Opal Inn, Hotel Ranjith - Nungambakkam

A little more promotion will do the job!

The hotel ranjith has been there right in the centre of the city for years now but somehow it has never been the centre of attraction for the public. It maybe cos of the unattractive looks from the outside and the uninviting sidey look of the Opal Inn restaurant although its well accessible from outside the hotel through a small lane that goes from Nungambakkam high road. But for the real foodies at heart, this place is one of the best in the city...

As I entered, the restaurant did look a little dark and anyone but a patron wud hesitate a moment before they step in. The ambiance is fine-dining, very dim-lit, more for the silent diners. The menu is vast with stuff from regular cauliflower manchurian to veg au gratin. There is a lot for meat-eaters though vegetarians do have options too. The starters sound yummy. Though I was so tempted to order the egg fried rice and some tandoori gravy, the sizzlers caught my attention. There is also a section that says 'meal in itself' where there is shashlik and some continental stuff.

The veg classical steak sizzler was awesome, though it seemed like just aloo pattie in the inside. You mite wanna call it a cutlet except for the sauce on top of it n the sizzling hot tray in comes in with veggies and (soggy) fries. Its huge, yummy and very filling. My friend who had the fish sizzler also thought its awesome and filling. The dessert section is not very wide but the caramel custard managed to attract a person like me who doesnt have a sweet tooth. It was worth it. But the speed in which the food was delivered made me wonder if there is just a microwave in the kitchen, so much for fast service!

Last, the place is a bit expensive, say 200 to 300 for each dish, a meal for two mite reach upto 1000 bucks. But I guess its worth it considering the food and service.

Ambiance - 3/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 4/5

Price - around 800 bucks for a couple

Will i go back? - Definitely need to try everything in the menu, which cant be done in one visit.

Opal Inn
Hotel ranjit,
15 nungambkkam high road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034
Phone - 28270521

The ambiance might need a makeover if they wanna grab customers, unless they intentionally want it this way.

Ahaar, The Residency - T.Nagar

Weirdo

i'm having mixed opinions on this place .. i really dono if i shud recommend it or not..if ur a foodie, as in just bothered bout the food, u can def hit this place, but for me i'm not goin bak here again. But yes the food is awesome and the service is a good attempt too.

My problem is with the ambiance. I expected a three star hotel like The Residency to have a class. There was no lobby, u had to walk-in to a scary sidey looking elevator to reach the first floor or u can climb up the stairs that smells of booze from the bar in there. You enter the restaurant which looks like a plain flat long banquet hall with no interiors made into a restaurant with wooden furnitures and the buffet placed in one corner, there was this carnatic music playing live there, which was more irritating than pleasant. So this 'booth'ish place sure wasnt welcoming nor was the crowd there that looked like middle-aged men who came to drink in the bar and walked in here by mistake. Somehow the atmosphere smelt rusty and antique, not in a good way. We wouldve walked out but for the cake we had ordered already for a friends bday.

The service is good, they gave a quarter kg cake on the house. The manager was very attentive. But somehow the waiters were acting weird, funny and were too eager to serve you well, which was kinda cute n fortunately not disgusting since we were in celebration mood. To sum it up, it wasnt professional, but the food was great.

The buffet has the usual north, south indian and chinese stuff. There was a live aapam counter with awesome coconut milk as side dish. YUMMY. The starters were GR8, the mysore bonda was incredible and the pasta with both white and red sauce were very good too. They had freshly fried potato and banana chips which were mouth watering. The chapathi was bad tho, rubbery. But the tandoori paratta compensated for it. The gravies were paneer, aloo, gobi made very well and some radish peanut innovative thingie which i din like much.

South indian was good too with tangy kozhambu and veggie, curd rice and curd vada both tasted sexy. There was a residency rice, which din deserve the signature name, actually the pineapple rice was diferent and better. Chinese was noodles and a ladies finger in soy sauce. The problem was that the food were arranged in random order, so u cant really get the rite comby to eat. Desserts were the best part, from anything like payasam to custard tasted yummy. The icecreams were very richly flavored too ...

Ambiance - 1/5

Food - 5/5

Service - 3.5/5

Price - 700 per couple

Will i give back again? - If i hear about a renovation, will definitely walk-in without fear!

Ahaar
The Residency
No. 49, G.N.Chetty Road,
T.Nagar,
Chennai - 600 017.
Phone: 044 28253434
http://www.theresidency.com/residency-chennai/chn-ahaar.asp

Dont miss the strawberry icecream...that u jus cant stop eating...

Eden - Besant Nagar

Nothing Special Just Overrated

Good food... Good service... they actually let us cut a cake for a friends bday, make all the noise we want in the center of the restaurant and neatly served us the cake with dessert plates and spoons.. impressive... but the place is very small and always crowded just another restaurant hyped up a lot. Could do better located in a better place and with more space.

I really have nothin else to write about this restaurant thats reviewed the most in Chennai as far as I see... hmm.. yea its good veggie place for family in Bessie.. People keep recommending it for some reason.. Can try once for being in Chennai and for going to Bessie, my fav place in the city, of course!

Ambiance - 3/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 4/5

Price - Probably 500 for a couple? Depends on ur choice of food

Will i go back? - Hmm... if i don need to wait yea.. else there are many places nearby!

Eden
E37, 2nd Avenue,
Besant Nagar,
Chennai - 600090
Phone 24460777

Yay! Dont miss the white-forest cake at Calk Walk downstairs... Yummy!

Olive Garden Vegetarian Eat Out - R. A. Puram

Awesome is the word

Where? It is behind cafe carnival in RA puram.

Find your way through the the small street near by. It is in the 2nd floor of the first building on the left . It is a weird place to get into, you almost want to come back when you are climbing the stairs, but trust me and go ahead its worth it!

When? Go for the sunday lunch buffet around 1 o'clock to get the best dishes they serve in the restaurant.

The ambiance is awesome and very family friendly. The food tastes great, even on any other day of the week but buffet is available only on sunday.

What? One of the very few restaurants in Chennai that does justice to the word 'muticuisine' in my opinion. Whatever you choose is sure to be nice.

My recommendation is the 'quesadillas' (which is available in the lunch buffet) i did not really expect it to be so yumm in a place where Indian food is the main attraction. It is much better than the ones they serve in the so-called authentic Mexican restaurants in the city.

How much? The buffet is actually unbelievably inexpensive. (somewhere around 100 bucks!)

You will want to go back over and over again when you receive your check. The sweet and icecream that comes to your table in the end delights you like you were a 5-year old! Probably the 'a la carte' is a bit expensive but the mouth watering taste overshadows the damages to your wallet.

Who? The applause for the 5 stars i have given goes to the waiters/managers.

The service is too good, even when you take the buffet, you dont feel neglected cos anything you want comes to your table prepared 'hot hot'!

Overall a pleasant dining experience for vegetarians with great food to go with family on a weekend.

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 5/5

Service - 5/5

Price - Around 400/500 for a couple (Sunday-buffet costs just around 100 bucks/plate!)

Will i go again? - Yes and i will take you too!

Olive Garden Vegetarian Eat Out (Formerly Carnival),
68 CP Ramaswami Road,
Abhiramapuram, (off RA Puram)
Chennai - 600028
Phone 24996839, 24980349

You get to see some local celebs here sometimes :)