G~O~U~R~M~E~T

Recipes to Reviews
Pasta to Pastries
Cocktails to Cooking tips
It is all about Foooooooooooood

Monday, September 22, 2008

The Interlude


The enormous amount of fear or respect or call what you wish for the Chennai traffic caused us to land in Sathyam cinemas a good 20 minutes to spare before the movie started. Now the crowded lobby is the last place you want to wait with good natured Chennai-ites nudging you, pushing you as they rushed to the gateman with the tickets only to be shoo-ed with the wait-for-x-minutes and joining the ever growing waiting brigade. And hanging out on the sidewalks on the way to the hall from the parking lot would heighten your chance of being run over by a random, apparently blind motorist. So we decided to take a detour into a curious little place with glass doors thick enough to conceal what was in store on the otherside. The board read Ecstasy. And I was curious.
Nandoo simply said ‘I’ve heard rave reviews about this place.
‘what is this shop? ‘
‘Hang on…’ he said pushing the door open.
And I realized immediately that it wasn’t an over priced boutique that I expected it to be. I saw a fairly large hall with tables well separated from each other.
Not much sound except for the mellow music and no crowd at all (which is if you don’t consider the number 4 as a crowd!....okay at least compared to the mayhem outside?) And yeah, before I forget, this place I guessed from first look as soon as I stepped in, was a pastry shop. Or ice cream parlour. Or a coffee shop? Or a fancy waiting room for Sathyam furnished with state of the art furniture? And it played world music. And had an interesting chandelier made mostly of notes from people pinned up. And it served delicious French desserts! Hmmm…it is all of that so I really don’t know which category to pin it down to. But as long as me is happy, me is not complaining J
With so little time to spare, we immediately rushed to the counter and ordered for 2 Tiramisu. I have to admit, I felt like gobbling up every other piece on display and I did not even take a look at their menu. But I have a great weakness for this dessert so there you go!
And it was quite different from the various versions of Tiramisus I have had over the past few years. The mouse was creamy and left a nice creamy taste (and smell too according to Nandoo!) in your mouth, the biscuit/cookie/pastry beneath completely soaked in rich coffee. Hmmmmmm…that felt good
The five minutes I tasted it seemed to last forever and it took sometime really to realize that we were there for a movie. (and so as usual we went in halfway through the initial credits!) Amidst the most chaotic place, I have finally found THE HANGOUT for a nice quiet evening! And guess what, it’s reasonably priced. For the insane amount you pay at moven pick to get tucked into a corner with irritating teens chirping endlessly around you, this is a mile ahead!
What a pity the shop is almost invisible in the complex…a little promotion wont do it much harm. But guess I’d rather have it staying that way, without the crowd outside barging out. And oh, in case I forgot; you can get take aways and those guys at sathyam would let you take it in. Better than the usual Baskin 31 Robbins, hard-to-chew popcorn, half a litre of coke (forcing you to run out of a movie midway to the loo) fare? You bet!

Ambience: *****
Food: *****
Service: **** (I’ll take a star out of that as we didn’t interact much over our brief stay there, but they sure were friendly for the time that we were!)
Value for money: *****
Website: http://www.sathyamcinemas.com/ecstasy/

Minus: It’s your lucky day if you spot the shop!

17 comments:

gils said...

ecstasy??in satyam?? screenuku pinala iruko/?

gils said...

after seeing the trailer in ur adda blog oray "derror" adicihi...cooking blog?? that too frm settai sat/?/ nthg less sinister than a blueprnt for WW III

nandoo said...

for those who would like to try here for the first time... try out the following...

Tiramisu
Hot crembelle
Molten Jiwara

its a heavenly feeling tasting those creams just melt n your mouth :D go try it for yourself

ACE !! said...

//G~O~U~R~M~E~T//

Great going.. "live to eat" should be the motto in life ;D

G3 said...

:)) Ithana naal namma kanla padaama poiduchae.. etti paathuda vendiyadhu dhaan :D

G3 said...

//its a heavenly feeling tasting those creams just melt n your mouth :D//

Usupetharadhu usupetharadhunbaangalae.. adhu idhu dhaano???? ;)

Sat said...

saapad pathi blognu sonnathum naa expect panna athana bloggersum inga vanthutaanga....parava illa...unga image-a maintain paniteenga!!
*applause*

Sat said...

//ecstasy??in satyam?? screenuku pinala iruko/?//
actually it's on the side, booking aounters pakkathula cars ulla pogumla...towards parking lot (well they have changed the entrance now, owing to it becoming a one way...i am talking about how it used to be a couple of weeks back), on that side, you will find a huge glass door and a small sign called ecstasy...

Sat said...

great reco nandoo....but those are off limits for you now :P

Sat said...

Ace;
of course of course!....you've come to the right place :D

G3;
athu eppadi unga por paathangala anga pathikaama vidrathaam....gils thalela molaga arachi venna anga oru treatku erpadu pannidalaam

pRADdy said...

ahh jus yday wen i went to satyam, me n my friends were talking about ecstacy, suprisingly found it empty when compared to the crowd outside - should try it sometime

did i see Tiramisu available there..yaaaay, havent had it for ages, never knew it was available in Chennai too :)

Me said...

servedhaute...enna oru name!

review lam sooper...lastla Ambiance, Food, Service, Value for Money sidela Priceum (on a scale of 1-5) poteengana kalakalaa irukkum...you see ...whenever we ..the poor NRIs come to Chennai for Vacation we always end up with sticker shock..

Subramanian Ramachandran said...

intro lam kidayaatha blog ku... btw ...gourmet nu pottirukke... ithula ethum recipe irukkum nu paartha etho hotel pathi pottirukeenga..athuvum sappadu nu just mention than pannirukku...mathapadi it is all about ambience and the value for money...... :)

Sat said...

Me;
Point noted :)
I did actually think of putting in a Cost for meal for 2, but forgot. Will put that in place in the next review...Thanks for the suggestion though

Subras;
Hmmm....Gourmet is not just cooking, in fact it is a connoisseur, now don't ask me if I am one, that's for me to decide ;)
And the review, well, i guess i did mention a thing or two about the food served. gotta read closer than that :P
But it's not just the saapad that counts, it's also the ambience, the service and most importantly for our junta 'value for money'. and when that is rated high, obviously they oughtta be serving more than sushi

Sat said...

//intro lam kidayaatha blog ku//
ahem...i guess that's up there at groundzero....as for what i post here...i rather dont conform to superficial rules, and trust in getting to the point and end of the day, it's my blog, so i decide!
anyway, it's a crtic blog, i am not really expecting to go under the critic's lens myself here...coz i dont think i saw a rating for the post here...or am i missing something

prithz said...

If its a place sans all the mayhem, I am definitely for it. Can't wait! :D

gils said...

//Ithana naal namma kanla padaama poiduchae..//

!!!!! wooooww...g3 kannula padatha oru rest'nt..aduvum chennaila!!!! sat..kalkaiteenga ponga

//.gils thalela molaga arachi venna anga oru treatku erpadu pannidalaam//

silvandu sikkum..siruthai sikaaaaaathu..muahahaa..