5enses Restaurant

When a new restaurant opens in town, rather than wait for others to tell you how it fares, the best way to experience it would be to try it out for yourselves. Opinions and tastes differ after all and hence on a lazy Sunday afternoon we head out to this new place called 5enses on KNK road. Not difficult to find at all. It is the building right after Casa Picola when you come in from Nungambakkam High Road. Must mention that for such a location, there was ample parking available. Once you get there, take the lift up to the third floor.

The place is huge. I mean, like quite huge for a Chennai restaurant. Plenty of outdoor seating was visible, which i am assuming would be quite inviting on a balmy evening with some live music. We sat inside, thanks to the humidity. The staff were real courteous and guided us inside and since the place was quite empty when we entered, we had the freedom to choose where we wanted to sit. We were handed out menus, which I must say were quite cute as well as innovative. Food and pricing on the right side and plenty of stories, snippets and a little history on the left side. We actually spent a lot of time going through the menu. Ok, let's get to the food, shall we.

(Tapas Platter)

For starters we decided to go with the Tapas Platter which contained Baked Chicken Escalopes stuffed with mozzarella and chorizo, Smoked Salmon Roll, Garlic Crostini loaded with wild mushrooms, red peppers, goat cheese and corn and wasabi allioli. The presentation looked awesome and the taste was even better. It was tempting to not disturb the presentation. However we dug in immediately. For me, the pick of the evening was the Baked chicken with Chorizo, which is another name for a kind of pork sausage. The low point for all of us was the quantity. When you spend close to Rs 700 for a dish, you expect a little more than two tiny servings to each item. Now with our appetites as well as our expectations built up, we waited for

the main course.

(Pepperoni Napoli Pizza)

As far as Pizzas are concerned, Tuscana is one place that has set the benchmark in my opinion, and hence we hesitated when it came to ordering the Pizza. After much debate, we ordered the safest bet, Pepperoni Napoli 12" Pizza. I must tell you, it did not disappoint. Thin crusted, plenty of awesome cheese and a very different kind of pepperoni. It disappeared so quickly that we immediately ordered another one; this time Prosciutto Ham Pizza, which was equally good and disappeared just as quick.

(Dajaj Mashwi Grill Chicken)

(Pesto Baked Chicken)

The next dish I got to taste was the Dajaj Mashwi Grill Chicken. The chicken itself was well cooked and Juicy. Not dry at all. However I was not a big fan of the black bean Jasmine rice. The sauce on the chicken is an acquired taste, with yogurt as its base. I thought it went well with the chicken but a few others disagreed. The Pesto baked Chicken was a notch better. It was stuffed with awesome feta cheese and olives. Once again, cooked to perfection with the right amount of moisture. A dish I would surely recommend and even order again when I go back.

(Grilled Prawn Harissa)

(Lamb Moosaka)

The grilled prawns looked really tempting and well presented. I admit that I loved it. I loved the seasoning, though it was kind of overpowering in my opinion. One low point of this dish was that it tasted very similar to any prawn masala I would find in any Kerala restaurant. The chef later explained to us that there was a lot of similarities between our spices and the spices used in Mediterranean cooking. Another point was that you would expect a little more than 4 pieces of prawn when you shell out around Rs 600 for a dish.

If I had to pick my flavor of the day, that would be the Lamb Moosaka. The quantity was slightly better here but I felt the presentation could have been a tad bit better. The seasoning and the flavor makes up for that though. A good balance of ground juicy lamb and soft egg plant, mixed with the flavored sauce and baked. We also did try the crab and prawn Raviolli, which was just ok. Nothing great to rave about, and in my opinion, the poorest dish of the day, thanks to the thin sauce.

No matter how full you are, there is always space for dessert.

(Tiramisu)

(Cannaloni)

With quite a bit to choose from, we went with just three choices for dessert. Most places screw up a Tiramisu like nobodies business and we did expect some kind of screw up here as well, but NO. Great flavor and great balance between that coffee taste and mascarpone cheese, but then again, it could have been a tad bigger.
The Cannalonis were awesome and they came in black and white chocolate. We dig in quickly and before you knew it, the plate was clean. That was my pick among the desserts and really worth a try.

(Crostata and Baileys Gellato)

A Crostata is basically an Italian pie or tart. Ours was filled with gooey chocolate mousse which gushed out the moment we cut through. The tiny coffee bean line thing you see in the pic is not actually a coffee bean. It's chocolate that has been shaped that way. Along with the gelatto, it gave the perfect flavor and taste to die for.

Overall a good experience and a must visit. Be prepared to spend. It costs us around 1200 per head with mocktails. Don't be surprised at the relatively small portions served.

Ambiance - 8/10
Taste - 8/10

Service - 8/10

Quantity - 5/10