The rains are often synonymous with traffic jams. One such rainy evening, when the snarling traffic has got us in its grip, we decide to head to the nearest restaurant. So, here we are at Jeevan — Your Cafe, an all-day-dining multi-cuisine vegetarian restaurant. The place starts serving at 7 a.m. with a South Indian and continental breakfast buffet. A good idea for a few helpings of vada, poori or toast after a brisk morning walk. From noon, the lunch spread takes over. If you want a la carte , dinner is the best. And in between breakfast, lunch and dinner, the cafe serves appetisers, snacks, juices and milkshakes.
We flip through the compact a la carte dinner menu. It's a mix of Indian, South Indian, tandoori, Chinese and Continental cuisines. Nothing like piping hot fried stuff on a pleasantly rainy day — so sesame-fried cauliflower it is. It arrives with an orange-ish glow, as if after a facial! Perfectly crunchy, but a little more salt would have fixed it. Next, the paneer seekh kebab makes its way, with slivers of apple around. It's mildly-spiced, with a generous stuffing of potato and paneer, and tastes even better with its accompanying chutney.
For main course the Ratatouille Choufleur and Au Gratin sound good, as do the biriyani and paratha. The thengai pal sadam sounds intriguing, but what really interests is raw banana in ginger sauce. My dinner companion is horrified when I ask for a portion of Schezwan noodles to go with the raw banana gravy. When the noodles arrive, we discover it's a little too spicy. Our mouths feel like they are on fire, but those tiny chunks of raw banana lolling about in a yellowish sauce come to our rescue and help tone it down a bit. There is an unusual taste to it. Slighty salty, yet not bad. And, finally dessert — falooda comes in a tall glass laden with a kaleidoscope of colourful ingredients. There are dollops of green ice cream, wobbly jelly, strands of noodles, ruby red pomegranate, gelatinous nannari seeds. I bite into chunks of pineapple along with a few shards of ice — well-made and rather filling. Meanwhile, the downpour has subsided. We leave as the music player goes back to the same instrumental track it played when we walked in… The café is located at 14, Jagannathan Street, Nungambakkam. For details, call 99406-99922.
