Mister Madras

Mission accomplished – A wise foodie once said, have your expectations for Puthur Jayaram Mess and no matter how high it is, they’ll surpass it. After a number of failed attempts to check out this place, I finally got my chance to dine here today. En route to Cape Calimere, we made sure we touch this place. Reached here at around 12 and we were among the first customers. Got their default regular meals with their special prawns and fish fry. Probably one of the yummiest and freshest seafood I’ve tried in a while. If you’re checking this place out, don’t forget to try their curd. Loved the food and loved those who work here even more. The service was impeccable. They make you eat more even when you’re full. Overall it was a splendid experience. Meals – Rs. 80 Prawns – Rs. 150 Fish Fry – Rs. 95 Curd – Rs. 20 The total cost for ten people was Rs. 3145. ...

I was at Muscat International airport recently and the foodie in me obviously wanted to try something from the local cuisine. The airport is filled with Costa, other coffee shops and burger joints. There’s even an Indian restaurant but there was only one eatery that looked a little close to what I wanted to try. The Sadaf restaurant here has a simple but beautiful line up of munches. I opted for a Mutton Curry meal with Biryani and a bottle of fresh Mango juice. After a short ‘Ek ghaav mey ek kissan rahutha tha’ conversation with the person behind the counter, I got my hands on some hot yummy food. And after having my worst in-flight meal ever, it felt like a blessing in disguise to have some hot and delicious food. The Mutton curry was lip-smacking and it was so well cooked that a plastic knife was sufficient to cut through them. The rice was mild yet flavourful. Minus the raisin bits in it, I loved it. The mint based yogurt dressing and the fresh salad balanced the h...

While driving thru the picturesque roads of Ooty, lunch time left me wondering where I should refuel. A couple of friends and posts in Where Chennai Eats recommended The Culinairum that’s located near Dottabetta. It was raining heavily and the road leading to this eatery has nothing much to offer apart from some stellar views. The Culinairum looked like an oasis in the middle of no where and the subtly done interiors add a touch of grace and class. Don’t even get me started on the view from the restaurant. I was all by myself but the service staff made up to it with some friendly service. As I weirdly starred at a bowl of Rose Water Apples, they were sweet enough to offer me one. Thanks to the downpour I badly needed a soup, so I ordered a Shrimp Bisque. With too many options for mains I was lost for choices and went with their recommendation – A Lamb Hotpot. The soup was super soothing and creamy. The seafood flavour was high and it was blissful to say the least. The...

Yet another town, yet another hunt. This time it’s Ramanathapuram aka Ramnad. The locals vouched for this place called Aachi Chettinadu Mess so I had to check this out. The tagline said ‘This is our home’ and the Han Solo in me muttered the words “We’re home Chewie”. We were four in number and we opted for the regular meals and a Kadai biriyani. Side dishes, as always, were the specialty. Ordered Thala curry, Chicken 65, Mutton Chops, Prawn 65 and a portion of fish fry. As we were a bit late, we weren’t able to try the gravy based side dishes. Biriyani surpassed my expectations even though those expectations were very low owing to previous experiences. The meals along with the regular gravies were a decent affair. Prawn 65 was lip smacking. Loved the fresh flavor of the prawns. Chicken 65 was good too. Thala curry was excellent. Mutton chops were cooked to perfection and tasted divine. Usually in such hunts, one item would be messed up and this ...

Considering my food scene knowledge is updated only till Mahabs, I had to ask my foodie friends for suggestions whenever I’m out of Chennai. Thanks to my foodie friends, I reached Hotel Sri Kamatchi in Pondy along with my gang of buddies. We reached just a few minutes before their kitchen closing time but they were sweet enough to accommodate us. We got a Chicken Biriyani, Chicken Kamatchi, Mutton Kola and Karandi Omlette. The food was really good, out of which the omelette was a bit disappointing. The Kola was lip smacking. Biriyani was good too but considering how hungry and tired we were, anything would’ve tasted delicious  It cost us Rs. 325 per person. Wouldn’t call it VFM but considering how this spot was a blessing in disguise, it was worth it.

Just for old time sakes, got back to my university and I wanted to try the eateries which handled my hunger during my student days. That’s how I landed at El Molino. This small joint right next to my uni and Arsenal stadium is managed by this amazing Spanish couple. They didn’t recognise me but that didn’t stop me from explaining how I was a regular customer at their place from 2007-10. I ordered my favorites here, a Cappuccino, a spicy chicken panini with home made chilli sauce and their trademark custard tart. As always the panini was lip-smackingly delicious. The tart still tastes the same and flooded me with old memories. Simple good food – the type which I wish to see more in our place. Very basic yet full of life and flavours. Panini: £3 Cappuccino: £1.40 Custard Tart: £1.60 (About Rs. 510 totally) A trip down memory lane: Priceless Location: El Molino, Holloway Road

  This time, we rode almost 100 kms to discover this hidden gem. Located at the ever busy NH16, Munna Bhai Dhaba is one of those places that dishes out some delicious food for you to cherish en route to your destination. Just that, this time it was our destination. After starting at 8:30PM from Chennai, we reached here around 10ish and by that time some items were unfortunately sold out. Out of 10, 6 of us were hardcore carnivores while the rest of them were Eggetarians. We opted for a couple of Chicken dishes which included Munna Bhai special chicken (a yummy starter with sauteed chicken and cashews) and a couple more Chicken dishes which are named after the states of our country. One such dish was the which had an egg base with piping hot Chicken curry on top which was the star of our dinner. A surprise show-stealer was the Onion Pakoda which looked bleh but tasted great. Rotis were so warm and fluffy that we finished 40 of them in no time. Egg Bhurji was apparently good too. Obv...