If you think you want to spend a Happy Sunday with family and friends and a good drink and meal to add to it. The Westin at Velachery, Chennai is the place to be. Keep looking for new additions that are going to be added to the Sunday brunch kids zone and the swimming pool. In Chennai the mercury levels are going up and a splash in the pool is going to be the most fabulous thing to do.

The food is a huge spread like any other brunch, but what we personally liked was the cuisine from Japanese, Thai, Malay and Indian in the Asian counter to Italian and Lebanese they had it all.

Every dish that we had was cooked to perfection. The chefs were  around to help us get the best. The best thing about the fish was for a change is was not Basa fish. This is a complain we have with many restaurant/ Hotels in Chennai, even if they charge us a bomb they serves us basa which is the cheapest fish. We were glad we did not have to encounter another disappointment as far as the fish was concerned.

The other attraction that we found was inviting was the liquid Brunch. Priced at Rs.1700 all inclusive it had an unlimited flow of all varieties of spirits, cocktails and mocktails. Our personal favorites was the Mi Bumpsey which is a concoction of Coconut Malibu with coco syrup and pineapple juice a fantastically refreshing summer drink served in a test tube.

Mind Eraser, erased our mind totally and took us to a different world. A combination of vodka, Khalua and mild orange was soothing for a hot summer afternoon, this was served in a syringe.

The Dessert counter by itself huge yummy spread. The colours made justice to the flavor. They not only looked good, but they tasted good too!

For Rs.2300 all inclusive it is a steal!!! Your Sunday can be the most cherished experience.

Needless to mention the exemplary service and hospitality!!!

Picture courtesy: Harsha Raj Subrahmanian

Classic Tiramisu

Three reasons why I never dared to attempt making Tiramisu:

1. Because I never got to see the lady finger cookies here and I prefer doing it classic though I know many use sponge cake to make it, i preferred to make the original.
2. I thought mascarpone cheese was so expensive its not worth the make. La cremella mascarpone was not too expensive.
3. I thought it was very difficult to make.

And so when I got to buy the lady finger cookie from Dubai and  could buy mascarpone for a reasonable price,  I thought I should at least take the step towards seeing the recipe. The recipe did not seem as difficult as i thought and so the journey towards making one of my favorite recipe started.

I followed this recipe my chef Dennis:

Ingredients

• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar (201 gm)
• 1 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese – room temperature (284 gm)
• 1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (420 ml)
• 2 -12 oz packages Savoiardi Lady fingers crunchy not soft variety
• 1 cup cold espresso or strong coffee (240 ml)
• 1/2 cup coffee flavored Liquor optional (120 ml)
• 1 tbsp cocoa for dusting (30 gm)

Instructions

1. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
2. This is your sabayon, remove from the heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored. (whipping the eggs off the heat should allow them to cool off sufficiently, if you’re going to make a larger batch make sure to give the sabayon time to cool down before adding the rest of the ingredients.)
3. Add Mascarpone to whipped yolks, beat until combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks.
5. Gently fold the whipped cream in the mascarpone sabayon mixture and set aside.
6. Mix the cold espresso with the coffee liquor and dip the lady fingers into the mixture just long enough to get them wet, do not soak them!
7. Arrange the lady fingers in the bottom of a 8 inch square baking dish (or 6×9)
8. Spoon half the mascarpone cream filling over the lady fingers.
9. Repeat process with another layer.
10. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
11. Dust with cocoa before serving

Food is something that has fascinated me for years. I started cooking at a very young age of 10, not that I had any compulsion, but that interest came to me very young. My mom was my first inspiration, she was an excellent cook. She learnt baking in times were we did not even have decent ovens.

I have tried many cuisines both eating and cooking. Surprisingly I have loved most of them. So whenever I get an opportunity I just grab it with both arms. This was one such opportunity where I got friends, who are now my family from different parts of the world who love cooking. And so we ended up cooking Chinese, Taiwanese, Egyptian, Tunisian and Indian food all in one Indian kitchen. I personally loved all the dishes. It was one truly Big Global Lunch.

Thank you my dear family we are now bonded not by blood, but by friendship and food.

Food from top to bottom.

1) Tiramisu

2) San Bei ji ( 3 cups chicken- Taiwanese)

3) qiang Chao Bai cai ( sauteed cabbage)

4) chicken and vegetables noodles

5) Tofu with Pak choi ( Chinese)

6) seer fish steak ( Goan)

7) xi Hong Shi Chao ji Dan ( egg with tomato) Chinese.

8) Tunisian cauliflower fry.

9) seaweed soup ( Chinese)

10) Baked chicken and potatoes in tomato sauce ( Egyptian)

11) Chao Tu dou si ( shredded fried potatoes) Chinese.

Colin wright said” our varied beliefs & backgrounds are icing. Our shared humanity is cake” this truly talks about food lovers and specially of one person who is the leader in the food business in chennai, Mr. Mahadevan.sir, you not only give chennai the best food from all over the world, but you also give life to many people. Giving money is easy, training people and making them self sufficient is a challenge, thats the challenge you take on all the time.

Writer’s cafe is one such initiative by Mr. Mahadevan and team. I was humbled to be there for lunch with a group of my friends.The cafe is managed by burn victims every victim has a story and every story has a deep meaning and now every story teller has a job.

The place is very well done, fresh and bright interiors. Staff are ever smiling and enthusiastic. Food is par excellence. The soup was yummy and had the best herbs loaded in it. The starter’s garlic bread, cheese balls, onion rings and chicken wings were excellent with the best dips. Main course was the veg lasagna that tasted heavenly and looked absolutely stunning. Desserts, I got to taste the chocolate pudding and the apple crumble both were outstanding.

This place is a must visit, offcourse for the food, but also for the experience. The cafe will have a reading room too. So for you all book lovers, good food and good reading go hand in hand.

Writer’s cafe is located at 98, Peter’s road, royapettah, next to Philips center. The place is still at soft launch stage. Go there and encourage every single person there and enjoy the food.

Thank you lulu and Ashish for taking special care of us!

We all love Street Food, how would it feel to sit right here in chennai and have an opportunity to taste world Street Food. Spoonbill takes you through the culinary journey of world Street Food. The wingfeast was one reason for us to go back to Spoonbill. We ordered for the chilli garlic wings, it was hot and nicely spiced. We also tried the world combo, that had chicken momo, salad and chicken burrito. The burrito was juicy huge and loaded with chicken. This is a good place for fun family dinning.

Hotel Suprabha. Just after the Harrington road subway on the left you can find this small vegetarian restaurant. The little history about this place I know is that this place has been in existence for many years, this place is owned by a Malayali and hence you can find the sambar and kurma  taste a little different ( I personally like that taste) . I have also heard that their meals are very good and they do serve Sadhya for onam. I have been thinking of visiting this place for a long time, but always shy away since parking is the biggest pain here. Since I was passing by quite early on a Sunday morning, thought of stopping by. The best ever vegetarian breakfast I have had in the long time. It definitely is no comparison to the big names in chennai. Small, hygienic and total value for money. Every dish is packed in clean banana leaf. Our order for the day was Idly, plain dosa, idiyappam, set dosa, 2medu Vada  and 2 special Vada. All this for just Rs.235.