[Image courtesy : Antari FB page]
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker’s man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can
Mix it and stir it and bake it just right
Good from the first ’til the very last bite
is what came to my mind when I heard there is a new cafe in town and best part was- it is in my part of town- New Avadi Road, Kilpauk!!
Tandoor platter.. mushroom, corn, potato
Three kinds of coin pizza, the dark base is the keto one..
You walk into the bungalow gates and are greeted by the sweetest pup Cookie.. This campus is home to Soul Garden Bistro, 196 Degrees Below, and the newest is the quaint Antari café,a small cosy room that can probably seat about 5 people. The open brick walls on one side are lined with shelves showing off their baked goods- breads & buns. And when standing there you cant miss the whiff of freshly baked buns from the ovens on the other side. Oh and the corner area is reserved to show off their Tea collection [They offer organic teas from Jalinga tea estate, Assam. Jalinga is the 1st and only carbon neutral certified tea estate in the world].. Coffee lovers need not fret, they serve some fine organic coffee as well.
The beauty of this space is that all the food served across the three space is Pure Vegetarian & Eggless. They also have Vegan , Gluten free and what’s more an exclusive Keto menu as well [ it lists down a break up of the nutrients in each item]
I met Jignesh Pujara back in Menchies, a brand he had brought to Chennai.. but even though that shut, it is good to see him keep at it.. He opened Soul Garden Bistro [Alwarpet & New Avadi Road], then went on to launch 196 Degrees below and now has partnered with Prabhakar to launch Antari.. A foodie, and a vegetarian at that, he believes in giving people good food, different flavours and healthy options as well…
I chose the Mexican Coffee bun served with Coffee Sauce & Butter Biscuit Crumbles. Essentially, the bun has a topping that it is baked with and then they add the additional topping before serving it up. It is hot, soft and packed with flavour. In the middle is a small surprise [shall not ruin it]
They have options-first you choose the kind of bun, and then the topping and if interested, you can go for a combo, which means the bun comes with a beverage- chai, coffee or Hot chocolate. The toppings range from White Chocolate with Red Velvet Crumbles, Chocolate Fudge with Fudge Brownie to Condensed Milk and Pistachio.
The basic bun costs Rs119, the toppings come at an additional cost of Rs30-60 and if you choose a beverage, depending on the beverage of your choice you pay around Rs249 or so.
The buns are served in beautiful platters [ very similar to the ones you see in Auroville], the coffee is served with three chocolates shaped like coffee beans. One thing I learnt about the place is they use/serve sugar that is organic [no sulphur is used in polishing it]…
Another item on the menu that caught my attention were the Churros.. Promptly ordered a portion, which was served with a spiced dark chocolate dip – heavenly…
I sat in the outdoor seating area on the side, and the evenings are still quite nice.. But when it gets hot, guess you can sit inside Antari or take them to Soul Garden bistro and enjoy them. There was a duo who entertained us with music,the guy played the guitar while the girl was the voice [they took requests and it was fun to sing along].
You can order their food through Swiggy or Zomato as well [not sure how good/fresh the buns will be when they make it across the city, stuffed inside a box], so its best to go experience them piping hot. Am definitely going back to try some of the other options and maybe take home a few buns [ one of them am curious about is the Charcoal bun, black in colour.. was told a tiny pinch of charcoal powder is used in the bun]..
Address:
No. 86 /59, New Avadi Road, Kilpauk, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600010
Phone: 044 4851 0161
