Eating my way through Chennai

Hubby and I got back from India a few weeks ago. We were there for one of my very good friend's wedding and also to visit family. Our itinerary included Chennai, Delhi (Gurgaon) and Mussoorie. We spent about 6 days in Chennai where my parents live and the place where I grew up. My friend who was getting married is one of my oldest friends, we have seen each other grow from gawky teenagers to thankfully - beautiful, confident women (and all the craziness in between) Every year when I went back home I knew her's would be one of the first few faces I would see, it's a strange feeling knowing that this might not be the case anymore, as she has moved halfway across the world to Washington, D.C. 

It's amazing how old friends can stop time and even turn it back, whenever we meet we have so much to talk about and reminisce, as if we were never apart. So to be a part of her wedding and see her enter this new phase of life was an exciting and emotional experience. If you know anything about Indian weddings,you know they are dramatic, colourful and full of chaos. If you are ever invited to one, let go of your inhibitions and just go with the flow. Chaos is the ultimate path to having a good time in Indian weddings. Nothing ever happens on time, there is a lot of food and a lot of people trying to feed you, lots of dancing, clothes go missing, people go missing just as long as the bride and groom make it on time to the ceremony, all is well. After having a wonderful time at the wedding and partaking in the madness and enjoying Marwari hospitality, we were all set to just chill and enjoy the city for a few days.

A little about Chennai, formerly known as Madras, it is one of the four largest metropolitan cities in India. It is also the capital of the southern state Tamil Nadu. Tamil is the state's official language and is one of the oldest languages in the world. Now hubby belongs to Delhi and is not a big fan of the south, all those years of conditioning are hard to get rid off that quickly. India's different regions are so varied and culturally different from one another that in spite of living in one country, no one can claim to understand every region, their language, food and so on. It's a culinary adventurer's dream and a traveler's unconquerable conquest.  I took upon myself the task of making him like the city that I know so well and love. He is not a fan of art or architecture, so no temples, churches or galleries would do. I decided that apart from the two days at the wedding we would eat our way through the city. I would take him to my local eateries that I have loved for ages and also enjoy the new culinary hot spots in the city.

Saravana Bhavan
101, Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, Mylapore, 
Chennai - 600 004.
No visit to Madras is ever complete without eating tiffin from Saravana Bhavan. Saravana Bhavan is a Madras food institution, and has branches all over the world. Not much has changed here, the same setting, same delicious food, of course prices have inflated a lot over the years. We ordered idlis, onion rava dosa, vadas, appam with cauliflower side dish and filter coffee. The highlight for me is the consistent good taste and quality of food. I love the sambhar here and the coconut chutney is the best I have ever had. I absolutely love South Indian filter coffee, it is the Indian cappuccino if you will - perfect combination of the bitterness with a hint of sweetness and froth. The food was as good as i remembered, all my south Indian food cravings were satiated and we were both so full at the end of it all.

Food 9/10
Service 8/10
Ambience 5/10

Idlis with sambhar and chutny

Medu Vada with sambhar and chutny

Appam with side dish

Onion Rava Dosai

Cooling/frothing action

Filter coffee

Fruit Shop on Greams Road

# 49/50, Whites Road, SL:22, Base-1,
Express Avenue Complex,
Royapettah, Chennai - 600014

This used to be a popular hangout during my schooling, our very own Pop tates (Archies) if you will. The first one was at Greams Road, hence the name. It has about 10-12 branches in Chennai now and are really popular because f their superb quality of fruit juices and milkshakes. Their juices and milkshakes are as popular now as they were 10 years ago. We had a citrus cooler, kiwi based juice and the famous Jughead milkshake (ice cream based) . The quality and taste was great and the refreshing drinks was what we needed on a hot day. They even gave us a little shot glass for my nephew to have juice out of. 

Food 9/10
Service 7/10
Ambience 7/10

Citrus cooler

Kiwi cooler

Jughead special

My nephew enjoying juice in his baby glass

Mainland China

44/145,Hotel Tulip Aruna Complex,Sterling Road, 

Nungambakkam,Chennai,TN,600 034, India

I have been coming to the Mainland China at Tulip Aruna Hotel ever since it opened. The Hotel boasts of some very nice restaurants like Fusion 9 and Sigree. We went for dinner with my parents who also enjoy the food here. The food was good as usual and the service was top notch, very polite, attentive and professional. I love the Indianised Chinese food and seriously miss it a lot in Aussie Land.  It is no wonder that we non resident Indians look forward to visiting the motherland so much. The soups, side dishes and noodles were really tasty, only let down was the creme brulee which had no sugary crunch nor was the custard very creamy and it lacked the orange blossom taste which was promised in the menu.

Food 7/10
Service 8/10
Ambience 8/10

Wonton soup

Hot and sour soup

Crispy corn

Lamb stir fry

Crispy vegetables 

Pan fried noodles

Orange blossom creme brulee

creme brulee

Amaravathi 
Opposite Music academy, Cathedral Road, Gopalapuram, 
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600086

This is one of my favourite places for Andhra meals apart from National Lodge. Andhra food is characteristically hotter and I love the gongura (sorrel leaves) chutney and the sundried salted chilli accompaniment. The food in this visit was a little bit of a let down for me as was the service. It's because I am used to efficient service and piping hot, delicious food from this joint. The vegetarian meals included sambhar, rasam, curd, 3 vegetable side dishes and accompaniments like pickle, gongura chutney and dal powder. I love the first course of rice with ghee, dal powder and chutny - yumm! My carnivorous husband enjoyed prawns and mutton with flaky parathas. I don't think he had tasted anything like it in Delhi and he loved it. 

Food 7/10
Service 5/10
Ambience 6/10

Vegetarian Meals

Spicy prawns

Mutton fry

Parathas

Sweet finish - sweet and bananas with beeda paan

Flying Elephant
39 Velachery Road, Near Raj Bhavan, 
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 600032

This was our fancy pants night out with two of my girl friends from school. One of them had already been here and was raving about the food so we had to try it out. The restaurant is at the newly opened Park Hyatt Hotel and first impressions were impressive. I loved the interiors and the architectural finishes and use of lighting was beautiful. It even had a beautiful courtyard where I can only imagine what fun it would be to have brunch on a nice sunny day. It has been designed by George Wong and the emphasis is on the theatricality of the art of cooking, multiple levels and open kitchen stations ensures the engagement of visitors.

Mango chips with Guacamole

We were escorted to our table and given the menus. We decided to order some cocktails ( can not remember the names except the mojito) and try their mango chips (seasonal specialty) with guacamole. The mango chips were interesting, they were like dehydrated or air fried thin wafers of mango, quite tasty. The cocktails were delicious and fruity.

Complimentary bread

Indonesion Gado Gado salad

We then ordered a Gado Gado salad and grilled ricotta in a strawberry syrup for the vegetarians. The salad was good and the satay sauce was tasty but the grilled ricotta was sensational. It had both sweet and savoury notes with hint of cinnamon and cloves. It was sublime and no it was not a dessert.

Grilled Ricotta with strawberry compote

Grilled Ricotta again!

Burrah kebab

Next we ordered the tiger prawn with olives and burrah kebab for the meat eaters. It was tasty and well cooked and was thoroughly enjoyed by them.

Tiger Prawn with olives

The bar

We then ordered desserts, my friend was keen to try the pavlova which is very Aussie so that we could tell her if it's good or not. A good pavlova is crisp on the outside and soft like a marshmallow on the inside. This unfortunately did not have a soft interior. It was hard and very sugary. The fruits and cream on top were nice and the presentation was good but it failed to impress as a pavlova.

Pavlova

Finally the pièce de résistance arrived and it certainly was a show stopper - the Bombe alaska.  Beautifully piped meringue exterior ready to be burnished by flaming liqueur. The flaming liqueur crisped up the meringue a little. We then cut through the meringue to reveal the cake and sorbet layers inside. I couldn't wait to get into it and boy was it good. The tartness of the fruit sorbet, soft sponge and sweet fluffy meringue with the hint of liqueur was just divine. This was my favourite dish of the night. 

Bombe Alaska being lit up

Bombe Alaska

 We then strolled around in the courtyard with our drinks and enjoyed the ambience. The waiters were quick to transport our drinks outside and very courteous.

Courtyard

Beautiful reflections in the water - courtyard

Food 8/10
Service 8/10
Ambience 9/10

I have written about 5 of my favorite places to eat in Chennai but there are so many more. I can't wait to visit my beloved city again and sample both the old and cherished and the new and hip joints along with my mumma's cooking.  

p.s yes the hubby fell in love with the food and the city is starting to grow on him :-)

La Dolce Vita - Weekend in Hunter Valley

Entrance of Tuscany Estate

Dear Readers,
I have been wanting to write about our romantic Weekend getaway to Hunter Valley ever since we got back. Things have been busy and so I have had to put it off until now. A very dear friend gifted me a Scoopon Voucher for a getaway to Hunter Valley for my birthday last October, we finally booked ourselves in for the weekend of 8-10 March.  So on 8th March, Friday we set out for our little holiday. We were supposed to head out by 10 am so that we could reach Hunter by lunch time, unfortunately hubby had to work from home that morning till about mid day.We live in Inner West, Sydney and the drive to Hunter was about two hours. By 2 pm we were already famished and so we stopped on the way to pick up some take away Chinese for lunch and then finally reached Tuscany Wine Estate, our beautiful abode for two days. The entrance to the Estate is clearly marked and very welcoming. There is greenery all around and the views are just breathtaking. I was already excited, my exact words were -"Who needs to go to Italy, we have a little bit of the Tuscan sun right here in Australia."

One of the many wonderful views from Tuscany Wine Estate and Resort

We proceeded towards the reception to check in. The staff was very friendly and explained all the fine print about our voucher. We had $60 of food credit to use towards breakfast and dinner for both days and we were also entitled to a discounted rate for the Winery tour which we booked for Saturday the 9th of March. We then headed to our room to relax and have lunch. The room was beautiful and very much in keeping with the Tuscan theme with the use of ochres, yellow and blue. They even provided us with a complimentary bottle of Tyrrell's Sparkling Wine, the weekend was off to a great start.

Our room at Tuscany

Tyrrell's Sparkling Wine - gift from Tuscany Estate

Once we sat down to eat we realized the take away lady had forgotten to give us forks or spoons The Indian in me surfaced and I think I was happy enough to slurp down the noodles using my hands, I was very hungry!.We then realized Tuscany Estate is a boutique accommodation and so does not offer room service. We then went to the reception and asked for plates and cutlery and finally sat down to eat in the beautiful grassland behind our room. They had set up a little table and two chairs to enjoy the outside scenery. It was beautiful and serene, perfect weather too, only exception were a few pesky flies which were undoubtedly attracted to the food.

Outdoor setting

 We had a dinner reservation at The Mill Restaurant which was part of the Tuscany Estate. The Restaurant review can be found here - The Mill Restaurant Review. The next day we quickly got dressed had breakfast and waited for our our ride to the Wineries.

The Winery tour

Pick up: 10.30 am

Drop off: 5.30 pm

Destination: 5 wineries, other haunts included Hunter Valley Chocolate shop, Cheese Shop and The British Lolly Shop.

With who: A group of merry people

Winery 1: Iron Bark Hill

Address: 694 Hermitage Rd, Pokolbin NSW 2320

Phone:(02) 6574 7085

Website: http://www.ironbarkhill.com.au/

You will have to excuse me I do not have pictures from this winery. The lady who did our tasting was a funny personality and she was at her personal best giving us a stand up comedy routine alongside wine tasting. The winery itself was a small boutique one. They even have a chapel for weddings and a beautiful Reception area. It's a good setting for a private function or a wedding. 
Coming down to the wines, they were good and  we tasted the Hunter Valley Verdelho as well. Verdelho is a white grape wine variety from Portugal. The grape has been successful in the vineyards of Australia, particularly the South Burnett wine region in Queensland, Hunter Valley region, Langhorne Creek, Cowra and the Swan Valley. Australian versions of Verdelho are noted for their intense flavors with hints of lime and honeysuckle and the oily texture that the wines can get after some aging. Info on Verdelho

After tasting all the wines we settled on our favourite (well my favourite, I like sweet)and ended up buying a bottle of the beautiful Moscato. It was summery and smelt of berries, was a combination of sherbet, Turkish delight and berries and very easy to drink. It is from their falling leaf Range.

Iron Bark Hill Moscato

Cost $20

Iron Bark Hill Moscato - Falling Leaf Range

Iron Bark Hill Moscato

Winery 2: Peacock Hill Vineyard

Address: Palmers Lane, Pokolbin, NSW 2320

Phone: +61 (0)2 4998 7661
Website: www.peacockhill.com.au

We then proceeded to the Magical Land of Peacock Hill. If there was an enchanted whimsical place I would like to live in Peacock Hill would be an ideal name for it. The winery is beautiful resplendent with sunshine,greenery and breathtaking views. Its also a little quirky with the presence of dinosaurs and cool motor bikes.  (I forgot to take a picture of dino, darn!)

Peacock Hill Vineyard

Peacock Hill Vineyard Barrels - that's where the magic happens

It's owned by a lovely couple George and Silvi Tsiros, who seemed very passionate about their wines. We really enjoyed the reds and bought the Vintage Godfather Shiraz, even the name has a big presence. I think this was hubby's favourite pick. We also ought the 2010 Urban Myth Fortified Wine, it's a fantastic port with deep berry flavours which would match perfectly with chocolates and cheese.

I think my favourite purchase of this trip was the Fond Memories - so so delicious and pretty! It tastes like summer in a glass, imagine sweet strawberries, raspberries mixed with a good red wine this is what you would get. I know it sounds extremely girly but would you just look at the bottle and the name- Fond Memories evokes such a beautiful feeling. The bottle is gorgeous, with the deep burgundy hue, the image of the beautiful vineyards from the magical land of Peacock Hill - it's  my kind of secret place to get lost in. 

Peacock Hill - Fond Memories

Peacock Hill - Fond Memories

Winery 3: Drayton's Family Wines

Address: 555 Oakey Creek Road, Pokolbin, NSW 2320
Phone: 02 4998 7513
Website: http://www.draytonswines.com.au

I was already feeling the effect of all the wine tasting, so sensible decided to take it easy till lunch. Drayton's is a family owned business and produces good value for money wines. It has some incredible prices like the gallon of jungle juice for $50 or something ridiculous like that. Lots of people from the group bought the big bottles, it was a steal really.

We settled on something a little different, the dark chocolate liqueur  You all know by now about my love for baking and as soon as I smelt this divine concoction, ideas came flooding through my mind. Hubby just had to take one look at me to know we were buying this. It's a really beautiful liqueur, smells like cocoa and tastes chocolatey with a hint of caramel but not too sweet. It's delicious, we have been enjoying a drizzle of it on warm banana bread.

Drayton's Chocolate Liqueur

Drayton's Chocolate Liqueur

Winery 4: Kevin Sobels Wines

Address: 5 Halls Road Pokolbin, NSW
Phone: 02 4998 7766

Website: www.sobelswines.com.au

Kevin Sobels Wines

After lunch at Drayton's the happy group (it really was happy by now) reached Kevin Sobels. I had given up on wine by now and was looking forward to the Cheese and Chocolate shop. Hubby tried the wines here and thought the Shiraz was good. We didn't make any purchases here though.

The Winery itself was beautiful with the white roses leading to the entrance. There was a market on that day on the grounds of the Winery. I was just walking around when I found this little whimsical place. It looked like a very happy spot, so I spent some time there till it was time to hit the road again. 

Winery 5: McGuigan Wines and Hunter Valley Cheese Co.

Address: Corner Broke & McDonalds Rd, Pokolbin, NSW 2032.
Phone: 02 4998 7402
Website: http://mcguiganwines.com.au

Wine tasting at McGuigan Wines

McGuigans is a celebrated Winery with many international accolades. We have tried their wines before and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately though I had had enough of wine tasting for the day and so did not try all the wines. I did try a few and I enjoyed their Sauvignon Blanc and their dessert wines a lot. They have a great collection and a good sized cellar where tastings take place. There was a group of girls for a Hens Day Celebration, they seemed to be having a great time. That's pretty much what I remember and then we headed to the Cheese shop. The Cheese Shop was quite crowded and the staff was quite disinterested in helping with the tastings. The cheeses were good and we bought some blue cheese from here which hubby loves. Unfortunately the cheese packet got left behind in the bus. Hubby was very disappointed, so I just purchased some from the market in Sydney and made a nice salad with blue cheese dressing to please the poor man. 

After McGuigans we made our way to the Hunter Valley Chocolate shop and the British lolly shop. The Chocolate Shop was nothing special, we did buy some handmade chocolates from there. They were nice but I have had better at Koko Black and Max Brenner. The Lolly Shop was fun I felt like a kid in a Candy umm Lolly Shop. You had the familiar sherbet limes and oranges, milk bottles, sour apples and so much more. I loved the British Guard outside the shop and even posed with him, it was a lot of fun. This was the end of our tour and we bid farewell to the lovely people we met and headed back to Tuscany. 

The British Lolly Shop

After a little rest and a quick change we headed to the Brokenback Bar in Tuscany for drinks and dinner. Brokenback Tapas Bar was the Casual Cousin of The Mill Restaurant. It had good music and a really fun vibe. They served some great tapas like goats cheese croquettes with honey and almonds. I had a mushroom pizza which was delicious, and hubby ordered an Asian inspired Pasta dish which was over salted with soya sauce. The staff were very polite and did not charge us for it and even gave us a complimentary dessert. I think the hospitality and the lovely staff more than made up for that one dish. 

The next day it was time to say goodbye to Tuscany and Hunter Valley. We loved the beautiful wineries, the delicious food, warm hospitality and the wonderful people we met. It was an an unforgettable weekend and we will be back for sure, until then we can enjoy their wines :-)

Wines from Hunter Valley

I have a question for all you lovely people, we have all had great long vacations, but a quick weekend away is what we need sometimes. So tell me, what was your last mini vacation like and where did you go? 

Please write your answers in the comments section below.