Brod Bakery — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

TLDR: Worth a one time visit if you are in the area. Don't have your hopes too high. I had wanted to visit for months and it was disappointing. It's definitely higher quality than majority of baked goods in Chennai, but otherwise there is nothing special. The price point is too high for the flavor profile offered. Service is friendly and the owners are there to answer any questions.

Chocolate chip cookie: 100% skip. It is super flat and this is due to the excess butter. If there is too much fat your cookies will deflate and also become overly crispy and oily. Not a fan.

Basque Cheesecake: This had the potential to be so good. It is probably one of the better cheesecakes I've had in Chennai. The ones here taste too much like cream cheese and don't have any balance between sour cream and cream cheese flavor. The only thing with this is that it has too much egg flavor that it is veering on custard. The more I ate, the less I enjoyed it as the egg flavor became pronounced. I've never had this egginess happen when I ate other basque cheesecakes in the US.

Ham and cheese sandwich: Do not get. It tastes like a very average store bought deli meat and cheese sandwich that you'd slap together at home in the US. The premium price is not justified whatsoever. I know they use premium cheese etc, but the end product doesn't reflect this at all. Had high hopes for this and was a total let down.

Almond torte: It was on the sugary side and it was also quite plain. I wish there was a nice smear of almond paste and almond flakes on top. Definitely needs the sugar decreased.

Weird cinnamon bun type pastry: It tasted much too doughy. The sugar and cinnamon also needed to be more pronounced. Would...

Highly Overpriced and pretentious. It is not that we are not well traveled and can't appreciate a good european bakery. But there's always something called delivering value for the market you are catering to. I am unsure why is this place rated so high. The cardamom bun was sub-par and felt like something you'll get it in Iyengar bakery (5 times the cost). Coffee was decent but Overpriced like hell. Ham and cheese sandwitch was 390 rupees, and was cold and bland. It is neither appetising nor satiating. I can see that this place is run by and for the elite, but you also need to give due respect to the demography and its sensibilities. What is disappointing is the setup and the service. Setup: usually for a bakery of this price range, one would expect to spend a considerable time at the table(like Starbucks or CCD). This is a very small place with just 1 table, and people always want to have a seat. So you are inclined to get up once you are done like a Parsi or fast moving South indian bf place. Why should one spend 1400 for 2 and expect to only have 15 minutes for that money? Economics is horrendous here.

Service: People are NOT service minded here. We had to fetch our water. I understand this place is run by rich folks, but restaurant business comes in with its own requirements. I don't know if we are entitled too much, but we atleast would've liked a glass of water offered. Sorry people,...

Bare bone interiors. Staff was friendly. We went at around 7pm and most items were sold out. We got the torte, cortado and chicken pesto. The torte was a hard pass for me as it tasted too eggy for my taste. Cortado with steamed foamed up milk was decent and had the right balance of coffee to milk. The chicken pesto sandwhich I had to take home and heat up on a tawa as I am not going to eat cold sandwiches . Ever. They were not cooperative with heating up sandwhiches. Taste of the sandwhich was decent. The pesto was fresh and flavorful. The bread had a good crunch (thanks to me heating it on a tawa at home). The chicken was not seasoned but it might be fine those on a low sodium diet. Location is convenient as it is a corner place with street parking available.

Would I visit again? - probably not. Reason being they are overpriced for the taste of food and ambience. They could also make the sandwiches panini pressed as cold sandwiches are not to many people’s liking. They need to get better and more comfortable chairs- the seat cushions looked stained and gross and there was literally a shattered tile under a chair which is a slipping hazard waiting to happen. I think they took the Swedish “minimalism” a bit too seriously. I would categorize it as Swedish grunge at the most. Maybe they don’t have money to hire a better interior designer but then again they charge a lot so they should...