Chili’s has been on the ever-growing list for a while now. But the excuses have been many – distance from home, some other places to visit or just plain lazy. And then finally we did manage to get ourselves there and were joined by Sudhakar’s cousin Reshma. Chili’s is on Old Airport Road and quite close to Total Mall. I read reviews of the place earlier and most of them were mixed. So, nothing like making some opinions of my own.
Now when we got in, the place was empty except for a couple. It was prime lunch time on a Sunday and I was a little skeptical. The place looked quite nice though with tile inlay tables, a very pub/diner feel. More of a set-up for larger groups and families than couples. But on that particular day, the place was quiet. We settled down and got ourselves some menus. Anoushka was offered some crayons and a leaflet of kiddie activities that also was a menu. Cute, but knowing my baby, once she was done with the coloring bit, the leaflet was tossed aside.
Reshma had a Sea Breeze which was grapefruit and a dash of cranberry. This mocktail was also available with a shot of vodka to make it more potent. I like apple based drinks and so went in for the Appletini – Vodka and Apple Sours. This, with a lot of crushed ice made it real nice (excuse the rhyme, that was unintentional). Now Sudhakar decided to spice things up a bit. Considering we were at Chili’s he asked for a Mojito with a bit of chili thrown in. What came was a nicely made Mojito served in a Collin’s glass as it should be. With it was a green chili or two slit down the center and mixed in. The effect… a chill from the ice, a kick from the chili and warmth of white rum going down.
We next moved to ordering the starters. We decided to order two starters and were given fair warning by the staff that the proportions were huge and we may not have space for main course. We puffed our chests up and said bring it on. And what you see below is what came in the form of Texas Cheese Fries and Chicken Wings. The Texas fries came on a main course sized sizzle plate, piled high enough for us and the neighboring table if there was anyone there. These fries were dunked in sinful cheese, a chili based sauce and topped off with sliced jalapenos. For Junior we chose from the kiddie menu and she has a cheese sandwich with fries. There was also a nice dip that was very garlicy-mayo but nice. The chicken wings basket had around 8 wings and they were covered in a spicy sauce. The dip made it a nice mix of spicy and sweet-sour.
Shame on us, but by the time we were done with the starters and the drinks, we threw in the towel. We decided to order only one main course to go around for three. There were some many things of the menu we wanted to order and finally settled on the Cajun Chicken Pasta with alfredo sauce. We surprised even the wait staff with this singular order. But then hey, now I have a reason to go back. The pasta was great with the chicken being really soft. I wonder how they got it that way. The pasta was heavy thanks to the alfredo sauce and did us in for the day. We did not even have desserts.
The place began to fill up gradually. What you will notice that for an American place, it serves no beef or pork and that could be the only thing I found lacking. The bill was around Rs 2000, give and take a little. There is a service charge levied that adds to the bill noticeably. The meal though expensive was made a easier on the wallet thanks to the Dineclub card (click widget on top left for details) that I got for myself a while back. The discount for card members is 20% and this works well when you are in a group. Only remember to make a phone reservation before you get to the resto. They even have an enclosed smoking room with a LCD TV. Nice touch!. The restaurant is expensive, but I personally felt I got my money’s worth.
