Sera The Tapas Bar & Restaurant

Gopalapuram, Chennai

There are three things in this material world that I love indulging in - Good food, good wine and Smoking. Well its been three successful weeks since I quit smoking so lets make it two for tango... under the wine category you can consider any alcohol beverage that I like. I don’t like Whiskey and Rum. What I love is Martini, Vodka and beer. I follow three rules. So I urge my drinking friends at mouthshut.com - Sirius, Samsat, Milind9x, TiC, GaneshB, Maddy, - to stick to the rules ( to any one applicable who drinks)

1. Be pleasant before and after

2. Drink to your limit

3. Eat well after you drink

As you follow these rules, you can drink forever, In case you live forever. But if you don’t live forever, you can drink so long as you live. Age no bar (as long as you are above 18) only bar is Zanzibar.. errr . oops.. ZARAS TAPAS BAR rules. (Don’t forget the 3 rules)

So, coming back to the bar ... ummm ... I mean the review, this isn’t a place that is famous all over Chennai. But however I did discover this place with the elite crowd, where the so called elite crowds hang out. My boss Satyajith , single and handsome guy with a handsome salary, where a part ( and a major part) of his salary goes into parties at Zaras. He even treated us for his mom’s birthday at Zara Tapas. If you are wondering if mommy dear came to the party, well yes. Till the time she was there, we boys pretending to be good boys stuck to a beer or two. Once mom left the place, the monsters inside us till then drunk with beer came alive and we took to our regular cocktails and stuff.

• Note :- Reporting a comment from mommy dear ’’You boys are so good’’. My response: ’’Yes aunty ji, we are very good.’’

The hangover was still there, and I lied.

What does Zara Tapas mean ?

Read this review

https://mouthshut.com/readreview/39633-1.html

which explains the meaning .

Location

Take an auto rickshaw, because the cops are very keen on catching us good fellas who happen to be kidnapped by aliens. They force a cocktail or two ( can be three or four) down our innocent throats and forced us to drive so that we can pay the cops Rs. 1500 + COP harassment for something we are innocent of. Here is how I guide you to the place from two distinct directions.

One - if you are coming down from the Marina beach , All you do is find Nilgiri’s Nest at Radhakrishna road. Better still, take a compass and turn west. If you don’t have a compass then go down to the beach turn your back towards the sea and keep going till you hit the Niligiris nest on your left and UTI bank on your right. The east coast the sun rises in the east, get it. Now you are facing a flyover on the west side. Cross the flyover, once you reach the other side of the fly over, you should see Chola Sheraton on your left and ZARA TAPAS bar on your right - above copper chimney.

Two - You are at Mount Road, Go down to Gemini, get into Cathedral Road, straight down stop at your edge of the flyover, don’t take the flyover, get under the fly over. You should be seeing a parking space. Bingo you hit the spot. If it’s a Friday evening just tell the usher or the doorman that you are Dave’s Friend. Chances are that you may be denied entry. (I said there are chances).

The ambience - before and after drinks

Everything spells Spanish. The Decor, the tables and the floor. What I really missed is the dance floor. If you cannot see spanish on the decor and stuff then you really dont know spanish, Have a tequila perhaps you will. This bar has one more great feather in the hat or let us say icing on the cake - Its Matthews - He is polished, suave, decent and diplomatic. If he ever told you to go to hell , you would be looking forward for the trip. The Reeper may be looking for his soul by now. Hey Reeps, you know where to find Matthews don’t you.

After your regular drinks par quota it’s still the same. Except that you may be getting a craving to use the loo, which is so clean, that you may want to get a pillow and lie down there. Here is my advice - Please don’t do that . Because there may be a huge line outside waiting to get in to ’’eliminate’’. The other difference you may find is you are paying more sales tax with the bills increasing - My Compliments to the bartender for such fine cocktails.

The DJ plays the music pretty loud so that the kids don’t talk. They only rock.. or have it on rocks. Just to make sure they only eat and drink. He don’t take any requests - like it or not, you hear it and like it. He plays only Spanish songs, with occasional country and pop in between. So you are pretty much balanced on the music front though you may not be with your drinks.

The usual general Other stuff

Here is a hint guys, If you just want to stick to regular Whiskey or Rum on the rocks with soda, then its not worth spending your time or your money. Go elsewhere. ( M2M me and I will show you places) Here is what you get the best. The Cocktails are two types. For those who want to be sober and those who don’t. For those who want to be sober there is Vodka or Gin with different fruit juice combination, that just takes you high but smooth. Enjoy the drink, the music and the company of your friends, be pleasant, and book your place at the loo (more important). Tell Matthew to take care of that. Trust me he will with a smile on his face. The other type of cocktail is actually a mock tail without alcohol. You will find Strawberry Colada the best among the non alcoholic beverages.

Among the Shooters, the Special Pepper vodka with tomato juice is just about enough to hit the ceiling all for a Rs. 125 / - , the same price for a tequila. If you are a first time visitor there you may crash into the ceiling by looking at the prices. Romeo Y Julietta at a whopping of Rs. 350 / - , Spanish Cocaine (not the real cocaine) another kind of shooter for Rs. 125, Guava berry Martini for Rs. 200. ( taxes extra).

You get something called B52’s. Which has alcohol with chocolate bottoms ( hey I really mean it) starts bitter ends sweet. You got to gulp it down your innocent throats with the flame. That’s right , you got to torch it with fire. Warna mazaaa nahin hai. After the second B 52, don’t try too hard to remember your name. After the third one, twink thice b4 you go home * hic hic *. After the fourth one all your innocense will be naturally displayed - I stopped at two. I was about to go for the third when I stopped, because a friend pee pee in his pants after the fourth one.

The food is par excellent. You get delicious Croquet as De Espanicas, Salt and pepper Squids, BBQ Veg, Baked corn and spinach - don’t blame me if you get charged up like Popeye- There are several other stuff to munch. In case you wonder what the Croquet as De Espanicas means, ask the waiter. I Don’t remember it because when I had it , I was drunk. Now that I am sober, I can’t recollect. So here is a tip my drinking friends... remain drunk you won’t have any trouble remembering.

So if you happen to stumble in Chennai, do check out this place.

And remember the Rules...

Comments Most Welcome.

Davieboy.

and before you go ahead to leave comments here is a drunk poem