Azulia had a Greek food festival going on and we decided to pay a visit and try out the Mediterranean fare. This was my first time at a proper Mediterranean restaurant and so I decided to ask the Chef and the Staff to help me out with choosing what to eat.
Azulia has a very extensive collection of wines and other liquor. We ordered a young red wine, Azagador, which the manager said would go lovely with our food. He was right. Next up we were served with the soups. I had ordered the Coto Supa Me Side(a simple Chicken and vermicelli soup) which was just warm enough and thankfully not scalding hot. The starters arrived and first we had the Cold Mezze which consisted of Pilaki, Dolmades and Enginares me Araka. The Pilaki is a dish made of Kidney Beans and I felt that it suited our Indian taste buds very well. The Dolmades, is a very special dish and I enjoyed every bite of it. Finally the Enginares me Araka which is basically stewed Artichoke heart was a very tangy end to the Cold Mezze. We had this with Pita bread and Hummus.
In the Hot Mezze, we were served Falafels, Bourak Bel Jibneh, Jawaneh, Ispanik, Jawaneh, Kibbe, Karides Sarma. I didn’t like the Ispanik so much as it was a samosa like food filled with Spinach but the rest were really Good. The Falafel is a chick pea vada, The Bourak Bel Jibneh is 3 types of Cheese rolled into a Cigarillo. The Jawaneh is a variation of Chicken wings. The Kibbe was a Lamb cutlet of sorts, but my favourite by far was the shrimp dish, Karides Sarma, which is marinated prawn covered with Phyllo pastry and deep fried. That’s the best Prawn dish I’ve had in Chennai.
By the time the Main course arrived, I was already quite content. The Chef brought me the Yeros and the Pastitsio for my veg. friend. The Yeros is a Greek Shawarma and really quite a filling dish on its own. Finally it was time for desserts, the chef insisted that we try portions of the famous Baklava, the Khadayif and the Galaktaboureko. The Baklava is a proper Sweet and you could easily taste the nuts in the rose-honey syrup. I was not much of a fan of the Khadayif and I somehow couldn’t get enough of the Galaktaboureko which is a Lemon custard between Phyllo pastry.
Thus ended one of my favourite meals in Chennai.
Yes, the food is a bit expensive so this not a place that you would visit often but do make it a point to visit it. I heard that they are planning out Mediterranean food festivals in the near future. So those could be worth a try. The chef Ethem Aydemir and the other staff are very courteous and helpful. The ambience is mellow with even live music. There was a Saxophonist playing when we went there. So if you are planning to have a wonderful evening, do head over to Azulia.
Inosaint
