Greams Road Expedition

A boring Sunday evening and a friend’s desire to have an ice cream started me off on my Greams road trip. We had decided on Movenpick about which I’ve already posted here. But Ice cream alone cannot fill the Tastemaster’s stomach. So during the long walk back to Mount Road from Movenpick, we were glad to see ‘Fruit Shop on Greams Road’ staring at us. It looked inviting & we were too polite to refuse the invitation. The shop started as a small place, but with increasing popularity, they have jazzed up the menu and also opened up branches all over Chennai. I’ve seen outlets on OMR, in Besant Nagar and one in Spencers Plaza.

They have excellent service with the waiters dressed smartly in uniforms. The menu offers a wide range of milkshakes, fresh juices and mocktails. The tables are small and there is a bright feeling about the place. Promos for their latest drink ‘Vatican Orange’ were on a wall. I decided on Tweety which turned out to be a watermelon & sweet lime mocktail. My friend settled on musk melon juice. The chilled juice cheered me up considerably and I was even happier when she agreed to pay the bill. Juices are not cheap, but they can’t be called expensive either. A trip once in a while is a great experience but a trip everyday might pinch your pocket. Juices are available for around Rs 20- 100 depending on the type of fruits that go into it. On an average, you can expect to spend about Rs 50 at this place. It makes it ideal for college students who cannot afford to go to Dominos or Barista every weekend. And the juices are delicious too. One thing I noticed about the place is the informality. Everyone is welcome. I saw a chap in a lungi and another school kid in home wear and even a lady in a house coat! To the residents of Greams Road, the FSOGR is just a joint round the corner where you get great juice. You don’t need to dress up though it looks snazzy enough to give a number of restaurants in Chennai fair competition. While leaving, I saw a waiter deliver juice to a bunch of noisy kids in a car parked outside. It is juice for the masses in funky glasses.

Well, Ice cream & juice alone cannot fill the Tastemaster’s stomach. So we decided to pop into Galloping Gooseberries which is right above FSOGR. Black shirted waiters were bustling about. Galloping Gooseberries is a place which offers a mish-mash of Italian & American cuisine. They serve pizza, burgers and pasta. We found a place and we were handed a handsome leather bound menu. I selected an All American Chicken Burger while my friend picked a Classic Veg Burger. The wait for the food drove us crazy. Burger is fast food. After all, how long does it take to fry a patty on a stove and how much longer to stick it between a bun? We waited for almost half hour to get our orders. The burgers were decent enough & I made liberal use of the Tabasco sauce provided. Fries and coleslaw are served with the burgers. I had to eat half the Classic Veg too. We settled the bill and rushed to the bus stop. Had to take a detour to T Nagar and then catch another bus to Tiruvanmayur as we couldn’t get a direct one.

Well, as for the ratings,

Fruit Shop:

Ambience: 4
Taste: 5
Value for Money: 4
Service: 4
Overall: 4.25
Verdict: Must visit

Galloping Gooseberries:
Ambience: 4
Taste: 3
Value for Money: 3
Service: 2
Overall: 3
Verdict: Worth a try

That was the Greams Road trip. If you’re ever in the area, do drop in at the Fruit Shop.
Cheers!

Move On….

I visited Movenpick about 3 weeks ago. Wanted to end a boring weekend doing something interesting and a search on burrp! threw up Movenpick when my friend insisted on having ice creams. We decided to make a tour of Greams Raod with it.

After a long walk from Mount Road to Movenpick, (We were sure that we had lost our way), we finally reached. After a little hesitation, we gathered courage to go in and we were greeted by an almost empty place. The place can seat about 100 but there were only about 2 visible.

When you enter, you can either choose to sit in the common area or move straight on to the cosy library. We chose to sit in the common area. A slightly raised platform has a series of seats with low tables and chairs with legs sawn off so that people have to practically sit on the floor. Very interesting idea. But I never saw any one choose to sit there. There was also a white board on the wall where kids could doodle.

We browsed through the menu, which was very well made, with excellent illustrations. The only drawback was that most of the things on the menu were unavailable. One would expect that a Sunday evening is when a eat-out would expect maximum guests. Either they had a very busy day or they weren’t expecting a lot of customers.

I wanted to eat Creme Brulee but the waiter pointed to a few of ice creams and said they were the only ones available. So much for authentic Swiss Ice creams! I settled on Hazelnut and my friend picked Maple flavour. We chose to have them in waffle cones.

Orders arrived soon and we dug in. I was sadly disappointed. Hazelnut tasted suspiciously of peanuts and Maple ice cream tasted salty. We managed to eat them and pay up. It is ridiculously expensive just because they have the Authentic Swiss tag. Rs.250 for a couple of ice creams. How Swiss ice creams can taste any different from ice creams from any other part of the world, I fail to understand.

However, I admit that it made me curious enough to give it a try and I suppose that is how they get their business. Based on curiosity. Movenpick also offers a menu of sandwiches, crepes and waffles. I suppose this was brought up to supplement the ice cream business. Why else on earth would an exclusive ice cream parlour specializing in swiss ice creams choose to sell sandwiches?

Service was very brusque but we did not have any bad experiences either. The place is very well lit, but decor is rather spartan.

I’d say its good for a try, but not a second one.

Somehow all experiences with the name Movenpick have ended in disaster. Seems to imply something…

Cheers!

Happy New Year!

I wish all my readers a very Happy & Prosperous New Year. As for myself, I have resolved to try out newer cuisines and experiment more in the kitchen. Keep reading.
Cheers!