Evening at Dewberry's - CFG Showcase

Getting there..

I'd been part of a bunch of food bloggers who attended the CFG showcase event the last week. Dewberry's, a cozy restaurant tucked into a quiet street opposite Citi Centre, Mylapore was sponsoring this showcase to highlight its new Continental menu. So here goes. :)

Dewberrys

Being the first showcase I was a part of, I didn't know what to expect. So made sure I reached before time. Reaching the place is not a problem because it's walking distance from the arterial Radhakrishna Salai road. First thing you'll notice is that the place offers a lot in terms of privacy and quiet. The owners have converted part of the mansion into two separate joints. The setup is similar to Asvita cafe that was earlier right opposite to this place. Once there, I had a chat with the young waiter who seemed well-trained and told me that the resto mainly serves Italian food and that there was seating for about 50 people total. There were also a few tables outdoors under the shade of trees. Would be nice to visit with a bunch of friends on a quiet weekday.

Spice 29

In a while, the co-owner Mr. Ajay arrived with one of the chefs. After introductions, I enquired if there was some hidden meaning in the name, "Spice 29" which they've given for the restaurant.He said it was just the door number but they do have some interesting ideas to work with that in mind.

Note: Due to the number of dishes being showcased, we were given a smaller tasting portion of each dish that we could have without filling ourselves up soon! The dish photos shown here however are of the normally served portions.

                                                               The place was neat and cool

Well maintained outdoor seating

               There are two separate sections to Dewberry's both serving the same cuisine though

The Food!

Once the rest of the gang arrived and intros n greetings were exchanged, we got down to the real business eagerly. :D  Each dish was brought one-by-one to give us a chance to have a bite without hurrying. Our cheerful hosts Mrs. Kavitha and Mr. Ajay were sitting right beside us explaining anything we wanted to know about the food.

                                                          

                             Chilli Twist Ice Smoothie:  Looks small but packs a tasty punch.

This is a smoothie with a kick that made us nod in approval. I was expecting a normal cold refresher but this one had just the right amount of spice in it to set our taste buds tingling in anticipation for the next part. And the fact that it was icy cold was even better. If you're looking for a smoothie with a twist and an interesting start, this is it!

Soups
            

                              Cappuccino of Mushroom with cinnamon dust and garlic crostini

 Yes, Cappuccino! You heard it right! No coffee though. The soup is presented just the way you have your coffee. It was hot, tasted creamy and subtle without any over-powering aftertaste lingering. And the garlic crostini had a good crunch to it that made the combination a pretty good one. Good start!

                   

                                     Toasted garlic flavored bread topped with herbs, cream cheese and olive.

                                        

                                                 Tomato Basil Soup with Garlic Cheese Crostini

I don't usually have tomato based soups so just had a taste of this one. It was quite good as well. 

Starters

Warmed up, we were eager to lay our hands on the starters and something more substantial now. 

                    

                                                              Chicken Tomato Olive bruschetta 

I love the variations of bread and toppings that Italians have and was happy to see the bruschetta when it arrived. This one was well put-together with small bits of chicken, tomatoes and other Italian herbs with a bit of cheese to top it off. It tasted great as well although I'd like to have seen the cheese melted just to make things more delicious. ;) I noticed the bread was quite crunchy again as with the crostini so I guess this is an Italian thing. Next up was ..

                                     

                                                    Grilled cottage cheese with chilli butter pineapple

The name sounds exotic and the dish was novel and tasty too. Hadn't heard of this combo before so I enjoyed the combination of light buttery sweet pineapple with the smoky taste of grilled cottage cheese. Totally forgot to dip it in the side provided as I was busy emptying the plate.:) Vegetarians will surely love this dish.

                                                              Panko Crumbed fried cheese with relish

The best starter of the lot and it would surely appeal to most of us. Crunchy, well-fried cheese balls (cottage cheese) with fresh in-house tomato relish! What's not to love! Would  have  liked to see a more "Italian" dipping sauce also. 

                                

                                              BBQ Jalapeno chicken skewers with roasted corn salsa

Looks delicious doesn't it? It tasted quite good too. The chicken was cooked well and spiced moderately. It was fun to eat it directly from the skewers and the roasted corn salsa added tanginess to it. Since we were all taking a long time to chat and eat, the food wasn't very hot when I had a chance to dig in. Next time, I eat first, talk later. B-)

                                                 

                                                            Chermoula Spiced Prawns with Salad 

Unfortunately, this one disappointed. The prawns weren't all that tasty, I suspect because we took a long time to have them and items like prawns are best had immediately when hot. I wasn't able to taste much of the Chermoula marinade as well because of this. 

Main Course

                                                             Mushroom, parmesan, cream and herbs

By now a little bit full we wanted to see what would entice us to eat more. And the mushroom, parmesan, cream and herbs comes along doing just that. It was a lovely blend of the creamy parmesan infused white sauce with mushrooms. The diced well-done mushrooms were a great addition to this Italian favorite and there were olives lending their flavor as well. I had only a few bites knowing that there were more dishes to come. First world problems!

                       

                                         Cottage cheese primavera , spring vegetables, aioli pasta   

This substantial, well-presented and tasty dish would probably have been the best among the veggie dishes if the cottage cheese was a bit softer. It wasn't, so the dish was a bit of a downer. However, the mushroom based sauce that the slices of cottage cheeses were coated inbetween with were quite divine. Full of the flavor of mushrooms, it went great with the grilled cottage cheese. With the generous slabs of cottage cheese, the aoili pasta and the spring vegetables this would be a pretty filling main course option. 

                                       Grilled chicken, chilli flakes, olives , robust tomato sauce

For someone who prefers the white sauce variant, this hot robust tomato sauce based dish tempted me to have more than a few spoonfuls. Again, the portions were appreciable and the dish had a good number of diced olives all in a nice herbed sauce. It had only a mild tangy taste that wasn't very strong and was to my liking. 

                                              Stuffed cheesy chicken legs, roasted vegetables, BBQ gravy

Next from the kitchen was the Stuffed cheesy chicken legs with roasted vegetables and a BBQ gravy. My first impression on seeing the dish was that this was a huge chicken leg! Only when I started cutting it up did I realize it was stuffed and shaped like a boneless chicken leg grilled on the outside! Served with mashed potatoes and boiled veggies, this is a great comfort food dish. It was hot and went well with the BBQ gravy that was provided. Definitely seems to be a winner as it is quite filling, and tasty with the classic veggie sides provided. 

Dessert

Now we were at bursting point and had space only for desserts. We were served with a layered chocolate ice cream with nutella sauce and biscuit crumbles and fried dumplings that had a white chocolate filling. Mmm!

           

The star of the show was this delicious chocolate delight that rounded off the evening. The layering of crunchy biscuit crumbles and lots of nutella sauce and chocolate ice cream make it pretty much perfect. And the scoop of vanilla ice cream made it even better!  A must try when you visit. 

                                           

                                         Layered chocolate icecream, nutella sauce and biscuit crumbles 

The fried white chocolate dumplings was also great. The creaminess of the chocolate was different from the usual fried ice cream that we have. First time I'm having a chocolate variant and it was great. A filling four course meal would be around thousand rupees here I guesstimate.

Winding up..

Whew, that was a long one! Time flies when you're having fun, we started by 8pm and it was ten thirty before we knew it. We had to hurry back to reach our places in time! Be sure to check out this quaint lil place when you're in the area and you'll surely find the quiet ambience and good food worth it. They had taken a break to expand their kitchen to handle Indian dishes so check out the Tandoori food on offer as well. Have a great day!

Absolute Barbecue, Chennai

Note: If you just want a very short one line review of Absolute Barbecue, Chennai, scroll right down to the end of the post.

Absolute Barbecue, Chennai - Review 

(Sunday, Dinner - 19/10/2014)

I'd been seeing tons of posts full of praise about this place on the Chennai Food Guide page on facebook and was excited to see if it could stand up to the hype. After managing to get a reservation for dinner on Sunday (the place was full on Sunday afternoon, all 160 odd seats!), me and three friends headed there. We were greeted by the valet people outside and went in. The resto is housed in a big building that would have been missed if not for the celebratory lighting announcing its opening in Chennai. We were lucky to get in on the opening weekend as many people got their lunches highly discounted through a great move on AB's part through CFG. The price compared to other such BBQ places in Chennai is anyway very reasonable.

Walk to the Table

Once we got to the third floor and told them of our reservation, one of the cheerful employees in the lobby escorted us to our table, asking us if we were happy with the positioning. We wanted to be right in the thick of the action and he obliged and found us a spot deeper inside. Now, the first thing

you notice when you enter AB is the size of the place. It is huge and still has a cozy feel to it with just the right lighting and comfortable seating.

The impression we got from this place was that the layout has been well-planned with ample spacing to experiment with due to the size of the building. And as we walked it was like walking through a street full of culinary delights in some other land. On one side we could see the transparent but sealed off grilling kitchen with a huge vat for the hot coals. It gave me the feeling of a medieval kitchen while Chefs were bustling about skewering various meats. 

                                                                   The Wish Grill Section

Next, we passed an open section where a few more chefs were busy explaining the various items on display and taking customized orders. We knew this was the Wish grill that is AB's trademark attraction. 

                                                                           no need for introductions!

The next very nice and sweet sight you see will be the dessert section with a tall tower full of shelves of western sweets and a live counter right next to it serving Indian sweets hot from the kadaai! We'll get to this at the end. :)

Starting off..

Anyway, as soon as we got seated, another waiter wished us and introduced us to the unique aspects of this place, namely the live wish grill featuring many different meats. We nodded eagerly so that we could start digging into the starters! There were two bottles of spiced oils that could be sprayed onto the items being grilled. One was paprika flavored and the other was something spicier. Once the hot coals were placed onto the table, our anticipation was running high...we could see many tables filled

with busy eaters even at 7:30 Pm. ;)

The Part you actually want to read about:

In a few minutes, the non-veg starters started appearing. First up was the Chicken Teriyaki which was hot and succulent and tasted just right without being over-spiced. This was a welcome change from the usual Tandoori fare that the other BBQ joints in the city serve up and the flavours were all new. Not to mention the Chennai weather was perfect for this kind of food, all monsoony. ;) Now if only they hurried up with the bar license! :D

Starter dishes started arriving thick and fast and we were waiting for the dish that would disappoint us, but it never came! We even got curious about the vegetarian fare and asked them to serve us the Paneer Achari Tikka, a masalaish corn cob, American cheesy potato and the peri peri mushroom. Surprise, surprise, all of them impressed us as much as the non-veg items did. Now this was a first among our meat-eating group! We had multiple helpings of the tender but firm paneer and the cheesy American potato went along with it perfectly. The masala corn cob was tangy and not exactly crispy but it had a roasted taste to it full of flavour. They also had crispy corn which tasted okay. I think plain sweet corn would have been good enough, maybe differently spiced.

Other Meaty Delights..

The other non-vegetarian starters that came in batches were the Angara Tangdi, mutton Gilafi Seekh, the Chilly Garlic prawn, Cilantro fish and the Tai Pai chicken wings. The Tai Pai chicken wings was a new taste for us and was a bit saucy while the Chilly garlic prawns were generously heaped in front of us. These tasted fresh and soft like home-cooked ones. Personally, I like both a bit spicier but the accompanying sauces helped me spice it up as much as I wanted. They have a nice trio of sauces on the table. Besides these are not Indian dishes so we cannot expect too much heat. They also provided mayonnaise generously refilling it happily which cannot be said about some other restos. Maybe this is the opening weekend effect? :p  Let's see. The best of the lot were the Cilantro fish which was also mildly spiced and tasted fresh. Special mention for the Gilafi seekh kebab that was tasty n more succulent and soft than similar variants I've had at other restaurants. This reminded me of some street food joints that specialize in kebabs. The fact that they have very successful chains in Hyderabad (well-known for meat dishes and eaters) and Bangalore definitely helped them to get it right. Unfortunately I couldn't get more helpings of this because we had moved on to the next course by then.

Idiyappam break

In the middle of all this, one of my friends sneaked away and brought with him a bowl of chicken Sukka and Idiappam! I was suprised but didn't waste a second digging into his bowl. The masala

tasted good and the idiyappam was just right.

Wish grill? Elmer Fudd would be very happy here ;)

Once we were almost full with the starters as we usually are in such BBQ places. ;) Who eats the main courses anyway? we took a walk to check out the concept everyone was raving about.

The wish grill. It is indeed a surprising thing to see a variety of different meats being served up in a city where finding anything other than chicken and mutton is a task. 

This section looked colorful with lots of bowls that were numbered. How it worked is, you had to tell the chef your preferred combination of meat, sauces and veggies that would be cooked up in a few minutes and sent to your table. He gives one of two coupons that have the same number on both with the other attached to the bowl. You need to present your numbered coupon to your waiter who delivers it right to your table.

Other Animals:

We requested for the rabbit, Pecking Duck, Shark and one of my friends had the BBQ fish (did not know this existed) that was quite good. The shark tasted very soft and juicy while the rabbit too was pretty tender.  To be honest, being the first time I was unable to distinguish the flavours of the various meats since we had made it spicy with the Spicy Jamaican Dancing sauce. This was actually the name of the sauce. :p I don't remember the other sauces names but they were less spicy ones. There were also chopped up veggies we could add. Did I mention you could sample every sauce before it gets added? Yes, we can. Like Obama says. But this place actually delivers. XD

                                                                        Veggie section of the live grill section

Anyway, the wish grill was good but we need to be more experienced with other meats to be able to get it right. It's nice to get the chef's recommendation but nothing like experimenting and

getting a secret awesome dish right?! We'll surely be trying again. ;) Also, since we ordered the wish grill items together, you may mix up the items when it arrives together and eat up Emu instead of rabbit! So keep track of your bowl's number! XD

By now we were getting dangerously full, so guess what we made a genius move and decided to skip the main course. The dessert sections looked like it needed some emptying.

Main course:

// Skipped due to risk of stomach overflow

Desserts:

As mentioned, this area consists of a open refrigerator of sorts that are lined with various pastries. Next to that a live counter that served up Ghevar made in front of you as well as the

much talked about cold stone ice cream with many combinations like dry fruits, nuts and sauces to choose from. We picked up a small-sized cake pastry that I think was Black forest cake along with

a cheese cake (this was pretty good) in a bite-sized spoon! I had a good helping of gulab jamuns since they looked very good. And then I had another helping. And I'm happy to say

that the jamuns were just perfect, warm, soft and better than most sweet shops in town. Again, probably the north-indian influence coming into play here.

The good thing about the sweets is that they were all bite-sized so wastage also would be minimal. There were also a few other desserts like Phirnee and I think custard pudding (with fruit bits) along with some fruits at the bottom (which looked abandoned).

We rounded it off with a visit to the cold stone where I made the chef mash together butterscotch icecream (they also had chocolate n vanilla), oreos, nuts and one of the sauces. ;) It tasted delish! Sorry to tempt you like this fellas, but this is equally hard for me to write about without getting hungry again.

This was one bill we felt happy to pay.

Parting words:

Sorry for setting the bar too high with this place, but this place has hit all the right notes from the start. My only hope is that they somehow keep the same quality and taste as time goes which may be hard seeing other joints go down regularly. But it should at least impress you a little if not a lot with its ambience, courteous staff, reasonable pricing, great food and large variety. If you eat out regularly in Chennai and you're not a little bit impressed then maybe you should volunteer for the wish grill as one of the additional meats. :D Or tell me which place it is you like. Have a great day.

Short Review:

4.9/5 <=> Great ambience, smiling courteous staff ready to help you (with extra helpings), different flavored starters (from the usual tandoori types) that also taste excellent, probably good main course (guaranteed you won't eat much of this after hogging on the starters. We had to skip it!), sexy desserts that make you drool and the best part, the prices. Just have a visit. As of now, this place is an "absolute" must visit. 

Tips: 

Don't try tiping the waiter staff. It seems they don't want to be tipped! :) 

Remember your wish grilled item's bowl number if you're going in a group and want to know what exact animal you're eating (choose from Emu, shark, rabbit, octopus, duck, quail..not sure if I missed any out).

Don't forget to try some veg starters as well because they taste good here. Yes, even if you're a hardcore meat-eater. :)