10 just for its ambiance and for letting me catch up with a bunch of over enthusiastic friends.
Amethyst is at 14/30, Padmavathi Road, Gopalapuram, Chennai – 600086.
Phone: +91-44-24991330