Chennai (Madras) Restaurants

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In the Cholamandel Artist's Village, there is a cozy persian cafe called Shiraz. This is a place we love to go to for a SUnday brunch or even for just desserts after lunch. The owner is a sweet lady and is always accomodating our myriad requests. While I am told it is not truly authentic persian food, i just love the hints of basil/saffron/cinnmon in food they serve up. Also it is wonderful to see a pet friendly restaurant in Chennai. It is an outdoorsy set up, so you can even bring a book or two and hang around for sometime...:-) One warning though card payments don't always work there!

Favorite Dish: Vanilla icecream infused with basil seeds; Orange rind cake

We headed here for a business dinner and they gave us this secluded table to ourselves. Made for the perfect set up- one where conversations were had and discussions engaged in. The food itself was amazing. True to their name they served up several plates of focaccia bread without an charge. That apart the pasta, the starters and the dessert were al yum. Averaged Rs500 per dish on menu, so I wouldn't even call it too expensive! Dominoes charges that much these days!!

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Ok here goes, another restaurant here in Chennai that's gotten onto our favorite list- Tuscana Pizzeria. We went to the one on Khadernawaz Khan Rd and absolutely loved the food they dished up- authentic italian! A tad pricey, but totally worth it esp if it is an occasion you are celebrating! :) Restaurant's open till 11:30 PM, reservations are certainly recommended!

Favorite Dish: Pasta in pesto sauce

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This is a restro cafe called 'Dewberrys' off RK Salai. We started with a couple of mocktails- the chilli lime cooler is spicy but refreshing. Then the starters- Fried Vegetable Wantons, Onion Rings & a Apple Walnut Salad were all divine!! The servings were average, or maybe the food was so tasty we could have had more! :D The main course was a Panneer Curry Sizzler served on a bed of butter garlic rice with a side of fries. Again very very delicious!
The hosts were pleasant and really serviced all of our little requests for customization in the food. All in all a dinner well served!!

Favorite Dish: The Panneer Curry Sizzler was just perfect

Mahamudra is a very elegant restaurant serving vegetarian health food. They have a mix of south Indian delicacies cooked in traditional way and also fusion food,soups,salads,sandwiches,main course and desserts.The ambiance is soothing and aesthetic.

Favorite Dish: Bise bele godhi, vazhapoo vadai and persian shorba and all the sandwiches and salads

We landed up here at ten in the night, hungry and ready to eat away to glory, surprises of surprises all of us got exactly what we liked! I had my standard plate of macaroni and cheese, AJ had a nice sizzler, parents had pukka north indian food and my sis had a great bowl of icecream!

Sadly this place has now been CLOSED DOWN!! There is a new building being raised there..will wait to see if New Yorkers makes a come back there!! :(

Favorite Dish: Sizzlers- One of the best in Chennai!

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Most of the Cafe Coffee Day Outlets (India's equivalent of a Starbucks) are generally noisy and teeming with teenagers. However the CCD Lounge in Khader Nawaz Khan Road is a fairly nice place for others to relax, grab a coffe and a bite to eat and relax. The ambience is ideally to just sit back and relax- hence a review in VT was warranted :-)

Favorite Dish: The veggie platter is quite nice and ofcourse the cold coffees!

As their tagline suggests, this is a restaurant that serves 'food with a difference'. Despite being a hard core south indian, they have some items on the menu that I have never had anywhere else! The chef comes highly recommended, having been not only felicitated by the President of India but also having served at the President's House. Chef Jacob has researched extensively on South Indian Cuisine and designed this menu to delight our taste buds! I know that both vegetarians and non-vegetarians have enjoyed the food here! :-)

We have been to this restaurant more than 5 times in tha last couple of months, that's how much we have enjoyed th efood and the ambience! It is for those who do not like to hurry through their dinner and instead spend quality time appreciating the flavors of the food! :-)

Favorite Dish: We loooove this started called 'Sutta Vazhaikka' which roughly translates to mean 'Grilled Plantain/Raw Banana'. The sprinkling of cheese adds so much to the dish! :-) Unbelievably good!