Having been in the southern part of Chennai, we did not have much opportunity to visit Express Avenue Mall after the Phoenix and Grand Malls were inaugurated. We decided to check out on the EA mall and after checking out the various outlets, we decided to have dinner at the newly opened Chilis restaurant and as usual the vegetarian aspect of it.  Chilis serves Tex-Mex cuisine and is located in the 3^rd floor of EA mall as an independent restaurant and not in the Food court.

When we went in, it was busy being a weekend and was presented with a huge menu. What we loved about the menu is the separate section for Vegetarian food lovers.  We glanced at the menu and we were lost because we could hardly relate to many of the item names except the Tacos, Nachos and Quesadilla.  Our first order was Triple Dipper where we had the option to pick out three of the 4 vegetarian starters listed – Chipotle Quesadilla Bites, Texas Cheese Poppers, Southwestern Rolls and Onion Rings.

Southwestern Rolls – Crispy flour tortilla filled with black beans, mushroom, corn, Jack Cheese, red peppers and spinach and is served with Avocado Ranch dressing.  It was awesome and tasty.

Texas Cheese Poppers – Panko crusted cheese bites with Monterey Jack, cheddar cheese and Cilantro and is served with Chipotle ranch dipping sauce.  It was crunchy and quite good.

Chipotle Quesadilla Bites – Flour tortillas stuffed with Chipotle cottage cheese and mix of cheddar and jack cheese, battered and fried to perfection served with Chipotle sour cream.  – We had a little mixed reaction to this item.

The quantity was 4 pieces of Southwestern Rolls and Texas Cheese Poppers and 3 pieces of Chipotle Quesadilla Bites.  It was quite a quantity and since we were three of us,  we had the right quantity for each of us.

The next item we tried out was the Veg Fajita, not much of exposure to what it was, the Area Manager and his team did a great job by explaining the items to naïve eaters like us.

Veg Fajita – Sauteed mushroom, seasonal veggies, rice, pico de gallo and black beans served with onion and bell peppers.  Fajita is served with warm tortillas, house made pico de gallo, mix cheese, guacamole and sour cream.

Here is how a fajita is stuffed into tortilla and eaten.

We had the pleasure of Chilis team member demonstrating the preparation of a fajita to be eaten.

This was a great experience of a dish so well prepared in its authentic form and gave us a gastronomic experience when combined together.

The quantity served is huge and so we had the liberty to order only 2 items and moved onto the dessert.  We ordered for the Eggless sizzling brownie (Absolutely the best) and the collection of Margarita was one of the innovative ones we had come across. We ordered a unique combination of Mango Pomegranate combination know Pome-Mango Rita.  It is served in a huge glass and was a tart combination of mango and pomegranate.  It was really good and served as a thirst quencher in this Hot Summer.

It was a treat to the eyes to see the Bar tender performing some superb acts in the process. Do not miss it.

Overall the experience was amazing and the price for the authentic cuisine and the quantity they serve is proportional.  Just a word to note – Do expect 30% as charges over the mentioned price and we had no regrets in paying such a service charge for the attention and service we got from the team.