Spoonbill!!! Isn't that a really
fancy bird? But what is a spoonbill doing in a bustling city like Chennai. Well
for those of you lost in your thoughts, the Spoonbill that was spotted on TTK
Road, Alwarpet is not a birdie. It is an amazing initiative undertaken by Street
Food lover Charlie to bring authentic street food from Europe to namma Chennai.
Still confused at the name of the restaurant or assuming it is named so because
of the spoon shaped mouth of the bird. Well you got it half right but the exact
reasoning behind the name is owing to the fact that Spoonbill’s are
predominantly habituated in Europe but migrate ever year travelling across vast
lands to our very own Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary located close to Chennai. It
is this similarity and Charlie’s passion for birding that he felt appropriate to incorporate the bird's name for his restaurant. Charlie has taken meticulous
effort and risk in bringing the same authentic taste of European street foods
to patrons in Chennai, a task akin to migration of birds.
Having traversed the globe,
Charlie has always had an immense liking to street foods available in European
countries. In most countries in Europe, street food is a concept rather than a
class of restaurant. Whenever one needs a quick bite in between busy schedules,
it is common to often end up at a street food vendor to savor some of their delicacies.
But on the contrary, street food in India is always associated with tags such
as unhygienic, poor man’s food and so on. Noticing a gap in this segment in
Chennai, Charlie’s goal was to serve authentic street food to Chennaite’s in a
hygienic and ambient setting. Thus was born the reasoning for starting
Spoonbill. But street food is not something that is restricted to a few
varieties. In fact when Charlie began channelizing his thoughts, he had a list
of 300-350 items that he wanted to introduce. When it came to logistics of
operations, his thoughts had to take a beating. With difficulty in sourcing
ingredients that go into making these many varieties to recreate their authentic taste, Charlie had to re-evaluate
his intentions and finally decided to reduce the total number of items in his
offering. Thus was born in 2012, Chennai’s first European street food outlet
‘Spoonbill’.
Spoonbill is a spacious 40 seater
restaurant with a resto-café ambiance and with Wi-Fi to keep you occupied
during your dining experience. Spoonbill also offers an unobtrusive dining
experience similar to that one will enjoy in Europe where you get to experience
first-hand how your meal is being prepared. They are also into outdoor catering in case you would like to have the taste of some authentic European
street food at your parties.
Coming to the important aspect of
the restaurant, just a quick look at their kitchen work station will re-assure
you of the strict quality standards that are being followed at Spoonbill. The
first dish that was crafted for us was from the land of Germany. The famous Curry wurst was served in its chicken variant. You are provided with an option
of choosing the spice flavorings from a list provided near the curry wurst station. I
was recommended to go in for the Madras Spice. Charlie enlightened me with the
knowledge that the particular spice that he recommended is called ‘Madras’ not
because of the city. In fact the original street vendors in Germany too call
this combination of spice as ‘Madras’ and it is this that provides you with the
authenticity. The curry that goes in is usually put to cook for close to 24
hours before the true flavor can be obtained. The curry wurst was accompanied with a Brotchen (German bread) and a portion of fries.
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| (Chicken Curry wurst) |
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| (Chicken Curry wurst with Brotchen) |
The next on the platter was the
Chicken Doner Kebab. The doner kebab, an all-time personal favorite is the
most commonly had street food just not in Europe but indeed all across the
world. Doner Kebab is very similar to the Shawarma and Gyros. In fact except
for a little difference in the preparation, they are mostly identical. Again
depending on where you have them the presentation can vary. For example in the
Middle East it is usually rolled in a sort of Pita bread known as Kuboos, in
Greece it is filled in Pita pockets, in a few other countries it is served in
the form of a sandwich. For those seeking it out in Spoonbill, the Doner comes
sandwiched in a Turkish bread. It comes with a sumptuous filling of salad, meat
and sauces, too filling for a single person to complete.
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| (Chicken Doner Kebab Sandwich) |
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| (Chicken Doner Kebab Sandwich) |
Taking a break in between the
tastings, I ventured out to find out what are their offerings in the beverages
department. I was amazed to see that tea at Spoonbill is prepared in almost the
same way most of us do it at home and yet more wonderful is it gets done right
in front of you. True street style on a stove. Besides different varieties of
Tea and Coffee, Spoonbill also has an assorted variety of soda drinks and their
own FroYo. They have wonderful monstrous muffins to accompany the hot
beverages. These are probably the biggest muffins I’d ever see till date being
served in a resto-café.
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| (Hot Beverages Station) |
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| (Giant Muffins) |
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| (Giant Muffins) |
With the short break taken, the
next on the table was from the land of Mexico. A very aromatic Chicken Burrito
was placed in front of me. Already being stuffed with the portions of curry wurst and doner kebab, I had to honestly accede to the fact that I can
only have a few bites of the burrito. Good for me, Nishanth of Chennai Food
Guide accompanied me for the feature and requested him to share the same with
me. The tortillas were super soft and the chicken flavored with the right amount of hotness. The layer of salad and re-fried bean paste along with salsa and sour cream made it a complete super dish. The
burritos were accompanied by a portion of nachos with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.
Being a major fan of Falafel’s and to give a fair judgement to my vegetable
loving friends, I ordered for a portion of Falafel but rather than going in for
a sandwich like the doner kebab, I opted for a salad this time. The moment I
took my first bite, I was transformed to my days in the Middle East. The falafels
are packed with flavour and they hit your taste buds immediately.
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| (Burrito Station) |
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| (Chicken Burrito) |
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| (Nachos) |
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| (Falafel Salad) |
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| (Falafel Salad) |
The finale was truly a mind-blowing
experience. Being a sugar-addict, it is mandatory for me to have a sweet ending
to any meal. While scanning through the menu, Charlie asked if he could give me
a suggestion. He asked me to try their crepe. Having savored crepes at
some of the best locations in Paris, I was always hesitant to try them in
Chennai especially after having a disaster of sorts at an earlier outlet on
Khader Nawaz Khan Road. But on Charlie’s insistence I decided to give a try
once again. I had asked for a custard filling crepe as it would help my craving
of post meal desserts. The moment it was brought to my table, I was amazed as
it resembled the shape of a cone. It looked yummy and gave me an instant high
just by its visual appeal. Not wasting a moment, I immediately took a bite and
was I not amazed. The crepe were perfectly made and the filling was just mind
boggling. Not too sweet but packed with flavour, this truly was the most
outstanding dish amongst all that I savored that day. Every time I keep
thinking about it, I can still sense those delicious flavors.
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| (Custard filled Crepe Cone) |
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| (Custard filled Crepe Cone) |
Being a self-service restaurant,
Spoonbill has introduced an innovative technology in their ordering system
which is prevalent in many eateries in Europe and the USA. They have a paging
system that alerts the customers once their order is ready so that they can go
and collect the same. “This helps resolve a lot of problems as the customer is
not disturbed nor is his/her name/token number called out which can be
embarrassing at times”, says Charlie.
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| (Table Pager) |
Spoonbill is open from 11 am to
11 pm and has a European themed breakfast on Sunday’s during which they open at
9 am. Also they have a fantastic Happy Hour offer running between 3 pm and 6 pm
when the customer may order any item equaling to their billed amount as complimentary. They are
also provided with a free Wi-Fi password which can be utilized during the happy hour time at Spoonbill. Most of the items in their menu can also be upgraded to a full
meal by paying Rs 80 extra which will provide them with a drink and a portion
of fries.
This experience at Spoonbill was courtesy of Chennai Food Guide as part of their premium restaurant feature. For more on Chennai Food Guide, visit
Spoonbill - Chennai Food Guide.
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