Decor & Location are Crispier than Food - Crisp Cafe

Outlet: Nungambakkam

Address: 1, Kothari Road, Sterling Road, Opposite Sterling Club, Nungambakkam, Chennai.

Cuisine: Cafe (American & Italian)

Overall Rating: 4/5

Crisp Café has been on my wish-list since the day they launched the restaurant at Sterling Road, Nungambakkam. The cafe is located just above the cake shop. The interiors and lightings were the ones that attracted me towards the restaurant. It was a sudden plan to dine here for a late Saturday dinner. The café is easy to locate as they are prominent and bright to spot on the Sterling Road. They have a decent parking space before the café entrance for both the two and four wheelers.

I loved every bit of their interior works; let it start from the staircase, lighting, wall hangings or even chairs looked impressive. The food quotes hand-picked by them were interesting enough to catch my attention. As we grabbed our table, I loved the wordings on the table top paper. Among my restaurant visits in the recent past, this menu card presented to be real small, not in the dimensions but in the number of dishes presented. It was easier to settle down with the dishes as we don’t want to order too much food for the night and as well the dishes seemed rich in flavour that they would definitely be sumptuous. We ordered for Chicken Tikka Sandwich, Mac & Cheese and Chocolate Collapse with salted caramel. As they took their time to serve the dishes fresh and hot, the café serves to be a fabulous place for long chats. And here’s my take on the dishes we ordered.

Chickenlicious Sandwich

 Chicken Tikka Sandwich: The portion size was the first thing to attract me, as it was sumptuous and would be big filler for someone who is hungry. The chicken tikka sautéed with vegetables were the stuffing between the bread slices, which was toasted to near-perfect crispness. The sandwich was accompanied with French fries and tomato ketchup (not sure whether they are packed or freshly made as I couldn’t figure any difference). With the two bites I grabbed from my husband’s order, the sandwich tasted delicious with succulent chicken. Fries shouldn’t go wrong and they are perfect but hoped for more fries for the price we paid.

Its cheese and cheese only!

Mac & Cheese: Being a lover of Italian food (especially the pasta dishes), I have never tried mac & cheese. Though I had second thought, I went ahead to order for mac & cheese. It was just overloaded with cheese and macaroni all over the plate as the name goes, with a single slice of garlic bread.  The taste was bang-on, as a cheese lover what more could you expect from a cheesy-dish. But I didn’t like the usage of processed Amul cheese on the top of the dish; may be a generous shave of cheddar or parmesan should have done the magic. The garlic bread didn’t make any difference; I rather prefer the restaurants to have their touch on the garlic bread instead of serving ready-made garlic bread that is toasted before the meal is served.

Choco cake!

Chocolate Collapse with Salted Caramel: I wasn’t entirely impressed with the array of desserts that they have lined up in their menu. They sound interesting but nothing can beat a freshly made dessert or drink; they try to decorate the plate and serve the dessert for the huge price we pay for them. But desserts were a let-down. The Choco Lava cakes served at some pizza joints taste better as well as priced nominal. Coming to the taste, it was decent nothing else was worth mentioning; the plating definitely need some help and neither the salted caramel was impressive.

May be we should have went for another starter or main-course instead of the dessert. And we were billed Rs. 850 INR that includes the service tax of 5.60% (Rs. 44.24)

There was nothing noticeable about the service as well as nothing to blame about them; they give you the privacy and assist you when needed. The place seemed more like a restaurant and not a cafe as their name goes; also less variety on the beverages.

Breaking Down Points

Location & Parking (5/5): Biggest Positive. Easy to locate and parking space is just enough.

Ambience (5/5): Biggest Positive. The interiors, lighting, wall decors are bang-on.

Food Variety (3.5/5): Good. Simple but almost the same menu as most of the resto’s with American or Italian cuisine.

Taste (3.5/5): Good. The food experience leaves you as you walk-out; they weren’t delicious enough to revisit them again.

Quantity (4/5): Positive. The portion is good as they are rich and would be a filler.

Quality (3.5/5): Good. The quality of the food is good but the richness should be balanced with some sides.

Pricing (3/5): Let-down. Extremely expensive, besides being located at a posh area the price doesn’t go par with the dish besides a few. The desserts (priced at Rs. 210 INR) are definitely not worth the money I paid. This shall be the important reason to think before another visit to the café.

Service (3.5/5): Good. Neither worth mentioning nor worth complaining. They are good at what they do.

Cafe personified with beauty. Could come up with dishes that are well-balanced in flavour. My favourite course of a meal (Desserts) happened to be disappointment. Definitely the meal wasn’t Value for Money (VFM).