gastronomic adventures of a nomad

Part 2 of my gastronomic exploits in and around VIT.

#3. ROLL CENTRE

Probably this place was our find of the tour. One look from outside and u’d probably think ”man, should I really go in?”. even after you find yourself a seat inside the dimly lit, shabbily painted room, you still have that mild doubt. But once the food reaches your food pipe, you’ll never regret your decision to dine here.

The first thing that struck us was the unique ordering method (we were asked to write down our orders on a piece of card) and the ‘ROTI BOY’ who kept doing rounds around the room delivering rotis at tables(rotis could be ordered impromptu, you didn’t have to write them down). Another unique feature of the place was the weird names they give the dishes. I mean, where else would you find ramba chicken, karisma chicken and basha rolls?

But yeah, the food here was superb. And the prices, absolutely easy on the wallet. The rolls and the ramba chicken were totally yumm.

WHAT TO TRY HERE: double egg double chicken BASHA, ramba chicken

WHAT NOT TO TRY HERE: since we had a friend from VIT guiding us through the menu card, we were able to choose wisely. ;D

FOOD: 4.5/5

AMBIENCE: 2.5/5 plactic chairs, plastic tables and very ordinary interiors, this place is strictly for college students (vit, unless in rare cases like ours). The flip side-I couldn’t find a single girl in sight!

SERVICE: 4/5 3/5 for the quick service and an additional mark for the innovative ordering technique and the ROTI BOY who kept popping at our table every now and then with a “roti bhaiya? Roti bhaiya?” :D

#4 BURGER MAN kiosk

Well you find these kiosks even in chennai so I am gonna abstain from emphasizing too much on the flavours and the dishes.

Only piece of advice, don’t try the MEXICAN style burger! We know how andhraites have a liking for spicy dishes, well this burger I ordered, it would have left even an Andhraite begging for water! Way too spicy!

FOOD: 1/5 for the MEXICAN burger. 2.5/5 for the BBQ style burger

SERVICE: pretty slow for a fast food joint! The guy manning the kiosk was probably new or something, he took forever to get the 5 burgers ready!

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

College cricket tours are fun, not only because we get to meet new people but also because we get to try out new dishes in restaurants and shacks in and around the campus.

Here’s a review of all the shacks we halted at during our brief stay at VIT, vellore.

#1. DHABA EXPRESS

Walk out of the main entrance and walk a few yards to the right and you would find this place. We went there on our first night at vit, at around 9 pm and found the place almost empty. We went in, albeit reluctantly and ordered. The food took a while to reach our plates(45 mins actually! :O) but it did turn out to be tasty. The butter naan and the chicken tikka and butter chicken(both gravies) that we ordered were delicious. The briyani that a couple of my friends ordered turned out to be surprisingly yummy too(considering that briyanis aren’t always a DHABA speciality). But one piece of advice, NEVER try the schezwan prawn rice and the schezwan chicken rice! Even if that was the last thing available on earth, I’d choose to starve to death rather than eat those! :S :D

WHAT TO TRY HERE: anything associated with a dhaba- naans, rotis and chicken. I didn’t try out the veg dishes here but a couple of my friends did and they didn’t seem to complain so I guess it must have tasted good. But they did have a word of praise for the gulab jamuns- hot, sweet and yummy.

WHAT NOT TO TRY HERE: anything that starts with schezwan- schezwan chicken and schezwan prawn rice for example.

FOOD: 4/5 for the naan, the sidedishes and the gravy.

AMBIENCE: 3/5 I like eating in a nice quiet sparsely crowded restaurant. But this was EMPTY when we went in! :S hence the 3.

SERVICE: 2/5 I am being lenient here. Keeping a team of hungry 20 yr olds waiting for 45 mins to get their hands on a butter naan is quite an unpardonable offence!

#2. CRISPS AND CREAMS(cakes, shakes and sundaes)

Located bang opposite the main gate, this shop does seem to do good business. The chocolate trouffle cake and the banana milk shake were my personal favourites here. But the crowd’s favourite happened to be the chocolate malt shake. And the sundaes too seemed to be selling like hot cakes(quite a comparison! How ironic! :D)

WHAT TO TRY HERE: banana milk shake, choco malt shake, sundaes and chocolate trouffle cake

WHAT NOT TO TRY HERE: eggless cakes and sunkist shake.

FOOD: 3/5

AMBIENCE: teeming with college students, the place always appeared full, anytime of the day.

Self service here so the last column goes empty.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .