A coastal feast in Chennai: C Salt’s new brunch menu blends local flavors with global flair

CHENNAI: It was a pleasant day and the breeze from the Bay of Bengal was inviting as we entered a shack-style diner on East Coast Road. Serving coastal delicacies with fishes, prawns and crabs that were fresh catches from the marine kingdom, C Salt’s ambience is one-of-a-kind. Surrounded by the serene lush greens on one side, and the sound of the deep blue waves on the other side, the restaurant aims to not just serve good food but also provide a time that is worth spending for the guests.

“I am Thanjavur and my inspiration is rooted in my grandmother's and mother’s cooking styles. I wanted to incorporate cuisines from different coastal regions of India including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. Apart from this, we serve European cuisine as well,” says chef Jagadeesh Karuppaiyah from Sheraton Grand Chennai Resort and Spa, Mahabalipuram’s C Salt. The diner recently introduced a new menu with diverse dishes.

Jagadeesh didn’t want to restrict the flavours to just India. “People are quite exposed to a lot of cuisines now-- thanks to travel. Also, they want a hang of global cuisines in their city. This is the reason why we brought in international dishes, striking a balance between Indian and global flavours. Maintaining authenticity, we use both local and international ingredients, ” the chef adds. But did the rustic and calm ambience do justice to the taste of the dishes? Let's find out.

We took our seats to dive into a food hunt with a sea view, enjoying the live music. The thyme-scented pumpkin soup’s consistency was perfect. However, they could have experimented with more flavours as the first impression is always the best they say. Then came the Singapore noodles, which was quite bland even with the Asian stir fried greens as accompaniment. But what is food without experimenting? It goes really well with the thick red chutney that was served with muttai appam (this light eat won our hearts).

For seafood lovers, the grilled shrimp is a must-try with an apt amount of flavours. Pomfret fish required more salt to enhance the piquancy of the spices. The roasted chicken with fennel mushroom sauce is something that you shouldn't miss. The meat was juicy and the creamy sauce was lip-smacking. The varuthuaraicha kozhi curry had a dashing hit of raw masala flavours. It got better when savoured with Nagore mutton dum biryani. The scrumptious prawns stood out in Kollam konju masala.

Coming to desserts, we would like to implement a review system here and see if it could pass the benefit of doubt. The tiramisu was delicious and the chocolate mousse was also great. The tanginess was overpowering in the berry tart. The dark chocolate tart won't be much of a miss for chocolate lovers.