Breakfast at Chutneys -- Restaurant Review

This photo of St. Mary's Church is courtesy of TripAdvisor. 

Sunday morning had us (self, Arien and MIL) rushing to the famous St Mary's Basilica at Secunderabad. We were not too sure of the route but the Arien used google maps to the best possible advantage and though we left our home at 8:25 am, we were at the church at 9 am. After staying for the English mass which began at 9:30 am, the next most important item on everyone's mind was "BREAKFAST" (yes - in capital letters).

As we were driving back home, the Arien chanced upon Chutney's and we stopped right away. It was close to 11:15 when we walked in and asked to be escorted to a table for four. (Restaurants usually never have a table for three) Anyway, we were asked to go to the first floor- which we did. We ended up occupying a table for 8, because none of the other tables were empty.

The Arien was full of enthu. Lots of folks at his office had spoken of this place and he was waiting to try it. As soon as MIL had taken her medicines, we asked for the menu. Both the Arien and self wanted to eat Pongal but it was after 11 and so we were asked to choose something else. Both of us chose
Guntur Idly and ordered Steamed Dosa for MIL. I was not sure it would be sufficient and asked the Arien to order for an Upma as well. First, the famous chutneys arrived. There were 4 different types: Thengai (Coconut), Pottukadalai (RoastedGram),Varekadalai (Groundnut), and another chutney which I cannot recall. It looked yumm... and then the dishes arrived. Sambhar was served from glass dispensers into small Kinnams after which they left us to eat in peace.

The Guntur Idly was not as spicy as expected because it was coated with ghee. But, it was yummy all the same. To me, it was like eating idly, molagapodi and ghee. The Arien loved it. He was busy trying out the various chutneys. The Steamed dosa did not have a drop of oil and my MIL did not like it all that much. She likes a generous dose of oil in her dosa. She is not a beeg fan of chutneys either and so I don't think she liked it all that much. The upma was full of ghee as well. I liked the Sambhar though it was sweet. It tasted vaguely like north Karnataka sambhar which usually has sugar or jaggery. I wanted something spicy to finish it up but apart from some paneer dish (which we did not try) and Guntur Idly (which we tried and did not classify as spicy) - none of the items were actually spicy. Isn't that quite surprising to hear considering I was at Hyderabad known to be famous for its spicy food? Egzactly my thoughts! Anyway, the Arien and MIL finished up their late breakfast with a cup  of coffee (by two) which they were unable to finish. Coffee was good but the quantity was much more than expected.

The food reminded me vaguely of the food served at Adyar Ananda Bhavan. A2B also includes a lot of ghee and zero spice in all their dishes. Of course, A2B does not have the ambience or shtyle that Chutney's has.

Would I ask someone to try it? Yes, I will. It is a nice place and for people who are wary of eating spicy food or prefer to eat only at a vegetarian place - this is a great option. It is a bit on the pricey side. We paid more than 300/- for the dishes that we ordered. It was a nice experience.

Tamil Padam -- Movie Review after the II viewing

Happy Ugadi, you all. It was a holiday for me but the Arien was working.

Because the Arien's place has no cable yet, I decided to check his WD for some movies. MIL was also bored and so it was the funny Tamizh Padam that we opted to watch. I had seen it already but MIL had not and she wanted to see a comedy - having had enough of tear-jerkers and melodrama. 

Tamizh Padam is unique because it is the first spoof movie ever made, in Tamil. Considering tamizh sentimentu and emosun - I thought it was quite courageous of the director to shoot a spoof movie and hope for a HIT. It was a sooper (H)IT.

As in a spoof movie, this movie also lifts scenes from
various tamizh movies and adds a twist which makes you burst out in laughter. MIL was able to identify many movies.

The scene where Deva is offered the bill by the doctor and he says "Vendaam" - had me in splits. Another  scene where Shiva dances Bharathanatyam had us rolling in laughter and he completed the dance with - the picture of the ape on the right that was supposed to be the image of the heroine. There were so many scenes that had us laughing crazily - all through the movie.

The hero, Shiva, is a good fit and does his job perfectly. The other character actors do a good job as well.
Some of the movies that were parodied  (not in chronological order) are:

• Dalapathi
• Kanthaswamy 
• Boys 
• Kaadhalan
• Mouna Raagam
• Dhool

We spent the entire afternoon laughing away. One of the songs seemed absolutely meaningless and we were trying to figure out what the song meant when we realized that the song consisted of all fillers used in Tamizh songs in recent times such as "Randakka, Nakka Mukka, Asili Fisili, Rahatulla, Oh Maha Seeya, etc." Very creative! Absolutely Hilarious! If you have not caught the movie, watch it - if only to take a break from  reality :)

Hyderabad -- A new chapter

Did you wonder why I was blogging some abstract stuff 'bout change in my last post? Well, the Arien received a job offer. The offer was good but the catch was that he had to work out of Hyderabad. After talking, fighting, discussing, screaming, throwing things, yelling, and a few unnecessary threats - it was decided that the Arien would take the offer. After the decision was made, I thought the tension would ease but as things go - the tension grew worse as it neared his joining date. The action item list just grew and grew and grew and overwhelmed both of us and our families! With receipt of gyan from all sides, the Arien picked up a new habit of nodding away as if agreeing to all that was said instead of replying or disagreeing.

I have always loved moves. Dad was into bridge construction and so it was quite common in our household to be always on the move. Moves meant new places, new people, and it was more like embarking on a brand new adventure - I could never figure out why my mother was always grumpy whenever Dad announced a move. Now, I understand.

So, here I am at our new place in Hyderabad with most of the stuff from our house. No no - I have not relocated - yet. The Arien has been coming to Bangalore every weekend and I hope I can spend a week at Hyderabad every other month or so. A new chapter has begun. All the Best to us!