gastronomic adventures of a nomad

Continuing in the list of non veg eateries that really seemed to have tickled my taste buds is this quaint little mess tucked away in a small by lane near the Vepery mosque. The ambience is really bad to be frank. cos like the name indicates, this place is really a mess. ;D This is not really one where u can sit down for a meal. Its rather a place where the food can be best enjoyed when parceled and taken home and eaten. But what really makes this place so damn famous in the area is the totally totally delicious briyani they make there. On my very few visits to this place i've seen atleast 3 people come with huge steel containers buying 15 to 16 packets of briyanis. and all this happened during the 15 mins i spent there, the 15 mins of course is the time taken for your token to get converted into a briyani parcel. ;D

Apart from the taste, what really impressed me was the HUGE containers in which they make the briyanis. Am not bluffing, this is nothing like what u get to see in say, a THALAPAKATTU BRIYANI outlet, i mean it, this is HUGE. Coming back to the taste, unlike other briyanis available in chennai, this place has got a really unique taste. a very mild sweetish flavour that brilliantly complements the spices that one would associate with a briyani. ah, jus writing about this has got me all drooling.

One more interesting thing about this place is the total harmony with which the vegans and non vegans co exist. periamet, which is a complete non vegan inhabited area is just 500-600 metres away from vepery and E.V.K Sampath road, where 40% of chennai's jain community is concentrated. totally amazing.

Coming back to KARIM MESS, for all the non vegans out there, this is one place u definitely don't wanna miss.. ;)

FINAL VERDICT:

AMBIENCE: 1/5 This place is surely not for the weak hearted.. :P :D

SERVICE: i didn't even consider eating my yummy briyani there.

TASTE: 5/5 for sure.. the briyanis here, especially the mutton briyani is the best. they also offer rotis and a whole range of chicken and mutton gravies that are totally delicious.

VALUE FOR MONEY: again, a 5/5

P.S.: Its quite difficult to find this place. i strongly recommend taking someone who knows the place cos otherwise, you'd have to run around in circles in vain. :D

Anyways, until next time,

ADIOS!!!!!!

Considering i travel a maximum of 5 or 6 times a year, i thought it would be better if i included my eating sojourns in chennai as well in this blog. So here goes my first eatout review of a restaurant in namba chenna.

MAY 6, 2010

After a gruelling 2 hour struggle in college to get my hall ticket that eventually ended successfully, we decided to pack our bags and head home. but the usual running around campus that is usually associated with hall ticket collection and the hot sun left us totally drained and hungry. A one hour drive later, we decided to make a stop, the place, AMALA CHETTINAD MESS, G BLOCK, ANNA NAGAR.

The setting was typical chettinad, with a sloping tiled roof fixed onto an otherwise old building. the mess was on the first floor and i must admit, the ambience and decor looked pretty much like what you find in ANDHRA MEALS( refer first post). One more thing i'd like to add, this place is strictly for non vegetarians cos when i went through the menu card, i realised that the only vegetarian item available there was the onion raitha!!! :D

Coming back to the food, i must admit, this place is definitely a must visit for non vegans like me. The kaadai biriyani( kaadai is tamil for partridge), the brain fry, the nethili fry(a type of dried fish that is small and absolutely yummy) and the saalna(gravy, usually made of mutton) that came with it were definitely yummilicious. But the best of the lot we tasted was definitely the AMALA CHICKEN ROAST, one of the restaurant's signature dishes, definitely yummy. On the whole, amazing food at very very affordable prices. For all the non vegans out there who don't know where this restaurant is, this is definitely one place u should try finding using GOOGLE MAPS. ;D

Anyways, here's the overall rating:

AMBIENCE: 3.5/5

SERVICE: 4/5

TASTE: 5/5

VALUE FOR MONEY: Definiitely a 5/5

February 2010 saw us travelling to mumbai for my first ever all india university tournament, the premier BCCI recognised tournament for universities all over india. The matches turned out to be disappointing there with our first round exit coming as a shocker(we were south zone winners and all india runners the previous year). But that has already been covered in another blog of mine.

Getting to the food.

Day 1: DELHI DURBAR

Description: a small but attractive restaurant located near Churchgate. The food there was a little bit expensive but the taste sort of made up for the small quantity. the chicken kabab roll(i don't exactly remember the name, was something like this) was out of the world. if ever you visit the place, do try it out.

Day 2: HOTEL VIHAR

Description: Located near Marine Drive, very close to the CRICKET CLUB OF INDIA premises is Mumbai's version of Chennai's very own RATNA CAFE. The idlis, dosas and sambhar they served there were typical ratna cafe stuff, simple, spicy and extremely delicious.

as i said, due to our shock first round exit, we didn't really have time to explore the restaurants in and around mumbai, well marine drive actually. but we did manage to sneak in a few quickies, an ice cream, a chaat, a quick sandwich, and of course, pani puri. ;)

Quickie 1: NATURALS Ice cream parlour

A small quiet parlour located off Marine Line is NATURALS, a place that serves freshly made and absolutely natural(well, that's what they promise) ice creams and milkshakes. The flavours available there were in short, baffling. I was tempted to try the tender coconut ice cream, but in the end ended up buying my favourite, watermelon!(i haven't really tried the water melon ice cream before but when it came to fresh juices, this was definitely my first choice). I do try to avoid icecreams but this was a really tempting offer, and i actually ended up really enjoying the ice cream.

Quickie 2: masala chaat, marine drive!!! :D

Out of sheer curiosity, i decided to try out the masala chats prepared in a jiffy by the vendors patrolling marine drive, near THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL. Something that resembled corn flakes formed the main ingredient. a generous sprinkle of masalas, a dash of lime, a handful of chopped mint leaves and a quick toss later, the masala chat was ready and boy were they delicious.

Quickie 3: Veg Sandwich, outside Churchgate railway station

This small portable sandwich stall caught my eye on my very first day in mumbai. Located right across the railway station, this sandwich wallah served some delicious desi grilled sandwiches with a generous dose of mashed masala potatoes, beetroot and mint chutney. and the good thing was, it was really hygenic. at rs. 15, they were real value for money.

Quickie 4: pani puri stall, off fashion street

How can my tour to a city be complete without a plate of pani puri. surprisingly, i managed to find a pani puri stall only on my last day there. But better late than never. And what better way to round off things than with a plate of absolutely delicious pani puri.

My only disappointment, not able to have mumbi's staple street food, the vada pav. Probably during my next trip to mumbai, i'll definitely have one.

keep watching this space for more of my gastronomic adventures.

until my next post,

adios!!!!!!!

This was my second trip to kerala. Last time around, our favourite food haunt was the CEYLON BAKE HOUSE along MG ROAD. But this time, the place seemed to have lost its charm. Though the ambience was good,the food this time was pretty ordinary. With no other option, we turned to the other famous eatery on MG ROAD.





Tucked away in a small bylane along MG ROAD is this quaint eatery called ANDHRA MEALS. Once again the ambience was great, with dim lighting and soft music. The food was out of the world as well. The unlimited meals here cost just rs 75. We got to taste a few side dishes here and they were out standing as well. My favourites there were the omlette, the chicken roast and the chicken sixer(tried that one out of curiosity on our last day in kerala, it was so good I ended up cursing myself for not havin ordered it on the first day itself). :-D


Anyways, this is definitely one restaurant you should give a try when you are in kerala. Will be up with my next post shortly, until then

HAPPY EATING!!!!!