Eating out in Leh/Ladakh

Ladakh is a touristy place. Lot of people from across the country and across the globe frquent it. So food is never going to be a problem! Actually I ate much more than I normally do in Chennai. May be the high altitude has something to do with increasing my appetite and metabolism.
Breakfast is usually continental while in leh. Usually croissants, doughnut and coffee at German Bakery, which is decent. The best was the toast and poached eggs at a Tibetan cafe.
Lunch is usually at some random place on the road on way to our destination. Its never planned. Lunch is usually dal, chaval, subji. Its simple and safe food. The best was on way to nubra valley. The worst was the schezwan egg fried rice at thiksey monastery restaurant. It was possibly the worst schezwan rice I ever had.
Dinner is usually the where the main action is. Sunbeam cafe was our favourite place in Leh and I carried forward by sizzler obsession to Leh. I also like the thin crusted pizzas at Le Pizzeria, which was the best Pizza hangout in Leh. I also liked the dinner prepared in the Hunder guest house - Roti, rice, egg curry, dal, subji. The vegetables were freshly plucked out of garden for cooking.
I also tried Tibetan food like momos, thukpas, tomic. I liked the veg momos and tomic was very bland.

Buffet Vs Ala Carte

I want to start a debate on buffet vs ala carte. Some people prefer buffet as it allows them to try out a variety of dishes at a fixed and far lesser cost than if these dishes are ordered individually. It helps that the food is unlimited and is ready to eat when you walk-in. All good reasons to choose a buffet! Few people like me prefer ala carte over buffet. I can't claim to speak for all of them, but the reasons for my choice are
- I can order the foof I want to eat that day. Basically I decide what I eat.
- I can try and customise the food to my liking in terms of being more or less spicy. Atleast in some restaurants.
- Hopefully the dish is prepared after I order. Agreed it may be partly cooked already, but still better than buffet.
- I can eat light if I want without feeling guilty of not doing justice to the money spent (as in buffet)
Specifically I don't prefer buffet because
- Too many varieties leading to confusion in what to eat and resulting in over-eating
- Food is sort of bland as it is prepared to suit a wide variety of customer palates, including foriegners. I particularly don't like the non-veg food in buffet.
- Less time of conversation as people are too focussed to the dishes
So the only time I go for buffet is during team lunches or corporate events where-in buffet is the only viable option when taking into account the number of people, cost, time and people's choice of cuisines.
So what is your choice?

Culinary Invasion of Chennai

Read yesterday in Hindu about the impending culinary invasion of Chennai by Hyatt Regency! They are about to open 4 to 5 restaurants and have assembled a team of 100 chefs!!! you heard it right! Who said Chennai is a conservative city and doesn't eat out much. It probably used to be like that maybe 10 - 15 years back, but now you just have to go out to any decent to good restaurant to know the people do eat out a lot. Coming back the Hyatt, obviously it will be quite expensive and it will be some time before yours truly writes a review of of those restaurants. :-)

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2353969.ece

Cream Centre

Now it is the turn of Cream Centre. I have been to Cream Centre at RA Puram as well as College Road. Its probably my favourite Vegetarian food spot, when I want to have something different. Apparently this restaurant has been around in Chennai for a long time, but I "discovered" it only a year back! My favorites are the Sizzlers and I must have tried most of the sizzlers they have on the menu, including the sizzling brownie fundae dessert! One of the signature Cream Centre dish is the Channa Batura (aka Chole Puri), which I haven't tried yet due to my obsession with sizzlers. 

My favorite dishes are
Starters: Nachos, Onion Rings, American Corn Cheese Balls
Main Course: Panneer and Vegetable Shashlik Sizzler, Panneer Chilli Sizzler
Drinks: Lemon Iced Tea, Margarita - Twist on Ice
Dessert: Sizzling Brownie Fundae
Once I tried parattas here and was not impressed. And the last time I went, I had the Mexican Fajita Sizzler, the portions of which were quite large.

Cream Centre has a nice ambience, but be warned it will be crowded and be prepared to wait as you cannot reserve in advance! The price is reasonable for the quality.

My Ratings
Food Quality: 4.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Value For Money: 4/5

The Restuarant Rating Sheet

This includes review of restuarants that I went to prior to starting this blog

click --> The Rating Sheet

Crimson Chakra @Adyar

Yesterday I went with friends for lunch to Crimson Chakra in adyar. I had been there once before and frankly that had not been a good experience both food and service wise. Wanted to try again before writing it off. Two of us ordered from Crimson Chakra Menu and the rest from Cornucopia.

Dishes Ordered:
Starter: Grilled Cauliflower (Kavipoo)
Main Course: Milagu Kaalan Masala (Pepper Mushroom Masala),   Smoked Vegetable rice, Phulkas
Beverage: Mint and Lemongrass Tea

The food was definitely better than before. I liked the Mushroom masala. Smoked Vegetable rice tasted decent, but seemed a bit burnt and dry.

My Rating:
Food Quality: 3.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service:3.5/5
Value for Money: 3/5

Tuscana Kryptos @Chamiers Road

This the the first restaurant that I had been to after creating this blog. So Tuscana Kryptos gets the honour of being my first review post! Had been to it earlier once, when I tried Tuscana menu. This time the idea was to try Greek food and so we ordered from the limited Kryptos Menu that was available. Since my friend was a veggie, I also went for veg, not that I am a compulsive non-vegetarian. This place is more spacious than the Nungambakkam one and seems more expensive as well. Since we wanted to have a light lunch, we shared the starter and main course and that kept the bill relatively modest (by Tuscana Standards). As we had no clue about Greek cuisine, we went by staff's recommendation for appetizer and main course and it turn out to be quite good. An other thing to note is that Tuscana serves complimentary starters as you wait for the dishes to arrive. So those on budget can go to main course straight away.

Dishes Ordered:
Appetizer - Fattayer bil-Sabaneq - Baked pastry parcels filled with spinach, pine nuts and sumac
Main Course - Gemista - Minced vegetable patties filled with mozzarella cheese and sun-dried tomato
Dessert - Gelato - Not quite Greek but with sugar free and regular flavours from our own Fresco. Three scoops served. We choose Vanilla, Banana and Chocolate flavors.

My Rating:
Food Quality: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service:4/5
Value for Money: 3/5