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| Photo Credit: Food Coma Chennai |
Chilis is opening its second outlet in Chennai today (22nd, Friday) at Phoenix market city, Velachery. I got to try few of the dishes they are known for like their Chili, the beef burgers and some other nice items. Was one of the bunch of bloggers who were invited to taste their menu on-the-house. Read on to know what and how to order for the best experience when you visit the new Chili's! This is the first time I'm trying the Chili brand so do keep that in mind.
Ambiance
It's a bit early to judge since the place hadn't officially opened yet but everything's almost set. Bit of construction was going on outside its entrance on the 2nd floor. There's peppy music playing with music videos projected onto the larger wall side while other walls had the match being played in silence on TV's. This was cool since both the sports and music loving crowd were catered to.
Chili's in other cities serves alcohol I've, but of course, the Chennai one is "dry."
Margheritas and Refreshers
They have a whole bunch of Margheritas and refreshers which we tasted. Go for the ones which have a lesser syrup content if you like a more subtle flavor to your drinks like we did. Many of the drinks we had were a bit strong on flavor which is probably how it's served in other cities since alcohol is also part of it. Or they could be making up for lack of booze. So you can ask them to tweak it to your preference.
I'm going to list the standout dishes of the evening first..
BBQ Pork Ribs: This one was a beauty. A sizeable hunk of pork ribs slathered with thicc BBQ sauce! Although it looked solid, came apart easily when we set about portioning it. The meat was almost fall off the bone. Finger licking good indeed! Unfortunately we ordered this dish last so were pretty full but still managed to finish it off.
Flatbread: I'd read a raving zomato review that the flatbread is nice here so tried it. Don't let the name mislead you, it's pretty much a thin crust pizza with its crunchy slim base topped with mozzarella and ranch aioli. Seemed satisfying n substantial in every bite with the freshness easily discernible.
"Craft Burger": Southern SmokeHouse Burger
I was eager to try their burgers cuz I'm a burger kinda person! Had the burger on right for myself which comes with (as per description) bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, dill pickles, spiced panko onion rings and their signature Chili sauce. Asked them to skip the bacon since there were some of us who didn't eat pork. The burger has the veggies n lettuce at the bottom with a big buffalo beef patty on it. Yes, they are careful about terming it "Buffalo beef." Then topped with onion rings which had a dense satisfying crunch with the cheese. The beef was tender though I felt it could be juicier. You can request the doneness of meat how you want but the default is well-done.
I think medium or medium-well would yield the right balance of juiciness for this burger if you're used to eating big burgers.
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| Cross-section of the Southern Smoke-house burger! |
Note:
You also get bottomless coke with every order of these burgers which is very nice. This means unlimited refills. Not sure if there's any catch involved. ;-)
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| Terlingua Chili with Buffalo beef minced |
Terlingua Chili
Chili is a dish associated with Tex-mex cuisine and is a mix of ground buffalo meat cooked with spices used in the Americas specifically Terlingua, Tx. Having never tried it I was eager and it was surprising to me that it tasted like a less spicier soupy version of Beef Kheema. :D The spices were mild so anyone can handle them. Any Chennaiite that is. There was a good quantity with lots of ground meat and topped with cheese bits! Personally I would prefer it hotter
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Starter - Triple Dipper
We chose the veggie version of this platter sort of dish. It had Chipotle quesadilla bites, texas cheese poppers and crunchy coated cauliflower. The poppers were excellent, full of gooey mild cheese. Cheese was high quality. What's not to love? Crunchy cauliflower was good too and the dips were great. Didnt try the quesadilla.
Country fried calamari
This was another starter that we tried. The calamari inside was very nicely done without being a bit chewy. But eat it when it's hot. With the paprika based spice rub it gets a bit too salty so ask them to go easy on that. Nice n crunchy.
Signature wings
These were good too, well-fried with a coating of thick BBQ sauce which had a nice lashing of chipotle sauce from the taste of it.
Country fried Chicken
Now this was something more "Tex" than "Tex- mex" with its Southern fried chicken breast laid upon a bed of nice mashed potatoes and green chili sauce. Spice levels again were subdued and I loved having the mashed potatoes with the crunchy chicken. It's a nice hearty combo as it was meant to be.
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| Country fried chicken |
~~~Desserts~~~
Lastly the desserts came, with the Molten lava cake that looked like Mt Kilimanjaro with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top melting slowly. This looked good and tasted nice but my favourite was the Chocolate chip Paradise pie which I thought was quite yum for those with a strong sweet tooth. The base has crunchy caramel sugar then chocolate chips and nuts which is further topped with a buttery brownie! And with vanilla ice cream as well. Mmm... this was sinful and we polished it off pretty quick.
So all-in-all a pretty good show with some pretty nice dishes from the hearty Tex Mex cuisine. If you're looking to find a taste of the real American hospitality and tastes of some key dishes from the South this is a good bet provided you are willing to loosen those purse strings as well.
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| Cheesecake |
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General Disclaimer:
Please remember that tastes and experiences are subjective and it's possible that even the same dish may taste different to you during subsequent visits to a restaurant. Chefs aren't machines and make mistakes too. Hence it is advisable to read multiple reviews from various sources to note the customers average satisfaction levels before deciding to eat at a location for the best possibility of having a great meal as per your tastes. Cheers!
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