Pantry D'or Cordon Bleu - Bakery & Cafe, Alwarpet, Chennai

What: Pantry D'or

Where: Sri Ram Nagar, South Street, Abhiramapuram, Alwarpet, Chennai

Cuisine: Cafe, Italian, Desserts, Bakery, Continental

Even I don't remember how many times I have made plans to visit their Anna Nagar branch but that unfortunately never happened. And now they have another outlet at Alwarpet that holds a beautiful decor and dessert collection. The baked goods counter just left me mesmerised, if my tummy could fit in more food then I would have eaten all the cakes. And I didn't have much hard time locating the spot, Google maps guided me well.

Except for the little discomfort caused by the chairs and table the interiors of the place is done so well. As I was invited for the tasting session the menu was left in the hands of Pantry d'or, except for the desserts and drinks. With equal division of vegetarians and non-vegetarians the dishes were portioned well to suit each ones palate. And the meal started with soup. I also tried their 'Sorbet of the day', Strawberry Sorbet that didn't have the syrup/tonic flavour and tasted alright.

While having a glance at their menu it felt better to read the dish description instead of the dish name to know about the food, I had hard time reading the names (atleast I feel that isn't English). Chicken and Mushroom soup is a clear winner in terms of taste and consistency. If at all you get to taste only the Cream of Broccoli (with cheddar) soup then you will love it, even I did like it for the consistency and the creaminess in the texture.

The sweetness from honey glaze sauce is something I am not fond of, so the Jerked Chicken With Honey Glaze wasn't my favourite but the chicken was cooked well. Coming to vegetarian appetisers, I enjoyed both the nachos and crakling of salad. I don't know why they are called so but look-wise it resembled Pani Puri. And the taste of crispy puri that is stuffed with avacado created a rollercoaster ride inside the mouth; the raw mango salad that formed the bed for puris helped to balance the sourness and tanginess.

With the lavish drizzle of cheese and salsa the nachos were great, Corn Nachos with Cheese and Pica de Gallo shall be a favourite plate for nacho lovers.

Moving on to the mains, I didn't completely enjoy everything I ate but the best one was Pizza Blanche (white sauce pizza) - Medley of Vegetables. The thin crust pizza loaded with cheese and veggies did taste good but I wasn't sure if it was white sauce; atleast I didn't feel it was white sauce. A plate of aglio-e-olio would make me happy any day whereas I missed the hit of garlic and parmesan in their Penne Pasta in Virgin Olive Oil and Garlic.

When everybody was raving about the Lamb Lasanga, I was eating the Eggplant Parmesan (layered with cheese and tomato sauce) and wondering there is something that misses which shall make this dish a hearty one. Yes, it was decent to taste but it was more like eating a mixed vegetable patty than a eggplant parmesan.

Finally there was Vegetable Stroganoff and we asked to serve it with Saffron Rice. The potato wedges were the standout and unexpectedly neither the rice nor the paneer-vegetable gravy was a favourite. The dry and hard texture of the paneer was enough to let the dish down with addition of bland flavours of the rice.

I didn't try the non-vegetarian mains but whoever tried the dishes didn't have much complaints. The non-vegetarian dishes were Lamb Lasanga, Grilled Chicken Breasts pizza blanche (white sauce pizza), Tagliatelle with Salmon in creamy tomatoes and Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Salmon Pasta & Cordon Bleu

For the drinks I opted for Moka Les (cream) shakes as well as I tried Cold Coffee classique with brownie & cream and Hazelnut Hot Chocolate. The easy winner was cold coffee and the addition of brownie and cream doubled the deliciousness. Among the other drinks ordered, the Moka shake and hot chocolate were a good choice in terms of taste.

Triple Chocolate

There were endless dessert collection and after glancing for a while I ordered for Triple Chocolate Cake and Banoffee Pie. Indeed they were the best out of the lot, just yum and must try desserts if you are at Pantry D'or. The Tiramisu was way too bitter for my liking but the Piedmont and New York Cheesecake was good. The pancakes and waffles weren't as good as I hoped to be; though slightly burnt the waffles were better in taste compared to pancakes.

There were a few 'wow' moments in terms of food but wish that lasted throughout the meal. They score plenty with their desserts and drinks but they have to work on nailing the other dishes as well.

Breaking Down Points

Location & Parking: Positive. Easy to locate and ample parking space.

Ambience: Positive. An impressive job in turning a house into cafe.

Food Variety: Positive. Ample just ample.

Taste: Good. A mixed fare, if they could nail every single dish that would be brilliant.

Quality & Quantity: Good. The presentation and quality of ingredients used were great. Also the quantity was sumptuous to fill your tummies.

Service: Positive. No qualms and it's a thumbs-up for their service.

Price: NA. Cost for two is Rs. 800-1000 INR. Their pastries and selective dishes are totally worth the money, if at all they fix the glitches then you shall be happy emptying your pockets.

So my Verdict!

Pantry D'or! You shall be mesmerised as well as will have a lovely encounter with their desserts. A beautiful place to eat, relax and talk. They check all the points to meet a cafe criteria. Choose wisely and you will like the food too!!