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!

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!

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!

New Yorker - Nungambakkam

okie dokie

Wats with american n all? i don understand y this place is called the new yorker.. this is a restaurant in the lines of creme centre and bombay blue and for that matter i dono y these restaurants r called so either! So lets forget the name.. the ambiance is nice.. service is ok..

i ve been to this place couplea yrs bak with a mood for something american and was disappointed havin a panneer sandwich or something.. So i decided to skim thro the menu this time .. labanese mexican italian indian and chinese.. they ve got a combo of typical fried rice and gobi too! Obv i decided to try the american platter for starters, which had onion rings, mexican tikka (rofl) and yummy cheese corn balls. To be honest, it was actually satisfying than i thought, tasty! But hell i made the mistake of ordering quesidilla (i remember eating a good baritto here once). But this so-called quesidilla was hard and crisp indian roti stuffed with capsicum. All the love i ever had for quesdilla jus vanished and decided never to come bak.

Somehow the baritto was almost authentic and the russian salad was pretty good too. Last but not the least the Very strawberry soda was so sexy i burrped it in till the last drop. So m totally confused... if ur lucky u cud have a good meal here, if not curse ur luck and the cook!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 3.5/5?

Service - 3.5/5 (one of those place with waiters that look north-eastern (to be politically corect!) and don speak a word to u nor reply bak wen u ask for something as tho ur speakin latin)

Price - A sure 500 for a couple with drinks (non-alcoholic)

Will i ever go back? - if m outa choices and m in nungambakkam area... yea mayb

New Yorker
146, Nungmbakkam high road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034
Phone 42049300, 42061929

If you'd like to taste how indianised international food tastes, u can have a variety from around the world here!

Saravana Bhavan - K.K. Nagar

Can close my eyes and say, its HSB!

I guess this is the first of the saravana bhavans in the city or atleast one of the first ones that started cos the class is apparent in it! The downstairs as in any south indian restaurant is non ac and u can have juices and fast food items here. I've tried the cakes and the juices, perfect quality as expected. They even have sweets and a bakery here. The a/c dining in the first floor is very nice with a class of service and ambiance.

The food is yummy, no doubts its HSB! My favorites are paneer biryani (must try), poori, the 5-idlis (so soft, cant find it newhere else except hsb), chilli parata, ofcourse the fresh juices and rose milk. The icecreams and esp the kulfi is great here! To experience class in south indian food, vast menu and food so tasty u ll wanna try it all, anytime hsb in the best and this is one of the best ambiances u can find in all the hsb's in the city!

i dono y ratna cafe and murugan idli shop are even compared! They are so dirty and horrible in service, the taste of food depends on ur luck, no consistency that is! Mayb namma veedu vasanth bhavan or sangeetha can come close in quality, but havent seen any place beat HSB yet...

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 5/5

Service 4/5

Price - you can snack at 100 to 150 per couple or hog urself away to close to 500 bucks...

Will i ever go back? - Yea to all the branches, always!

Saravana Bhavan
B-55, Ashok Pillar Road,
K.K. Nagar, Chennai - 600078
Phone 24745577

HSB sweeps the number one spot in south-indian food anytime without doubts....

MMMafia - R. A. Puram

Do you know sign language?

Well.. we actually stopped to get into grains of paradise (peppers) but since the crowd there scared us of the waiting time that mite follow, we unanimously decided to try italian on the next floor since indian seemed boring now! Spotless white decor kinda looked elegant but the curtains and the wall cushions almost made it look like a hospital?..

The worst is yet to come.. the service! what the hell is rong with the management? cant they find someone who can .. for god's sake atleast.. speak? u don need to kno italian but atleast english? it is impossible to communicate to the waiters, seriously there were some 20 of 'em and not one cud speak loudly leave alone speak english. Noone knew anything bout the menu, neither could they understand wat we were tryin to say/ask! We lost all the energy that we gained by eatin trying to get some service! I can find u ppl in chennai who are lookin for jobs!

Comin to the food, i was almost ready to tick it off, pissed with the service. They brought the chili flakes in oil (which btw was not olive oil) and never gave bread on the house. When i asked a waiter, he shaked his head insensibly and walked away! But hey the food was actally great, as much as i wish it wasnt! The soup was too damn yummy to even let go of the last sip. The pizza (fantasia) where we removed coriander and added red pepper and pineapple was crispy and yummy! But it took us 30 mins to explain the toppings to the waiter.. no m not exaggerating! The MMafia pasta (spaghetti) was yummy too! Finally we found the manager who could comprehend the Queen's language a little and asked if we cud get bread but that person marketed a stuffed-bread starter which we were not very happy to have after the main course and so returned without eating. But hell we were charged on the bill and then removed after 30 to 40 mins of notice! If you dont have a lota time (and energy) in hand, don even consider this place...

Oh yea, all of a sudden the manager rushes with napkins and runs across our table laying it on our laps without an 'excuse me' or 'sorry'. Oh i forgot they don speak here! and this was just before desserts. After a good laugh, we asked for the desserts menu but it was cruly denied to us since we returned the stuffed garlic bread. We had to order caramel pudding as they said tiramisu wasnt available. But the geloto that was also not available to us was available to the next table! Well, its ok to lose yummy food but am not going here again! Ah btw, for the quantity served, the prices are ridiculous, even Osteria (which i heard is awesome) is cheaper it seems!

Ambiance - Frankly am confused :D so lets be safe and fair and say 3/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 2/5

Price - Definitely more than 1000 bucks with desserts (if available) for a couple

Will i go back again? - Not really, too many options are there now for veggie yummy italian.. there is still Osteria to try!

MMMafia
105, Chamiers Road,
2nd floor, R.A.Puram,
Chennai - 600028
Phone 64587777

But on second thoughts, its the ambiance and service that puts me off.. any chances of door delivery of the yummy food?

Aqua, The Park - Anna Salai

Luxury and comfort neednt mean the same!

I heard this place is too damn romantic and so fixed my very special date here.. i wudnt say i was disappointed mayb i jus expected too much .. watever said n done there's nothin romantic like Italian.. n this place isnt ...

We made a reservation for the poolside well i shudnt call them tables.. the bed by the poolside? its completely dark and it was rock music n bbq buffet since it was a Wednesday. Unfortunately we sat rite next to the bbq and dwelled in the heavenly smoke and smell all thro the eve. The music was awesome.. really perfect on the ears tho it was live in such a small place.. the pool was dull and boring.. too much darkness with a not so beautiful candle lite didn't really help.. the promised city view was a disappointment.. sitting in the beds twas not only tuff to eat from the small table (sharing the lamp) but also to watch the city...but yea was nice and cozy to lie down and yap!

Comin to the food, the guy who took our reservation on fone said that u cannot access the buffet inside if u reserve the poolside..huh! Now for veggies, the bbq had only 6 items exactly!..n i was wonderin if thts all my dinner is goin to be :( but fortunately the main course n desserts inside were allowed to be accessed.. not that there was any variety anyway.. jus one choice of rice, noodles, side dish and a couple or more of the usual desserts.. the bbq was good tho.. the lentil cutlet was awesome and a must try.. other than which was the usual paneer tikka, aloo skewer, etc. and of course the raw banana was quite a different attempt..

The service is ok .. its 5 star so u don have to worry about that.. the sunset margarita which aqua is known for was horrible! The other drinks were not any good either.. the chek is ofcourse too huge for the tiny place and tiny buffet..

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 3/5

Service - 4/5

Price - Well I paid around 4000 bucks including drinks, the buffet is aorund 1000 bucks i guess.

Will i go back again? - Ahem if i have the dough, sure why not? But i ve 601 and Lotus to try yet!

Aqua
The Park
601 Anna Salai,
Nungambakkam,
Chennai - 600034
Phone 42144000

Can try once for being in chennai n enjoyin luxury.. but not comfort.. and obviously nothing more..

Bay Leaf - Gopalapuram

Bay of Non-Bengal!

One of the restaurants in chennai i wanted to visit badly and suggested each time someone offered to gimme a treat ...bengali cuisine is something i felt was left unexplored by me. The place seems unnoticebable at first tho its rite behind the famous gangothri. The restaurant with very few tables, does LOOK crowded.

The ambiance is ok but somehow the chairs dont feel that comfy to sit down and have a nice chat. I take a look at the menu, quite a variety it seems. The veggie platter was tasty and filling for 4 of us. The other starters, say the different rolls were attractive, but the egg roll i ordered was placed bak to be taken to the kitchen rite after the first bite. But my friend said that the paneer roll was good. The Bengali menu was one whole page which was entirely unavailable according to the waiter! Can there be a better disppointment?

So the regular roti and side dish it was, painfully! The food was not very appetising, its not like u cant stop with one bite, in fact u will stop with one bite! The lucknowi biryani which was another speciality here was ok, no complaints but seriously noone was hungry after all this. The desserts were yummy, the jelebi tho wasnt authentic looking (had more south indian looks to it!) was freshly made and yummy but too damn sweet to handle.

Ambiance - 3/5

Food - 2/5

Service - 3/5

Price - around 500 to 600 bucks per couple

Will i ever go back? - I mite call them up and make sure the Bengali menu is available and then .. change my mind... na.. m not really eager to visit this place again watever it is!

Bay Leaf
14, 6th Street, Cathedral Road,
Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600086
Phone 28114557, 28114558

There is a 'Annapoorna from calcutta' in Egmore to taste authentic Bengali i hear... added to my hitlist!

Kumarakom - Velachery

Keralicious and more!

Great food Less expensive! A good place for the localites of Velachery to grab a quick and easy dinner while shopping in the so-many new outlets opened lately. Typical Kerala food. The appam is great. Try the egg fry and biryani and ofcourse the puttu and kadla curry or the stew. I prefer it with sugar tho! Yummy Yummy!

Dont miss the paratta that comes at 10 bucks, it's the softest i've known and i can eat a dozen of it! The place is definitely a delight for the fish eaters tho it does serve a variety to the veg/eggaterian tongues! Best thing about the restaurant is that it doesn't just serve kerala food but stuff like rotis, naan and the north indian gravies are awesome. I usually prefer only the specialities in a place but this one is an exception! I make sure to order some north indian items on the menu too. My only regret is that avial and some other mallu specialities are available only with the meal in lunch time and i mostly get to go only for dinner!

Service is very friendly and ambiance is pleasant too. The waiters do offer music to the ears quite literally. But some people say that its a CD player thats doin the work actually. I am not really sure about this. As for me, everything is yummy here and i jus love to hog and don really care bout nething else!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 4/5

Price - 200 to 300 for a couple for yummy tummy-filling food!

Kumarakom
Velachery Tambaram Road,
Vijayanagar Extn,
Velachery, Chennai - 600042
Phone 42022277, 43036570,
9840738200, 9840081852

I always have an ice-cream and walk out with a smile whenever i dine here :)

Little Italy Ristorante - Nungambakkam

Got the dough? go ahead!

Little Italy, the leader in the league of vegetarian Italian restaurants cropping up in the city, is situated in the basement of a building u wud never wanna think of having lunch/dinner at. The ambiance is nice fine dining. The waiters are professional. Be warned! Its a freakin expensive place! But for the money we pay, they can atleast buy a generator, the entire basement went dark wen the power went out and all they wud do to help the customers digging into their plates happily, were to hold out ancient outdated emergency lamps..

The food is awesome, i tried the 4 cheese risotto - yummy and heavy, and the mexican starters viz the quesadilla was actually tasting better than the Mexican restaurant in the city, but yea it wasnt realy really authentic tho, but lip-smacking. The drink zig-zag (pronounced chig-chag by the waiter :P) had watermelon n lychee mix and was not good! All items are priced at 300 to 400 in main course, 250 to 300 in the starters and the drinks (non-alcoholic) cost around 100 bucks or more. But yes, you can walk out tummy-filled heavy and content!

It's good to have great Italian food (and Mexican too) after long time, but the power-cut and the HUGE-bill makes me feel not so great about the place, mayb i ll try Osteria next time.

Ambiance - 3.5/5

Food 4.5/5

Service - 4/5

Price - Around 1000 bucks for a couple...

Will i go back? - Yea i will, wen i am really really hungry and have loads of cash!

Little Italy Ristorante
1/2 Eldorado Building,
Nungambakkam High Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034
Phone 42601234

But the eerie memory of a dark basement restaurant mite freak me out nuff to change my mind!

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.

Benjarong - Alwarpet

It IS simply WOW!

This place is just awesome in every way. Its probably the best restaurant i been to in chennai. First of all it has a different cuisine - Thai, which is getting popular only in recent times in Chennai. The ambiance is great and the service is just so wonderful you feel like a queen! The place is a bit expensive, but that comes for the premium quality food, service and ambiance i guess, its fair.

As for the food, its so yummy you can never get enough. Forgive my ignornace but the Thai names are too much to rem after so long and i don think its of any use unless i explain the ingredients in it. So lemme say in simple english, the beetle leaf thing they give in the beginning complimentary is awesome I loved it.

The pineapple fried rice is sweet but it is a must try here. I've been longing to have one like it since i had it and havent food an equal yet. I heard Lotus at The Park has awesome Thai food, shud try once. The noodles i had was a thick flat one and wasnt too impressive. The Thai red curry was perfect too. Wish I had space for some desserts cos they really sounded unique and yumm on the menu card but then i was too greedy about the food and had no choice but let go of the desserts. Went there again with a huge group of friends and had the same problem wen we reached desserts!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 4.5/5

Service - 4.5/5

Price - 500 for a couple (definitely more with desserts)

Will i ever go back? - Yes i will .. wen i itch for some yummy thai food (and cant afford the park)

Benjarong
146, TTK Road,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Phone 24322640, 42110061

If you ever get to taste the desserts, do lemme kno how it is....

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 :)

Rangoli - Pondy Bazaar

Death by Thali!

I definitely want to start this review quoting that this is by far the best food i have had in the city of chennai. Well no wonder it is from THE Saravana Bhavan, but surprisingly it aint authentic south indian food but tis authentic rajasthani/gujarati food!
Precaution: DO NOT EAT the entire day or if possible the day b4 too, so u have enough space to eat the entire thali. It is unbelievable that sucha high quality tasty fine dining experience at sucha restaurant is available at 170 bucks per thali which is UNLIMITED!

Coming to the food, dont hog on the starters. Beware! There is hella lota stuff comin from the kitchen served hot and yummy by the waiter with so much care as you would treat a guest at a wedding. But yes the starters are the yummiest of all especially the Veg roll and the Dhokla (irresisable)! The jal jeera with boondi is gr8 too.

The Thali has chapathi, poli, some 4 to 5 variety of side dishes like paneer butter masala, mixed dal gravy, a special sweet rajasthani gravy(which is too good). kesari, srikand, pickles(not the usual boring ones), and a lot more i cant remember now! Then comes hot hot puris, the dal kichdi and biriyani. After all this the waiter asks you if you need white rice for your curd (btw curd is too good dont miss it). Finally you get a pan too. But trust me, it is too hard to stop eating.
Nobody can not be stuffed with this meal not just because of the quantity but also the quality. Man! I can keep on writing let me stop here!

Ambiance - 4/5

Food - 5/5 (can i give a 6/5?)

Price - around 350 per couple and its freaking inexpensive considering the thali!

Service - 5/5 (feel like a princess!)

Will i go back again? - Yes i have already many times!

Rangoli
Hotel Saravana Bhavan
102, Sir Thyagaraya Toad,
Pondy Bazaar, T.Nagar,
Chennai - 600017

Go for dinner so you can have the poli and dal kichdi too!

Bombay Blue - Nungambakkam

You asked for it.. wannabe cream centre!

Upon invite to the Bombay Blue restaurant as they did on an effort to disprove my review on chennai.burrp.com, i went there for lunch with 2 of my friends. The food is on the house now that didnt make them think i ll come bak to review a 5 star here i hope. Before i forget to mention, the service has gone down already, the more the crowd the less they care about the customers, to the extent that they forget the invitees waiting for 30 mins (although reservation was made) and ask us politely if we need reservation! uh what? and yea the waiters stopped jumping at you (the rosy days were too short i guess) but now they start forgetting your drinks and compel you to order something else, wen u want something else! Some waiters dont even know the name of the dish they are serving, the guy brought us cheese amigos n said here are ur fish sticks! (we were 3 veggies at the table with a 'whaaaat?' on our face). Okay, lets taste the food now and try to forgive the service ...

Soup

Italian tomato - big white bowl - little soup in the bottom
we needed some croutons
'bread for the soup plz' - 'yes ma'm'
'excuse me we asked for some bread cubes' - 'sure ma'm'
'hello? our soup is getting cold' - we get nothing but a smile with a are-u-talking-to-me look!

Appetizers

Onion rings - no salt in tha batter compensated with chat masala on top! is that bombay isthyle????????
Nachos (a speciality here) - not available!
Mezze platter - soft pita bread, bad hummus, some tomato gravy indian style, good ranch
Cheese amigos - probably the only edible item in the menu we had to fill outselves with. (mozerrella-stick-looking jalepeno poppers)

Main course

Chenna Batura - No chenna 'shall we serve with paneer?' NO! plz! what do we look like, guinea pigs?
Veggie sizzler - not bad, but hmm personally i have lost my taste for and not gonna order sizzlers anymore anywhere (u mite wanna think its cos of this experience).
Chilli cheese baguette - soft bread but was it baguette?
Cottage cheese chimichanga - i don wnana decribe this particular dish, i might get brutal, wish i cud give less than one star to BB! It was so burnt and tasted of a yr old oil from some local tea shop bajji, oh well i jus said m not gonna talk about it! so shhh!
The penne pasta with red sauce - we were despertely looking fwd to this dish to bring life back to our dead tongues, but it was equally lifeless, flavorless and cold.

Drinks (That came very late since they forgot it the first time)

Lemon ice tea - pushed to a corner after the first sip
Lassi - passable
Cold coffee with icecream - who can make a mistake on this one? hmm.. ok lets say passable too ..
Orange sunshine - wowww!!! the savior of the day,, incredible drink not to miss .. did earn BB the one star!

Desserts

Apple crepe (or watever) - Not available
Peach melba - Not available
Brownie sizzler - typical cream centre material...good nuff
Hot Fudge Nut Sundae - more of vanilla but yea yummy
Malai Kulfi - was good but tooooooo sweet to handle..

If only i was asked to pay for this culinary torture! wouldnt put myself through this even if they pay me next time .. i hope there is not!

Ambiance - 5/5

Service - 2/5

Food - 1/5

Price - shud be around 500 for a couple

Will i ever go back? - Not even in my dreams!

Bombay Blue
College Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034
Phone: 044-43596633

Lets forget it as a one-time nightmare!

Cholayil Sanjeevanam - Nungambakkam

For all you health conscious ppl out there...

I was just riding through Nungambakkam looking for a NEW place to have my lunch. Suddenly i c a board popping outa nowhere saying sanjeevanam HEALTH restaurant! Now wat is that? Novelty! That is one good thing bout this place. A must try atleast once for everyone. Mind you, it is a health conscious restaurant dont expect a treat for your tongue here. and all you dieters NO NO this is not a reduce-belly-fat-in-10-days way of eating, its just a balanced diet.

Ok so i enter and the ambience is kewl fine dining with a lot of 'oldies' eating in banana leaf (i love it) but the atmosphere is completely sophisticated. The lunch they suggest for you is called the Rajakeeyam meals. First they serve you with banana and coconut and some 5 variety of juices which has to be taken in the order you are told to! i guess it included a nut milk, veg clear soup, bran milk, etc. everything except the nut milk was tasty.

Only after this the banana leaf is brought and served. One row of uncooked veggies (salad, raitha, puttu, etc.), one row of semi-cooked veggies (okra, olan, theeyal, etc.) and one row of cooked veggies (avial, thogayal, kootu, etc.). Now i dono what the puttu was doing in the veggies but that was the first thing i was asked to eat. The theeyal and thogayal were awesome. Everything else was typical Kerala style almost tasted home made. Things i skipped are keerai, banana stem kari, etc. Then comes rice (red and white) with sambhar, rasam, morkozhambu and buttermilk (not curd). I couldnt handle the red rice and since i already ate the veggies alone dint have much space to eat the white rice either.

In the end you need to drink payasam and a spoon of honey. Since i am not a very 'sweet' person I decided not to have it and the waiter called the manager. For a minute i freaked out thinking he was gonna force me to have it. For foodies like us who dont like to be told what to eat, this is not the place!

Anyways, this place is really nice, the meal costs 123 bucks including tax and the service is very good. If you dont want to go for this meal, you do have other options like a normal Indian restaurant in the menu too

Ambiance - 5/5

Food - 5/5

Service - 5/5

Price - 250 to 300 for a meal for two

My favourites - Rajakeeyam meals, evening snacks, health drinks

Will i go back? - Hit the place often for lunch, wen i urge a healthy meal..

Cholayil Sanjeevanam
97, Old No.45, Nungambakkam High Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034
Phone 64508427, 64508428

Pamper yourself with an ayurvedic massage if you please!

Bella Ciao - Kottivakkam

As Romantic .... As Italian

Probably one of the very few truly Italian restaurants in Chennai, of course has the romance that comes with every Italian restaurant attached to it. On the beach, open air, Italian food and awesome wine, everything to fall in love with. Best place to take your date and sip on some champagne. It is a bit expensive but the soothing sea breeze makes it all completely worth it!

PS: I dono if they are allowed to serve wine anymore. Try your luck tho!

Ambiance - 5/5

Food - 4/5

Service - 3/5

Price - 3/5

Will i go back? - Yes definitely for a special date.

Bella Ciao
4, Sree Krishna Enclave,
Water Land Drive, Valmiki Nagar,
New Beach, Kottivakkam,
East Coast Road, Chennai - 600041
Phone 24511130

Don forget to take your flowers!