Basil With a Twist — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

Iam a great lover of hearty European fare and my wife suggested that we try Basil at a Twist for dinner and what a meal that turned out to be!

It is dominated by an open kitchen with glass partitions and you can see your food being prepared.The driving force behind this and the owner Mr. Bogdan is really passionate about what he does and enjoys making his guests fell right at home by his warm hospitality. The food is European with a tilt towards the Balkans with some of them being favourites of his family and also his Grandma's. The ingredients are sourced from India as well as abroad, and using innovative as well as the traditional methods the taste of the food is not compromised. Everything is made in house so there is no compromise on the quality or taste.

Both of us agreed on one point, that is not to bombard our taste buds with a conglomerate of tastes but to allow it to gradually creep up on us so that we could differentiate the texture and flavour as the meal progressed.

He gave us suggestions regarding what to order and we gladly let him orchestrate it for us. We started off with Soups. Roasted Pumpkin with Basil & Ginger. Hearty Chicken with gherkins. Seafood. Thyme. The pumpkin soup was creamy and delicious with the hint of sweetness from the roasting of the pumpkin as well as the pesto and coconut cream garnish on the top.The other two soups were tasty as well.

Starter & Mini bites. -Kiflice. Tapenade (Pate made of Green, Black Olives and Capers) & Urnebes (Balkan style cheese spread done with Herbs & Paprika). This was off the menu suggestion and are from the owners native country - Serbia and it was my first time trying them.They were tasty little bite sized morsels.

We followed them with some samplers of Bruschettas (mini). Sweet Onion Jam & Grilled Chicken. Smoked Salmon. Greek Feta cheese based (chilled) spread. Spanish Fresh Tomato.They were all equally good.

-Bujurdi. Greek dish. Cheese based, baked. Another first time dish for me ,a little rich but great for scooping up with bread.

-Herb & Garlic pan tossed Prawns. This was a simple Mediterranen style dish and the prawns retained their fresh and sweet taste.

-Mini Subs. Philly Cheesesteak & Chicken Medly. Served with crispy Baby potatoes.I loved these mini subs and the accompanying crisps were a delightful twist to the normally served french fries.

-Yakitori & Chipotle Chicken Skewers (Grilled Chicken thighs with leeks/veggies). This fusion of Japanese and Mexican flavours should not work on paper but believe me they were a riot on the tongue,tender pieces of chicken and leeks finished off with a Mirin reduction and with the hit of Chipotle spice in one.

Mains. We were pretty much done by then so we asked the chef for some smaller sized sampling portions as we wanted to save space for desserts.

-Chicken Saltimbocca. Done with Italian Prosciutto in a pan with white wine and sage sauce. -Hunter's Steak. Beef Tenderloin dry aged and simmered for hours. Served with Au Jus (its own sauce). Both the mains were delicious and I highly recommend them. Side. -Silky Mashed Potatoes-These mashed potatoes were the smoothest and creamiest that I've tasted yet!

Desserts. To finish off our gargantuan repast we tried 3 of their signature desserts -Date & Walnut Cake served with Caramel & Blueberry sauce. -Baklava Ice cream. Home made country style Turkish baklava 'twisted' with 3 bean Vanilla Ice cream. Phillo, nuts, raisins. -Mousse La Chocolate. Done with Dark and White Chocolate, sliced roasted Almonds and Bluberry sauce. The Date and Walnut Cake was Bogdan's Granma's recipe and it was a winner all the way. I just loved it.

I loved the entire meal and I was quite stuffed by the time we had finished and love to...

Always when I travel to chennai...I end up going to the regulars like Sangeetha - Masala dosa or Sambhar rice, Royal Sandwich - for yummy sandwiches...so this time I wanted to skip these and try something diff since I had an hour to spare...saw this place on Zomato and close to where I was and went ahead due to the high ratings and Great reviews...let me say it really lives upto the expectations from the outside and quite there in terms of the ambience inside too...just like a chilled out cafe u would like to come and have your lunch for the day. I ordered a Goats cheese and Pear salad and an Arabbiata pasta penne (I don't like penne...would have preferred a spaghetti but went ahead cause of the my friend who wouldn't have anything except penne) and my friend ordered a grilled chicken breast with spicy pepper sauce...2 fresh watermelon juices for us...the Salad portion was humongous but delicious and had good amount of cheese...would have liked a bit more of nuttiness and the pears would have been great with a little char...the dressing and the croutons served with it just dint leave me to complaint about anything...could finish only 1/3rd of it cause was wanting to have some pasta...the pasta was yumm and could not stop myself ...With the right amount of tomato tanginess and herbs I had quite some of it though it was penne...so they serve the pasta with small mini Pav...freshly baked and soft...liked the innovation here. The Grilled Chicken with spicy pepper sauce looked good...my friend indulged and finished the whole thing with a generous amount of sauce poured on it...again a bigger portion than regular. If i had to tell you what topped it for me would be the spicy pepper sauce...it was peppery to the right extent and velvetty. I had it by dipping one of the mini Pav in it. So would love to come back for this sauce and try something more. I am sure this place could be better...I have given a 3 rating because it was just like any other cafe. Also the pricing was tad bit high according to me, could have been 20 -25% lower. Hope I come.back and change my review for better...

Totally unpleasant experience. The food was very okay. Soup was good. But when it comes to customer service I would definitely give it a zero rating. I wanted to give this feedback personally to the person in-charge in the restaurant but I couldn't find a responsible person there. Hence typing it down here. They didn't have a car parking attendant. Even that is kind of okay to adjust with. But when we ask for assistance from the restaurant they give me a very rude reply saying sorry our customers are having food please somehow try to move it yourself. Which I felt was a very lame reply. I'm sure nobody would accept such a reply. I was totally disappointed traveling 25km to that place for such a treatment. A kind request kindly learn to treat everyone with respect. Not every customer is kind enough to smile and walk away.

Adding on to owners reply: I'm equally surprised as well! I've heard very good feedbacks from people about your restaurant and that's the reason why I visited your venue. But I was a bit concerned about they way you handled things. I myself run a hospitality venue as well. I have close to 4k customers for every function conducted. And I am extremely successful for the past 10 years! So I'm extremely conscious on what i have typed down. I wanted to just let you know so that this doesn't happen again. And when you say your never rude to customers then I don't understand what that statement you made to me meant. And i never gave my car keys to anyone asking them to move my car. I guess you are addressing the wrong person. I requested you to help me get the car out of my way and the reply I got was definitely not a reply that I should get from a person who runs a industry for 6 years and who mainly focuses on hospitality as their main key! I was totally upset and so was the person who came along with me. Anyways I'm just putting it forward so that things are handled with care. You never know with what emotions people come with. So it's always better for the host to put a smile on their face and welcome their guest. Anyways ensure this I taken care...