Eating out Guide to Chennai

The dismal 'eating-out scene' in Chennai when it was Madras has distinctly changed for the better though there is much scope for improvement, to put it mildly. There is still a tendency to make red, brown or beige heavy 'curries' all tasting the same but with ponderous names like Gosht Lajawab and Murgh Gulbahar - names that leave you in the dark about the taste, colour or flavour of the dish except for its overcooked protein content. So if this review appears a trifle over-critical, rest assured it is not -- though it is necessarily a subjective stroll through the mine-field of overspiced, over-hyped, over-cooked gastronomic delights or otherwise, with memories of Enos Fruitsalt, Gelusil and sleepless nights induced by overindulgence. Really good food in a restaurant is a memory that stays with you for many years, not necessarily in five-star hotels -- my best memories are those of Pindi Restaurant, Kakeda-Hotel, Kareems of Jama Masjid and Standard at Regal, all from Delhi -- and regrettably I have never managed to duplicate those memories (nay, emotions) of years long gone, in Chennai. However, with some diligence and ferreting, it is possible to find reasonable places to eat in Chennai. I will describe them geographically, starting with those which are closest to my workplace at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Adyar/Taramani area The nearest restaurants to the Institute are in the Adyar region (other than Ascendas (see below) so its fair to say none of them is quite within walking distance. What follows below is, as I have already stressed above, a necessarily subjective (and biased!) view of the eating out 'scene' in Chennai aka Madras. You are welcome to disagree with me but don't tell me about it. However, if you do find a first class eating place, do tell me and I will include it in the next update after checking it out. Ascendas Planet Yumm Food Court One of the more recent additions to the Tidel Park/CPT campus area, this is a nice food court offering Chinese, Kerala, North and South Indian food, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut etc. along with a fresh juicesi, chaats and coffee parlour. Its run by the same group (Oriental Cuisines) that runs the Planet Yumm in Besant Nagar beach. Take the first right after you pass Tidel (coming from Madhya Kailash) and you will see the huge Ascendas software complex. The food court is inside and is open to outsiders. Kwality Riviera and Aditya are two restaurants offering generic North Indian/Punjabi fare. In addition Aditya also has a bar. However, food-wise, Kwality Riviera is distinctly superior and offers a no-nonsense Punjabi/Tandoori menu which is good, wholesome and cheap. Dinner for two will set you back about Rs. 250. Aditya also has a bar called the Black Pearl but its best to sit at the restaurant and order your drink. This is, in fact, the closest watering hole to the institute. Another is called, unbelievably, Shastri Nagar Sharks (no, I am not kidding!) and is just a bit less depressing and sleazy than Black Pearl. What is it that makes 'bars' in Chennai dark, dingy depressing places -- something left over from the old 'speakeasy' days of Prohibition America! Some deep-seated guilt-ridden complex! For vegetarians and those who like a taste of the South, Adyar has some good south Indian vegetarian places. Ramprasad in Kasturba Nagar (take a right at the Ceebros traffic light and go about half a km) is a reasonable place for standard South Indian fare like thalis and idlis and dosas and vadas. The food quality is variable and the prices will set you back about Rs. 150-200 for two. Vaigai Woodlands (formerly Adyar Woodlands) at Adyar junction has some

of the best Rava idlis and idlis in this part of town but their A/C 'Hall' is dark, dingy and pretty depressing. Don't go there if you are fussy about ambience. However, you can't beat their idlis and coffee. Sangeetha next to the Odyssey bookstore is also a great place for good vegetarian food, thalis and snacks and south Indian coffee that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. A similar place is Vasanta Bhavan on Lattice Bridge Road which, I am told, serves decent South Indian snacks and coffee. No personal experience though. The best traditional non-veg food (i.e. what used to be 'military hotel' style food) is Ponnusamy A/C in Vannandurai on the way to Besant Nagar. (The original is in Royapettah, just past the Music Academy). You can order their Crab Masala, their special Mutton Pepper Fry, their biryani, make a proper pig's non-veg lunch out of it and not pay more than about Rs.100 ! Excellent value for money for this style of food. First Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, just behind the Bus Terminus a little way up from Food World is Kumarokam a proper Kerala place with everything from Puttu, Fish Moilee, Appams, Karimeen Fry, Karimeen Pollichatthu and so on - cheap and good though they tend to make their Moilee a bit sweet. Watch out though when the owner takes the mike and starts belting out old Hindi film songs ! He has a pleasant baritone (I suspect he doesn't sing them at all -- just lip-syncs) but the place has neither the ambience nor the space for this kind of entertainment. Prices in the range of about Rs. 200 - 250 for two. (There is now a 'branch' at Velacheri, past the Vijaynagar bus terminus). Next to it in the basement below Nuts and Spices is Mr. G's which serves pastas and burgers, soups and salad and is a pleasant little diner if it weren't for the fact that there are no windows. Nice service, decent pasta, but excessive dependence on chicken and a bit of fish - no lamb, beef, pork so tends to become a tad monotonous. Good place like Kumarokam to take visitors of the institute out to lunch. On Lattice Bridge Road (also known by its acronym LB Road - most auto-rickshaw drivers know only the acronym!), opposite IMCOPS are two restaurants - Usilampatti serving chettinad style food and above it Jus' Parathas serving every possible type of stuffed paratha. Food at the former tends to be extremely spicy and hot unless you order their stews. You can't beat Jus' Parathas for originality (everything from cheese to scallion to radishes they stuff) and they come with Chole, Dal Makhni and Raita so one dish (around Rs. 60) is a meal in itself. Unfortunately, for a fuss pot like me, the stuffings are too spicy and they are stuffed in like into a Pita Bread. I believe stuffed parathas in the Indian tradition should be stuffed before rolling out not after. But most people seem to like the place (what do they know, anyway) so I guess I am in a minority! On LB Road near the Jayanthi Theatre crossing is the old discreetly situated Japanese restaurant Akasaka - excellent food and horribly overpriced (you will spend at least Rs. 700 per person (without alcohol) and remain hungry at the end of it). However if you are really dying for good and beautifully presented Japanese food, this is it. Sanjeevanam on First Avenue Indira Nagar is a pure vegetarian place with loads of attitude where food is served acoording to strict Ayurvedic precepts. Its best to take their thali and allow them to offer you a series of cooked and raw vegetables, salads, ending with red (unpolished) rice and sambar. You will also get a running commentary about how these foods have been properly balanced to do your gastric system (nay, your whole system) a world of good. Its well organised enough to make you feel like you are already glowing with health by the time you finish. Not a bad place to take (vegetarian) visitors though. Alwarpet/R.A.Puram area If you are now ready to venture further afield, a whole new world of restaurants awaits you.

Dhaba Express on Cenotaph Road (after you come down the Kotturpuram bridge and past the Cenotaph Road traffic signal) has a good vegetarian lunch buffet which is great value for money at Rs. 51. (You can order non vegetarian dishes separately). It has a large number of items, and while they don't have interesting vegetables (mostly brinjal, potatoes, koftas, couple of salads), they are reasonably made and not, for once, overspiced and there are rustic wooden benches and tables where you can sit in the open air. They also have a restaurant which is reasonable. The buffet is immensely popular with the office going crowd so it gets quite crowded at lunch on weekdays but there is sufficient seating. In addition, Dhaba Express also offers good hearty, reasonably authentic Punjabi food, including the 'must-have' sarson-da-saag and makke-di-roti. Evenings are also a nice time to go with open air seating (on 'authentic' charpoys if you so desire) and old Hindi songs playing. Nice informal atmosphere. Opposite Dhaba Express is the new (well, not so new) and rather pretentiously named Cornucopia serving Europen style food, salads and soups including Cous-Cous and the like. The only time I was there, their lettuce was limp and everything we ordered was doused (and I mean doused!) in a heavy brown sauce. Difficult to taste the food when the brown sauce flavour masks everything. The largest number of restaurants though, in terms of density, is on TTK Road (known earlier as Mowbrays Road). About half a kilometer from Park Sheraton Hotel, on TTK Road itself is a Thai restaurant called Benjarong (Five Colours - Pancharanga). When I first reviewed it here when it had just opened, I had said "The food is great and authentic Thai since they fly in most of their ingredients, the interior decoration is lovely, and the tables have vases with real orchids. The culinary aspect is overseen by a father and daughter team from Thailand and you will frequently see her in the evening cutting up fruits in beautiful shapes and designs. Portions are reasonable, and a meal for two with soup and dessert comes to around Rs. 700. Try their unusual desserts like Tim Tub Siam - Ruby Water Chestnuts in Coconut Milk. One of the best mid-range restaurants in Chennai today." Alas, I have to say, that most of the above is no longer true (in other words, its decayed like all Chennai restaurants that start off well -- what is it - the weather???). First of all, even an ordinary restaurant in Bangkok or elsewhere in Thailand will have fresher ingredients, particularly the fish. Most of the time, the fish in Benjarong clearly appears out of a freezer, going by the taste. The orchids are long gone, replaced by the usual Chennai staple of wilting zinnias. The beautiful Thai costumes of the waiters have been replaced by the syandardissue ill-fitting white shirt and black trousers. The food is still reasonable provided you are not fussy and don't compare with food in Thailand. And as usual, as in all Chennai restaurants, 'fish' means banjaram ( i.e seer or surmai) banjaram and more banjaram. They have never heard of anything else. Why can't chefs in Chennai take that little extra trouble to have a wider selection of sea food? It all boils down to the fact that Chennai diners couldn't care less - banjaram, pomfret, squid, bottle gourd, pumpkin - its all the same to them! Off TTK road (i.e perpendicular to it in front of the Park Sheraton exit is St Mary's Road. This now has Chennai newest 'Eco Hotel' run by the Ceebros group. It has an excellent buffet downstairs along with a bar-cum-restaurant serving a variety of foods which are very good everything from Punjabi Khana to Lebanese dishes. Very pleasant place to visit without that overpowering Five Star ambience. They also have a roof top restaurant, Above Sea Level which has a great view of the city and a not so great limited menu of (mostly) kebabs and rotis and a sprinkling of 'European' dishes, each of these typically costing around Rs. 300-400 . In my opinion, vastly overpriced, for what you get, and no, the view is not a compensation. The

excuse apparently is that most of their meat and fish are imported from places like New Zealand (steaks) to Norway (Salmon) and so on. Well, if you like your food well frozen, do go there. Along TTK Road, opposite Sankara Hall is a whole slew of restaurants of all varieties and varying quality. Kabul professes to be the place for North West Frontier food but actually is one of those generic kabab and roti places but is not a bad place for such things. Duchess claims to serve so-called 'Continental' food and is a place best avoided by people from the Continent, and in fact elsewhere! Cathedral Road/R. K. Salai/Gopalapuram area TTK Road crosses a major Road of Chennai at the Music Academy crossing - its called Radhakrishnan Salai on the right and Cathedral Road on the left. On the left as you get onto Cathedral Road right at the corner is a multiplex of 4 restaurants (the West has multiplex theatres, Chennai has multiplex restaurant complexes). Baahar (now renamed Roomalli) is (no prizes for guessing) an open air place offering generic North Indian and Mughlai fare - the food has remained at a fairly decent level for many years and costs about Rs. 200 per person. They will occassionally agree to serve you beer in steel tumblers. Nizam serves (or rather claims to serve) the famed cuisine of Hyderabad but tends to fall flat on its face quite often! Palki has nice decor and absolutely ghastly food. Amravati offers Andhra cuisine and is a typical banana leaf place with mediocre food. In addition Coconut Lagoon serves food from Kerala and is cheap and good. As you go further up Cathedral Road on the right are three restaurants - Don Pepe, Copper Chimney and China Town. The first serves Mexican and Spanish food along with some 'Euro-Mex" combos. Its good value for money and their platters are very nice - typical platters are around Rs. 150 and with a salad shared by two, makes for a satisfying meal. Try their Chicken and Avocado Salad. They have maintained their standards for quite some time now. Their Mousse is laced with gelatine and is consequently too stiff. They have recently added 'American' food to their repertoire (did I hear someone say 'What's that?') which means stuff like roast rack of lamb, clam chowder, baked sea bass and so on. However they spoil it by serving prawns instead of clams in the chowder and the only fish they (or, for that matter, any restaurant in Chennai) seem to have heard of is Seer (Banjaram) - so the variety of fish in the menu is quite limited. Their Spanish/Mexican is still the better bet, I think. (If you live near Anna Nagar, a 'xerox' copy of this place is Picasso with an almost identical menu - not surprising since its run by the same people.) Copper Chimney offers again generic North Indian/Mughlai food - good but somewhat overpriced like its cousin in Mumbai. China Town is a reasonably good Chinese restaurant. In both these restaurants, be prepared to shell out around Rs. 350-400 or more for two. Next to these three eating places is a new 'Spanish Tavern' -- a Tapas Bar called Zarra - a rather classy bar with a wonderful collection of snacks (prawn croquettes, grilled lamb chops, grilled fish and prawn all made very well) and a lot of cocktails and beer but alas, no wine as you might expect in Chennai. The music is a bit loud but its the only resonably priced watering hole in Chennai with a pleasant decor and atmosphere. Beware though - they expect men to wear shoes not sandals, slippers or loafers though women are allowed to wear anything (I mean on their feet, of course). If instead of turning left onto Cathedral Road you turned right onto Radhakrishnan Salai then within about a kilometer, there are again a whole host of restaurants. The New Woodlands hotel on the left is something of an institution here and serves excellent South Indian thalis and the usual run of dosas, idli, vadas and so on. Again, typical of a place of this kind. it also serves excellent South Indian filter coffee. The Savera hotel on the left has Minar which

serves Mughlai food and is highly overpriced. The Piano is a multi-cuisine restaurant - always a danger in Chennai since it frequently implies a lack of understanding on the part of the cooks of any of the cuisines. Piano has its share of Chinese, Continental and Indian dishes. Its continental fare smacks, as with many restaurants in India, of the Raj era with its collection of Chicken a la Kiev, Chicken a la King and so on. Unfortunately the fare is on the heavy side, much of it laced with garlic, cream, mayonnaise used with a heavy hand. The sea food salad, which could easily be made light and tasty is doused with huge amounts of mayonnaise making it cloyingly heavy. The a la Kiev has the butter reeking of garlic. Overall the place has good potential but is spoiled by the lack of a light and sensitive approach to spices and fat. About Rs. 450 at least, for food without alcohol. Piano also has a fairly reasonable buffet in the evenings. Cilantro in the same hotel is a low oil, low spice health food place. Malgudi in the same hotel serves food from the four Southern states and is better than similar restaurants elsewhere. However its not cheap and a meal without alcohol can cost anything between Rs. 400-500. Leaving Savera behind and moving on, we reach the Karaikudi complex. This has three main restaurants. Karaikudi provides good Chettinad food from the region of Karaikudi in Southern Tamil Nadu. For those of you who think eating non-vegetarian Indian food outside means Tandoori Chicken, kababs and naans, this is the place to try for something different. The food and ambience are refreshingly different and definitely worth a visit - about Rs. 250 for two. A popular item amongst most of our visitors in the Quail (Kadai) roast. Shogun is a generic Chinese place but also has a sprinkling of Thai, Singapore, and Malaysian cuisines. Coastline is a pure fish place - a bit cramped but their fish is fresh and their fish salad and Malabar Fish Curry are worth trying. They have recently expanded their bill of fare and have a fairly large variety of sea food. Their mixed sea food platter is quite nice but very expensive - the full platter varies in cost depending on availability - the last time we were there it was Rs. 1500 and enough to be shared among 3 people. They also have large crabs but again these are very expensive. All these places are in the same price range otherwise for the standard items. On the right hand side, facing the Karaikudi complex (almost!) is Saravana Bhavan Fast Foods. Saravana Bhavan is something of an institution in Madras and specialises in Thalis and other fast food items. Regrettably, my personal opinion in this matter is somewhat contrary to that of the general public - I think these Saravana Bhavan chain of restaurants is highly over-rated and there are numerous other places in Madras serving better Thalis and Idlis and dosas. Further down, closer to Marina Beach, on this road (R. K. Salai) is a brand new Mall in faux Saracenic style the Chennai Citi Centre. This has now various reasonable restaurants. On the third floor is Zyng - Asia Grill a Chinese/Vietnamese/Thai/ or generally South East Asian restaurant with a rather pleasant minimalist decor and an interesting menu of dishes from the above regions. A typical meal is about Rs. 400 but the portions are large and satisfying, though there is a tendency to use soya sauca with a heavy hand, particularly in the Chinese dishes. On the mezzanine floor above is a very noisy food court filled with bawling children and adult shoppers making equal amounts of noise while stuffing sustenance into their mouths prior to embarking on their next round of shopping. (What is it about Indians that makes then gravitate towards any eating outlet irrespective of whether they are hungry or not - (and with scant concern for their already over-extended girth) -- maybe some primeval reaction, a throwback to the days when India had many (more) starving people). But I digress. Go up another half floor to the fourth floor and you reach LV4, an entertainment

centre cum dining area where the food is a mish mash of Thai, Chinese, Chettinad (or was that Kerala?) cuisine. Not exactly a gourmet dining experience but not a bad place to snatch a bite to eat. Typically Rs. 400 per person. Nungambakkam area On one of the main arterial roads of Chennai called Nungambakkam High Road (recently renamed Mahatma Gandhi Salai but nobody, least of all auto drivers, will know that name) there are a few restaurants which are reasonable. Opal Inn, which is part of Hotel Ranjith is an old haunt for all types of cuisine - Indian, Continental, Chinese. The food is unremarkable but if you are in that region and want a reasonable place to grab a bite, you could try it. Ranjith Hotel roof top boasts a kabab place which is very good and, unusual for Madras, serves beer. Just in from of Ranjith is Aiwo a Sushi bar kind of place but vegetarian -- you pick up a host of choices from a moving conveyor belt. Rather nice. Their a la carte menu has non veg items, though. Further up is Cascade - a Chinese place which again offers some South Eastern cuisine like Sapo and Satay. Not too authentic though - they tend to substitute lemon for lemon grass - but if, like most Chennai residents, you don't know the difference, then its not a bad place to eat. The food, after all, doesn't taste bad! Their Steam Boat, in fact, is rather good and is a good satisfying meal for two. There is now a copy of Cascade in Besant Nagar so you might want to try that since its closer to the institute. Nungambakkam also boasts (?) of Pizza Hut in Chennai in the Gee Gee complex along with one in Kasturbai Nagar, Adyar, and has its 'desi' version too - Pizza Corner . Facing the famed bookstore of Chennai, Landmark, (on Nungambakkam High Road) on the other side of the road is the new 3 storeyed snazzy Ispahani shopping Centre. Here there is Marrybrown, a fast food place reviewed further down. On Khader Nawaz Road, off Nungambakkam, you will find the 'Chennai chapter' of the famous French Restaurant of Pondicherry Le Club. I haven't been there yet so can't vouch for the food but I suspect that the 'Chennai effect' will be in operation there viz no wine or any other spirits and poorer quality food than that available at its Pondicherry cousin's. Casa Piccolo of Bangalore fame has an outlet here and, expectedly, not as good. They never have the beef in the menu so one is stuck with more chicken and lamb (which is mutton). Their fish is also limited and, yes, you guessed it, its mostly Banjaram (Seer) and prawn. In the same general area around where Haddows Road meets Nungambakkam is Little Italy - a wonderful little eatery for (you guessed it!) Italian food but purely vegetarian! If you go further up Nungambakkam High Road where it merges into Valluvar Kottam Road towards Egmore, there is the Red E Food Court - a food court as its name suggests, offering a variety of cuisine like Thai, Mexican, Indian etc. Reasonable value for money and for some reason, kids love the place. T Nagar/Pondy Bazaar area On Thyagaraja Road (Pondy Bazar Road) just after turning in from Mount Road is the GRT Grand Days hotel (which used to be part of the Days Inn group in the US -- who now have a collaboration with Deccan Plaza Hotel in Royapettah). This has good value for money restaurants and also a decent buffet for about Rs. 250. The Copper Point serves Indian food including the not-so-common South Indian dishes like Fish Moilee and the like. About Rs. 250-300 per person. (I think this is one of the best general purpose restaurants to take say, visitors to, since the food and the price are both reasonable and you also have the option of having beer or other spirits). The Oriental Pearl serves Thai and Chinese food in the same

price range and has a fairly wide variety of items. A small sprinkling of other South-East Asian dishes from Malaysia, Japan etc., are on the menu but are sometimes not available. A nice starter is their Chicken Satay. Their coffee shop Any Time buffet is really very good and worth the money (Rs. 400 or so) and it's right there in the lobby area. OVerall good value for money and though not cheap, far lower than five star places. Besant Nagar area Here is a sprinkling of a few other places you could try in Besant Nagar near the beach (called Elliot's beach). Eden restaurant near the Besant Nagar bus terminus is a pleasant pure vegetarian place which serves a wide variety of North Indian and baked (continental?) items - some quite interesting. For example, they have the vegetarian version of Spaghetti and Meat Balls by substituting Soya Nugget balls for the meat balls. They get full marks for novelty though not all their dishes are a resounding success. Close by is also the new dandified 'avatar' of Sri Krishna Vilas called Vishranti which offers good South Indian Thalis, Dosas and Idlis and other such snack items at reasonable prices. Worth a visit if you want a nice place to sit and good South Indian vegetarian food and excellent filter coffee. Another place nearby, close to Eden is the oddly named Jelly Belly - its like a Delicatessen serving vegetarian snacks and desserts (why does Chennai have so many vegetarian 'yuppie' places?). They have grilled toasts, club sandwiches (what's a vegetarian club sandwich?) and a fair selection of strawberry, chocolate and other more exotic items like custard apple mousses. Absolutely delicious!!! Its run by the same family that runs Eden and, if you don't mind the absence of animal protein, they do it quite well. There is also a Chinese place nearby called Canton Beach Palms - serving the usual Chinese menu available in so many places. The place is nice and airy and prices are about Rs. 150 per person. A few other places are worth mentioning. Cake Walk in Besant Nagar is a bakery next to Vishranti and has very nice pastries and Tira Misu. (Avoid their Mousse - much too gelatinous). And just above is Pasta and Noodles which as its name suggest has the standard collection of Continental food - from Chicken Cacciatore to Lamb Chops in Mint Sauce. However the food and ambience are rather pleasant though nothing exceptional. I would suggest coming down the stairs to have your dessert at Cake Walk (its part of the same establishment). In the same general area and on the same road is Cascade which is a 'branch' of the one in Nungambakkam and Lotus Pond specialising in the 'Balti Cuisine' of England - to my knowledge, a non-existent category of cuisine, developed entirely in England from a mish mash of Indian curry places. In the same area is a 'branch' of Karaikkudi already mentioned above. (Karaikkudi now has branches all over the city, including on East Cost Road, Anna Nagar, and Velacheri) Around the same area and opposite the Nilgiri Shopping Mall is Giorgio which is a sort of all-in-one restaurant with platters from everywhere -- from France to Brazil to the Cameroons to Creole cooking. As for authenticity -- didn't I tell you this was a Madras (Chennai) Eating out guide? Right on Elliot's beach is a food court called Planet Yumm containing Dominoes Pizza, Sangeetha Bhavan, Wang's Kitchen, Haveli, and Cafe Coffee Day. There is also a nice children's play area and it's pleasant to visit in the evenings and sit outside with the sea close by. Again on Kotivakkam beach at the end of Valmiki Nagar is Bella Ciao which is an Italian Trattoria (for want of a bettr description) run by a Italian couple settled in Chennai (why?). Excellent Italian food, very authentic with proper al dente pasta (no, that's not something that breaks your teeth) and has a wide selection of sea food, the ubiquitous chicken and lamb

(meaning mutton) and, wonder of wonders, pork and beef - two 'carnis' that are impossible to find in fair Chennai except in five star hotels, perhaps so as not to hurt the sensibilities of hard core Hindus and Muslims. Their white sauce is not a gooey mash of maida mixed hurriedly with water and milk. And even more enticing, they do offer, other than beer, some version of French and Italian wine. All this in a nice garden in an old(ish) house near the Kotivakkam beach. Getting to this place is a bit non trivial so please ask, its impossible for me to give directions. Miscellaneous places On Ambujambal Street in Alwarpet there used to be a restaurant in an old style bungalow with a very pleasant setting called Bay Leaf. This has now moved to the road that branches off from Cathedral Road immediately to the left of Gangotree, perhaps 50-100 m inside on the left. Run by a Punjabi-Bengali couple, it has a combination of Punjabi and Bengali items on the menu and they have a pleasant place to sit in the verandha. Most things are well made and they have a take out and delivery called 'Wish-a-dish'. Their speciality is supposed to be Lucknowi biryani and various kebab items and kathi rolls. Typically Rs. 300 for two which is very reasonable for the quality and quantity of food. Even though the food is 'North Indian', its a far cry from the overspiced, heavy and oily food that is passed off as Punjabi-Mughlai cuisine nowadays, virtually everywhere, and particularly in Chennai which doesn't know any better. Note: La Madeleine aso featured here in this area has now closed and like the Arab in the story, folded up its tent and stolen silently away. There is a place which deserves star billing, though its a trifle expensive. This is the Great Kabab Factory at the Hotel Radisson on GST Road on the way to the airport (just before Trident). This has a fixed menu of 5 types of kababs (2 chicken, 2 mutton, one fish) which are served freshly made at your table with a selection of speciality breads (Sheermal, Bakarkhani Roti, Kulcha..). Their Galauti Kabab is a delight and is made with literally melt in the mouth mutton mince. You are allowed second servings for each though I doubt you will have space for them. They also serve, at the end, two types of Dal, vegetables and a wonderful Chicken or Mutton Biryani but most of the time I have had no space left for any of this. The bad news is that it costs Rs. 440 per head which is steep but, IMHO, worth it. Finally one should mention a new Lebanese/Mediterranean place called Cedars in Kotturpuram near the ICICI bank counter. Nice ambience, good food (they make their own Kabooz - a kind of Pita) and have lots of different kinds of Kebabs. Try their appetisers like Hummus and Eggplant dips. The place is not as good as the old Whistle Stop but it is at least something different. They have recently added other Mediterranean items to their menu which makes it much better and real value for money. They even have Falafel which few places in Chennai seem to have heard about, considering the city is so vegetarian in its outlook. About Rs 350 per person. They also have a buffet lunch I believe on weekdays, for Rs. 275 but I have no experience with it. They will even prepare a authentic hookah with exotic tobacco for you so that you can puff your way through dinner! Five Star Places: I can't afford most 5-star places so this list will necessarily be very selective. The Dakshin at Park Sheraton serves cuisine of the four southern states. The Peshawari at the Chola Sheraton serves North West Frontier food and is very good; however you better go there with a fat wallet, or plastic money (with no worries of paying the bill when it comes) or with green-backs which automatically give you a 50:1 advantage! The Raintree at the Connemara serves Chettinad food under a huge raintree and is also worth a visit. The buffets at the Chola Sheraton at the Mercara and Sagari are of course worth the money if you are a large eater - they typically cost around Rs.

400. But watch out - all these 5-star places slap a 20% tax on your bill which can be a substantial increase in your expense. Hip Asia in Taj Coromandal is a new South and Far East Asian 'hip' place. Spartan decor, a Teppanyaki bar (where the chef will dish out your choice of Japanese food, chopping, mixing, arranging, beautifying your order, while you watch your dish tranform, under his expert ministrations, from a chrysalis to a beautiful butterfly). Their Thai food is also excellent. The Teppanyaki bar is around Rs. 1200 per person without alcohol and the a la carte menu will cost you around Rs. 800 per person. Recently they have introduced a Rs. 375/Rs. 350 (nonveg/veg) lunch deal which is excellent value for money and gives a selection of Appetisers, Soup, two main courses, rice or noodles and dessert, in a choice of Vietnamese, Malaysian or Thai cuisines. Taj Fisherman's Cove at Covelong Beach, around 20km from Chennai off the East Coast Road is another place that deserves star billing, just for their Sunday Brunch Buffet at the Sea Gull Restaurant. It has the most wondrous sea food salad bar with items which would be 'normal' in any other coastal city in the world, like fresh clams, mussels, prawns, squid but which you be hard put to find in Chennai! You can gorge yourself just on the sea food in the salad bar and give the Makhani Murgh and such like a complete miss. It comes with complimentary Sparkling Wine (some little known German brand) and Indian beer. All this comes to Rs. 900 plus taxes but I believe its worth it once in a while - far better than any of the Rs. 500 buffets you get in the city's five star restaurants. A new place on Greenways Road near Music College Time called Coffee? is a coffee parlour inspired, no doubt, by Starbucks and offers other than the usual vegetarian snack items, a wide variety of coffees from around the world - Thai, Italian, Colombian, Turkish - you name it. All of them cost Rs. 30 and its a popular hangout for the (very) young yuppie crowd - on the whole a nice and cheerful place (if you are not too conscious of your grey hairs) run by a couple of very friendly young guys. They even have a few books and tank tops on display and sale!! In the same vein, there is a very yuppie joint called Qwicky's in T. Nagar on G. N. Chetty Road. Coming from Panagal Park, pass the Vani Mahal Circle and its almost immediately on your right. They have numerous brands of coffee and snacks and is a favourite hang out for college kids. If you are on the wrong side of 30, you are going to feel like a grandfather, in there!! Ice Cream parlours: These are becoming really popular in Chennai. The closest to the Institute is the one above Adyar Bakery on Sardar Patel Road called Shakes and Cream very nice and reasonably priced - though their interior decorator should be fired! On the other side on First Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, near the Bata showroom is Baskin Robbins which is also good but with the Fatherland connection, feels justified in charging high prices. There is Chill Thrill in Kasturbai Nagar opposite Khana Khazana Restaurant (mentioned above). There is another in Besant Nagar which is supposed to be good but since I have never been there, I have forgotten the name! Baskin Robbins at Adyar Circle is best avoided - the prices are high and the ice cream is not very good. Finally, last but not the least, Hotel Runs (don't take the name seriously) is a Kerala Muslim 'Irani' like restaurant which has the cheapest, good Tandoori items - a half chicken Tandoori costs about Rs. 50. But perhaps, if you are finicky about where you eat, you should ask them to pack the food...

Fast Food Places

There are suddenly a lot of fast food places in Chennai. In Adyar itself, there's Pizza Corner at the start of LB Road, with bad pizza but I believe with some specials which include bottomless Pepsi, Pizza Hut (yes, the original) with nice ordinary and pan pizza, a salad bar, spaghetti and so on but fairly high prices for a fast food joint - around Rs. 300 for two. However they occassionally have special deals advertised in newspapers and those are good value for money. Its located along Kamaraj Avenue wherein you turn right from Sardar Patel Road at the Ceebros Arcade on the Kasturba Nagar side. Further down is Domino's (yes, again the original) whose pizzas are far better than those of the home grown variety and, in fact, better than Domino's own pizzas in the US!! Also cheaper than Pizza Hut (a regular with 3 toppings is Rs. 79) and you can order them from the Institute (1-600-111-123 toll free). There is also a Pizza Hut in the Gee Gee Emerald complex on Nungambakkam High Road where also, opposite the Landmark bookstore is the Ispahani shopping complex. This has MarryBrown a Kentucky Fried Chicken clone from Malaysia, but its chicken burgers and fried chicken are not bad at all. They have now expanded their menu with some Malaysian stuff like Laksa which is a broth containing noodles, hard boiled eggs, chicken and other sundry stuff which is rather good and filling (makes a nice lunch) and some chicken/rice platters which are also fine for a light lunch. Among the better fast food places in Chennai in this class. Just above on the first floor is the Coffee Day coffee parlour - good coffee, nice ambience and a pleasant view from the large glass plate windows. Not much to eat though and the noise, both from the chattering yuppies and the loud music can get on your nerves. If you don't mind driving a bit a lot of reasonable places have sprung up on East Coast Road -- this is the road that goes towards Mahabalipuram. So name a few there is the pretentiously named Buena Vista a resort in Neelankarai (follow the signs) right on the beach with a beautiful location, and completely wild architectural design! Their sea-food is good and fresh but as usual smothered with spices so ask them specifically to keep in down. Between about 5 and 10 km down from here on ECR are Basera an open air restaurant next to the Prarthana Drive in Theatre, where there are actual tree houses where you can climb up and and have your meal there. Below you might occassionally encounter some geese wandering around among the foliage. Good place to take kids, prices typically around Rs. 300 per head. The food is generic Indian/Mughlai/Tandoori. A little further up, on the other side of the road, Kebab Korner and Bell Peppers which are reasonable for Indian (and specifically Awadhi food or so they claim) and Italian food. Kebab Korner's Pasanda is rather good and worth trying. Further up is the Farm House which is multicuisine and therefore generic Indian and Continental food but has a nice ambience with lots of greenery, an aquarium, an artificial pond around which the seating is arranged and even a cow to lend versimilitude to the Farm House ambience!