Woodlands Drive-in
I don’t know why i have not been affected by the news of the shutdown of Woodlands Drive-in. I had been a regular to its premises during my earlier employment. My office was bang opposite to the restaurant and my colleagues and I visited it a few times in the evening when we had just enough time to hop across the median before that evening call with a client or an onsite co-ordinator.
I think one can never be loyalist of Drive-in’s food. I remember it was always pretty mediocre. Even the famed Chola Batura wasn’t very good. Though the restaurant was close by, it was never a place for family or team get-togethers. We usually had chat items when we went as a group in the evening. Mostly, there was too much pori in the Bhel puri and dosais sometimes had that raw smell. One of my friends who was sometimes teased for being very particular about food never liked the sambhar vadais they served in the evenings. It was always the case of getting a recently made vadai into the sambhar.
There were many other options for an evening bite in Cathedral Road. There was one shop that made very good sandwiches. That was a better hang out place for us. Bread Omlette was my favourite there. (I liked the mint paste he applied on the bread). There was also a roadside kaiyendhi chat corner where we used to get Bhel and pani puris. Then there was Gangotree, though all the stuff was pretty spicy there. I remember there was a north Indian restaurant, just beside Stella Maris that sold Aloo paranthas. I don’t know if that exists even now, but that was actually a reason we went to work on Saturdays. One of those paranthas served with curd and pickle would fill you for the rest of the evening.
The ambience of Drive-in, however, was amazing. Lots of green space in the heart of the city for parking or for just taking a stroll. Many a times, a stressful meeting was always followed by a coffee in the Drive-in to cool the tempers. I think it was a usual pit stop for all those people who had an appointment in the US Consulate across the road. I have seen singer P.B.Srinivas a lot of times there. I was told he came in the same auto and was served by the same person for a long time.
Hopefully, the Government uses it for the purpose it has promised.
