Sangeetha Desi Destination - Adyar

Chettinad Treat

If you are a veggie and u miss chettinad food, which generally consists of a lota meat, forget karaikudi! there is sangeetha adyar with veg chettinad tiffun items, made classically and served unconventionally. The place is always crowded so be ready to wait for sometime, nothing good comes for free, does it? and one more thing is chettinad items are available only after 4 30 as those are snack items. So as such the place is good for dinner than lunch, since they also have some specials for each day.

The most mouth-watering dishes here are paniyaram (salt) and the cauliflower masal dosa (the best i've ever had). There is also palpaniyaram on somedays and chettinad idli is great too. The unavailability of certain items everyday creates the whole craving i guess. I dono why, maybe they are holding supply to increase demand. But i think the demand is great already and i hope they serve everything everyday.

The ambiance is much more sophisticated than any other sangeetha in chennai. Other than the chettinad items, the usual pulao, chenna batura, ghee dosa, quick lunch, poori, you name it and its yummmmmmmy. There is an unbelievable list of desserts from icecreams to sundaes to juices to what not!

The service is quick and efficient. The price, is just right for the quality, i mean you can taste the quality literally!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 5/5

Service - 4/5

Price - around 250 to 300 for a couple if u wanna go for desserts

Will i ever go bak? - i go there all the time for their paniyaram!

Sangeetha Desi Destination
1st Main Road, Gandhi Nagar,
Adyar, Chennai- 600020
Phone 24426554, 24426792

I usually make a note of the special item for each day from the menu card and drop in the day i want to!

ID (Idly & Dosa) - Royapettah

Absolutely loved the ghee roast

The menu card looks like a piece of paper, don get disappointed cos there is so much to taste here! the vada being offered as starters without being ordered for is a very good way to service, tempt at the same time sell! so it was plain vada - yummy!, keera vada - crispy, masal vada - ok!

The ambiance is just breathtakingly classy and chic and u wudnt want to touch ur idli and dosa with ur hands at sucha place! but wat to do, some food are meant to be eaten the way they should be to taste good... so quitting the helpless efforts to eat idli and dosa with a spoon they offer, and without being able to resist the ghee dripping yummy crispy dosa,.. we had to jump in! give a short at everything .. idli - ok, rava idli - not bad, ghee roast - nothing less of heaven, rava roast - heaven again if u like rava, aapam, with coconut milk, stew and theeyal - all yummy... they shud definitely increase their menu soon so people don get bored of havin the same items, considering the fact that most ppl who come here are movie freaks and will return often for sure! there are some south-indian sweets available (i dono y they are called pastries!), weren't that inviting, so let go since we were already greedily stuffin ourselves with the dosas! Also there is of course the mandatory filter coffee, some juice, masala tea and buttermilk, the last one was what i tried and liked it a lot!

Oh yea they definitely need to give finger bowls! m sure they learn that soon, cos their dosa's are so drippin and greasy, and one wudnt want to run to the wash area at other corner in sucha place, fine-dining it seems to be, but fast food is what south indian is known for, a lil confusion here!

as such, the place is perfect!, yummy food, great ambiance, wonderful service and the best of all u wud think this kinda place wud charge u a 100 bux a dosa... but surprise no! everything included for 4 people came up to jus 330 and its a lot lesser than even HSB m sure! so its totally affordable! i think they have clearly seen the need for sucha place in Chennai and has hit the spot rite on!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 4/5

Price - You eat ur stomach full for at the max 200 per couple trust me

Will i ever go bak? - all the time from now on just for the dosas!

ID (Idly & Dosa)
Sathyam cinemas,
1st floor, 8, Thiru-vi-ka Road,
Royapettah, Chennai - 600014

Tho ambiance looks fine-dining, its absolutely typical south-indian experience! Come, eat, relish, get out!

Bhoj Sagar Catering - Velachery

In times of need

Well it was around 10ish in the nite and i was dyin hungry with nothin at home! i din think anyone wud delivery nething at that point of time, but Bhoj sagar did! I got some aloo paratas and a north indian gravy, delivered sooner than i cud imagine.

It is definitely a boon for singles in velachery area! About the food, no complains, tho i wudnt call it authentic, it had a more south indian flavor to it. The aloo parata was stuffed with the masala they give for the south indian poori masal in local restaurants. But it was good to eat when u hungry and jus need some good food and don give a damn bout authenticity!

The prices are very much affordable. Service as i mentioned is very good and even over fone u can feel the hospitality!

Ambiance - my home sweet home

Food - 3/5

Service - 4.5/5

Price - You could have a good dinner for around 100 bucks i guess

Bhoj Sagar Catering
98, Srinivasa Nagar,
End of Ram Nagar 2nd street,
Vijayanagar, Velachery,
Chennai - 600042
Phone 9841205370, 9841805368

They provide south indian breakfast i heard, wud love to try it out sometime.

Ecstasy - Royapettah

Little Ecstasy

I blindly decided to venture this place based on two facts, 1. its inside sathyam cinemas and 2. the reviews i read about it! Maybe I expected a lot too much but the place didnt stay up to a 5 star rating on burrp! The ambiance is elegant and chic definitely, but the place is too small and so is the items on the menu and so is the quantity served.

The waiters/waitresses are too sweet, much sweeter than the apricot ice cream that almost tasted sour! She asked me to try the ginger or vinegar(balsamic) ice cream, wondering how it would've been if apricot was so. All in the name of 'exotic'! The milk ice cream is awesome, a bite of ecstasy finally. The complimentary chocolates were a nice try, it got me in the beginning. But the banana crepe tasted half cooked, and the orange juice was so bitter.

Now, there was no blueberry cheesecake or olive icecream???? as described in other reviews, big disappointment and one more following it was that there was neither ice tea nor cold coffee.. twas all 'hot hot'! Anyways, i think the only positive thing about this place is 'Sathyam'! Its nice to get a cozy place to chill out inside sathyam for a change when you are waiting or out of a movie with a bunch of friends or your date. That explains the cost, they can afford to charge us! The word is Exorbitant! The Darjeeling white tea costs just 220 bucks.. wondering if its a pack of tea? YES me too!

Ecstasy
Sathyam Cinemas
8, Thiru Vi - Ka road,
Royapettah, Chennai - 600014
Phone 43920444

There is a bunch of papers hanging from the lamp where you can post WHATEVER u want.. so we DID!

Dhabba Express - Nungambakkam

Expect no quality, wen u go for quantity!

Firstly, why is Dhabba Express hiding behind this building? are they tryin to avoid customers? it is impossible to know there is a dhabba here unless you sit on the net n search for a dhaba in nungambakkam like me and that too dhabba express? wow! i took the first chance to go there. The stairs look haunted and u ll wanna think there ll b no crowd at all inside, but surprise! there r soooo many ppl busily filling their plates from the buffet as you enter. The ambiance is typical dhaba expressish, open top, dirty plates/spoons/etc.and ofcourse the 'i-know-u-love-it' attitude service!

There was noone to guide me as to where i should pay, get the token and start my buffet, I was totally lost. The waiters are helpful, but only if u ask for help , maybe thats a lot to expect. The buffet is completely veg, 75 bucks. It includes, some dry tasting stuffed roti, good naan, low quality tomato rice, awesome sambar rice (i dono wat it was doing in a dhabba but i regret not takin more of it), some pulao rice, very bad curd rice, macaroni! (huh?), salads, yummmmmy raitha, gobi chinese style, a weird brinjal manchurian kind, half cooked ladies finger, dal makhani, one more gravy and ofcourse jelebi which was always empty and i had to ask for it some 10 times b4 it came hot hot yumm yumm to my table, wowwwww mouth waters at the very thought of it.

Warning! If you wanna avoid throwing up do not use/ or even look at the spoons. You dont have a choice on the plates tho. Do not drink the water. Order for lassi or buttermilk its good. You can also order a la carte other than the buffet, there is punjabi n chinese item esp non-veg since the buffet is completely veg. They also do home delivery, so carry the menu back with u. If you are looking for more hygienic environment, you can sit inside the small AC area and order too.

Ambiance - 3/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 2.5/5

Price - less than 200 bucks for a couple if u go for the buffet and a drink

Will i go bak? - wen hungry strikes and nothin more

Dhabba Express
112, 1st Floor, Eldorado Building,
Nungambakkam High Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034
Phone 32549944, 28203636

Enjoy a typical dhabba express experience, value for money for sure!

The Noodle House - Nungambakkam

small place, small menu, small review

The place is pretty small, mostly visited by executives for lunch i guess. Being in centre of Nungambakkam, it should do really good for business/team lunches. But the menu is pretty small and half of it is unavailable. Rice varieties are less, no wonder the place is named after noodles. The suggestions made by the waiters are welcome, but he almost forced me into something i din want, when i was quite confused which one to order. I wanted something like a chopsuey, fried noodles with gravy but i got something like a wet noodles, smelled of flour and garlic, heavy in my throat until the evening!

Ambiance is good fine dining. The food is ok, tho i didnt get to taste much. Price is a bit on the expensive side for the quality of food and speed of service.

Ambiance - 3.5/5

Food - 3/5

Service - 3.5/5

Price - maybe around 500 per couple wen u include desserts too

Will i ever go bak? - don think so, maybe i wanna try the one at Royapettah opp Satyam...

The Noodle House
G-7, Gee Gee Emerald,
No.151, Village Road,
Nungambakkam, Chenna-600034
Phone 4359 6043

i went dreaming of fried ice cream, but desserts were virtually unavailable!

Kalinga Restaurant - Velachery

i suggest u first visit an andhra mess!

Wat a name! Wat a location! as you pass through velachery by-pass road you cant miss the Kalinga restaurant along with Kebab Court, the lighting and the newly constructed apt looks too inviting. An andhra speciality restaurant.. hmmm interesting ..seems like a must try.

Finally, i plan up a lunch jus for sake of tasting the cuisine of kalinga. The ambiance is great, spacious and bright. Service is ok, no complains.We ordered an andhra thali (95), paratta (25), masala vada pulusu (90) (got carried away by the name), pista milkshake (70) and lassi (40). The Jevarisi vadam served on the house was so tasty and crispy and went very well with the pappu podi and ghee provided. Period.

Nothin after this was edible. I mean not to the extent of swollowing beyond the first bite. The vada pulusu was jus tamarind water and yday's vada dipped in it. Really do the telugus eat this tangy? I expected spicy hot stuff, which actually was not there! This dish was like eating thick tamarind paste, they cudve atleast diluted it a bit for gods sake :( after losing appetite tasting this, we had to eat the parattas with the gongra and tomato chutney.. which i dint like either.. everything is sour and tangy including the curd. The thali was nothin specially just the usual meals, which was not yummy either.

Worst part was that the lassi was served hot. Note i didnt say it wasnt cold, it was actually hot! Ice cubes were added on request, with an explanation that was lame. The menu is too less for veggies, n m not entirely sure if this is how andhra's cuisine tastes, cos i ve ate in local andhra mess and the meals are mouth-watering there. The place is a bit expensive compared to its counterparts in velachery.

Ambiance - 5/5

Food - 1.5/5

Service 4/5

Price - a minimum 300 to 400 per couple

Will i ever go back? - not even if m dying hungry, anyway there is kebab court literally next door!

Kalinga Restaurant
No. 1, 100 Feet By Pass Road,
Velachery, Chennai - 600042
Phone 22591272, 22591273

if u do end up here by chance, order plain white rice and enjoy it with pappu podi and vadam!