Thailand ~ Teaser!

Hear me ! Hear me ! I am baaaacccccck! :) and I am going to flood you with food!

More updates coming soon! :)

Crimson Chakra and Cornucopia

I am blessed with a long list of dear friends who make me feel Life is worthwhile even when I am 50 feet under rock bottom, for those true souls I try my best to be there when they need a hug, a shoulder to cry or just a head bobber who can listen.  Few weeks back one such dear friend of mine and I were a bit worried about something but instead of letting it bother us too much we figured the best way to beat the blues was to have a slumber party !!! No No No Please don't think teens in pink pyjamas having a pillow fight, our slumber party was more like 2 grown women in mid twenties meeting up after work and having a nice long conversation, sipping warm tea together, reading books and yes you guessed it treating ourselves to a fine dinner :)
We decided to go to Crimson Chakra and Cornucopia for dinner :)

Spicy Chicken Soup

We ordered a light pepper based thin soup which had a generous dose of chicken and mixed vegetables. It was Yummy Spicy!

For starters we took crab cakes, Oh goodie it was soo good I created a seperate post just for the crab cakes :D click here to view it

The crab cakes were aromatic, soft and tasty , sprinkled with chopped spring onions, served with a side salad, a mint chutney and a cheese dip !

Moving on to main course!

Frankly my friend and I wanted to order another helping of crab cakes but the main course had arrived by then , and boy we dont have any regrets!

I ordered a mildly flavoured fish fillet, which was marinated in fragrant herbs and cooked with olive oil, flavoured with Jalepenos with a side serving of blanched vegetables and choice of either baked, roasted or mashed potatoes, I picked roasted potatoes.

Absolutely delectable!

My friend ordered Chicken breasted stuffed and cooked with minced mushrooms served with brown sauce, with a side salad of blanched vegetables and roasted potatoes.

By the time we were done, we could barely exhale, leave alone move :P, but dinner without dessert would be like life without love, so we decided to pick one dish and shared it (don't you feel dessert tastes sweeter when shared with a friend).

We chose the Elaneer/Tender Coconut Souffle!

Elaneer Souffle from Heaven

I had to create a seperate post just for this Elaneer (Tender Coconut Souffle) click here to read.

Try to visit Crimson Chakra and Cornucopia you will love it just as I did :)

Epilogue
As for us we walked back home laughing all the way and sharing jokes, recollecting fond memories whilst making plans to stay up all night and having a movie marathon ... however we crashed 5 minutes after we reached home and woke up after 10 hours of sleep - not exactly what we planned for but definately  rejuvenated:)

~Fin~

Caffe Pascucci @ Express Avenue Mall Chennai

Caffe Pascucci ! I have to tell you how I found this place ;) My friend was visiting India for a break so we decided to catch up at EA mall, we were joined by another friend of hers who recommended this place and we went there for some coffee and snacks, later that day when few more friends of his joined us he took us all to this place again! :) We all started teasing him that he must be the unofficial marketing guy for the cafe and he must be getting a cut for recommending people :P but jokes aside this was one really good find !  :)

Note : I don't have my Digi cam with me so please excuse the dinky, blurry cell phone photographs!

  

Caffe Pascucci is located on the ground floor of EA mall almost inconspicuous, it completely cuts off the crowd and noise in the mall.

Pasta Salad

My friend and I made plans to catch a movie at ESCAPE and a quick lunch :) we chose to watch "Johnny English Reborn" - it was such a laugh riot :P after the movie went to have lunch at Caffe Pascucci.

Moi salad plate

We ordered a Mediterranean Pasta Salad - Pasta, Lettuce, Peppers and Zucchini tossed in a vinegar dressing,  it was absolutely crunchy, juicy and fresh !

Grilled Chicken & mashed potatoes

I had the grilled chicken and mashed potatoes served with brown sauce . The chicken was marinated in a fragrant herbs and spices and grilled well. I would have prefered roasted potaotes to mashed potatoes - I wish they gave that choice.

Ice Tea

 I also ordered a TALL glass of cranberry flavoured ice tea - yes I am a bit of a sweet tooth :P

 My friend ordered Grilled fish with spinach and mushrooms

The fish was mildly seasoned and grilled, it was well cooked and yet retained the moisture (that is quite a task) and it had a wonderful aroma. It was served with spinach cooked with mushrooms and mustard sauce.

Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice scream

I have a severe case of a sweet tooth :) which is not likely to get cured even until I have a toothless grin :P so when it was time for dessert I was super elated - we had a warm apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream ~ A match made in heaven truly!

Psst I dont have pictures but you shud also try the thin crust pizza and tri-pepper bruchetta which I had here on my earlier visits:)

Cafe Pascucci

Try Caffe Pascucci at Express Avenue Mall :) I am sure you'll like it and better still you'll recommend it to someone too !

~Fin~

P.S. I love you my dear Black Berry but I sincerely hope you start making better cell phone cameras in future :)

Fusion Grill Food

Do you  love grilled as much as I do? Then you will love Fusion Grilled food!

 You have to try the Fusion Grilled Food at Feugo

I have been here few times before so it is a safe bet :) 

A friend of mine was visiting India for a small trip we decided to catch up for dinner at Feugo, we spent 2 hrs chatting , laughing and enjoying the food and din't even know how time flew by!

Chicken Satay

We ordered chicken satay - a popular South Asian dish which consists of strips of marinated chicken grilled and served on a skewer, with a side serving of a smooth and mildly spicy peanut sauce :) Mmmm my mouth is watering just recollecting the sauce/dipping

Sesame Chicken

I am not much of a soup person so we went to the main course without much fuss , I ordered the Sesame Chicken which was serve with mashed potatoes, garden salad and choice of pasta or herb rice, I chose pasta with red sauce to go with my sesame chicken.

My friend is super fond of fish so she chose grilled fish marinated with Indian masala and served with mashed potatoes and salad and a choice of pasta or herb rice.

Grilled red snapper, marinated with Indian masala and served with herb rice and fresh salad was a delectable meal and it smelled like heaven.

We enjoyed our meal so much and I look forward to going back to Feugo again .. But before i leave let me leave you with  a sweet note.. Dessert!

Apple Crumble with Ice cream

Clearly I was stuffed like a turkey on thanks giving day but how can I say no dessert ! So my friend and I decided to share the dessert :) A warm Apple Crumble with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream! A perfect way to end a perfect day!

Crab Cakes at Cornucopia

Have you been to Cornucopia & Crimson Chakra at Adyar, If you haven't you must, better still I can take you there if you can pay me back with their Gourmet Crab Cakes :) 'Food for work style'

The word Cornucopia means Horn of Plenty - it is a medieval symbol of abundance and plentiful produce :)  They could not have chosen a better name for this restaurant! As the name suggests the portions were plentiful and food absolutely scrumptious ..

I dedicate this post to the delectable crab cakes served at cornucopia :D

I love the dips and salads they serve along with the crab cakes it was just perfect!

Smooth as silk these crab cakes taste like a slice of heaven, melts in your mouth and leave you wanting more..The color , the aroma, the texture, and the taste ~ perfect blend of YUM!

Please try the Gourmet Crab Cakes at Cornucopia I promise you'd fall in love with your starters! :)

~Fin~

P.S. If you want to experiment a bit you might want to try out the "Chennai Crab Cakes" @ Feugo read more  here :http://vasu-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/feugo.html

Fish Fry at Mahabalipuram

I am a true blue Chennaite, I look at interruptions as a welcome break, I look forward to the northwest monsoons which turn my hot and torrid city into a water theme park and I love the muggy weather caused due to the salty seas which surrounds my beautiful city.    

However my parents and I moved to the suburbs of Chennai about 3 years back after spending a little over two decades in the city. Its not that we don’t love the city but its just that we need to miss something for a bit to love it even more:P so yes moving on ..Since all three of us go to work if you step into our tiny suburban home in the morning hours you will see  - Alien Vs Predator Vs Godzilla kinda action :P i.e. our mad rush to work so when 2 weeks back Wednesday was declared a holiday for all 3 of us by our respective organizations,  we got up late had a leisure brunch and hopped on to our car and drove far away and spent the noon at Mahabalipuram.

An ancient town built during the Pallavas circa 7^th century A.D. I remember reading so much about the Pallavas Dynasty while preparing for a popular competitive exam I’d rather not talk about here :D  because I do not want to be digressing again. The history buff I am, I am REALLY tempted to write down about the Pallava kings who consolidated power at in the south and established good governance with their seat of power at Mamallapuram.. I am also tempted to write about My mum who loves the historic epic ‘Sivakamiyin Sapatham’ which centers around the power struggle between the Pallava Kings and Pulikesin but I wont bore you with those details :) 

Somewhere around late noon I got hungry & I needed a quick snack and I was overcome by the smell of fried fish which was way too tempting to resist. So I gave in.. My mom is a doctor so she generally does  NOT approve eating anything other than home made food (impossible probability in my case).. But I managed to convince her I would be just fine... And now the highlight of the afternoon..

Crisp Fried Red Snapper

I chose one of those tiny shacks along the way to the beach which give you a choice of different fish to pick from - My choice ~ a nice red snapper marinated with Madras Masala powder and shallow fried till crisp. It was so delicious YOU WILL WANT MORE! I was full with just one slice :) 


What a perfect way to cool off a long day than a slice of water melon :)


Over all it was a perfect day and I am thankful for life's little blessing.. 

MASH @ Besant Nagar

So finally I went to much praised, critically acclaimed MASH at Besant Nagar...how did i like it? Errr hmm ..Let me put it this way ..My mom raised me such that if i dont have any thing nice to say i dont say anything at all ...

Fiery Fotato

Hot chocolate

Kalamari Fritters

Kalamari with Lemon garlic butter sauce

chicken sizzler

MASH

~Fin~

 Ok I admit I m kinda sorta very disappointed given that I've heard soooooooooo much about this place..