Best Waffle place in town @ Waf O'Bel - Jagannathan Road, Nungambakkam

Those who have been following my posts over the last few years may by now have known that I'm a major dessert person. When it comes to dessert, I can gulp down anything and everything that is laid out on the table. But even I've had evenings when I really didn't feel indulging in a lot of sugar but yet craved for something sweet. My saviors on such days were 'Waffles' and occasionally the 'Pancakes' as I'd always considered pancakes a breakfast thingy. Having tasted some amazing waffles outside India, this was always a major setback for me in Chennai. There were only one or two places that served waffles that even had the right of being called waffles as most shops/kiosks/restaurants usually serve a huge chunk battery stuffs.

As I usually stick to the two trusted places, I was not so excited when I heard about 'Waf O'Bel', a dedicated stand alone waffle place opening, as I assumed it to be yet another shop claiming to serve something in the name of Belgian Waffles. But this perspective changed when curiosity got the better of me. Upon researching more about the place, I came to know that 'Waf O'Bel' has a Belgian Waffle Chef by the name of Christophe. The more intriguing aspect was the fact that they had both the types of Belgian Waffle, the 'Liege' and the 'Brussels'. This sealed the deal and I decided to visit them the same evening.

To all those thinking of a swanky place, do not expect further. 'Waf O'Bel' is located within a pizzeria and shares seating with them. They have a simple menu comprising of a selection of 'Liege' and 'Brussels' waffles along with a host of hot beverages. For those of you  wondering about the difference between the two types, 'Liege' waffles are made from brioche bread dough mixed with sugar crystals and are more denser than the commonly represented 'Brussels' waffles which is made from a light batter and hence more light and crispy. The waffles at 'Waf O'Bel' can be topped with chocolate chips, nutella, ice cream, bananas, whipped cream, fruit compote and sprinkles.

(Brussels Red Carpet)

(Liege Cool Banana) 

For the evening, I ordered for a 'Liege Cool Banana' and 'Brussels Red Carpet'. The Liege waffle as expected was dense and chewy with ample toppings of banana, nutella and whipped cream. However, the winner of the evening was definitely the Brussels Red Carpet. This was by far the lightest and the crispiest waffle I'd ever tasted in India. It was just mind blowing. I could have just sat there in oblivion downing waffle after waffle. The Red Carpet variant of the waffle had a topping of fruit compote and whipped cream. Now if anyone asks me where to head for some waffles, there are no longer multiple options, its just 'Waf O'Bel' as I'm sure if they continue to dish out waffles with such taste and consistency, they have a great demand awaiting them.

'Waf O'Bel' is located inside Eatzaa pizzeria (formerly known as Sam's Pizza) on Jagannathan road, Nungambakkam and the waffles cost about ₹ 70 for the waffle alone while with toppings it can range up to ₹ 140 plus taxes. 

To be updated on my latest reviews, do subscribe to the feed by leaving your email address in the subscribe section on the top right hand side of this post. If this article interested you, please share it so others may be interested and benefited too!!! Request you to also visit our Facebook page Food In Chennai - Facebook and share the page with a Like amongst your friends and also follow us on our twitter handle at @FoodInChennai. You can also follow us on Google Plus at Food in Chennai-GooglePlus. Please also feel free to g+1 this post so others may be benefited too

Read More

Noodles Mania @ Chinatown - Cathedral Road

The word Chinese cuisine is so synonymous with dimsums & noodles. With the advent of the Chinese New Year, restaurants around the city celebrated the year of the Goat with much fanfare. However taking a cue apart, one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Chennai, “Chinatown” decided to go a step further. Rather than opting for the regular Chinese celebratory menu, they dedicated their festival to the mighty noodles.  Some of the handmade noodles were also infused with different flavours to bring in the variety.

(Steamed Chicken Wonton with Hot Garlic sauce)

(Vietnamese Pho)

(Noodle wrapped Crispy Prawns with Spice Hoisin sauce)

The evening started with the arrival of the ‘Vietnamese Pho’, a noodle broth comprising of beef. This soup is supposedly a delicacy in Vietnam and had a strong domination of beef flavour. The noodles in the broth made the pho feel like a complete meal by itself. Following the broth, the appetizers that followed were ‘Steamed Chicken Wonton with Hot Garlic sauce’ and ‘Noodle wrapped Crispy Prawns with Spice Hoisin sauce’. Both the starters were excellent with the prawns taking an edge over the chicken wontons thanks to the crusty crispiness of the noodles that transformed as a batter followed by a very juicy prawn inside.

(Handmade Spinach Veg noodles)

(Thai flat noodles with beef in a black bean sauce)

(Prawn Mee Goreng)

(Chinatown Mee Hoon)

(Hunan Chicken)

With the starters done, the hero dishes of the evening were to make their grand appearance. The first of the lot to appear was the ‘Handmade Spinach Veg noodles’. This was a true hero as the spinach is pureed and mixed with the dough before the noodles is stretched giving a completely different taste and feel to the dish. This was followed by the ‘Thai flat noodles with beef in a black bean sauce’ which to me was a pale in comparison to the spinach noodles but nevertheless a yummy tasting dish considering the presence of basil in the black bean sauce which was complemented with the succulent pieces of minced beef. The next noodle dish of the evening was the ‘Chinatown Mee Hoon’ which is a vermicelli based dish. This felt very light in comparison to the earlier noodles and have loads of different veggies that packed the right amount of texture to the play in the mouth. The last noodle was the Indonesian classic ‘Prawn Mee Goreng’. One of my favourite far eastern dishes, the Goreng either Nasi or Mee always gets me excited. But unfortunately this one did not exceed the expectations maybe because I’ve probably had more flavour packed Goreng’s elsewhere. To accompany all the noodle dishes, ‘Hunan Chicken’ was served. This was another surprisingly amazing dish that gelled well with all the noodles that were served.

(Banana Wonton)

(Almond Darsan)

(Coconut Dimsum)

Once we completed our battle with the noodles, it was now time to indulge in some action packed desserts. The first to be savoured was the ‘Banana Wonton’ which was divine. The banana along with the crispy wonton wrapped infused with the honey just made it a wow dish. The next dish to wow was the ‘Coconut Dimsum’ which again was a surprise dish. The amount of coconut stuffing created the right magical balance that elevated the dimsum to a different level. The final lot of desserts was my all-time favourite in the Chinese cuisine, the ‘Almond Darsan’ served with a dollop of Ice Cream. How much can go wrong with a simple Darsan? The darsan was great with the right amount of caramelized honey to accompany it with the Ice cream. 

Chinatown is located on Cathedral Road with the Noodle festival scheduled to be on till the 8th of March. A meal for two should cost about ₹ 1200.

To be updated on my latest reviews, do subscribe to the feed by leaving your email address in the subscribe section on the top right hand side of this post. If this article interested you, please share it so others may be interested and benefited too!!! Request you to also visit our Facebook page Food In Chennai - Facebook and share the page with a Like amongst your friends and also follow us on our twitter handle at @FoodInChennai. You can also follow us on Google Plus at Food in Chennai-GooglePlus. Please also feel free to g+1 this post so others may be benefited too

Read More