Skip to main content

East Coast at Madras Square

I can’t remember the last time I’ve written a review less than a week of actually visiting a restaurant. Kudos to the foodie team for all the pressure *fake claps*. But I’m happy in a way, as the place we were invited to was somewhere we had a bad experience on our previous visit and it’s refreshing to find the change in management and to find their food on the positive side of my scale. Given below is my take on East Coast at Madras Square, Neelangarai.

East Coast at Madras Square is located in Neelangarai, on the parallel road behind Hot Chips. Though it’s located a bit into the streets, boardings with directions help a lot in finding this place, plus it’s perfectly pinned in Google maps. There is an abundant amount of car parking space available and right from there one can get an idea on how spacious the restaurant is going to be. Though I personally know and love their ambience and décor, it was surprising to see a couple of changes. The garage where we were seated during our previous visit has been transformed into a floral boutique which looked beautiful. The outdoor seating area is still there and they’ve extended the space past it and has made quite a big indoor seating area. Inside, the décor is minimal with portraits and wall hangings. The entire place whispers it’s calmness and serenity to those who walk in making it perfect for that lunch with your family or a candle light dinner with your loved one.

We devoured a plethora of items and we loved most of them. Given below is the list of items we tried and how they faired.

SOUP:

  • Mushroom Soup: Touted to be a healthy version of the classic, it tasted very earthy and warm. Could’ve been a bit creamier but not adding cream is the point of it, so it’s a winner.
  • Seafood Bisque: In short, its an ocean served in a soup bowl. Though it looked fiery red, it was jam packed with flavours and it was obvious that they’ve strained and made a stock especially for this. The effort is shown from it’s amazing taste.

APPETIZERS:

  • Panko Chicken: Yet another classic. Anything coated with Panko and fried tastes amazing so this dish obviously tasted so. Peri Peri mayo was a wonderful dip for this dish.
  • Crab Cakes: This was probably the meatiest and tastiest Crab cakes I’ve ever had. Loved it.
  • Prawn Tempura with Wasabi Mayo: Though it tasted pretty good, I’ve always seen Prawn Tempura to be flaky outside and uncurled. Probably because of that this dish wasn’t appealing to me, but the Wasabi Mayo was excellent. They made a mild version but we opted for a stronger one and it was perfect.
  • Creole Spiced French Fries: Spice tossed fries, presented well but couldn’t find a fan in me for it.
  • Mushroom & Feta Bruschetta: Juicy mushrooms with crumbly feta, what could possibly go wrong?
  • Tomato & Basil Bruschetta: Fresh tomatoes, neatly sliced with nicely chopped basil on a bread slice that I can easily vote for as one of the best bruschetta breads I’ve seen in a while.
  • Falafel: Personally I’m not a fan of falafel but still I tried this. Then I realised why I’m not a fan of it at the first place which also means its good 😛

PASTAS:

  • Aglio E Olio: Translating into garlic and oil, this spaghetti based dish is a perfect example of how being simple can be more than enough at times. Tasted blissful.
  • Basil Walnut Pesto: The name says it all. Penne tossed with a liberal portion of Pesto, whole cherry tomatoes and a shower of cheese shavings. It was really good.
  • Lamb Bolognese: Classics can never get boring and this Penne based bolognese with minced lamb just proved it. All the non-veggies loved it.
  • Carbonara Spaghetti: The pasta which is best made in spaghetti also consisted of bacon and eggs. Smoky flavour of the bacon along with eggs and cream made it the best pasta of the evening.

PIZZAS:

  • Diavola: In a city where Pepperoni pizza is hard to come by, this place has nailed it perfectly. Pepperoni by itself tasted heavenly and this pizza was my favourite.
  • Pollo Alla Pesto: Pizza with grilled chicken and pesto drippings. This pizza was juicy and delicious.
  • Quattro Formaggio: Once again, the name gives it away. This one’s for those cheese lovers. Pizza with four cheese toppings and it’s all gooey cheesy goodness made it a favourite for all.
  • Margherita: The simplest yet most loved pizza, served with instore buffalo mozzarella, tasted amazing.
  • Margherita without cheese: Made as per request, this is as basic as pizza can get yet it was pleasantly tasty.
  • Gambos Con Salsa Di Panna: Topped with cream sauce and garlic prawns, this dish was pretty decent.

MAINS:

  • Steak and Chips: Medium done steak with a liberal amount of delicious gravy served with a healthy portion of fries and parsley garlic butter. One of the best I’ve had in recent times.
  • Stuffed Chicken: Stuffed chicken served with peas and butter sauce. Felt it to be OKish.

DESSERTS:

  • Theobroma: Layered chocolates mousse with strong coffee flavour. I personally can’t think of a dessert with a better combination than this. Found it to be too dense than how it should be but still loved it.
  • Banoffee Pie: Biscuit base, sliced bananas and whipped cream to top it up, set perfectly. This drool worthy dessert was out of this world.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and a stark contrast to what we had on our previous visit about a year ago. Service was picture perfect and the managing partner, Mathangi was with us the entire time, explaining the dishes to whom we left the job of hitting us with her best shot. And boy we loved everything about this place. East Coast is definitely a highly recommended spot which is sure to give us a break from the havoc of city life with it’s pristine ambience and lip smacking food.

RATINGS BREAK UP:-
Location:- 4/5
Parking:- 4.5/5
Reception:- 4/5
Food:- 4/5
Customer Service:- 4/5
Ambience:- 5/5

[fb_album id=”543982635777239″]

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi shoulder a mediocre film: Master Review

A flawed protagonist and a powerful antagonist have always proven to be successful tropes in the world of cinema. The hero, when being anything but perfect, makes way for a beautiful story arc as he convalesces and a strong villain makes the hero’s triumph at the end larger. Despite having both of these, Vijay’s Master feels far from a perfect flick thanks to succumbing to irregular pacing and a middling screenplay. Master follows the trials and tribulations of JD (Vijay), an alcoholic college professor whose valiant effort towards the student community plants a belief in his colleague Charu (Malavika Mohanan) that he would be able to do the same to the kids in a juvenile correction centre that needs… correction. Armed with a just kada, a classic four-wheeler, a Persian cat and a cool pair of sunglasses, JD embarks on a journey that will collide with that of Bhavani’s (Vijay Sethupathi). On paper, Master looks like a failproof star vehicle – the story of a man out there to teach lesson
Post a Comment
Read more

Icon Residency, Wayanad

During one of my solo bike rides from Chennai to Coorg, I took a detour to check out Wayanad and since Coorg is just a few hours by road from there, I decided to use the small town also for a layover. A quick search told me about the limited options this tourist location has and as I was all by myself, I didn’t mind taking a risk by choosing whatever has a decent rating. iCon Residency in Kalpetta had some really good reviews and in no time, I was in Kerala via Bangalore.  iCon Residency is located on National Highway 212. Though the direction on Google Maps is accurate, finding the place was quite a challenge as it’s located past a narrow street. The hotel looks brilliant from the outside in total contrast to the otherwise old town. There’s also a decent parking space. The basic room I opted for is small when compared to average rooms but for a solo traveller, it was cosy and perfect. The bed
Post a Comment
Read more

Spago Inn, Mahabalipuram

It was yet another trip to Mahabalipuram and if you visit the famous tourist town as much as I do, you should be knowing that unless you’re a tourist, it’s better to stay from the centre of the city. A quick search told me that Spago Inn, a considerably new property has made its way to ECR, right at the entrance of Mahabs. I had also seen it, right on the main road, during my regular drives down that brilliant stretch of tarmac. The town is famous for pocket-friendly options making it perfect for a day’s retreat and Spago Inn too fits the bill.  Unlike most of the properties in Mahabs, Spago Inn has a car parking space, enough for more than half a dozen four-wheelers. The room is compact, similar to most of the properties in that price range but ticks off all the basic boxes one would expect. The place is extremely clean and neat. The linens were tidy and so was the bathroom. The bed was comfy too and it was perfect fo
Post a Comment
Read more