Chennai Bloggers Club fondly called CBC hosted a tasting session at ETC Restaurant and café and as usual we decided to try out the vegetarian section. Normally in many restaurant serving both veg and non-veg, it is almost a dry run for vegetarians without much fan fare in the menu or the offering. For a change, ETC blew us over with their interesting vegetarian menu.  Before we head on to talk about the food, we would like to talk about the ambiance. We, at Chennai Focus, love to talk about our forgotten culture and heritage and here we found a connection.  We were taken to the first floor where we saw Giant Paramapadham on the wall and it was no painting, a live board with coins to play.  We are sharing the pictures for you to understand and you can very well understand our urge to play it, climbing the stairs and zipping down on the snakes. Certainly a point of fascination and there were other games too.

As we entered the ground floor, the restaurant, we were taken to an area behind and we got lost there. A trip down the memory lane with old Chennai paintings on the wall,  a waterfall,  milk can, tea shop and a beautiful scene of sea and boat with nets etc.  It was beautiful utilization of space and the art of utilizing paintings with real life products to give the required effect at its best.  Well, we just could not eat there because the place was not air-conditioned.  It may be a good option to try it out in the less hot months of Chennai.

We ate food at the AC restaurant and we had a set vegetarian menu given to us. We started off with Cream of Mushroom soup, needless to say it was creamy, light on the palate and tasty.

Our starters included  Bharwan Paneer,  Olive Bundle,  Crispy Corn Pop and Malai Broccoli

• Bharwan Paneer   –  marinated well and paneer was succulent.
• Oliver bundle –  a celebration for olive lovers. We are one and enjoyed it every bit
• Crispy Corn Pop – was enticing and inviting by look and we can never say No to the tasty crispy corn with a eatable papad container.
• Malai Broccoli –  Broccoli with malai but nicely done such that malai does not overpower the vegetable. Broccoli perfectly done. Loved it.

Our main course had Mangalorean Vegetable Curry, Malai Kofta with Butter Nan and Garlic Nan, Grilled Tofu Steak and Couscous Pilaf Aubergine Sandwich

• Butter Nan was good but garlic Nan had raw garlic which we were not fond of.  Mangalorean Vegetable curry was simple gravy and we loved it as it was not having heavy masala or spices.  Malai kofta was awesome with that mild sweetness and the kofta was a stealer.
• Grilled Tofu Steak let us down and we could neither enjoy the grilled feel or Tofu in it.
• Couscous Pilaf Aubergine Sandwich – Couscous pilaf was amazing but Aubergine sauces smelt heavily of egg, not a comfortable feeling for vegetarians. So we avoided the Aubergine part.

Desserts included Mini Baklava, Chocolate mousse and White Chocolate Pastry with Ice-Cream.  Mini Baklava flaky with walnut filling was lovely.  Chocolate pastries were Yum too.

This is a Food Review based on invitation and so we do not have any comments on Price or Service. Ample car parking is available at the restaurant

Location

 ETC Restaurant and Café,
Rutland Gate 5^th Street, Nungambakkam, Chennai

Take the Opposite lane of Taj Coramandel (Nungambakkam High Road) is Rutland Gate 4^th Street and take a left after the Cupcake Company on the left.