Moonrakers Restaurant: No:34 Othavadai Street, Mahabalipuram – 603104

Phone: 4114-242115

Food - 6.5/10

Cost – 300 – 400 per person

Service – 6/10

Ambiance – 5/10

If you are in Chennai or happen to pass through and have some extra time, it might be worth it to drive down the ECR to Mahabalipuram. There is more than just the lovely beaches that invite you to come back. There is good sea food. As we parked our cars and walked down, Moonrakers seemed to be the most crowded restaurant. To be honest, the reason we drove down was to eat at the Moonrakers, mainly because i have heard a lot of my friends rave about it and so I thought I might as well try it out for myself.

Our wait was kind of long, but we finally managed to find seats. I don’t blame anyone. It’s not easy to find seats for more than 15 people, on a busy Saturday night. The ambiance on the lower floor was great. Dim lights and each table well separated from each other gave the room a good feel. We however climbed our way to the first floor, which was a huge contrast in terms of ambiance. It was very crowded and we only made matters more complicated by pulling and putting together tables for more than 15 people.

Deciding on food is always a hard task when you have a big hungry group. We decided to start with fried calamari as starters. The calamari tasked good, but it was in a plate with some sort of saucy gravy, that had bits of corn in it. This made the fried pieces soggy before it reached our table. Still good, though the quantity could have been impressive.

Pretty soon we decided to move into the main course. Most of us decided to stick to sea food and the waiter brought huge trays of fresh and raw sea food. Squid, prawns, crabs of all sizes and different types of fishes. Not to forget the sharks. Each of us had to pick and choose the size kind of sea food we wanted. The prices would obviously vary depending on size. For example a moderately sized crab would be 200 while a more healthy looking one could be priced at 400 or more.

The Chinese style Calamari (above) was probably the poorest choice of the evening. The dish was watery and the calamari pieces were hard to chew. It looked as if it was made in a real hurry. Probably it was. The Italian spaghetti someone ordered was ok. Though it had a strong taste of tomato, it was polished off.

The South Indian Fish Curry (above) with steamed rice was delicious. It was hard to tell which cuisine the curry represented. It seemed like a well done mix of kerala, Goan and Mangalorean. It had just the right amount of spice and was very creamy. The quantity was really sufficient and it could pass of as a good home made dish.

The fried fish (above) is also ordered and priced according to size. It seemed to be marinated in a really thick and strong flavored marinade. Deep fried and served piping hot, it can be had as an appetizer, main dish or just about anything. Might be a good accompaniment for some chilled beer. Having tried too many items and with over stuffed tummies, we wisely decided to skip dessert.

If you do pass through Mahabalipuram, be sure to drop in. Try to avoid anything on the menu that is not from the sea. Not because it tastes bad, but only because you could have all that anywhere else and also this restaurant specializes in sea food, and does have good variety. After your meal, head out straight to the beach and let it all digest.

Rhapsody: Courtyard Marriott, 564, Anna Salai, Chennai, 600018

Phone: 44 66764499

Average Cost: 1500 – 2000 per person

Service: 8/10

Ambiance: 7/10

Food: 7/10

The Courtyard re-opened its Rhapsody restaurant with an all new Italian theme. The interiors were all re-done with dark royal themes and the waiters were all dressed smartly in matching suits and ties. The ambiance was well balanced around the room with pleasant lighting. As we walked in we were greeted by the friendly and courteous staff and led to the table, which gave us a pretty good view of the kitchen, through the huge glass windows.

The menu cards were quite impressive, with each one enclosed in a glass frame. Just two sides. Not too elaborate. Just simple and to the point. For drinks, I ordered a glass of Johny Walker Blue Label (Rs 1000) with ice. The others tried out a few varieties of cocktail drinks. For the appetizers we tried a plate of smoked salmon and the cold meat platter. The salmon was very finely cut into one thin slice. More towards the raw side, but a slight hint of smoke. Went well with lime and assorted veggies. The meat platter (above) had ham, salami and few other selections of meat, that was again finely sliced and served with lightly grilled veggies.

The lasagna that we ordered from the pasta section was out of this world. I could have sworn that the mozzarella cheese melted on top was the best in the world. Not too saucy, but very cheesy. Just the way I like it. The very sight of it made us all dig into it that I forgot to click a snap. This was truly my pick of the evening.

The main course was more elegant but did not match up to the lasagna. The roasted chicken with asparagus was good. It has a nice roasted and saucy feel and the presence of the asparagus was quite prominent. The lobster tail and risotto (above) was just average. Maybe because I am not a big risotto fan, but even then, the lobster was just not what I expected. Maybe they are just over rated generally. For Rs 1500 a plate, I don’t think I want to order that again. Maybe I am not a sophisticated eater.

The beef steak (above) was better. Now most of us Indians have a problem with eating steak rare or even medium rare. We love our steaks well done. After having tried out plenty of steaks over the last few years, I accept defeat and now state that the right way to eat a steak is rare or medium rare. It has got to have a pink center and it has to be juicy. I ordered mine well done, and as a result did not enjoy it as much. No fault of the chef, instead it was just a bad choice from my side. If we can eat sushi, then why not steak that’s a little pink in the middle?

With hardly any space left, we skipped the pizza that was highly recommended and moved straight to the dessert. We heard a lot of people raving about the tiramisu and I couldn’t help but stare at the servers walking around with large tubs of tiramisu. Alas, by the time we ordered, they had run out of it. What a disappointment. The chef came out and met us personally to explain to us why he makes only a limited quantity of tiramisu. Half heartedly we settled for the chocolate cupcake with hot chocolate filling, ice cream and the assorted mousse. The platter of mousse (above) had chocolate, strawberry, vanilla and mango, with mango being the surprise flavor.

The chocolate cupcake (above) was well presented and could seem like an ordinary cake you would find at any bakery, until you bite into the center and let the warm chocolate sauce ooze out. With the ice cream, the surprise was again the mango flavor. For some reason, they did a real good job with mangoes.

Overall a good experience and a nice place to visit for some fine, no fuss dining. Be prepared to spend close to Rs 2000 per head, exclusive of drinks. It may seem expensive, but it’s not the everyday eat out for the common man and its not everyday that we visit the Rhapsody.

Casa Piccola, 7 Kader Nawas Khan Road, Nungambakkam Road, Chennai 600006.

Phone: 28330808

Average Cost: 250 – 300 per person

Service: 5/10

Ambiance: 6/10

Food: 4.5/10

This is yet another restaurant that has jumped into Chennai after being in Bangalore for a while. Our ordeal started from the phone call we made, to secure reservations. The person who answered the phone spoke very little English. After repeating our names a few times, he handed the phone over to another person who was only slightly better. The moment we walked in we realized that reservations were not necessary. We were the only table indoors. The outside was pretty crowded and the contrast was noticeable. I must say that the interiors were not very impressive.

We decided to give the non-veg platter a try, to start off. This consisted of Mongolian Chicken Wings, Golden Fried Prawns, Fish Orly, Mini Fish Cutlets, Cocktail Sausages, and Chicken Nuggets. The cocktail sausages were the best tasking. The batter on the prawn and chicken were a little too hardened and was not easy to bite into. The chicken wings were tangy but could have had a little less tomato.

Most of the main course were a big let down. I had big expectations with this place, especially because I had been to the joint in Bangalore on few occasions. The chicken casserole was disappointing because I felt it was too watery. The gravy could have been thicker and there were too many onions thrown into it, that weren’t even properly cooked.

The chicken cordon bleu was not genuine at all. There was very less salami in it and the cheese was unnoticeable also. It was really flat and resembled more of the meat patties that you would put between the bun to make a chicken steak burger. The seafood platter was slightly better and the top pick from that was the crab cake. It was juicy and spicy and was a welcome taste to our taste buds. The prawns and fish on the platter just about managed to pass the test.

The chicken stroganoff was probably the best item we ordered. The gravy was thick and creamy and the portions and its stuffing were quite generous. Most of these dishes come with two slices of garlic bread.

Overall, it was not our best experience with food. The servers need to be more well trained and should at least try to look more interested. A smile might help. All items on the menu were very impressive, but what comes out to your table is far from impressive. A little fine tuning here and there with the food and the ambiance indoors, can really transform this place into something better.

Barbeque Nation: No 1 Hanumantha Road, Off Norh Usman Road, T Nagar, Chennai – 17.

Phone: 42694481/82

Cost Per Head: 450 (drinks extra)

Food: 7/10

Ambiance: 7.5/10

Service: 6/10

Chennai is the latest city to have a branch of Barbeque Nation open up. With this, Chennai has been introduced to the concept of table side grill. We had reservations for 8:30, and since yesterday was the first day of launch, reservations were by invitation only. This also meant that the food and drinks were on the house.

We were greeted by the very friendly and well dressed staff, and taken to our table. The drinks menu arrived immediately and in a few minutes we placed our order. The bar offers a few cocktails, margaritas as well as beer and hard liquor. I asked for whiskey on the rocks, and the others had some cocktails. The drinks took forever to arrive, and we had to remind the waiter more than once. The guy who got my drink, used his fingers to grab ice and put them into my glass. In the meantime, someone had places the hot grill, with hot coal, right in the middle of our table. Before long, the skewers started arriving.

The vegetarian skewers included aloo achari, peanut seekh kebab, thai grill vegetables, paneer kalimirchi tikka and caramalised onions and mushrooms. The non vegetaria skewers for the day consisted of tundee ke kebab, murgh angara kebab, chicken sishtawook, labanese chilly fish and dhaniya prawn.

The thai grill vegetables were not up to the mark. It looked like a sad half hearted mix of veggies, stuck on the skewer because they had no where else to go. The Paneer was a little soggy and at times it felt as if it would fall off the skewers. Thankfully the only place it fell into was our plates. The aloo achari was the best of the lot and it was vanishing quickly from the grill. It did not matter, because the moment we finished it, another skewer was placed on our grill. Did I also mention that each table also has its own share of rosemary, oriental and lemon dressing, and a brush, with which we could keep our veggies andmeat moist and seasoned?

On the meat section, the thai fish was my favorite. Though I felt that it could have had a little more marination to take the blandness away, I still enjoyed it. The shrimp was real tasty, though it looked like the marination might not have been a good idea. The other items were equally impressive and most of us were left wondering which one might have been our top pick. These are just the starters and they are unlimited. One can spend the whole night munching on just the starters. The restaurant I visited in Bangalore had a small flag on the table. As long as the flag was up, the skewers would keep coming. Lowering the flag was a sign that we were done with the appetizers. This may be introduced in Chennai pretty soon. 

After a few rounds of drinks and endless skewers of meat and veggies, we did not have enough space for the buffet, but since were there, we had to give it a shot. The line up seemed impressive. It consisted of cream of pumpkin soup, hot and sour chicken soup, grilled fish with lemon butter sauce, crab in soya chilly sauce, mutton dum biryani, kadai murgh, shikari gohst, pasta in baslico sauce, vegetables in blackbean sauce, rogani paneer, meethi aloo, vegetable handi, and veg biryani. The taste was just ok and certainly not the best I have eaten. The highlight from the buffet was the grilled fish in lemon butter sauce and the crab in soya chilly sauce.

The server also made sure that our table had its share of garlic bread, butter and plain naan, butter and plain roti and a few other breads. We obviously skipped the soup as we did not have space to spare for it. The salad bar was also impressive. It had a lot of varities and my top picks were the tuna salad and the chicken salad, which had really generous portions of tuna and chicken.

No matter how much we eat, there is always place for dessert. Fresh fruit souffle, black forest cake, brownies, rum balls, ice cream and fresh fruits, made up the dessert bar. The souffle and black forest cake were the better of the lot. the rum balls and brownies could be improved.

Overall, it is a good experience and a new concept. The service of drinks could be made a little faster and the quality of the buffet could be improved slightly. Make sure you eat a lot of the appetizers and I would say that it would be worth it even if you only eat the appetizers.

Harrington Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600031

Average Cost: 250 per head

Overall Rating: 6/10

French Loaf came up on Harrington road just a few months ago. Being a good residential area, I was surprised why this location was never tapped before. This is not a restaurant, but it does have some sandwiches, pastries, pies etc. The first thing I noticed about this place was the servers, who were well dressed and spoke real good english, and were real courteous than in most places. We took a look at the fine array of pastries and pies that were displayed very neatly as you enter. Once we sat down, the server came directly to take our order. I was expecting a menu card, but never got any, so we had to order from memory. 

The Tiramisu was not what I expected. Real Tiramisu is made from soft ladies fingers that is well soaked, but this was just cake and cream. It looked good and even tasted good, but maybe it should be called something else. The waiter even kept mispronouncing Tiramisu through out. Costs Rs 60 for a slice.

The Black Forest Cake and the Chocolate Truffle cake were real nice, except for the fact that the Black Forest lacked a little moisture. Both were real creamy and had crumbled bits of chocolate spread over it. Priced pretty much the same as the Tiramisu, but tasted way better.

The sausage and egg pie was just ok in my books. It did not taste bad, but at around Rs 90 a slice, I expected a lot more. The sandwiches were better. You are given a sheet of paper, with plenty of options to choose from. Just tick the ingredients that you want to add to your sandwich, starting from the kind of bread. You get to pick white bread or wheat bread. Plain or toasted(Rs 45). 

On offer was also a wide variety of meat, like chicken, ham, salami (plus Rs 45). Your choice of sauce includes mayonnaise, honey mustard, ketchup and so on. You can also add your choice of veggies for some extra bucks. The white bread plain sandwich with ham and salami was ok. The wheat bread grilled sandwich tasted a lot better. The honey mustard added a little zing to the flavour.

On the whole, the food tastes good. You have a lot of choice when it comes to pastries and pies. You will also notice the clean and slick crockery that they use to serve the pastries and the coffee. To try a pastry, sandwich and a drink, expect to shell out close to Rs 250 per person.