Mocha Mojo & Tasty Jones

I’ve just got back from a visit to Mocha Mojo. They have found a great location, just near Adyar depot. Quite near Java Green & Cafe Coffee Day. The place is tastefully decorated, with lots of funky colours and trendy interiors. The seating is semi-comfortable, by which I mean that some of the chairs are really comfortable, but the sofa-seating is not all that great. Only the ones sitting near the walls get to really relax.

The waiters are dressed in blue, but their aprons are pink & hilarious. The place gets quite crowded by around 6pm on a weekend. We had to wait for about 20 minutes to get a seat.

We were all suffering from sore throats and opted to go for hot drinks & sat in the no smoking zone. So I’m not able to comment on the Sheeshas & Hookahs.

The menu is rather comprehensive and has so many options that it sets your head spinning. The shiny colours and funky fonts are not very helpful either. We spent about 20 minutes trying to decide what to have. Finally, we decided on a Mocha Float – which turned out to be chocolate ice cream floating in coffee (also available with Vanilla Ice cream), Con Panna – a shot of espresso topped with cream, and Irish Coffee. The Con Panna turned out to be disgusting and my friend had to use around 6 packets of sugar to make it moderately drinkable and even then it tasted disgusting.

I strongly advise visitors to abstain from ordering Con Panna. The Irish coffee was good and was served in an authentic Irish Coffee Mug. Obviously it is served non-alcoholic.

The coffees left us quite full, but we had already ordered a Yin-Yang chocolate fondue. A fondue is basically molten chocolate, this one with equal amounts of white and dark chocolate. Marshmallows are dipped into the chocolate and eaten.

The fondue was served with a tiny candle under a ceramic bowl to keep the chocolate molten, and soon it started boiling. Apart from the marshmallows, apple slices, sponge cakes and biscuits were also provided as dips. This was quite good, but after eating so much sweet stuff, we were dying for something spicy.

We settled the bill and set out to find something spicy. The bill came to around Rs 500. On an average, the stuff is over priced. It is alright for a one time visit, but I sure wouldn’t go there a second time.

We moved to Besant Nagar for the spicy stuff, and after rejecting Galloping Gooseberries, we walked over to the row of food stalls near the beach. After finding Dhaba Express too crowded, we finally settled on Tasty Jones. We found a seat near the entrance, with plants jutting on to the table, however it was the only one we found. In the balmy heat,we were soon sweating, but the AC seating was full.

We weren’t looking for a meal, as we had filled our stomachs with coffee and chocolate. We wanted the Achari Kebab, but it wasn’t available. So we settled for a half Tandoori Chicken (2 pieces) and a Chicken Sheekh Kebab (5 pieces). The service was pathetic with the waiter serving us water only after we were through half our meal, and that too after we asked for it. Paper napkins were provided after the bill and that too on request.

The meal was good, with the chicken being accompanied with mint chutney and onion. The Chicken Sheekh kebab was delicious and spicy and hit the spot. We had got what we were searching for. The Tandoori chicken was typical. Meat was succulent though.

The bill came to around Rs.200. The location is good, near the beach, but it gets too hot if you choose to sit outside. You are also besieged by beggars. They also offer steaks, burgers, sandwiches, and Indian breads like naan, roti and curries. Worth a visit, but the portions are not very large. So I wouldn’t make a habit of going there regularly. The service is pathetic.

For the rating:

Mocha Mojo
Ambiance: 5/5
Service: 3/5
Taste: 3/5
Value for Money: 2/5

Rating: 3.25
Verdict: You can try it once, and if you like to smoke hookahs, maybe more than once. Just don’t make the mistake of ordering too many sweets.

Tasty Jones
Ambiance: 3/5
Service: 2/5
Taste: 4/5
Value for Money:3/5

Rating: 3/5

Verdict: Good to try if you’ve spent an evening at the beach. Can get crowded. Have to wait a long time for the food.

Cheers!

Addicted to Barbecues

This was about a couple of weeks ago. I had spent the weekend in Bangalore with my friend & her cousins. And a sister-in-law of mine had suggested that I have a look-see at BBQ nation. Since she had raved so much about it, we decided to give it a shot.

Apparently there are two in Bangalore & we went to the more famous of the two – at Indira Nagar or JP Nagar – I forget which. I’m still learning the geography in Bangalore. Anyway, it was full & we were told to wait an hour. Having missed breakfast, and not wanting to put up with rumbling tummies anymore, we went over to the other one after reserving a table on the rooftop.

The rooftop is a charming place with bright sunlight streaming in through the plastic top and thankfully, its not very hot. The table has a small receptacle in it to place the Tandoor in it. For those who haven’t guessed yet, this place is about Tandoori, Kebabs & barbecues.

We were five & we opted for the 450/head exclusive lunch which offers 7 vegetarian & 5 non-veg kebab options. The regular 275/head lunch offers just 3 & 2.

We were offered a complimentary drink with a choice of a pint of beer, a mocktail or a martini. We all chose martinis & I ended up choosing a Kiwi & Watermelon martini (being a self confessed watermelon addict), while others managed to pick Apple & Cinnamon and Pomegranate & Passion fruit. A&C turned out to be the best.

BBQ Nation has a nice policy. They keep a funny white flag on a table. The flag staff has a hinged joint (What did you expect from an engineer?). As long as the flag stays up, they keep bringing you starters – kebabs. Once you want to throw in the towel, you have to turn the flag down as a sign of surrender.

The starters started to arrive. The non veg option had Indonesian Fish, Cilantro Chicken, Tangdi Kebab, Grilled Prawns and Mutton Sheekh Kebab. We didn’t eat a lot of veg, but there was a disgusting Beetroot Kebab, and a delicious Paneer Kebab that melted in the mouth. The Cashew coated Potato Kebab was also heavenly and the Barbecued fruits were also tasty – masala smeared fruits skewered and barbecued.

The system is like this. The kebabs are partly cooked and brought to the table where the waiter places a small charcoal grill in the receptacle. The skewers are brought and placed on this mini-grill. A choice of sauces is provided on the table with a tiny paint brush. We can coat the kebabs & let them grill on the table. Some funky dips are also provided to accompany the kebabs after they are done. I remember garlic mayonnaise & lemon.

The Prawns were the pick of the day and we ended up ordering tonnes of those. The chicken had a lukewarm response but was not ignored completely. The Sheekh Kebabs were also received well,but we didn’t have too many of those as they were slow coming in. The fish was rather bland.

Among the veggies, we ordered barbecued fruits by the dozen. We kept on ordering and were at the starters for more than an hour with the flag flying high.

Until the waiter came and politely told us that the Kebab kitchen was closing and would we like to place our last orders.

(I still think he was shocked at the amount we ate and wanted to prevent the larder from running out). So we ordered a few more prawn and fruit skewers and then finally put the flag down – though it wasn’t really necessary as the kebab kitchen had closed.

And then we moved – wait for it – to the regular buffet. Yes! After the unlimited starters, there is a regular buffet where the likes of Obelix can gorge all they want. Crab Ghassi & Mutton biryani were part of the spread along with roti, and the ubiquitous curd rice. I was kind of full and so had a couple of crab claws and a spoonful of biryani.

And we moved on to dessert. The spread was quite good with Mapple tart (We were wondering if its Maple or Apple or a combination), blueberry pudding, muskmelon, watermelon slices, vanilla ice cream and whatnot.

We went through these a couple of times.Until the waiter came and politely told us that the buffet was closing. Perhaps he wanted us to get out of there as soon as possible.

We had spent two wonderful hours there and it was 4pm when we left. Though its a bit expensive (Rs 500/head with taxes), for people who can eat mountains, it is well worth the price. Its very tasty too.

There is one on North Usman road here in Chennai, and I’m planning to drag a couple of friends there as soon as I can.

For the rating:

Taste – 5/5
Ambiance – 4/5
Service – 5/5
Value for Money – 4/5
Total – 4.5

So if you have a Barbecue Nation in your town, do check it out. It is a wonderful experience. Bon Appetit!

Cheers!