Punjab Grill - Phoneix Market City Chennai

  PUNJAB GRILL

Opp. Pinkberry/Hard Rock Cafe merchandise store, Ist floor Phoenix Mall, Velacherry

My last review of 2015

We were invited for a blogger's meet as a part of the PMCC promotion of the various restaurants in the mall. Having heard some good reviews about this resto, wanted to try it out (yes, I can hear your mind voices: free food? how come I don't hear about these?, why am I not invited? well, if you are passionate about food, start blogging and watch out FB food group pages more often esp. CFG)

Opened in late November in Chennai but already set foot in all major metros and internationally. There are currently 10 outlets and the one at Abu Dhabi being the latest.The journey to success unraveled in front of us with their 4-course dinner

Ambiance: Brightly lit, spacious seating arrangements and neatly decorated kitchen gave a good first impression. 

The place started bustling in no time and all the tables were full and people started waiting outside. Such a scene on a weekday means either its new and people are curious to try it out or the food is really good. Lets find out!

They serve Himalayan water in big goblets (a risky proposition with kids)

Aliji of CFG with his Iphone gizmo to capture live audio and video with different lenses mounted.

We were served some traditional drinks and not the mocktails: From top to bottom

Kesar pisteywali lassi 225/- : Lassi was tad bit sour to start with but the peda at the bottom of the shot glass made up for the sweetness

Mattha 225/-: Buttermilk blended with ginger, coriander and green chilies and with roasted cumin seeds was normal

Shikanjvi 225/-: Lemonade with jaljeera is a new twist to the ubiquitous jaljeera n mint cooler

PS: These are served in much bigger glasses for the price

 

Subz shahi shorba 175/-: Spinach puree cooked in vegetable broth with diced veggies and infused with garlic flavor and streaked with some fresh cream opened up the real Punjabi experience to follow

Food: They make all their dishes at normal spice levels, so if you are someone who eats a lot of spice like me, make sure you mention it while ordering. Also claim that the all dishes taste the same in all their outlets (something to check)

CLICK ON PIC TO SEE IT BIG. From top to bottom Lto R: (Salmon tikka, chicken kurkuri, bhatti da murg, chaamp taajdar, paneer tikka multani, dum ki biryani chicken)

Salmon tikka 895/-: The best dish of the night. Norwegian salmon is imported specially for this and is slow cooked in tandoor with a marinade of dill, honey, fennel and ginger and mustard oil. The Salmon tasted fab and was so soft shredding down like sonpapdi and melting in your mouth

Chicken kurkuri 475/-: Wrapped chicken wantons filled with cheese, mushroom, celery, tomato etc dabbed with vermicelli and deep fried. served with sweet/hot garlic sauce. A new dish that i tried but the cheese was overpowering everything inside

Paneer tikka multani 395/- Paneer infused with herbs and spices cooked in tandoor won't disappoint the veg lovers

Bhatti da murgh 475/-: Chicken legs marinated in curd and pomegranate powder, onion powder and other spices. It was the only dish that hit the spice quotient for me

Chaamp taajdar 675/- Lamb ribs when juxtaposed resemble the taj mahal (you need a bit of creativity to think it through) and therefore the name. Whatte a dish! the meat just disintegrated and fell of the bones and all you had to do was a gentle suck into your mouth and it just melts away. 

Dum ki biryani chicken 525/-: If you have had a Pakistani biryani or a Bengali biryani, this would taste close to that. The saffron flavor is strong and lasts a while. If you like it mild, this one is for U

Dahi ke kebab 345/-: Didn't realize that a curd based dish could be so delicious. Hung curd is mixed with chopped coriander stem, green chilies, cardamom, crushed pepper and milk powder. Patted down into discs and cooked on a hot plate to perfection. This is very different from the ones I have had before this

 

Paneer lababdar 395/-: Must try veg dish of the day in veg. It was a thick paste of cashew, onions tomato and flavor infused with roasted garlic was clearly a winner

Dal punjab grill 395/-: A dal makhani felt to be missing some salt and a tad less spice IMHO

Meat punjab grill 475/-: Was reminiscent of our mutton rogan josh was not very impressive

Dhaniya mirchi da kukkad 445/-: Chicken dish wasn't too impressive though it was cooked in cinnamon, coriander seed, mace and chilly concoction

Breads

Lehsuni naan 99/- was very soft and garlicy,  Khasta roti 99/- made with semolina flour, wheat flour was a bit thick and crispy and tasted like more like a savory than a roti.

Bloggers spending time with their fancy phone and camera trying different lights and angles to get the best pics to showcase it on their blogs

Desserts: They deserve a special mention as the chef has played around with some interesting ingredients to bring out some unique flavors. All the desserts had the right amount of sweetness

Litchi ki tehri175/-: Milk reduced in a wok topped with litchi slices,almonds and pistachios was a very interesting twist. Couldn't get enough of it and made me dig in again and again

Gulab jamun175/-: Filled with nutella, white chocolate, almond slivers and pistachios and perfumed with rose water is again a winner

Phirni--175/-: Phirni was just the usual and nothing out of the ordinary

Pan mojito--225/-: You are already tired of pan ice cream all over Chennai and this is the liquid version of the same. Didn't impress me much!

Please "pause" PASS PASS or try at your own risk. It might spoil the whole experience

Price: Is on the higher side and a meal for two would easily cost 2K but it is justified for the good quality food

Verdict: If the lion is the king of all animals, I rate Punjab grill as the lion among all punjabi restos in Chennai - not exaggerating. The starters are a killer, choose your main course carefully, for desserts try the litchi and gulab jamun and you wont complain

Wishing you all a very happy new year 2016 and expect more food treat-meants from this food doctor.

V4 Midnight Dhaba - Ambattur

 V4 Midnight Dhaba

16, II floor, Raju complex, MTH road, Ambattur. Chennai (Opp. Vivekananda Vidyalaya School)

Decided to start exploring my very own neighborhood for options and I found a perfect place to casually hangout for some decent North Indian food and peace.

Ambiance: There are 3 zones, two on either side of the kitchen (covered partially) and one on top of the kitchen ceiling (open air). You can choose based on the comfort of your spine.

 The above two pic courtesy: V4 midnight dhaba FB page

Menu: Is simple and you can pick the right combinations given the limited options

Lassi 30/-:  A 300 ml of pure indulgence at that price is refreshing. With some almond essence and malai topped it definitely is worth trying in twos

Tawa roti 7/- or naan 25/-: Piping hot from the kitchen, soft and tears of with two fingers and good to eat with your dal, panneer or chicken sides

Punjabi chicken 160/-: Has become my favorite dish at this place, spicy chicken curry over a bed of egg omelet is a must try with either plain roti or naan

 

From the top LtoR: Chicken 65 110/-, paneer 65 90/-. lassi, paneer fried rice and punjabi chicken

Starters are a little of a disappointment here.The masala or the marinade is not that great and they use same masala for both and you find no difference in texture or taste

Service: Friendly and quick. just one guy handles most of the tables depending on the area you choose. Is prompt and always attentive, there was also a time when they didn't charge for a mixed up order (bone and boneless)

A Lassi, 2 roti with punjabi chicken for dinner is VFM for 200/- approx. This can be your regular eating place if your family/spouse is away and you need to eat your dinner out. 

 

 

E-HOTEL - Entrée bloggers meet Express Avenue Mall

 E-HOTEL - Entrée bloggers meet

Though you would have visited the EA mall many times, never would you have noticed that there is a full-fledged 44 room hotel on one side of this huge premises, This is on the whites road side when you enter from Mount road opp. Spencers

A team of diverse bloggers comprising health professional, fashion, photography, full-time blogging, home blogging, and more made for some good introductions and interesting interactions.
Entrée, a global Cuisine Restaurant – serves 100% Vegetarian with both À la carte & buffet for all the three meal. Continental, Chinese and Indian specialty


Ambiance: A flush of pink in the lobby, huge tree pots, the gleaming specialty chefs lineup and smiles all around make you feel welcomed. Entrée had a nice ceiling decor resembling lord ganesh sans the ears and trunk :). The chairs were in tri colors of India and comfortable to sit with arm rest

 Awarded the ‘Travelers Choice’ of Tripadvisor, ‘Stellar performance’ by Make my trip and Zomato user choice award for Entrée Restaurant are some of the achievements as explained by Gaurav Gupta the General manager.

Welcome drink: was a strawberry based fizzy drink was a tad too sweet for my taste

Food:  Now, for all those wondering what a hard core non-vegetarian is doing at an all-veg hotel. After accepting the invitation, a few questions lingering on my mind time and again were: In case I am stuck in a place where there is only veg food, what are the chances of my survival? how many dishes can appease me? would I be able to do justice to it all? More importantly, would it change me to consider vegetarian to be a part of my food? The answers unfold below

 Spicy corn veg soup

Main course: The line up starting with the soup, the paneer tikka and the cheese croquet served at the table were a good start.

Then we ventured out to the explore the many main courses lined up. All the dishes were with minimal oil, right amount of salt and very balanced. A few rice varieties couldn't stand the test of time on the hotpot as the rice on the sides became crisp or  hardened which is understandable given the time we spent on just getting to know each other, briefs, and a lot of Q&A with the GM and Chefs

From top LtoR: Satrangi subzi, paneer butter masala, country vegetables, pasta in alfredo sauce, Baby corn tempura, veg hakka noodles, Beans poriyal, rasam sapo veg dumplings, golden onion fried rice, ,
veg biriyani and a  few more I failed to capture

Salads: Fruit salad corn & cheese salad grilled veg salad, aloo chaat, thenga manga salad, pesto tomato salad - Saw fruit flies hovering around and so I let them be.

Breads

Desserts: The bite-sized portions are a good indicator of how cautious they are about wastage. And who would waste such yummlicious desserts on display. Each one was better than the other and there is always a special compartment in our GI to accommodate these. Loved the strawberry mousse and Kiwi pasty the best, mango pastry and the rest were good too. Must try

Top L to R:  mocha panna cotta, strawberry mousse,  lava cake, kesari bath, kiwi pastry, mango pastry, gulab jamun and the different sauces for the three types of ice cream

My plate with little servings of main course so I could decide on which ones to attack more later :)

The white pasta was the best dish of the day for me (also the chef's signature dish). The cheese they use are imported from Italy and that made all the difference. The flavor was amazing that i took 3 servings to etch it in my food memory
The Dal bhukara - the ever so tedious dish to prepare, soaked, slow cooked for 48 hours and still on the boil to only get better was lip smacking.
The rest of the south indian dishes must have been good as I didn't have the place to try but my eyes scored them already with high marks

They have kids friendly and vegan menu on request, and were very open to suggestions and customizing to any palette, spice level or health need.

Service: I wholeheartedly appreciate the hospitality of the entire team, be it ensuring the free parking of our vehicles or facing questions all along and answering patiently with a smile. Was certainly floored by this gesture.

A definite option to keep in mind if you are to try pure vegetarian as a buffet, ala carte or for a party.

E hotel, EA, Entrée, Elixir (not to forget the happening place with foot thumping music and to shake a leg) and on those lines... exclusive, enticing, efficient...