Yet another review on eat-outs in Chennai!

This kind of a blog has probably been done to death with! However, I think I will add one more to the burgeoning list of reviews of eat-outs in Chennai.

During the past couple of months, I have had occasion to dine at The Rain Tree, The Lemon Tree, Cream Center, Palimar, Chit chat, Mansukh and Gyan Vaishnav Punjabi Dhaba – I guess that kind of covers quite a bit of spectrum on dining experience.

The Rain Tree

Well, it’s called a EcoTel Hotel, but I haven’t quite figured out how “green” they are. Guess there should be something in the way it works… The location is good, on St Mary’s road, near Park Sheraton.

The first time that I dined here was at “Rainbow”, the 24*7 restaurant. The buffet spread was good and I felt that the portions in the a-la carte menu were generous enough. The ambience was also great – muted lighting, tables far apart, the works. The bearers served with a smile and were attentive and literally spoilt us. However, recently, when I went to Rainbow again, this time taking my family for a dinner, I wasn’t happy at all. The restaurant now looks crowded, what with walkways filled with tables for 2 and 4 people. The stewards were a harried lot, though they smiled at you in a lovely manner, it was obvious that they had far too much to handle. The quality of the food remained as good as I remembered. However, when we go to a “Star Hotel”, we are paying not just for the food, but for the experience, and in that respect, Rainbow came down in estimation and referral value. If I wanted to eat in a place that was noisy and filled to brim with people, with servers too busy to serve, I would eat in HSB – the same kind of quality food, quick service, no ambience but value for money. Raintree – you better take note here.

The other restaurant that I have had occasion to visit in The Rain Tree was “Above Sea Level”, their rooftop restaurant. I must say, this was one cool place to be in, literally as well as figuratively. Only one thing that could be improved is that the stewards were not as attentive to Indian guests, vis-à-vis the foreign ones. I understand the all consuming Indian obsession for anything “phoren”, and possibly the higher tips that a “firang” can leave - but hospitality needs to be an impartial industry. But I enjoyed my experience there and Chennai never looked better than from up there.

A veggie meal for two, without liquor, should cost around Rs 1,600 here.

The Lemon Tree

This is a new hotel, which has come up near Raj Bhavan. Location-wise, my first feel is that it is in an unfortunate location – the road is a one-way and to reach the hotel from Anna Salai, you have to travel quite a distance. And there is this large tree almost obscuring the “out” gate, and which requires some tricky maneuvering, if you are in anything bigger than a hatchback.

We dined at their 24*7 café. I liked the ambience – the room was large, tables well spaced – but the best sell here is all the quotes, one liners, cartoons and jokes that they have on the walls, on the table mats and even in the restrooms! The stewards all but fell over themselves to serve us – to be expected, since we were the only brave souls to try it out! The uniforms were a perky yellow, which was the theme color throughout. The food wasn’t spectacular but it was obvious they were in the start up phase. Our steward was so proud of the hotel (first job?) that he took us on an impromptu tour of the ground level – we saw the cozy bar, the spotless kitchen (yes, I am not joking here) – we dropped a hint to the chef that maybe, just maybe, he wants to work a bit on the salt and spice… A good experience, but would want to wait and watch, once their start up is over for improvements!

A veggie meal for two, without liquor, should cost around Rs 1,000 here.

Cream Centre

This is not a new establishment and has quite a fan following. I wasn’t aware of it till about 6 months back though. We went there twice, once as a large group. They have quite a choice – despite being a pure veg eatout. I must say, the service is fast, no matter the size. The food is finger-lickin’ good. The Cream Centre Chola-Batura was out of the world, and so were the desserts! But maybe, if you are a health freak, you should not go here – everything is loaded with cheese – Italian, Mexican – its all desi here, with cheese to cover any hiccups!!!!

A meal for two should cost around Rs 800 here.

Palimar

Again, an old establishment, though with a new look now. More suited for office-goers on the lookout for a quick meal-deal. The food is okey-dokey – don’t expect dazzlingly new items here – only a choice of Thalis and a few a-la carte items. The thalis are preferable and are adequate.

A meal for two should cost around Rs 500 here.

Chit Chat

Located on Anna Salai opposite Anna Arivalayam, at first look, you think it’s a coffee shop. It has a tiny restaurant packed in though. The food is not spectacular, nor bad – it’s just indifferent. The prices though are a different story – maybe they are recovering the rent is what you end up feeling.

Go only if you don’t have a choice otherwise - a meal for two would cost around Rs 700-800.

Mansukh

A veg restaurant in T Nagar, which serves both chat and thali items, it is busy at any time of the day. The chat section downstairs works on self service and the meals section upstairs thankfully has someone to do the running. It’s an inexpensive hangout, but the quality has declined compared to what it was earlier. I have visited this place around a dozen times, over the years, and I feel that the taste isn’t what it used to be. Maybe its part of the strategy to stop people from asking for seconds in an unlimited thali, still – you expect a certain standard, which is missing of late. Hope they ramp back to their original score soon!

A meal for two will cost around Rs 300-400.

Gyan Vaishnav Punjabi Dhaba

This is near the old Anand theatre on Anna Salai – pure veg, authentic Punjabi Khana. I have a soft spot for this place, I admit – it is fast becoming my most visited place J The service is super quick – this is not the place for people who want to linger over their lassis! All you order is on your table in “punch minut”. The food is the talking point here, it scores over any Dhaba in the city – all of which present some greasy, paneer loaded stuff as “Punjabi food”. Not here though! People who have eaten authentic Punjabi Khana elsewhere and sample it again in Gyan Vaishnav would agree. It’s really a “filling” experience to dine here. Don’t look for ambience or any of the works – it’s a dhaba plain and simple, with super food.

Their Punjab-Di-Beer (A bottle full of super buttermilk) and Rabri-with-Laloo-free (rabdi rasmalai sweet), not to mention Kashmiri Pulao is awesome. So are the rotis and parathas. But the gravies are not for the health conscious – sometimes, you may want to strain out the oil before sampling!!!! And yes, the portions aren’t as large as you would expect – diminutive at best. But it’s not as expensive, so you say “Chalta Hai”. I have never had to spend more than 40 minutes in this place, and the quickest out time was 20 minutes!!!

A meal for two should cost around Rs 500 here.

This kind of wraps up my recent dining experiences, but there is more to follow….keep you posted!