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.