“Where there is a Grill There is a way…” The Employee of
Axpress BBQ had this on his Tee as he showed us the way to the restaurant which
was on the first floor of the Srikanth Tower at Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Karapakkam.
The story of how I landed at this restaurant is a big story.
I got a call some days earlier welcoming me to this newly
opened restaurant Axpress BBQ as I had expressed interest to taste the food and
review. Frankly, I did not set much expectation to the invitation and thought
it to be just an outing with the kids after a long time. But I was happy that
it turned to be much more than that.
The Restaurant is located on the service road very close to
the Karapakkam TCS office. We were given a very warm welcome and led to a very
comfortable dining table. The experience of taste started from the ambience
itself.
High chairs at one end, aesthetic dining sets with the salt
and pepper shakers matching the tables are a must mention. A shining thermos
and 4 paper cups greeted us delightfully.
We were then given a menu card and the people out there
helped us choose the House’s special and gave many options for the kids as
well. Finally we ordered a Bang Bang shrimp Combo , A Volcano Chicken Combo and
a Masala rice with grill fish and chicken curry combo.
My kids were given a candy and a balloon that made them
settle and I was left free to gaze around. The bill counter said loudly, “Worth
waiting for….” And I know now that’s not a lie.
The arrival of the food was royally announced by the people
who garlanded us with a paper apron that read “The Bone Collector”. Quite a
novel idea that was both memorable and easily replaceable.
The food finally.
The Feast started with a Tomato soup which was quite
delicious but nothing out of ordinary.
First about the Singaporean dish. Bang Bang Shrimps really
bangs you down with the taste. 15 Perfectly sizzled prawns sits between a crispy
fried egg and a bunch of golden French fries.
Second comes the masala rice and the chicken gravy. The masala
rice was a flavorful one packed with the usual masala of a biryani but with the
consistency of a fried rice. It tasted good but not unusual.
Finally here comes the King. The Volcano Chicken. A loud
whistle suddenly brought us back to reality as we were enjoying the great
culinary delight and a guy in a cowboy hat brought a trolley while dancing on
merrily. A Volcano shaped furnace flamed bright orange on the already smoked
and barbequed full chicken so brightly that you will feel full just by seeing
it.
The base of it contains boiled eggs almost at the
consistency of poached ones on a keema sauce. The taste was just yummm. Once
the royalty arrived with all its pompness, the waiter cut the chicken into
edible pieces and served us. It was accompanied with unlimited Kulchas too.
Kulcha was bit thick and tough otherwise, no complaints.
This Volcano chicken had been inspired by the custom of
Hawaiian People getting together every six months and cooking and eating
together to strengthen their relationship with each other. To create the mood
even further, the folks at Axpress BBQ has created a sauce in honour of this
dish which they have named the Lava Sauce. As the name goes, it is really fiery
but a tasty accompaniment. It was a bit tangy too.
As we started, we found that we had two choices for extra flavor on
the table. It was a Sriracha Sauce and Peri Peri seasoning. The Sauce was too
spicy and tasted more like the chilly flakes seasoning of pizza made as a a
sauce. And the peri peri sauce was very much the usual one.
They had live entertainment too at the midst of this awesome
dining experience where the waiters came in and broke a leg for an English
number.
We couldn’t really do justice to the food as we felt full by
the sight of all and left many food unfinished. The people there were really
good enough to pack everything of it for my takeaway. When we called it quits,
they just wouldn’t let us go without tasting their wonderful cloud ice cream.
The name attracted us and being foodies couldn’t say no to a
food. We ordered a Choco Magic and a Thunder Bomb Icecream. Cotton Candy formed
the cloud with the wafer cone base and a yummy ice cream at the top. It had an
unusual flavor that’s worth a good mention. Choco popcorn. Popcorn was dipped
in chocolate sauce and was added to the icecream. Though I found the popcorn
soggy because of the Ice cream the kids loved it.
Forgot to mention a great great thing I loved. They have
Goli soda for beverage which I simply adore.
Pyarelal, one of my favourite characters in TINKLE Digest
says in a story, Where the Food is so good, it tastes every mood. This Place
can definitely be the literal example for the quote. Finally when we were about
to start back home, we were given a gift of tomato and marigold seeds. This was
a simple measure to do their part for the nature, they said which was highly commendable.
To Summarize,
My rating :
Ambience - 8/10
Hospitality - 10/10
Food – 9/10
Kid Friendly - Yes
Elder Friendly - In a
quite while once the lift is ready
Party Hall – They said they can accommodate a small party
upto 15 members on their premises
Average cost for Two – INR 900
Listed in - Zomato
Address - Axpress BBQ,
1-16, Srikanth Tower,
Rajiv Gandhi Salai,
Karapakkam,
Chennai
P.S They have got some really good discounts going on now and they do delivery through Zomato. They cater to corporate orders too.
Concluding by Anton Ego’s words, I will definitely go back to Axpress BBQ hungry for more.
