Illusions- The Madras Pub, Chennai

The name reminded me of David Copperfield. The man popular for his breath taking mind boggling Illusions. This place on the other hand was called Illusions, The Madras Pub. Wonder why the tagline though! Any ideas?

The place opened up a few months ago and friends made a lunch plan, but then Mr Murphy came in and changed my plans, and the lunch dint happen, rather I was unable to join the girls for lunch. And so,  when this other friend called asking if I wanted to join her and another friend for lunch, giving me options, I chose Illusions. The reason being- I had not been here before. 

I reached the place on time, 1 pm, and made my way up the staircase into the pub. Took me a minute to get used to the dim lights and layout, but soon found a table and made myself comfortable. I noticed a room in between the restrooms and discovered it was for "smoking". Friends came in a few minutes, we got settled in and started to order. The 1st order of the day was drinks- i went for the Blue island iced tea, the ingredients were blue curacao instead of coke and rest of the items were same as the long island iced tea, friend ordered the same and the other friend ordered whisky with soda. I also ordered a mushroom and cheese starter. 

The place was dim lit, actually quite dark, and I was told one seating area transforms to a dance floor in the evenings. There was a nicely filled bar on our left and more seating spaces all around. The place is very different from the other pubs I had been to.

Within minutes our drinks arrived on the table and we started diving into them. Our iced tea was alright, we missed the Long island iced tea, this felt a little watery and diluted. Oh well, only if you order will you know what such drinks are, right?

Moving on to food, we went ahead and ordered different combos. One friend ordered a wrap [mexican or italian, I forget, but the weird thing about it was it had paneer and when we asked the waiter about Italy and paneer, he got back a minute later and said "Chef says in Italy they use paneer a lot".. hmmm.. that is a 1st!] I ordered a penne in red sauce and the other friend ordered the chinese combo- chinese fried rice, gobi manchurian and wontons.

I enjoyed my penne though I wonder why it had no veggies. As we finished our drinks, we also noticed the place filled up quite a bit.

The meal worked out to about 800 bucks each [incl tax and tips]. The place would be an option if all others were full or shut. 

Overall Rating- 5/10

Address:

105, 1st Floor,[adjoining Nilgiris supermarket]

 Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, 

Mylapore, Chennai- 4

Phone: +91 9841157869, 044 42144449

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Zara's, Chennai

I had been out on a long early morning meeting across town, one that went on for nearly 2 hours. After that, caught up with a friend for coffee and before i knew it, time was 1pm. I checked my phone to see a text from the bestie asking if we can meet for lunch.. A few text messages later, we had decided to do lunch at Zara's, Cathedral Road.

I called to check if we needed to book a table, the person who answered the phone said there was no need and then proceeded to tel me this "i should tell you, we dont allow access to anyone below 21yrs of age" ;o) [i was kinda flattered that he thought i was 21 or younger..hehe..]

For lunch, they have a combo or you can do a la carte. The combo looked interesting and the price had our eyes twinkling in joy. Vegetarian combo was Rs245, while Non Veg Combo was Rs345. That is quite a steal for the number of dishes they offered.

We ordered one of each- decided to split the soup- Cream of Tomato[ was quite yummy- fresh, and filled with flavour] and the Greek Salad [well, wish the salad was a bit more generous, there was barely anything on the plate]

The combo also came with the option of a Beer, which we gulped down along the meal. For starters, i had ordered the Veg & Cheese Quesadilla served with a side of tangy salsa. My friend got a chicken and cheese Quesadilla. The quesadilla was perfect, crisp, yet not hard, and the filling was good- avocado, capsicum, zucchini, tomato and cheese. The salsa had that little bite and burst of chilli that lingered in the mouth, a perfect side for the nearly bland quesadilla.

While we caught up on the boring, fun, interesting and quirky stories of our life, the main dishes were served. Mine was a penne with red sauce [ wonder why restaurants call it that, instead of saying Tomato based sauce] and oodles of vegetables with a side of Coleslaw and the most soft divine Garlic herb bread [we couldnt stop relishing the bread and asked for a few more as well]

The penne was good, but i wish it had a bit more seasoning- salt, spices and herbs- these would have brought the flavours "bang" to the top.

Finally, it was dessert time. Unfortunately this is the only section with not too many options on the Combo. I chose the Peaches cooked in orange sauce served with a dollop of Vanilla ice cream, while my friend chose the Brownie with ice cream.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dessert, the peach was fresh, soft, and had just that tiny bite to it. The orange sauce blended well, and gave it that acidity cutting through the sweetness of the peach. The brownie was ok, i have had better ones, so dint really go beyond a bite.

What a fun lunch that had been! and to think it came for that price, we felt it was quite a steal. Cheers!!

Ambiance: 8/10 [ it was a weekday and only a few tables were occupied, so peace and quiet]
Price: 8/10
Service: 8/10 [ there is a person waiting on you, asking you if they can bring the food in, and they dont pressure you to pay up and leave]
Overall Rating: 8/10 ..Will i go back here? definitely!!

Address:
Zara Tapas Bar
Above Copper Chimney/China town
#71, Cathedral Road,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600086

Ph:- 044 28111462

PS: They dont allow people below 21years and men- remember to wear shoes!! 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad