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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

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