Take a tropical trip with these themed foods and drinks

CHENNAI: The Purple Chameleon in Phoenix Marketcity, Velachery is a tropical-themed resto-bar, in which patrons can also fine dine is decked up with colourful neon signs and has several pop-culture references that will definitely look great on your Instagram feed. As a bonus to the décor and ambience comes really satisfying and lip-smacking global food and drinks.

For starters, we tried their chakli chat. It was a bite-sized murukku topped with mashed masala potato, spiced curd, pudina chutney, and boondhi. This simple dish was perfect with the crunch of the murukku and the soft texture of the potato complementing each other. The dish overall was absolutely amazing and insatiable. It is also one of their best-sellers.

Their karaage chicken is a Japanese fried chicken recipe served with soya sauce and onion rings coated in sesame seeds. This dish was a big no-no as it lacked any flavour. For a palate used to masalas and spices, this will seem absolutely bland.

The resto-bar does not particularly have vegan options, but will definitely oblige to make something if requested. Their Vietnamese rolls, which have vegetables and rice vermicelli wrapped around rice paper served with soya sauce and chilli sauce are vegan-friendly. It is pretty good in the taste despite not being heavy on spices.

The vegetable tempura, which is also vegan-friendly, is absolutely phenomenal and is an excellent way to eat your veggies if you are not fond of eating them any other way. The crispy fried vegetable tempura tastes best with the chilli sauce.

For the main course, we had Thai chicken curry and sticky rice. The rice which was cooked in coconut milk had an overpowering taste of coconut which drowned the flavours of the curry. The dish didn’t do much overall but might work for people who have a taste for coconuts.

Their best-seller, stuffed bun khasta paratha served with onion chutney was effortless in taste and deceives the eye as it seems bland at first. The dish, which has stuffed cheese, is presented like a parotta bringing a sense of relevance and making it approachable to the South Indian crowd. The speciality of the dish is that it has a continental flavour, while the preparation method is done in a North Indian way and is presented like a South Indian dish.

Drawing attention to their signature cocktail, purple chameleon, the curation and thinking gone behind crafting the drink is commendable. The blue pea gin drink which is first indigo in colour turns purple after their magic potion is added. The drink has traces of gentle sweetness with a tinge of basil. This is definitely a must-try, along with narthangai mojito and gentle rhino.

Their mocktail, Bengal morabba is a pulpy mango drink made with ginger ale. Despite being slightly sweet, it goes well with the food and is also very refreshing. The mocktail, chattering parrot is sweet and spicy and all things nice. This guava-flavoured drink is definitely worth trying for its unique curation.

The price for two people without alcohol is Rs 1, 500 and Rs 2,800 with alcohol. The vibe, food, and drinks really set this place a class apart.