Kailash Parbhat

A catchy name to attract attention when the whole country is hooked on to the best selling Shiva trilogy. The first  outlet down-south of the famous chain from Mumbai (since 1952), it is slowly emerging as a must-visit during weekend for the North-Indian loving Chennaites. 

Its located in Chetpet atop French Loaf, a few blocks from Shoppers' Stop. A treat for the stomach and no hole in the pocket blended with its pure vegetarian status gives ample reasons for traditional tamizh and sindhi families to have their family gathering at this place.

I went on a special occasion, my mother's birthday and gobbling was the order of the day. The feast began with a course of sweet corn soup which is great. I thought the paneer kebab will give me a high and thats when the dahi puri arrived. Immediately fell in love with the place. Fresh homemade yoghurt and an awesome combination of chutneys took dahi puri to a new level. Later on I learnt that the place is known for its amazing chaats though they are a wee bit expensive. Special buy one get one free on weekdays from 4pm-7pm should be put to proper use.Their speciality is north indian cuisine though they do have a chinese and continental spread. My brother ordered a pizza and to be honest it was good and fresh. Garlic Naan with mixed vegetables and dal makhani compromised a humble main course after the grand opening. The king of a feast who arrives at the fag end, Mr.Dessert occupies a small section of the menu and to my disappointment they had run out of rasmalai that day and had to settle for malai kulfi though I hardly doubt licking the spoon clean is the sort of treatment given to a dish arriving in your plate out of compulsion and not choice. 

Overall a great dining experience for a small price of Rs 500/- per head though must say they can invest on their ambience and convert the place into a beautiful restaurant rather than having this costly but crowded hotel look. Surely a multiple visit place though think twice before taking your date :-) Single visit has given me the confidence to give it a honest not so modest - 

4 out of 5 - "The Plate Cleaned Off" ( Check pic for proof! )

Introducing a New Guest Writer

Hello all, like I'd hinted in my first blog there is a new Guest writer, who would be Authoring for this food blog.

Let me introduce you to Mr.Siddharth Krishna Kumar <Clap Clap Clap>

Yes, this is him and he's currently in Texas, he is a food blogger too, he has a food blog of his own here.
He's been kind enough to contribute to "Hunger Strikes" and help us get a wider range of places where we can satiate our hunger.



So without any further ado I take this opportunity to Introduce and Welcome Mr.Siddharth Krishna Kumar <In my unmistakable Voice> *Ladies and Gentlemen lets have a rousing ovation and welcome him to this blog*
                                                            Let the "Hunger Striiikeeeee"

Tantalizing "TANTO's"

Its the 3rd day of the year 2012 and I've finally decided to officially launch my Food Blog. This, happens to be my First review. So i thought i'll take up a restaurant which i really liked, so this one is a Pizzeria Called "TANTO" in Auroville Pondicherry.

This place was about 15Km from where we stayed. The road to this pizzeria is not all that good, but very very scenic with canopies covering the roads at times. Situated in a man made forest in Auroville, its a large place with a small stream flowing near the pizza baking oven, sadly we guys couldn't get a place to sit next to it. It was quite a large place, with at least 25 tables, the entry to the pizzeria is spectacular, the oven is right at the entrance.

Another fascinating thing about this place was its eco friendly factor, so all you Pro Eco guys out there, you'll give additional brownie points to them for this reason. 




So, after checking out the entire place it was time for us to settle down and as we're a gang of around 12, we decided to sit in the corner of the restaurant. Finally it was time for us to order. And here's where my actual review starts.
The menu card was nothing spectacular, but it was informative.Very. I chose a pizza called as "Earth", now why on earth would i order this? Well, I was having a vegetarian meal with a watermelon juice for the side drink. Maybe that's why. I placed the order and waited.
Meanwhile, my friend ordered for a dish known as "SeaGlobal" and true to its name, it consisted of mainly squids,fish,prawns,parsley. For a sea food lover I'm sure it would look very welcoming. As a by watcher, to me it looked like a carefully assorted by a trained hand worthy of being in the museum! The prawns looked intimidating and eerily alive. The dish was accompanied with french fries, although i'm a huge fan of the fries, these somehow didn't seem to grated to perfection (so there goes the marks for presentation).

This is what the dish looked like. I wouldn't really be able to tell you about the choice of watermelon juice with this dish, but my friend didn't seem to complain and rather was quite happy with it. So i'm guessing its not too bad.




My dish took a good 20 minutes for it to arrive. The presentation was immaculate. And justifying its name, it really was earthy looking. The piping hot pizza was making all the more hungry. And the pizza was colorful. And I love colors, so it looked very inviting.

I'm not a big fan of the thin crust, but after seeing this one on my table, i really didn't mind. And another thing, the pizzas come in 2 sizes, medium and normal. The medium is 8inch and the normal is 12inches. And true to my appetite I ordered the12inch, but after seeing the pizza I must admit, it was quite big. Nevertheless, i took my first bite, and I found the end of the slice i.e, the vertex of the pizza was quite heavy with the cheese, so I did a fine balancing act while having my first piece. I must say, the tanginess of the olive and the hot jalapenos made my first bite a memorable one, and there was a generous amount of cheese topping. Although, i found the sauce a little bland, but i think the other flavors made up for it. But, be sure eat the pizza fast as the crust tends to get very raw, rough and wooden after a point.

The pizza mainly consisted of : Tomatoes, Cheese, Zucchini, Mushrooms, Olives and Jalapenos.
The pizza was quite filling and my advice to you would be to go for the 8inch if your appetite isn't that big. The ambience was quite rusty, we ate outdoors, and although there was the menace of the flies and they were in huge numbers, my friend got quite irritated with that actually, but the flies didn't bother our table much, so i wouldn't complain. There also was a dog (i'm assuming it was a domesticated dog at the place), it was giving my friends company and the dog was quite persistent, it didn't leave until they fed it, some bits and chunks and its persistence was duly rewarded. So, the ambience as such was not a michelin star(ish), but they didn't claim that either. So, i would say it had a fun element to the ambience.


Tantos is not on the expensive side, a normal sized pizza would set you back by around 250Rupees or approx. $5. Thus, a meal for 2 would be around 600-650. No alcohol is served.

So now for the moment of truth, the "Lick-O-meter", if you don't know what it is, its here.
Purely based on the food and the presentation, I would give it

Yes. 4- "The plate Cleaned Off"



This was Blogged listening to What I've done, Time of Your Life, Where is the love, 21 guns, Wake me when september ends.