Restaurant review: Cafe Veloute

I had gone to Pondicherry with my friends a few days back and we went to this cute little cafe in Bussy street. The dishes that we ordered are as follows.

This dish was given as a complimentary and as a starter. The taste was really fresh and it really cleansed our palates for our next dishes.

To put it in simple words, it was potato on a stick. It tasted good but could have been better with a bit more salt. My personal opinion is that the number of pieces served can be reduced as it was really heavy.

The buttermilk fried chicken was extremely delicious!!! The exterior was really crispy and the inside was really soft and tender and it was served with a sweet chili dip. This was my favourite among all the starters served. I highly recommend you all to try this.

We did not take a photo of the tempura prawns on its own. The photo shown here has the buttermilk chicken in it as well. The dish was really good with the light and airy batter and the plump prawns. This too was served with a sweet chili dip but I felt that it could have been served with a spicy dip as the dish itself lacks spice.

The masala fried paneer was extremely yum with the tangy sauce and the soft paneer. I highly recommend this dish for all the vegetarians out there.

We started our main course with Cajun fish with rice and sautéed vegetables. I personally liked only the fish and not the rice and vegetables. The dish had more rice than the fish and was not what I had expected. I also would have preferred a full slice of the fish and not just two small pieces.

The second main dish that we ordered was the Braised chicken with mashed potatoes. I really did not like this dish. There is nothing much to say about it.

I am a hard core dessert person and I never end my meal without something sweet. This was the perfect way to end our elaborate meal. The brownie was really soft and the combination of it and the ice cream was definitely divine. I recommend you all to try this as well.

Overall a great experience and I will definitely visit again if I go to Pondicherry.

Food: 3.5/5

Ambience: 4/5

Customer service: 3/5

Restaurant review: Fromage, Chennai

Happy to say that my last lunch for the year was excellent!!! I went to the MRC nagar branch of Fromage along with my sister for lunch.

The following are the dishes that we devoured. I also ordered the Veg Tortizza as a takeaway but that didn’t make it to the list as it was gobbled up by then.

The Chicken Tortizza was amazing and really was light. The cheese was gooey and yumm!! Of course, being a restaurant that specialises in cheese, I would expect no less.

I would say the same about the Chicken Parmigiano. Chicken tenders loaded with gooey mozzarella cheese an served with a salad. The dish was really cohesive and the cheese definitely took the dish to the next level.

For dessert, we had the death by chocolate cake. The buttercream filling and the ganache on top was really moist and delicious. The cake however was a bit dry and we were able to eat it only because of the buttercream.

Overall, the food was excellent and totally met my expectations. I just had one problem and that was the choice of desserts. Besides this chocolate cake and rainbow cake, there was nothing else as an option. Also, this cake was a 12 layer cake which was really tough for 2 people to finish. I actually had to ask the waiter to cut it in half and bring the remaining home. Overall, an amazing experience and looking forward to going there again.

Food: 4/5
Ambience: 5/5
Service: 5/5

Restaurant review: Toscano

Throwback to last year at Toscano in Nungambakkam, Chennai.

I wanted to put up a post on food as well but due to the current pandemic I was not able to that. So I thought I could share one of my experiences from last year instead. I had gone to this place in the month of October 2019 with my friends after a few people recommended it. After hearing the rave reviews that they gave me, I really had to check it out.

We had ordered the ‘Pesce del giorno’ which literally translates to fish of the day, the ‘Vegetariana’ pizza and the ‘Four seasons’ pizza both of which I did not take pictures of. The fish that we were served that day was sea bass. Everyone says that you eat with your eyes first, and that is so true because the moment I saw my plate, I was really blown away by the presentation and just wanted to dig in. Oh my, I wasn’t disappointed!! The fish was really juicy and succulent and cooked perfectly. The grilled vegetables which were served as accompaniments were perfect and they complimented the fish really well. The sauces that were served also did their purpose and they were really good as well. The cohesiveness among the elements in the plate was really strong and it really played an important part in making the dish perfect.

Now coming to the pizzas, one bite was all it took to transport me to another world. The pizza was so light and the base was amazing. Usually most of the pizzas that I eat, make me feel so full after a while but this did not. It just made me crave for more without the feeling of being full and I really loved it. Both the pizzas with the different toppings were unique in their own way and it was really amazing. I would definitely recommend you all to try out their pizzas first when you visit, before you go for anything else on their menu.

The ambience was a cherry on the top and made the whole experience really surreal.

My overall rating: 4.5/5
Food: 4.5/5
Ambience: 5/5
Customer service: 4.5/5

Unfortunately, I didn’t try out the desserts but I look forward to trying out the Tiramisu during my next visit.