PHOENIX FOOD GUIDE LAUNCH WITH KUNAL VIJAYKAR CHENNAI

PHOENIX FOOD GUIDE LAUNCH

with Kunal Vijaykar 

 PHOENIX MARKET CITY CHENNAI, VELACHERI

Hello and welcome to this edition of COPA PHOENIX-IANA at Phoenix Market City Chennai on June 17, 2016.  With football action all through this month, I couldn't help but get influenced and kick in with my review laced with footie terms

Six teams trying to stamp their presence with their signature dishes was a very good move in the mall scene.. people can easily recollect and remember when borborygmus strikes while shopping, catching a movie or just window shopping in this 1 million sq ft mall 

A launch of a in-house food guide is unheard of and new of its kind. Phoenix market city to launch it by inviting a Celebrity food reviewer/actor/anchor of food shows Mr. Kunal Vijaykar from Mumbai is like scoring of a free kick. Read more about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunal_Vijaykar

So the kick-off started an hour late than the scheduled time. The shutterbugs were on full duty flashing as the Man of the hour, "the Maradonna of food reviews" walks in and exchanges smiles, shaking hands with the team etc. He went about his routine of making his video for the show and interacting with the Chef of Punjab grill. A true inspiration to all foodies and reviewers

He wasted no time to go as per the schedule, I was on his right flank during one the strolls. We were dribbling info back-n-forth about Chennai street food and he was happy to re-visit just for the Street food probably taking my little help (some wishful thinking!)

(Front row LtoR: RJ Jane, Ashmita, Kunal, Ekta, Katie, Kiran,Backrow: Krishin, Gowrishankar, , Mohammad Ali)

104.8 FM  RJ and show producer Jane was at her impromptu best inwith her running commentary and interviews of the bloggers and Kunal. The recordings were to be aired on her show on Friday with some foot-tapping music.

FOOD CRAWL WITH FOODIE KUNAL - EVENT FLOW - 17th June 2016                                   

Cooking Session with Chef  Punjab Grill        12.00 - 12.30pm              
Tasting Session Noodle Bar                             12.30 - 12.45pm                .
Tasting Session Jonah's                                    1.00 - 1.15pm    
Tasting Session Nando's                                   1.15 - 1.30pm   
Tasting Session Rajdhani                                  1.30 - 1.45pm   
Tasting Session Mainland China                       1.45 - 2.00pm
              
GROUP A
INDIA 1 - PUNJAB GRILL
Dhaniya mirchi da kukkad with some butter garlic naan was served to us for sampling. Since we were already hungry and forgot about sampling  we went  into extra time- Suddently realized there was more food to be tried, that off-side moment where we stopped and got ready to move on 

INDIA 2 - RAJDHANI 

The unanimous choice and with no big competitors for this kind of Thali food, Rajdhani has taken chennai by storm. They have maintained the quality, quantity and style which has been patronized for their Veg specials. Each of the dish tasted unique and distinct from each other and you can indulge guilt free even when you see the server pouring ghee like there is no tomorrow on to your rotis (only after asking). The regulation time was over and we literally blew the whistle to end

GROUP B
ITALY - SPAGHETTI KITCHEN
We were already running behind schedule and had to inform our PRs to get the resto ready with their food. The drawback to this was that the Pasta had stood a tad long and therefore was getting thicker and dry than being creamy and saucy. The bruschetta - I experimented with the olive oil on the table on top of existing toppings and was ok. Their famous black pepper chicken makes you flip for more. The half-time moment was here for the food reviewers/bloggers. 

GROUP C
CHINA 1- NOODLE BAR
A very interesting take on the silk-route cuisines of Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and China.There were interesting innovations and twists to the dishes and one could feel a bit of all cuisines in one dish. This was a refreshing change to the run-off-the mill stuff in Oriental dishes. Dim-sums with mushroom was drool worthy,

CHINA 2 - MAINLAND CHINA Chef Sankar Mahakud

We literally were cornered by the sight of so much food. After a lot of head-butting and kicking ourselves on whether to eat or just taste, we started to pass, cut, roll, lob many dishes in less than 15 minutes.  It was a tie: we liked whatever was served and team didn't force us when we couldn't have anymore.  The prawns hubei style and chicken momos were worth a mention..

The lychee ice cream made for an interesting visual treat to the eyes with dry ice smoking out bottom glass bowl and the fleshy juicy lychees waiting to vanish like magic on top. The ice cream didn't impress much.

GROUP D 
JAPAN - JONAH'S  GOES TO JAPAN
We were greeted and seated and were quickly served the noodle soup which had a wedge of boiled egg, chicken pieces and slit okra was good.  We took a passing "shot" with our cams of the prawn/crab maki or Californian roll (not sure) an inside out sushi which Kunal had tasted. We couldn't spend time here as we were on a dash to the launch of the food guide next

GROUP E
MOZAMBIQUE/PORTUGUESE - NANDO'S
We couldn't tackle it anymore but the food kept coming at us non-stop. Kunal went about his photo/video review of the few dishes served. I wanted to go for glory and though I have tried their dishes many times before, this time was just a few chunks of chicken with the hottest sauce to see if I still had it in me not to tear after taste. It was "hit-the-crossbar" kind of moment instantly

There was no single winner of the cup but....THE FOOD GUIDE won unanimously. It was launched at The Design Hotel located within PMCC at Cafe Annam with a lot of city's socialites present (mostly women) and Kunal went about his journey quickly and how he manages so much in so little time . He spoke about his special like for Kashmiri wazwan food and the dum aloo ,the home made masalas to last an entire year were stored in dark beer bottles, how he developed an iron belly to digest all sorts of food (drinking water from any source increased his immunity). The food guide was received by Nina Reddy of the Savera group of hotels and restaurants. It should be available at the Mall reception counters for all to access and be benefited

Highlights:
The food guide helps you find the resto of choice in less than few seconds
There are plenty of veg options in all cuisines and restos
Easy to find out their signature dishes with price for two


A brilliant effort by PMCC to launch a exclusive in house FOOD GUIDE SHOWCASING the restaurants within the mall. The crowd cheering is certain and would result in more foot falls at the mall restaurants and hope people enjoy the food so much that they literally crawl back home after the culinary foodball

Vamanos PMCC!