All New Amethyst

Amethyst

Ahh i know its been a good 10days since i posted something on my food blog, I have loads of snaps but i haven't been able to sit down and write :) so let us begin where we left ~ AMETHYST! So i finally went to the all new Amethyst last Sunday. Needless to say with a dear girl friend who made my afternoon absolutely delightful!

All new Amethyst @Whites road

Greek Salad

 I ordered a Greek salad made out of fresh olives, crisp lettuce leaves, fresh chopped cucumber, tomatoes and cheese. It was light, nutritious and refreshing.

And for starters we ordered crisp fired chicken lolly pop with a side dipping of mayo - YUM!

And yes a cool glass of fresh lemon flavored iced tea to sip :)

Thin crust chicken pizza

 We were about to explode with just this and yet we ordered dessert :) a friend of mine once said
"Life is short so remember to start with dessert"

Dessert~ Carmel, baked pineapple with roasted almonds- *SIGH* Gimme more  :P

The picture below is not Pandora from AVATAR ~ Its the all new AMETHYST 

My friend was soo inspired by the gardens at Amethyst she wanted to make a parody "Pandora Thandi Varuvya" loosely based on AVATAR & VTV :P

Dude where is Amethyst?

Amethyst~ the quiet outdoor garden café located in Gopalapuram, is missing!! Apparently they have moved to whites road just behind Sathyam Cinemas..  I'm yet to go there.

Water plants at Amethyst

An outdoor café located at the heart of the city might sound like a bad joke. It was well landscaped with trees, ornamental plants, creepers, climbers, scrubs and water plants.

Tranquil environment, lush green vegetation and pure solitude are the trademarks of Amethyst

The cafe was located at an old colonial house, decorated with antique furniture and dim classy yellow lights  (definitely not energy efficient).

I personally don't experiment much when it comes to Coffee I stick to cappuccino, and I used to love the cappuccino served here as its thick frothy and is brewed to perfection.

There used to be a specials board which is put up in the cafeteria and  a tiny florist shop which sells beautiful (and v.expensive :P) flowers .. I' am gonna miss that place :(
 

I love Coffee

P.S.  If someone has been to the new Amethyst at White's road let me know how it was :)

Chetinadu chicken soup for the soul!

Few months back my team and I were on  a work trip down south to Karaikudi (the town not the restaurant) it was a long tiring day and we felt extremely exhausted and drained out, so on our way back we pulled out at a random roadside restaurant and walked in.

To be very honest we had no expectations? No!

Were we disappointed ? Hell NO!

I m not a soup person at all but i enjoyed ever sip of this amazing soup Chetinnadu Chicken soup.


I went back to that tiny place and had a warm cup of soup last week and told the guy serving us how much we loved the food :) and this time we wanted to eat something more than just soup so we asked the waiter what was on the menu. He asked us to wait a minute and came back with a huge platter filled with everything you can ever imagine and asked us to take a pick!

Needless to say we ate till our heart's content and gave a generous tip for the waiter and thanked them for the hospitality!

What I loved most about the tiny hotel was this..

Translation: Share your complains with us , and your compliments with your friends :) 

~Fin~

"Santhai"~ Local farmer's market in Rural India

“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to it’s liberty and interests by the most lasting bands”

~ Thomas Jefferson

Sunday was one of my favorite cousin's wedding,  it was a traditional Tamil Wedding which was scheduled from 5a.m. to 7a.m. followed by a delightful breakfast !

Breakfast was served on a banana leaf ~ It consisted of appam, chutneys, sambhar, pooris, potato sabzi, upma, vada, a sweet and a fruit.

After which it was 4hr drive back to Chennai, somewhere in between the otherwise dry high way we spotted a collage of bright colors and lots of buzz, it was Sunday so needless to say it was a local Santhai- a weekly market where farmers from nearby hamlets come and sell their produce. With no second thoughts we pulled over in the middle of the highway and I disappeared into the market  with my camera :)

A tomato farmer looking at his produce

A women, a mother, a farmer, and a bread winner

Local nuts and seeds

Women dominated the farmer's market

Brinjals were the local heroes :)

Selling her stuff

Fresh veggies

Waiting for buyers

Terrible midday heat

So after a  welcome break we were back on the road.

Evening @ Azzuri

A few friends and I have been planning for dinner treat and an evening out for the past 6 months !! and finally we made it :) so after discussing a lot we decided to go some place we haven't been before. We chose Azzuri bay! 

A quite evening on a roof top restuarant over looking the Adyar river~ Azzuri Bay

View of the river from Azzuri Bay

"Buddha is my homeboy"~ Shabana :)

Interesting lampshade

Phuket fish

A fish fillet marinated and baked with herbs and spices, i loved every bite of it that i forgot to click a proper pic :)

Dessert!

A shaky -blurry view of the adyar river from Azzuri

P.S. In case you guys are wondering what happened to the food pics- here is a confession the food was soo good that Quintessential foodie forgot to click pictures of the food!