One of my new faves in Chennai is Kappa Chakka Kandhari for Kerala-style fare that’s authentic and innovative. I am no pro on all things Malayali cuisine, but I can say even them folks love this spot, so it’s cool that Chennai offers up a space to indulge in regional delicacies. By the looks of the crowds there for weekday lunch, I’d say this is a fan favorite. My post unfortunately has only some of the desserts and none of the entrees and appetizers we devoured before that because we were too busy doing just that – devouring. 

Though located on one of the busiest streets in the city area, the entrance is a peaceful welcome. Love the décor and images that invite you to the space. Well, the peace is short-lived once you enter the dining area which is certainly the hotspot of activity. Expect a robust level of movement and noise as staff walk around and seat parties and serve in a reasonably well-organized layout but could well be crowded too if every table is occupied, which happened to be the case when I dined here. 
 
All their beverages are mocktails and shakes and every single one is bomb. Their tasting menu, both vegetarian and nonvegetarian, come in different pricing tiers – the more options, the more expensive but well-worth every penny and some might even be way more than you can consume so watch out for your eyes eating more than your tummy can!  
 
The vazhapoo vada – fried banana blossom patties and kallumakkaya roast – roasted mussels in shallots and spices were fab appetizers. The banana blossom is a common Indian ingredient for fritters and sides but my experience tasting mussels in Indian preparations has been limited so I surely wanted to try this when I saw it on the menu – this was a winner in my books. Perfectly flavored, perfectly cooked, perfect for me. 
 
While my party ordered a bunch of items off the menu, I only clearly remember mine. It was an order of the podi pathiri – skinny, thin flat circular bread made from white rice so think thicker than rice paper but thinner than crepe for sake of understanding though your description of it might differ once you’ve had it, and kuttanadan tharavu mappas – duck in coriander and milk curry. Again, duck is not a common ingredient I’ve tasted in Indian preparations, it wasn’t something I grew up eating at home or even in the extended family/community so any Indian preparation of it I am game to try. I can say this was not a gamey prep at all and went well together. Highly recommend.
 
Of course, the only images of food I finally remembered to take were the desserts. Seen here are the cloud pudding – their signature - a wiggly, jiggly, tender coconut pudding that I’d have had more of but knew I’d have to share and that wasn’t happening. The others – both made with ripened plantain I believe - were pazhampori and unnakai. The first is batter fried and the other is steamed and stuffed. Both equally yummy and inhaled with enthusiasm. If you’ve been here, share your fave picks from the menu. 

One of my fave spots to dine in Chennai on East Coast Road is Gossip Fusion Bistro and Dessert Bar. Never visited and been disappointed in any way – from food to service to staff to décor – they do it right and consistently so, which is probably why they are one of the mainstays in the restaurant business in the area. The regular menu has its classics, but they also offer special menus for different occasions that are equally fabulous. 

My most recent visit was New Year’s Day lunch, and it was as heavenly as ever. We opted for an early lunch hour to beat the crowds but apparently everyone else had the same plans. The good part was being able to find parking right in front of the restaurants, the not so good was waiting on the maze of cars behind us to be moved after from their tandem spots to get ours out!
 
Lovely to hear staff wishing everyone a happy new year and welcoming us in right from the female staff up front who were adding some decorative elements to the entrance to the manager who went on to take great care of us (keep reading) and the rest of the service staff as well. Despite being plenty busy thanks to the crowds starting to flow in for lunch, staff were attentive and pleasant checking in on us for water and additions to our order.
 
We did a mix from the regular menu and the special menu they had for the first day of the year. Started with a light and lemony chicken soup and a beef dish accompanied by plantain fritters. These are not the names they had on the menu for these dishes but if you cannot tell, some people (me!) were too busy indulging and not paying attention. 
 
For entrees, a rice and prawn curry from the usual menu and a chicken and berry roast – cranberry spinach goat cheese stuffed chicken – from their festive menu were our choices and they were good choices too. The crispy roast duck caught my eye but wasn’t available that day. All said, this was a fantastic meal. 
 
Halfway through the meal, the manger visited us and realized that the chef had sent us the wrong style of prawn curry. While we were perfectly happy with the version we had and continued our meal, he was kind enough to have chef bring us a portion of the actual prawn curry we should have been served. Unnecessary given the busy flow of guests they had that morning but appreciated, nonetheless.
 
Ended it all with their signature dessert – creamy tender coconut mousse served in the coconut shell itself. I challenge you to order this and not leave tempted to have more. Of course, if coconut isn’t an ingredient you favor, then stay away from it because that’s pretty much all that’s in it other than some caramelized sugar on top. I’d like to try some of the other dessert offerings but default to this one every single time. Just means I'll have to keep going back!

Annual visits to see family in Chennai means not only delicious food at home but also some great spots to dine out any time of day and in any part of the city. Regional preparations aside, there’s a plethora of pan-Indian, pan-Asian, and other global cuisines to choose from. Here’s a smattering from the last visit home in no specific order but keep checking back for more updates. 

The Farm Chennai
Located on Old Mahabalipuram Road, or OMR as the locals call it, this a working farm with a restaurant and store on-site. You can’t miss the cows and some of the veggie gardens as you enter. The restaurant is a charming outdoor spot, casual, and well-frequented. There is a changing menu and this spot uses ingredients as much as possible from their own produce haul. Weekends can get busy here so definitely reserve a spot. Tried a mix of plates and enjoyed everything. The thali pictured was a Goan edition but unsure if it is served all the time. Picked up some coffee, toffee, other desserts, and cheeses from the store. You might find some farm-fresh veggies too depending on what’s in season when you visit. 

Origami The Asian Bar
Stopped by here to meet a friend for lunch when it had just opened so didn’t experience the full menu. Afternoons seem to be a tad bit calmer, the weekends and evenings are more the times to visit here. Some fun cocktails and a pan-Asian influenced menu are on offer so you could be dining on a few different cuisines at one time. That said, am featuring the carrot halwa here as it really was well made and a somewhat surprising find. This is located inside the Green Meadows Resort which has another restaurant called Bayroot on-site so might be worth trying both when you can. 

Paati Veedu
This translates to Grandma’s home, so you know from the start to expect traditional South Indian cuisine. The restaurant is in the heart of T.Nagar and serves only vegetarian options. They are open for lunch and dinner though I stopped by for lunch. The options were a 5, 7, or 9 course meal and I believe I just chose the 5 course being unsure of the portions served. I did enjoy the bright yellows and greens the whole place is painted in. Food is served thali style as you see in the picture, and it was well-portioned for an individual to enjoy. Not pictured are a few other items served before and after the meal. I like the little shop located outside that offers several sweet and savory offerings made fresh daily. These are great snacks and make for some lovely gifts to take home.

Hundreds Bistro
This restaurant is on Harrington Road and happened to be an easy lunch choice as I was in the area. This is more contemporary Indian cuisine and has an extensive menu. Tried some of the kababs and chapli and loved it but the chicken saagwala pictured here was the star. The parathas not pictured here were perfectly soft and buttery and destructed in seconds when they arrived hot and inviting. I also tried some of the refreshing mocktails and enjoyed the flavor profiles. Wood-fired oven on-site means fresh breads, pizzas, and other doughy creations arrive piping hot and in minutes. Would love to head back and try a few more items on the menu. 

Hope you enjoyed this little review and found it helpful. Let me know your experience if you go. If you enjoyed reading this post, then hit that coffee cup at the bottom of your screen to support my work. I pen these articles from my own experiences and share information that might assist in planning a better visit for you. If you liked this post, then check out some of the other Chennai posts or Restaurant Reviews on the the site.

Attended this two-day event for the first time though it’s been in my plans for ages. It’s Chennai’s version of a literature festival and was held in a concert hall in Chetpet. I live farther out so made a little staycation out of this and chose to set up base at a nearby hotel, which worked out well since parking space was limited on-site and being able to walk over in a few minutes was a welcome option looking at the cars lining up at the entrance trying to make it in on time for each session. I had my pros and cons to the experience so read on to learn more. 

1. While the venue to the city was central, nothing about it seemed convenient for attendees. Parking was a hassle and there seemed to be no arrangements to at least be able to stop vehicles aside for passengers to get in/out without causing a major traffic bottleneck. Add to that the rains that visited on exactly those two days and it was a recipe for unpleasantness. There also appeared to be very little security – despite having to register online for tickets, no efforts were made to check who entered the venue. In fact, should there have been an emergency, I doubt the organizers would be able to verify/provide the identities of attendees on-site. There were bag checks that were half-hearted at best. And if you were mobility-challenged, good luck. One security guard I inquired with about how someone on a wheelchair might access the venue stated they could be carried in – probably not the answer or the aid that one using a wheelchair would like or want. I did not see any sign language assistance anywhere and do not know if it was even offered as a requested option. 

2. There were multiple food and activity stalls outside the building where the event was being held and that was great to see. Convenient for a quick picker-upper midday but there were absolutely no arrangements made for people to sit anywhere and indulge in that food. A few random benches and a handful of tables to stand at were about the options. Food and drinks were not allowed inside the building so what is an attendee to do? As a result, people began sitting on the very stairs that are intended for attendees to enter the different halls in the building for various sessions. That created its own set of accidents – food and drinks spillage – and people tumbling over others in their hurry to make it from one session to another. Safety was not a priority it appears. 

3. Sessions were held across multiple buildings, possibly to disperse crowds across the space but except for the main hall that was air-conditioned, the other sessions were held outdoors. Weather conditions were not taken into consideration in planning the venues. Neither the heat nor the rain were bearable. In fact, the outdoor venue was shifted after the first day of rain resulting in a space that simply wasn’t accommodating for as large a crowd as the sessions attracted. The outdoor spot intended for the author book signings had a covered space for the author but no such arrangements for the crowds waiting in long lines to have their copies signed. That shouldn’t be the price to pay for a book signing! Especially not for the elderly and senior citizens. 

4. To add to the conundrum, each session only had 5 minutes between them for attendees to make way to/from other sessions. Accompanied by constant pleas from the MC to have everyone seated out of respect for the speaker / presenter / author. An unfair ask given the distances and obstacles to be traversed making the way from one session venue to another, unless out of necessity or need, attendees just sat put in one spot and never budged. The caliber of the speakers was worth making the dash but having to dash into a few other attendees in the process of making it from one session to another was rather inconvenient. Makes me wonder if the organizers did even a mock rundown of events to ascertain for themselves how much time and effort one such dash would take.

5. Some sessions included a Q&A and some did not but any that did have a Q&A were haphazardly handled. An entire balcony section up top simply didn’t even stand a chance until attendees began yelling for attention so they could be heard. I know, I was there. And half the time when they were paid attention to, the microphones did not work and there appeared to be no tech personnel around to assist with that issue. Some questions though I was stunned were even permitted. And others were not even questions but simply people waxing poetic about an unrelated but what they thought pertinent topic. A better scenario I’ve experienced in attending such events is to shortlist questions ahead and have attendees in line in one spot for the Q&A to be completed in a timely and efficient manner, with the speaker looking in one direction addressing the attendee, instead of having someone with a mic run around trying to find which raised hand to run to. 

6. That said, some of the sessions I enjoyed included those by Shashi Tharoor, Peter Frankopan, L Subramaniam, the women in fiction panel, and some more I’m probably forgetting. Some I simply couldn’t make it in to attend because by the time I ‘braved the crowds’ so to speak and managed to get to the talk, it was a full house. Tennis legend Leander Paes was the closing chat the first night, and they did a great job saving the best for last. Ending on that high note was much needed and Paes delivered a win. Aside from his exemplary professional career, he shared many lovely personal snippets, and his general charm added a touch of warmth to the panel. He closed the night receiving a standing ovation from a full hall. 

7. The bookstore on-site selling books by some of the authors present was a temporary venue, but no arrangements were made to guide the attendees through the room. With folks entering from two different sides, it was chaos central trying to get close enough to the books you wanted. And once the books were purchased, there was nowhere to put them so if you had multiple books and bags, you were lugging them around with you through the whole venue. One solution would be to have a storage area with assistants saving the bags for you in a secure location until you were back to retrieve them at the end of the day. That would seem like a welcome use of some of the personnel that seemingly appeared not to be performing any productive functions on-site whatsoever. 

8. There was a splendid arts and crafts exhibit happening during the lit fest that I never heard announced even once in all the sessions I attended. Quite the pity since it was a beautifully curated experience and some of the pieces on display were immaculate. I’m unsure how many attendees even knew of it or visited it but I have some pictures here of some of the art that caught my attention. I only caught site of this at the end of the lit fest and spent a few minutes walking around, but I wish I had known earlier to spare more time to indulge in the arts as well as the literature. I wonder if many of the speakers even bothered to step in here but to the curator and the artists that had their works shown here, kudos! 

​Considering the tag line for the festival was The Sharpest Literature Festival in India, there was much lacking, to put it rather bluntly. While I have not attended other lit fests across India, I’ve attended festivals of a similar nature and caliber in other parts of the world and believe there is much that can be improved upon alongside everything achieved thus far to truly make this a world-class experience. I’m hoping to attend a future version and hope it’s a better experience, beyond the speakers that is. 

​Hope you enjoyed this little review and found it helpful. Let me know your experience if you go. If you enjoyed reading this post, then hit that coffee cup at the bottom of your screen to support my work. I pen these articles from my own experiences and share information that might assist in planning a better visit for you. If you liked this post, then check out some of the other Chennai posts or Tips and Tricks posts on the the site.