Blog Wars - Episode 2 - KFC vs.. Marry Brown(Chennai)

A Long, long ago, in Chennai . . .

Before the invasion of KFC in 2006, Marry brown was playing a major role of making Chennai ties obese, until KFC arrived……

Actually the topic should have been KFC vs.. Marry Brown vs.. McDonald, poor Chennai have only one McDonald Shop for the whole Chennai and only 4 Menu's available as 2009, so McDonald is disqualified for this Blog wars series. Let's Start Comparing with the Main dishes , I am not putting other menu's like nuggets, coleslaw into comparison.

The comparison is based on my experience only….

Location

Marry Brown is located almost every part of Chennai, even in our central railway station. KFC is available only in 2 places of Chennai Ascendas Park & City Center. So Marry Brown is clear winner as per establishment in Chennai

Queue & Waiting Time

Since Marry Brown is almost every part of Chennai, the people load is distributed , KFC queue and wait time is high, if you book a ticket in INOX and thought of grabbing a KFC Zinger burger you must forget the movie, its really crowded

Zinger Burger vs. Hot Touch Burger

Clearly Zinger burger is the winner, its huge size ,crisp and chunky its really cool when compared to compact and crisp Hot touch, in Burger section Marry Brown failed to compete with the standard which KFC has set for

Fried Chicken

KFC has a unique recipe which makes its dish unique, but here it lacks the INDIAN or ASIAN touch, it's not spicy it makes me dull to eat KFC chicken, but Marry Brown has the ASIAN touch its somewhat spicy, but the worst part of Marry Brown is the size of the chicken, its very small when compared with what KFC provide, So I declare KFC is a winner

Wraps

KFC has recently introduced Twister in their menu, which is really sluggish, they have made their crip boneless chicken inside a tortilla (made of maize) wrap, all the menu tastes the same, nothing new, but Marry Brown has a Chettinadu wrap, which blends the INDIAN flavor and its crispy Wrap is cool, in Wrap section Marry Brown won

Rice Meals

KFC & Marry Brown has rice meal but KFC here also lacks INDIAN or ASIAN touch, the sauce which KFC provided is taste less and use less, where as Marry Brown has channa as side dish which is really spicy and cool and nice

Desserts & Beverage

Desserts are common but Marry Brown has brownies, banana splits, cakes & shakes but KFC sundaes, and shakes, I like both desserts and beverage, since both use pepsi

Fries & Wedges

Both failes as none of them are equal to McDonald's Fries and Wedges

Price

When come to price KFC is costly and the most pain point is the 12.36 % tax which KFC puts extra, that is taking more out of my pocket, where as Marry Brown no tax at all, every thing comes within menu price

Overall apart from the size of the chicken KFC fails every where cost and taste, I feel KFC all the menu taste the same. So in this Blog Wars Series Marry Brown emerges as victory, KFC fails as it does not have the INDIAN or ASIAN touch in the food.

But I love eating in KFC too just for comparison Marry Brown own. but KFC too rocks in American Style.

Blog wars – episode 1 – satyam vs inox(chennai)

A Long, long ago, in Chennai . . .

In Chennai we had only one premium theatre called Satyam, Until the arrival of INOX, lets compare both the theater in our BLOG WARS series

See More about BLUR@Satyam

Location
Both the theaters have located in the heart of the city, Satyam in Mount Road and INOX in RadhaKrishnan Salai, So you get lot of Bus access to both of the theater anywhere in the city

Ease of Booking
Satyam has online booking, home delivery too, the website is simple and clean the booking is very easy, but INOX has SMS booking also along with online booking,
INOX website is very more simple and understandable the way of booking ticket is also very simple, but you can view ur seat and change accordingly in INOX website but in case of Satyam you cannot, so this area INOX is better than Satyam.
Satyam has a unique feature you can book your food also while booking ticket which will be delivered to us, while we are watching movie, this service we don't get in INOX

Ambience

Satyam is still under construction, since the interiors design work is going on, So clearly in this part INOX is winner with its neat and tall structure, but Satyam is coming up with unique style which will over come this

Ticket Price
Satyam is very cheap when compared to INOX, you can get tickets ranging form 90 to 120rs or sometime even 75Rs. but in INOX its always Rs120, even if you sit in the front row , So Satyam is the best for the pocket

Screen Quality
Better the Sceen quality, better the movie thats wat I Feel. INOX the screen is total waste you can clearly see the color granulars in the screen, but Satyam the screen is Crystal Clear, thanks to RDX technology, Satyam quality of Screen is very superior and awesome best place to view Animation Movies to. Clear INOX is worth for nothing

Sound Quality
Satyam has DTS and its still rocking, In INOX we might hear better sound due to its small room size but I feel Satyam has better DTS effect than any theater in chennai

Seat Quality
No doubt in comfort and quality in Satyam, you have long leg space and very very comfortable seats too and if you get a ELITE ticket its cool we have couple seats also , thats awesome, but INOX seats are not that much comfortable,both have ample space for your coke cups

Theater Size
Satyam has bigger and good to see movies, INOX is compact but nice too

Food Expense
As I mentioned, we have better service in satyam and the Price is also cheap in satyam, for Rs.40 you will get a extra large popcorn in satyam, but in INOX with Rs.40 you will get a small pack of popcorn,
INOX is toooo costly when it comes to food, hmmm not so worth, pls don't try the NACHOS available in INOX, worth nothing
Satyam rocks in price and quality of food, expensive but cheap when compared to INOX

Parking Charges
Guys I was screwed in this part, Satyam charges only Rs.10 for the movie but INOX you have to pay around Rs.25 to Rs.30 (only for bike, I dont know about car), since its parking charge is hourly basis, thats very bad on part of INOX

Entertainment
Satyam has come up with new concept of gaming in the city called BLUR, soon a SNOW BOWLING alley is coming up there, so there will be lots of entertainment in that part, in INOX no such things but you can go out for shopping in CITI CENTER, but thats too costly
Kids Area
Satyam has a kid area called MAGIC HAT, where you can leave ur kid and you can watch the movie, thats will help for married couple, in INOX there is no such option

Final Verdict
Finally it's Satyam which won here, with its awesome screen quality, comfortable seats and affordable cost about INOX its costly but its not as worth for its price. For boys like us, we usually go to satyam very early if the movie is by 3:30 we will be there by 2:30, to enjoy the beautiful sight seeing in the theater (don't take the sentence in out of context ok, I Meant Gals group gathering there)

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The foodie - Pani Puri(Gol Gappa or Gup chup ) in chennai

Pani puri is a famous north india chat , finding it in chennai is easy now a days  but they don't have the real north indian taste they are modified to our south indian taste but there are places where you get the realy north indian swad pani puri in chennai too, lets see that before that some facts

when i was doing my schooling in 1999 - 2001 we find some road side wallas with small red pot and a bag of puris at that time its 25paise per pcs, I used to enjoy it , at that time I don't know abt north indian dishes so i did not explored much, but in college i found and developed love for the chats.

 

 

The receipe is found in this site niya's blog, A note from that blog

 

"While many regions in India have their own variations ofGol-gappa / Pani Puri, the most famous ones are fromUttar Pradesh. Biharis operate most of the chaat stalls all over the country.

In Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, it is calledphoochka (puchka). Many people enjoy this particular recipe. These do not contain any sweet or mint.

In Maharashtra, the recipe is usually spicier, and also contains 'boondi' or sprouts in addition to other ingredients. Other names are golgappa (plural:golguppe). In certain central parts and Orissa, it is also known as gupchup.

While in Gujarat it is called Pani Puri. It is made with the help of different types of water. Such as amli ka pani,nimbu ka pani, phudine ka pan, khhajur ka pani, etc. You can also enjoy it with curd and different types of masalaslike onion, sev, nuts, etc."

 

We have so far seen some facts but finding Pani Puri in chennai here is the list
The best places i know is
——————————————————————————
Gangotree - u can find it in following places
opp. to stella maries college,
T.nagar (near kasi aracade)  ,
anna nagar(shanthi colony),
3rd Floor, Citi Center
The taste is simply superb
———————————————————————————
Shri Mittai  - u can find it in following places
3rd Phase Speners plaza,
T.V. Road, Kilpauk,
Chetpet,
———————————————————————————
Mansukh's Sweets & Snacks
No.100, Ramaswamy Street, T.nagar (behind Chennai Silks)

——————————————————————————— 
Sukh Sagar
Opp Aiyappan Temple
2 nd Avenue
Anna Nagar
Also available Jain Paav Bhai

——————————————————————————— 

Bhaiyya Ka Dukkan
Opp Jessi Moses School
Y- Block
Landmark- Near HDFC Bank, Blue Star signal & behind Hotel Saravana Bhavan and you can find out a huge crowd
Anna Nagar

 

Road side stall in front of Rangoli saree shop in nungambakkam (near taj coromendal ) is amazing

 

 

there are still lots more you can find here and there but they don't have the real north indian taste for example we have pani puri in Adyar Anandh bavan but its not the really north indian style, the next thing I hate is they give the water in a cup , Guys pani puri is a treat its not a food don't go the shop which give pani puri's water in cup its waste, go to the shop which fetchs pani from the red pot instantly it gives you the real taste

 

Ironically I find pani puri in chennai very very very costly , I was in Vasi,NAVI Mumbai 2007 for abt 6 months the pani puri costs me ony Rs. 12  with boondhi, sprouts and they give with 6 pcs and finally one pcs free too. In chennai they are charging from Rs.20 to Rs. 25 thats too much

 

So if you know more good places where you get pani puri kinldy rply in comments

Nutrition Values

1 pcs of Pani Puri is 25 calories
so 1 plate will give you around 150 calories , its much lesser only but the fat is 12 grms thats bad
Happy Eating Pani Puri

The Foodie - What is Mayonnaise - (The white sauce in our burger)?

 

What is Mayonnaise? Why to talk about Mayonnaise?

 

The food industry in INDIA has grown vast recently, we are seeing more foreign foods coming to India, in Chennai we have Fast Food Giants like KFC,McDonald's, Sub Way, Prime Roaster , Mary Brown all offer a Burgers and some offers SUBs their common ingredient found was two pieces of bun and a chicken or veg patty , a layer of lettuce and they have a sauce called Mayonnaise. The salads which they provide also contains mayonnaise, even the Coleslaw has this.

 

 

 

Is Mayonnaise Healthy?

 

Since Mayonnaise are added in salads don't take it for granted its healthy , Actually Mayonnaise is made from Egg Yolk and has 70-80% FAT. Check the making these scripts are taken from Wikipedia

 

" Mayonnaise can be made with an electric mixer, an electric blender, or a food processor, or by hand with a whisk or fork. Mayonnaise is made by slowly adding oil to an egg yolk, while whisking vigorously to disperse the oil. The oil and the water in yolks form a base of the emulsion, while the lecithin from the yolks acts as the emulsifier that stabilizes it. Additionally, a bit of a mustard is also added to sharpen its taste, and further stabilize the emulsion. Mustard contains small amounts of lecithin.[5] "

 

History of Mayo

 

Mayonnaise was invented in 1756 by the French chef of the Duc de Richelieu. After the Duc beat the British at Port Mahon, his chef created a victory feast that was to include a sauce made of cream and eggs. Realizing that there was no cream in the kitchen, the chef substituted olive oil for the cream and a new culinary creation was born. The chef named the new sauce "Mayonnaise" in honor of the Duc's victory.

. On average 1 Table Spoon have 100 calorie and 12gram of FAT - to be frank i work out in GYM daily to burn 100 calorie  i have to walk Half an hour or run for 15 Mins in Tread Mill its a pain stalking process. But on good thing is it don't have cholesterol

 

Check the Nutrition Values in the below sites

 

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fats-and-oils/7520/2

http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition/search.php?b=&cals=&q=mayonnaise&search=Search

 

The Main Reason for this Blog is to create awareness about the

 

•Non - Veg Mayonnaise(Egg is base)
•Veg Mayonnaise
•Its not a diet food has huge Calorie

Next time you order sandwich in our office premises or any Fast Food outlet ask not to add Mayonnaise if you are weight loss mode and if you are veg confirm whether it has Egg or Eggless.

 

Hope this created awareness about Mayonnaise. Here is a small and interesting history taken from How Stuff Works site

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The Foodie - Rasgulla

 

Till now i was thinking Rasgulla was a bengali sweet, but shocked to learn the truth its a orginated from orissa suprised.

Rasgulla is a syrupy sweet of Bengal and Orissa. It is mainly prepared by kneading chhena and a small amount of semilina. These are rolled into small balls, and then boiled in light syrup made of sugar. This is done until the sugar enters the balls and cooled it down

 

History :

In 19th century peoples in orissa migrated to bengal (undivided bengal at that time) during Bengal Renaissance. The Brahmin cooks worked for bengal families , its the place where orissa dishes shifted to bengal kitchen.  In early days rasgulla has to be eaten immediately since the life of the dish was too little so people kept in mud pot and ate asap, some like it hot and some cold, due to this constraint rasgulla never went out of orissa and bengal until Nobin Das created his version of Rasgulla.

 

It was year 1868 Nobin Das changed the receipe of rasgulla, which made it more spongier and extended it shelve life. This allowed him to market the rasgulla's outside bengal and he is famously called as "Rasagolla's Columbus". Then came his son K.C. Das who made the sweet available throught India and the rest is history.

He runs the shop in the name of K.C Das, its a must visit place if you go to kolkata, eventually K.C. Das's son created another stunning sweet the "RasMalai "  

Nutrition Value  :

1 Piece of Rasgulla has 140 Calorie

 

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The Foodie - Having Parotta in Chennai

Parota is a south Indian bread, don't confuse with North Indian Parathas, it's completely different.

 

Let's start, there are various variets of parotta,

 

•Muttai Parotta (Egg Parotta)
•Muttai Vechu Parotta (Egg omlete will be inserted inside parotta)
•Kothu Parotta (my favorite)

Madurai, virdhunagar is famous for their parotta's but I am talking about Chennai's. parotta is a favorite dinner food for most bachelor's like me, you can find lots and lots of parotta stalls in the road side of chennai, I am going to say only about some in my area (thiruvanmiyur to palavakkam)

 

First is Parotta found here is veg or non - veg. For me its Non - Veg because the main ingredients is EGG, it has other items like sugar, gingerly oil and very very very high in cholestral content. Parotta is served with Salan or sevia, its very tough for Veggies eating parotta in road side stall since its tough to get a vegetrain salana.

 

Salana is nothing but a chicken kurma, will make a deadly combination with parotta.

 

"There is a tradition in eating parotta, first you should take a parotta is beaten well by both hands and then its teared into pieces and pour the salna into the teared parotta and wait for sometime so that salna and parotta is soaked well (Guys my mouth is watering) and you can have the delicious parotta "

 

My Next Favorite is Kothu Parotta

 

My Favorite dish, i love this dish hmmmmmmmmmm its now doubt you guys also fall in love for that, its made of by tearing parottas and onions and tomota's added and then our favorite Egg, and the salna is added in that recipe and then a the chef tooks the two stainless steel tumblers and beat the parotta, chopping the parotta into fine pieces , the sounds make ur tummy more hungry and irresistible

 

There are various varities like chicken, mutton etc etc kothu parotta

 

Some Place where you get nice parotta with salna

 

Velchery

Virdhunnagar parotta stall (Road Side Shop)

in the near vijaynagar bus stop (near adyar bakery)

 

Thiruvmiyur

Anbu Fried Rice(Road Side Shop)

opp to water ford app there is a street,

the shop is avaliable there

 

Palavakkam

Thever Kadai(Road Side Shop)

Near More Shope

 

The Kothu parotta is Rs 30 in the road side shop

if you want in some good shope then i bet you karaikudi Chettinadu hotel you can find chicken kothu parotta which is superb, try kothu parotta in ponuswamy, pandiyas but they all cost Rs.95.

The Foodie - Chicken Nuggets in Chennai

Chicken Nuggets

I really feel in love with this food, when I first tasted this in Marry Brown Chennai some 3yrs ago. Lets explore Chicken Nuggets in Chennai.

Though i have barely tried Chicken Nuggets in very few place, one of the worst place I have tried is  CITI Center, ground floor, its a open shop which sells, Chicken nuggets also,

Chicken Nuggets is basically like our favorite Indian Dish "Aloo Tike", where Potato is mashed and deep fried, in Nuggets chicken is minced finely and its dipped in a Batter and rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried. it sounds like our cutlet very much rite, it belongs to that family of food. From Wikipedia

 

 

"The chicken nugget was invented in the 1950s by Robert C. Baker, a food science professor at Cornell University, and published as unpatented academic work.[1] Dr. Baker's innovations made it possible to form chicken nuggets in any shape. McDonald's recipe for Chicken Nuggets was created on commission from McDonald's by Tyson Foods in 1979 and the product was sold beginning in 1983"

 

Raise of Chicken Nuggets

 

McDonald took this recipe and made it famous all over the world in the name of Chicken Nuggets, but in INDIA, I have not find Nuggets. Since in INDIA we have only 4 menu's of McDonald available. Nuggets and other Nuggets have mostly breast chicken and skin of the chicken is added to increase its flavor. Nuggets became very famous because of its unique shapes, they made the chicken in different shapes like boat, ducks etc .. There are lots of Case on McDonald's regarding Nuggets one of them is James Oliver Huberty, where he killed 21 peoples, his wife sued McDonald that he over eaten Nuggets which caused him mental imbalance.

 

Chicken Nuggets in Chennai

 

So My Best place where you get Chicken Nuggets is

 

1.Marry Brown
2.Prime Roaster
3.Casa Piccolo
4.Chic King

My best pick is Marry Brown, where you get a spicy and juicy Chicken Nuggets, so next time when you got Marry Brown have a try, there is another cool veg nuggets called Tandoori Nuggets which is also very cool in Marry Brown

The Foodie - How to Plan ur Treat in Ascendas Park (Chennai)

its Recession Times so we have to be careful while spending money that's the word everyone tells, but for us who cares…. Lets plan treat effectively now this treat plan is for 8 people at the max

In recent times if we go to a normal hotel its giving us a bill of Rs.500 for 2 person, that's too costly, and if we have any special occasion people ask us treat so for 8 people we are touching nearly 3k to 4k hmmm lets plan the treat effectively

 

KFC & The Noodle House Treat

 

 

 

 

Take 2 buckets of KFC Chicken it will cost around Rs 630/- (inclusive of tax). It serves 2 pcs per person.

Take 2 or 3 noodles for around Rs. 300/- in Noodle House opposite to KFC

Take a Coke Float for Rs 20/- each which will cost you Rs.160/-

So total - it comes around Rs.1090 ,

I Feel 2 noodles is enough for sure since Chicken makes it whole some and Coke Float fills the extra space.

 

McDonald's Treat

 

 

Just get a McChicken Combo for 8 people each one costs around Rs.109/- includes a Chicken burger, French Fries & Coke will end up with around Rs.900/- but i feel for our boys that too my friends eating in McDonalds combo is just like starters so give this treat only for Gals its no use for boys  (exp guys)

 

Pizza Hut's Treat

 

So for Pizza lovers there is a combo option available in all Pizza Hut center, is available here also I think but I have not tried it in Ascendas Park

the Menu has following details

 

it serves for 6, you can get another Medium pizza for Rs.250 or Rs.300 and have two coke from McDonald that will be cheaper option

else you can buy two Feast for 4 which wil cost you around Rs.1350 and 12.36% tax extra so it will come around Rs.1660/-

but this offer says you need to pay via Visa Gold Credit Card

 

Happy Treating your Friends - But the Best way to plan a treat is by Calling Me too for the treat :lolz:

 

Note : There are other hotels available in Ascendas Park like subway, saravana bhavan will discuss about in some other blog