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Chennai has something for everyone. If you feel like feasting on some scrumptious Italian cuisine or taking a bite of succulent Spanish paella, take your pick from the best restaurants in town as suggested by our food critic, Ameeta Agnihotri.
Little Italy
The place is known for its determination to take the airs out of fine dining and put its customers at ease. The must-haves from the Little Italy kitchen would be the cheese fondue, nachos with cheese sauce, pasta barberesca, pizza napoli, Mexican rice and the enchiladas. And all of this is not just vegetarian, but also wheat-based, with Jain food available on request. For desserts, there are mouth-watering cheesecakes in varied flavours, tiramisu, and the most famous, the chocolate bomb! The cooking style is authentic and rustic.
The restaurant hosts weekday lunch buffet from Monday to Friday, as well as a weekend buffet brunch with a lovely spread of authentic food at very affordable prices. They also undertake outdoor catering for weddings or house parties, and accommodate birthday and kitty parties in their spacious banquet hall. It is available for door delivery at all working hours.
Timings: 11am to 3pm and 7pm to 11pm
Lunch Buffet: Monday - Friday Rs. 499/-Net; Saturday Rs. 599/-Net; Sunday Rs. 699/- Net
Address: Y-220,4th Floor, 2nd Avenue, Anna Nagar West; E-50, Plot No.3, 17th Cross Road, Besant Nagar
Phone: 9176495000 and 8939295000
Kipling Cafe
Head here for great Italian and continental fare served in a cosy space. The café is located in the heart of ECR where one can relax and enjoy an excellent meal. This place has also opened its doors to corporates, as well as for large and small gatherings. The garden restaurant is a sprawling parcel of land with thatched huts and unfinished granite floors, between shrubs and trees. Firenze by Kipling is their AC restaurant, which seats 22 people. There is also a rooftop restaurant, with a view of the Bay of Bengal. The bar area, which is partly covered and partly open, is a great place for a friendly gathering. The bar menu has an exclusive variety of spirits consisting from world over.
Timings: 12Noon - 11pm
Meal for Two: Rs. 2000
Address: 16, L Jey Avenue, East Coast Road (ECR), Akkarai
Phone: 24530040 / 7299030040
Gossip Bistro
If you are here, don’t miss prawn and melon soup, Mexican crab meat nachos, a variety of lasagnas and pastas. There are desserts like swan lake, baklava tart. Their breakfast buffet is priced at Rs. 399 during the weekend and it is already the talk of the town. An apt pit stop if you are travelling on the ECR. They have delivery options in and around that area. Their in-house patisserie takes care of made-to-order breads and cakes. You can make your special days extra special with their efficient catering unit that can cater anywhere in Chennai.
Timings: 11am - 10.30pm.
Meal for Two: Rs. 800
Address: Old No 141/ New No 191, ECR (Opp HP Fuel Station)
Call: 9940244569
La Cucina
This is an Italian cafe with a finely crafted ambience - subtle lighting, comfortable seats and doodled pillars - that make the place rather cozy. Go here if you love thin-crust pizzas, pastas, raviolis, salads, risottos, stroganoff, and much more. This place is also planning on starting breakfast on all days, including an ‘All Day Dining Breakfast’, too. It is a lovely place for family dinners, birthdays and kitty parties, etc. This place also undertakes bulk orders and outdoor catering. They have a Pizza Festival from October 1-15. The menu comprises signatures like prawn gumbo soup, zucchini fritters, panko seafood, beef Bolognese pizza, chicken stroganoff, etc, along with yum desserts.
Timings: 11am - 11pm
Meal for Two: Rs. 700
Address: No 76, Ormes Road, next to Anjappar Hotel, Kilpauk
Phone: 65258555
Hola Restaurante
This Mexican and Italian specialty outpost has a romantic ambience with its rooftop seating. It is a perfect place for a candlelight dinner with your partner. For starters, there’s Mexican nachos, Margarita pizza, quesadilla, cream cheese with avocado wontons, spicy shrimp tacos, grilled chicken tacos to name a few. For the main course, there are enchiladas, chicken and broccoli grilled burritos and salads too. Their signature dishes include specially handcrafted thin-crust pizzas with romana base or exotic vegetable sizzlers in peri peri sauce, spicy chipotle lamb sizzlers, Mexican grilled chicken sizzler. Their special pizzas come in flavours of spicy chipotle, chicken pizza, pizza tomatina and four peppers. There’s even a Bond’s Special 007. This place has pasta varieties too. So, if you are longing for some good food and great ambience, Hola is the place to be!
Timings: All-day dining (11am - 11pm)
Meal for Two: Rs. 1000
Address: 6/1, 2nd Floor, 4th Main Road, Opposite Police Booth
Phone: 45550260
Jonah’s Meets Chef Willi
Jonah’s Bistro began as a small cafe in Besant Nagar and is now a popular restaurant chain across Chennai. Heading a team of talented chefs, Chef Willi needs no introduction. Well known as the World Traveller Chef, Willi Willson#39;s years of culinary expertise is evident in the new menu recently revealed across all branches of Jonah’s Bistro. The Poes Garden branch of the restaurant chain is aptly named Jonah’s Meets Chef Willi. A bite into the Siciliana pizza will transport you to a pizzeria in the Mediterranean coast. The Belgian waffle served with fresh fruit is the perfect excuse for a fine brunch on a lazy Sunday morning. The monster burger boasts of being the biggest burger the city has to offer. Try the smoked chili rice on a day when you#39;re ravenous — a generous portion of rice served with a delectable vegetable gravy.
Timings: 11am - 11pm
Meal for Two: Rs. 1100
Address: No.29, 1st Floor, Kasturi Rangan Road, Poes Garden, Alwarpet
Phone: 42043030/43053030
Here is the list of finest restaurants in Chennai that serve the Italian and Continental cuisine in Chennai:
Head to Express Avenue to celebrate nine days of Navratri with traditional music and dancing to the beats of Garba and Dandiya Raas. Meet various celebrity guests during the festivities and also avail the chance to win prizes.
Price: Rs 300 (day pass) Rs 7,000 (season pass)
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
MJ5, the popular dance troupe that gained popularity after winning India#39;s Dance Superstars is hosting a workshop for children. Through this workshop, children will get the chance to learn various styles like Animation, Urban and Hip-Hop.
Price: Rs 1,500 (Animation/Urban/Hip Hop), Rs 2,800 (two sessions) and Rs 4,000 (all three sessions)
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
Suhaana Safar is a musical evening featuring the melodious hits of Salil Chowdhury. This charity event is presented by Freedom Trust and all proceeds from the show will go to Freedom Trust#39;s Walk India Project. Salil Chowdhury was a music composer with Hindi, Bengali and Malyalam song credits to his name.
Price: Rs 500 - Rs 2000
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
Chennai has something for everyone. If you feel like feasting on some scrumptious Italian cuisine or taking a bite of succulent Spanish paella, take your pick from the best restaurants in town as suggested by our food critic, Ameeta Agnihotri.
Little Italy
The place is known for its determination to take the airs out of fine dining and put its customers at ease. The must-haves from the Little Italy kitchen would be the cheese fondue, nachos with cheese sauce, pasta barberesca, pizza napoli, Mexican rice and the enchiladas. And all of this is not just vegetarian, but also wheat-based, with Jain food available on request. For desserts, there are mouth-watering cheesecakes in varied flavours, tiramisu, and the most famous, the chocolate bomb! The cooking style is authentic and rustic.
The restaurant hosts weekday lunch buffet from Monday to Friday, as well as a weekend buffet brunch with a lovely spread of authentic food at very affordable prices. They also undertake outdoor catering for weddings or house parties, and accommodate birthday and kitty parties in their spacious banquet hall. It is available for door delivery at all working hours.
Timings: 11am to 3pm and 7pm to 11pm
Lunch Buffet: Monday - Friday Rs. 499/-Net; Saturday Rs. 599/-Net; Sunday Rs. 699/- Net
Address: Y-220,4th Floor, 2nd Avenue, Anna Nagar West; E-50, Plot No.3, 17th Cross Road, Besant Nagar
Phone: 9176495000 and 8939295000
Kipling Cafe
Head here for great Italian and continental fare served in a cosy space. The café is located in the heart of ECR where one can relax and enjoy an excellent meal. This place has also opened its doors to corporates, as well as for large and small gatherings. The garden restaurant is a sprawling parcel of land with thatched huts and unfinished granite floors, between shrubs and trees. Firenze by Kipling is their AC restaurant, which seats 22 people. There is also a rooftop restaurant, with a view of the Bay of Bengal. The bar area, which is partly covered and partly open, is a great place for a friendly gathering. The bar menu has an exclusive variety of spirits consisting from world over.
Timings: 12Noon - 11pm
Meal for Two: Rs. 2000
Address: 16, L Jey Avenue, East Coast Road (ECR), Akkarai
Phone: 24530040 / 7299030040
Gossip Bistro
If you are here, don’t miss prawn and melon soup, Mexican crab meat nachos, a variety of lasagnas and pastas. There are desserts like swan lake, baklava tart. Their breakfast buffet is priced at Rs. 399 during the weekend and it is already the talk of the town. An apt pit stop if you are travelling on the ECR. They have delivery options in and around that area. Their in-house patisserie takes care of made-to-order breads and cakes. You can make your special days extra special with their efficient catering unit that can cater anywhere in Chennai.
Timings: 11am - 10.30pm.
Meal for Two: Rs. 800
Address: Old No 141/ New No 191, ECR (Opp HP Fuel Station)
Call: 9940244569
La Cucina
This is an Italian cafe with a finely crafted ambience - subtle lighting, comfortable seats and doodled pillars - that make the place rather cozy. Go here if you love thin-crust pizzas, pastas, raviolis, salads, risottos, stroganoff, and much more. This place is also planning on starting breakfast on all days, including an ‘All Day Dining Breakfast’, too. It is a lovely place for family dinners, birthdays and kitty parties, etc. This place also undertakes bulk orders and outdoor catering. They have a Pizza Festival from October 1-15. The menu comprises signatures like prawn gumbo soup, zucchini fritters, panko seafood, beef Bolognese pizza, chicken stroganoff, etc, along with yum desserts.
Timings: 11am - 11pm
Meal for Two: Rs. 700
Address: No 76, Ormes Road, next to Anjappar Hotel, Kilpauk
Phone: 65258555
Hola Restaurante
This Mexican and Italian specialty outpost has a romantic ambience with its rooftop seating. It is a perfect place for a candlelight dinner with your partner. For starters, there’s Mexican nachos, Margarita pizza, quesadilla, cream cheese with avocado wontons, spicy shrimp tacos, grilled chicken tacos to name a few. For the main course, there are enchiladas, chicken and broccoli grilled burritos and salads too. Their signature dishes include specially handcrafted thin-crust pizzas with romana base or exotic vegetable sizzlers in peri peri sauce, spicy chipotle lamb sizzlers, Mexican grilled chicken sizzler. Their special pizzas come in flavours of spicy chipotle, chicken pizza, pizza tomatina and four peppers. There’s even a Bond’s Special 007. This place has pasta varieties too. So, if you are longing for some good food and great ambience, Hola is the place to be!
Timings: All-day dining (11am - 11pm)
Meal for Two: Rs. 1000
Address: 6/1, 2nd Floor, 4th Main Road, Opposite Police Booth
Phone: 45550260
Jonah’s Meets Chef Willi
Jonah’s Bistro began as a small cafe in Besant Nagar and is now a popular restaurant chain across Chennai. Heading a team of talented chefs, Chef Willi needs no introduction. Well known as the World Traveller Chef, Willi Willson#39;s years of culinary expertise is evident in the new menu recently revealed across all branches of Jonah’s Bistro. The Poes Garden branch of the restaurant chain is aptly named Jonah’s Meets Chef Willi. A bite into the Siciliana pizza will transport you to a pizzeria in the Mediterranean coast. The Belgian waffle served with fresh fruit is the perfect excuse for a fine brunch on a lazy Sunday morning. The monster burger boasts of being the biggest burger the city has to offer. Try the smoked chili rice on a day when you#39;re ravenous — a generous portion of rice served with a delectable vegetable gravy.
Timings: 11am - 11pm
Meal for Two: Rs. 1100
Address: No.29, 1st Floor, Kasturi Rangan Road, Poes Garden, Alwarpet
Phone: 42043030/43053030
Here is the list of finest restaurants in Chennai that serve the Italian and Continental cuisine in Chennai:
Catch the duo Sick Individuals performing live on October 15. They will be supported by djs and artists like Rohit Barker, Answer, Ashish Nagpal, Anto, Get Massive and many more.
Price: Rs 1,000 - Rs 5,000
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
JUST ACT SVCE#39;s CTI 2016 is presenting a production titled #39;Morkozhumbu Margarita#39;. There are two plays one in English and one in Tamil. The English play is an adaptation of #39;The unnecessary farce#39; by Paul Slade Smith. The Tamil play is a modern adaption of the Tamil play #39;Ramani Ramani#39;. The play timing is 3 pm and 7 pm.
Price: Rs 200
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
Broadway Diwali is a unique concert featuring 100 children performing songs from famous musicals. This musical presentation is conceptualized/scripted and performed by the popular playback Singer/ Writer and Theatre personality Shalini Singh, directed by the talented Director/Choreographer Jeffrey Vardon and his Hot Shoe Dance Company. There will be two shows: 3 pm and 7 pm.
Price: Rs 500- Rs 2,000
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
Head to the Music Academy on October 2nd for an evening featuring Karthik and Shwetha Mohan. Karthik is an Indian playback singer who has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Hindi. Shweta Mohan,has lent her voice to many successful Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi movies.
Price: Rs 500 - Rs 4,000
Tickets available on eventjini.com
Don’t we all just love this time of the year? The festivals, carousals, music and fun makes us want to forget everything and enjoy our hearts out. For those who are alien to it, Oktoberfest is a German festival, the world#39;s biggest volksfest or beer festival, which is held every year this time in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and different parts of the world, including a few places in Chennai.
EXPERIENCE
Incepted from a 200-year-old Bavarian culture, the Oktoberfest witnesses a congregation of more than six million people in Germany, who come together to revel over mugs of beers and pretzels, every single year. Apart from involving a lot of chugging, the two-week long festival features a plethora of traditional German food, including the likes of Hendl or roast chicken, Schweinshaxe or grilled ham hock, Eiershecke or the conventional three-layered cake, Pfefferkuchen or ginger Bread, Steckerlfisch or grilled fish on a stick, Schweinebraten or roast pork, Würstl or sausages and of course Brezen or pretzels. Some of the other dishes served involve Knödel or potato/bread dumplings, Reiberdatschi or potato pancakes along with delicacies like Obatzda which is a spicy cheese-butter spread and Weißwurst, a white sausage.
WHERE TO CELEBRATE
The Flying Elephant, Guindy
The Flying Elephant is among the handful of bars and nightclubs in Chennai that is celebrating the festival this year with German food, drinks and music. Decked in splashes of blue and white just for the occasion, the popular party destination will feature a great line-up of international beers and sausages, along with Pretzels, to celebrate the much loved fun fiesta. They have added little blue and white flags to the décor to suit the theme of Oktoberfest. The line-up of beers will include Paulaner, Laffe, Erdinger, Hoegarden, Estrella and Amstel Light and the staple will have German delicacies like Roastbratwurst, Nürnberger, Bavarian white sausages, with comfort foods like Kartoffelsalator potato salad to go along.
Price: Rs 1444 onwards
When: On till October 1st
Special Offer: Rs 2499 for 7 imported beers
365 AS, Teynampet
Drop in at The Arena, 365 AS for a festive cheer as they are celebrating their fifth edition of Oktoberfest. The nightclub has tied up this year with Dineout, an online table reservation app to celebrate the traditional Bavarian festival. There will be plenty of authentic German delicacies for the patrons, like Pretzels, Sauerkraut, Bratwurst, barrels of German beer and much more. The celebrations will take place only during dinner. In addition to this, there will be German music to jive on.
Price: Rs 1444 onwards
When: On till September 30th
Special Offer: Rs 2444 for unlimited draught beer
The Leather Bar, Nungambakkam
Clink your steins and say prost at The Leather Bar as they celebrate the Oktoberfest featuring a popular Bavarian fare and an exotic range of brews from around the world. Among the imported beers are Erdinger Weissbier from Germany, Budweiser from USA, Trio Stout and Oranjeboom from Netherland, Corona from Mexico and Asahi from Japan. The delectable platters include Zwiebelringe im birteig or Beer battered onion rings, Obatzda or Bavarian cheese and wine dip, Sahnsauce Mit Klobe or Potato dumplings, Rindfleisch schnitzel or crumb fried tenderloin, Gebratener fish or Semolina crusted fried fish, Currywurst or Pork sausage, Weibwurst mit salat or Boiled Munich white sausage and Bratwurst hanchen chorizo or Grilled chicken sausage. In addition, they will have prominent lineups of artistes, as well as international gigs, on selected days.
Price: Rs 375 to 1,250
When: On till October 3rd
Special Offer: Rs 1,250 for 5 beers
Diff 42, Velachery
A chic name in the urban nightlife scenes in Chennai, Diff 42 at the busy Vijaynagar bus stand signal at Velachery will be celebrating Oktoberfest this year as well. The club will feature a varied range of brews on the occasion, namely Kingfisher, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Budweiser, among others. They do not have any German culinary options, but you can choose from their regular food menu. Their in-house music mavericks DJ Eash and DJ Arwind will entertain the guests with a mix of club, progressive, house and techno music, along with some popular Bollywood numbers.
Price: Rs 200 onwards
When: On till October 23rd
Written By: The Goodale Brothers
Cast: Matthew Carter, Joseph Chance, Robert Goodale
A weekend in the country goes farcically awry, and Bertie Wooster finds himself at the centre of a series of hair-brained schemes. He must play matchmaker to his friend Gussie Fink-Nottle, while also attempting to steal a silver cow creamer at the behest of his formidable Aunt Dahlia - and as usual, it is up to the inimitable Jeeves to save the day.
Price: Rs 750 - Rs 6,000
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
Hyderabad based Funny Side Up and Evam Standup Tamasha bring to the city, the hilarious duo of Rajasekhar Mamidanna and Rohit Swain. Growing up in different states of the country and currently living in the capital of two states they are in a perennial state of confusion. Highly qualified to do comedy thanks to their Engineering degrees. These terrific tale tellers will be talking about everything under the sun. Join them for a total laugh out loud evening.
Price: Rs 400
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
The TVK Cultural Academy is hosting a musical evening featuring the melodious songs of Nadigar Thilagam Shivaji Ganesan. Music for the evening will be provided by Vijay Orchestra.
Entry: Rs 200 - Rs 1000
Tickets available on Bookmyshow.com
Amethyst is hosting a pre festive pop up - "Wild Festive", along with "The Blouse Room". For this pop up, they have curated a line of apparel, accessories and jewellery from designers like Payal Khandwala, Gopi Vaid, Small Shop, Nikita Mhaisalkar, Chaitanya Rau, Jayanti Reddy, Rose Tree, among several others, along with accessories and jewellery by Pastels and Pop, Stoffa, Love to Bag, Rathika, Taama, etc. There will also be a small offering of festive children’s wear. Accessories start at Rs.1,299 and clothing and jewellery start at Rs.3,500.
Emraan Raja Sabri, the grandson and disciple of Ustad Iqbal Sabri will be performing live. Ustad Iqbal Sabri was a legendary playback singer in more than 30 movies with the likes of songs like "Teri Jawaani Badi Mast Mast Hai" and Ho Mubarak Tumhe Humnava Mil Gaya." His grandson and disciple Emraan who is just 13 years of age has won hearts for his talents.
Entry: Rs 200 - Rs 500
Tickets available on meraevents.com