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