Affordable Kerala Food in Chennai: Kalpaka Restaurant, Alwarpet

This place was probably the most often visited place during summer holidays when I was a kid. Summers,  having the Kerala meals along with some Syrian beef fry defined the experience here. Remember eating so full I could hardly walk out! :D Service would always be efficient, the plates warm and the food delicious and affordable. They used to serve warm jeera water not sure about now. However, lost touch for a few years since then. The place was owned by a nice family from Kerala but I heard that it has changed ownership recently and had undergone renovation as well. As I didn't see much being written about the food there I wasn't so enthusiastic about visiting and trying it. But recently I noticed Swiggy had enlisted them so I was waiting to try them one afternoon for their meals and some non veg as usual.


The day came and I was in the mood for a proper meal. Since I'm the only eater ordered a Veg meals (half portion) - rs 115 and the Kerala Chicken fry - rs 90. Chicken and Fish meals are also available for rs 150 and 200 respectively. Also an Ayla curry meals (mackerel fish) was there.


Food


The order came in due time and it felt like a huge quantity for the amount paid. I could see a pappadam right at the top and many plastic packets of curries and koottus. Time to open em up!

There was enough rice to serve three people a meal once. Kootu (pumpkin thoran) and poriyal were of a good quantity too. Thoran and poriyal were tasty, salt levels were correct for all the items. The sambhar was good enough and so was the rasam which was okay. Kootu had coconut shavings in it and tasted quite good. There was also moru curry (sour curd curry) which is good for health and tasted just right too. Rice wasn't the usual fat type that was earlier served in the restaurant this was normal. Not sure if the fat variety is still served here.

The Kerala chicken fry had four to five small pieces in a fresh reduced mishmash of onions and masala. It was mildly spiced and can be eaten by anyone. I prefer this kind of curry more spicy but this was a good change. Mainly the chicken fry was freshly made and that made it great. One could easily see it was just made a few minutes back. I initially wanted to try the Syrian beef fry but since that would be too dry I skipped ordering that. Everything was mildly spiced in this meal.

There was enough of everything for dinner too. Burp.


 

Downtown Cafe, Besant Nagar

Located in the prime area of Besant Nagar right next to the bus stop, exactly behind Karaikudi and very close to Annai Velaankani church is this well appointed new joint going by the apt name Downtown cafe. I was invited to try the food here as a blogger, so this meal is "on the house."

Photo courtesy: 

Asmita Madhu who was kind enough to let me use the lovely pics since my phone's charge was out! D'oh! 

Menu

Downtown cafe has a variety of dishes that every comfort food lover would crave.  They are targeting a predominantly young crowd who love their burgers, shakes, crepes, pizzas and smoothies! But the quiet ambiance will be well loved by people of any age group. Their smoothie menu is vast and you will have difficulty choosing the right one from the menu. And of course lots of dessert items. Happy to say we found a really good dessert item in their menu while trying the various options. So here goes the experience.

Ambiance

We arrived around noon time there when the sun was blazing and everyone was running for cover.The cafe is quite inconspicuous but there's a dark board announcing the name outside. Once in, I was pleased to see the heavily wooded interiors and the medium dark lighting giving it a cool relaxing ambiance. Was good to see a small bookshelf next to the entrance where I spotted George Orwell's 1984! Points for that! There were already a few guests having a quiet munch. A staircase leads to the first floor which has more seating. The kitchen is also situated above. There's a good view up there but the beachs/sea isn't visible from there. Mr. Amiss, the owner was nice enough to give us a tour of the kitchen which was clean and with lots of busy staff. I was impressed how they could efficiently use the modest kitchen space to store so many ingredients needed to make all the items on the vast menu.

                                         

We settled in and once introductions were done, and got ready to sample some of the interesting dishes this cafe had to offer.

Food 

Like I mentioned, Downtown cafe has an extensive smoothie menu which makes it quite hard to choose one!

By the time I reached there was already the DT Special smoothie that's blended with Strawberry, mango and dry fruits served to us. This was tastefully done and I could even taste banana in it a bit. Good serving size in a tall glass. It was nice to watch the traffic go by from the cool inside.

This is a great place to have a quiet date or meet with a buddy since you can have a quiet atmosphere unlike the other cafes that are pretty noisy. We did see a few couples who came for a bite during the time we were there.

Next came the nicely presented Rice Ball which was filled with Risotto rice and cheese. This was a great dish not just because it was yummy but also because they were quite generous with the portion size. Each "ball" is quite filling and a plate of this and a smoothie can easily fill you up. Nice dish and would say this is one of the strong items on the menu here.

Then we had the DT Gourmet Chicken burger brought next. This was a neat looking burger, points for that! I would have preferred a slightly more thick patty and more crispy but the combination of authentic tasting mayo with the juicy patty was quite good. It had its own unique taste unlike the typical KFC kind.

One of the interesting dishes they have was the Kheema fries. This is basically french fries loaded with chicken kheema and with cheese in between too! A heavy dish with lots of kheema and loads of cheese as well. It was great tastewise however we suggested them to change the presentation so that it didn't look like an Italian dish. Besides having the fries covered under all that cheese would make them lose their crispness soon. I only had a few forkfuls of this dish since I had to have space for the other items too! This has enough quantity to satisfy two people's fry cravings.

                                        Yep, that's kheema fries, not lasagna! It tasted good! :D

The Chicken BBQ steak was presented impressively too. It's nice when a smaller cafe takes interest in the presentation of the food. We enjoyed a few bites of the steak however felt there was more BBQ sauce than we could handle so mentioned this to the owner who was with us throughout. He was eager to receive the feedback we gave him. With some of the sauce reduced the steak was well made and could be enjoyed with the mashed potatoes on the side. If you're ordering this item do mention your exact preference so that it can be customized.

Penne Ducale pasta made its appearance next and was yummy when eaten immediately. After a while the cheese was hardening a bit so we suggested loosening the cheese sauce more. The accompanying bun was soft and a perfect side to all the cheesiness.

Finally it was time for desserts!

They have a lot of desserts including ice cream shakes, cold coffees, teas, fresh juice and also a separate display case just for some yummy pastries! Even noticed Milo in the menu! One of their strengths is the huge variety in the menu.

First came the mango cream which was all natural which we gulped down in a few seconds without guilt. Definitely the best seasonal dessert on their menu. The mango pulp was bliss. Would go really well teamed with a vanilla milkshake!

The Banana frankie pan is a good bet for those who seek a less sweet dessert item on this menu.

Caramel pastry is a fresh cream cake that has a caramel layer over the top layer. This was new to me since I have usually only tasted caramel nougat mixed in with the creamy layers which is my personal preference. This was an okay dessert to me however the cake was fresh and good. I did pass on my preference to the owner about this item.

Finally the star of the day which got us raving was the Chocolate Mud Pie! It had caught our attention right from the start and we were reminding ourselves to taste it since it looked fresh baked and just right. And we were perfectly right with our guess!

There was a tender yet crisp outer coating that had an underbaked brownie texture inside. All this on a biscuit crumble base and served warm! A superb dessert item that really surprised us with it's deliciousness. This is a real must try and if you are lucky enough to see it in the dessert display just go for it! I don't see it on the Zomato menu yet so it could be a new item.

Finally, since I had seen the variety of teas on the menu, I requested to have a plain milk tea which I love to have after a filling meal. And after I was done having the tea we were ready to face the hot Chennai afternoon refreshed! It was a wonderful afternoon spent in this quiet cafe chatting with fellow bloggers and am looking forward to visit it with friends sometime soon before or after spending time at Bessie beach.

Food tasting for Upcoming event: 3 States (Biriyanifest) - Biriyani from 3 states, Food consulate, Velachery

Biriyani can be the national food of India! It truly unites us. Everyone loves it and has their own beloved version of it across the length and breadth of this great nation. But not much has been done to celebrate the regional variations of this timeless spice, meat and rice melange.

Until now.

Chennai Food Guide is organizing a unique festival with the aim of showcasing the quintessential biriyani from all the corners of India. Starting off this celebration is the first of the series: Three States, the Biriyani fest is planned to showcase biriyani from the 3 major culinary influences of South India: namely Tamil Muslim biriyani, Malabar of the Thalassery variety and Hyderabadi biriyani from Andhra pradesh! The event is planned to be held from July 15 - 17. The link to the event page is here.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of tasting the Hyderabadi biriyani for a tasting session held at Food Consulate, velachery and it was a lovely experience indeed. In the blazing heat I had the chance to try some piping hot biriyani! This was a food tasting event to which I was invited.

To start off, I haven't really had authentic Hyderbadi style mutton dum biriyani from Chennai or anywhere else for that matter so I was eager to try it. Only other time I had it was at the much hyped Charminar Llyods rd for a bday party but that didn't really impress me at all. Probably it was their bad day.

 We were shown around the cooking area and I could see the chef who was brought in from Hyderabad busy with the dishes. Specialist chefs are being brought in to cook each variant of biriyani and the end result can be tasted easily. The Hyderabadi biriyani was pretty damn great. Well separated long grained rice teamed with tender and spice coated pieces of mutton, it was just great. This is the primary difference between tamil muslim style of biriyani and Hyderabadi style. In the latter, the marinated meat is layered with semi cooked rice and not disturbed during dum so you get a lot more masala on the meat!

                                                  

                            

The end result is a strongly flavorsome biriyani that is perfect when combined with the in house preparation of Mirchi ka saalan that is customarily served with this biriyani. The saalan had quite a masala kick and was a dish by itself. Since this was a richly prepared dish with lots of desi ghee and saffron added during the marinade stages, even a small amount of biriyani was enough to satiate my usually heavy appetite. The thought of desserts also made me eager to not eat too much.

                                                         

                    
                                 

                             

       

                                                                 
                                                                 
                     

                                                             

                         

We also had an great surprise in the form of Haleem which was served to us as well. Haleem is slow cooked meat with lentils cooked over a charcoal flame for hours together. The final result is an incredibly rich porridge like meat dish that is a feast by itself. It was superb with the fried onions and a squeeze of lemon juice. This was just a sampling and won't be available for the fest. However they are planning to serve it during the Ramadan month to break the fast along with other items.

The #3states biriyani fest will have a limited serving of each variant of biriyani which can be savored. So get ready to taste the best that each state has to offer. This is not an eat as much as you can contest! grin emoticon

Next, the desserts had a few surprises. There was the amazing Khubani ka meetha that wowed us with the soft fresh apricots entrenched in a sweet sugary base with lots of saffron seen. An ideal almost healthy dessert option after the sinful lunch. The seeds of the apricots added a good crunch to the dish. There was also a litchi based ice cream dessert that was good as well. We gave feedback for all these dishes as we felt.

All in all it was a nice meet up of like minds with biriyani as the central focus. Stay tuned for the next part of this biriyani adventure where Thalaserry biriyani will be explored next as part of the menu for the 3states event.

Adios until then!

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/270700426598816/281384592197066/

Place of origin [Website review - placeoforigin.in]

I was scrolling through my FB feed as usual whiling away time one afternoon the past month when I came across an ad advertising the sale of Alphonso mangoes from Mumbai. Of course such websites are dime a dozen but the name of the site intrigued me and I wanted to see what else it had to offer me. The Alphonso mangoes didn't interest me since I prefer the local varieties which I find tastier and much more affordable.

What is Place of origin about?

As I looked through the sections, there was quite a lot to interest someone like myself who likes to explore different food. Firstly, the idea the site is based on is I feel a very good one which I myself was toying with a while back. So it was interesting to see it being implemented very well. Basically the site aggregates food items that are famous to an area of India. For example, there's tea being sold directly from the estates that grow them, tasty confectioneries that are best sellers of home bakers in various cities across India and world famous local brands that may be great at a single product whether it is butter biscuits, Ooty chocolates, homemade preserves or famous macaroons from Thoothukudi which is famous for making them since decades. You get the idea now, don't you? You're probably on the site right now. :D

So I went about doing what I love. Exploring the various treats on offer. I wasn't really planning on making a purchase since I didn't personally know any of the brands and if they were really good. Did not want to spend a lot and end up having a bitter experience. I was only planning to try one of the tea brands since I love tea and don't mind trying different kinds.

Courier details:

Courier is extra from the product cost on this site. Each item since it is being parceled from a completely different location would arrive at different times even if bought in the same order. However I got all the items in separate couriers on the same day four days after placing the order. The brownies were made-to-order two days before I received it and stay fresh for more than a week according to their claim.

Shrewsbury biscuits from City Bakery, Pune

But then I remembered about Shrewsbury biscuits from Pune which my aunt had given me a few times to taste. They are delicious buttery bits of heaven and I immediately searched for it to see if it was available. Lo and behold it was! Now I definitely had to spend money making at least one purchase here! And the deal was a sweet one as well. For rs 320 I would get 4 packets or 1 Kg of this amazing biscuit so the pricing is very good. But there was courier charges extra of rs 100 which brought the total to Rs 420 for this. I was still more than happy with the pricing.

Experience: 

The package arrived in a bigger courier box wrapped well. Inside were two cardboard boxes each containing one big plastic packet (City bakery branded packets) full of biscuits.Around 32 biscuits so totally around 64 biscuits. I expected the biscuits to be packed in 3 cardboard sweet boxes. Some of the biscuits had broken and the plastic bag was tied with plastic rope. I wasn't impressed with the packaging since it wouldn't be that air tight if the plastic packet had holes or if it wasn't tied up. Would prefer something more dependable and which can keep the biscuits from crumbling even better.

However, I was happy that the biscuits were perfectly crispy and tasted just as yummy as I remembered having it years back. Amazingly buttery biscuit. It was hard to resist eating one after the other! If you haven't tried the original shrewsbury biscuit from Pune, please try it right away.

Dust Tea from Balanoor Estates, Chimagalur, Karnataka

Next I decided to try a brand of tea and settled upon the Dust tea from Balanoor Estates. That cost rs. 138 bucks for 400 grams (4 packets of 100 grams each). Again the pricing is good. The fact that they gave separate packets was good since only one needs to be opened at a time.

Experience: 

The tea was packed in the branded foil type packet and well sealed. I opened just one and transferred the content to a container. There was a leafy, earthy smell emanating from the tea which I haven't found in the usual brand I use. Unlike Three roses which I love, there's a more natural taste of tea in the milk tea with more bitter and flavor notes. But not everyone may prefer this bit more raw taste. It's definitely good though and you need to try it to know if you like it.

Just Chocolate Brownies from Sleight of Hand, Mumbai

Now I wasn't planning on getting anything more, but I came across these nice looking brownies from Sleight of hand which did pique my interest. However, I still didn't want to try them since they seemed quite expensive for just six small pieces of brownie. 540 rupees for six pieces and 50 rupees courier charges extra.

I just googled Sleight of hand to check and found rave reviews for it claiming that they are one of the best cake brownies Mumbai has to offer. Now I was curious and in two minds whether to spend all that money. In the end my curiosity won since I wanted to try a good cake brownie since I've not had this type here. I've tried chewy, crusty and fudgy but not cakey. :P So cakey I had to have for sure.

Experience:

The packaging was the best for this item. The brownies were individually wrapped in branded clingwrap sort of plastic and packed six in a very sturdy cardboard box. A neat bill was printed with all details given. Weight of product was 320 grams and the best before date was mentioned. It said 15 days from manufacture.

Tastewise, it really did have a good texture and nice taste now that I think about it. First impression was it's good but it didn't blow my mind. Not too oily but moist to the right extent. The sugar level wasn't cloyingly high. It had a slight bitter note to the chocolate which was nice. It does seem to be a quality product as they claim. I liked it but since my first preference for brownies will remain the crusted type, I cannot say I loved it and probably won't pay this price for it again. Not their fault, this will probably be loved much more by a cake brownie enthusiast.

Website experience & payment:

Now that I had chosen some good items from the large variety on the site, I felt I had stretched my already stretched purse enough and chose to click the order button before I found more nice stuff. Payment had to be made in advance. There is no COD [cash on delivery] option. Website seems good enough except for the main menu which I found annoying to navigate.

Adios!

Annd, that's all for today, folks. Hope you enjoyed reading. If you found this website because of this post, please leave your comments mentioning the items you would like to try from here. I would be interested in finding other great must tries from here! I will probably be trying other items from this site soon enough and reviewing those as well.