Dynasty, Nungambakkam, Chennai

This is an all time favourite, or used to be. Part of the Harrisons Hotel, has been in existence for a better part of my life. The old style hotel has now been torn down, and rebuilt into a multi-storey building hosting the same restaurants as before, Meenam and Dynasty. There was a time when the Harrisons Hotel opened smaller Dynasty outlets around Chennai. There were about 2 or 3 around chennai, not including another bakery called Harrisons (i think).

I have been here a few times. I specially loved the older version, because of the sprawling setup. But then, those kind of places are rare these days inside chennai. If i remember correctly, i was introduced to the 'manchurian', thanks to Dynasty. Good chinese food, meant Dynasty once upon a time. Unfortunately, while they have not gone bad, they seem to have lost their edge. The quality of the food is surely not in line with times.

The services was mixed. I must thank Mr. Jeffery (forget his last name), who seemed to care, but boys in the red suit were not as friendly or careful. Mr. Jeffery with his black coat and all, is the head waiter (if you can use that title here), and obviously was required to override decisions or rules. The lower boys were quick to say 'no' to anything, but the moment you bring it to Mr. Jeffery's attention, the issue is resolved amicably. We were a group of ten, and were at first squeezed into a table for 8, in an empty restaurant, in anticipation of a crowd coming later or because the extra table will come in the way!! The next thing that required Jeffery's attention was approval to change the channel on the TV.

We ordered starters, main course all too quickly, hungry as we were. Crispy lamb, dry chilli chicken, veg balls manchurian, and crispy chicken and fuyong. The crispy chicken leg is a chicken bone, all covered with chicken meat, dipped in a special batter and deep fried. It is unique here, most other places, offer a version of this called chicken lolipop. The fuyong was also good, as expected. However, after eating, i wish we had ordered the fuyong without chicken in it.

For main course, it was two kinds of fried rice, and soft noodles, both of which were just about good. But of the dishes we ordered, Lemon Chicken, made with sliced chicken, deserve a very good rating. The other dishes were just about ok, and not worth calling out or remembering. The fried rice or noodles in India, is different from what i have eaten in the US. There is very little oil used in the cooking of both these food, that it could qualify for a health food. I specially love egg fried rice here or in most chinese places, adding meat (chicken or other), seem to introduce a different flavour, making it less desirable.

We finished with some deserts, mostly ice cream, because the menu had nothing special to offer here. The date pancake was just ordinary, compared to ones we get at Mainland China, nearby. People dont seem to care about competition, they believe that crowds will come because of some old glory. One should only look at the Buhari's on Mount Rd for some lessons.

Duchess, Alwarpet, Chennai

Duchess, is an interesting name for a restaurant. Am not sure of the inspiration for the name, but the cuisine or food offered is all over the place. You can order chinese, continental, some bit of indian, and also order from Kabul, the restaurant next door. Duchess are Kabul are part of the Shyam Group, which runs Savera, Amaravathi, Malgudi on ECR and a bunch of other restaurants in and around the city. If this not clear from the menu or other specific statements, just look at the water that is served, bottled water that is.

While i am writing about Duchess, now, i have been to this place often. And it is one of the more common stops for the family in the city. And that brings up the problem of what to order everytime you go there. After a lot of soul searching, you usually end up ordering the same thing again and again. On the positive side though, if the whole family likes the place, then usually different people do have different tastes, and so the table will be assured of some choices and sometimes new ones too.

The recent visit to the place was yesterday and one last week too. It was coincindence that two visits happened so close to each other, on second thoughts it was more of a happenstance, specially if it is on the way home. The favourite starter was chilly chicken (dry), and our experience has proven that this dish is going to come fast to your table. We also ordered fried baby corn, not my favourite. How the hell do you eat this veggie? The chilly chicken dish is served hot and is spicy too. It is safe to have water around before you get started on this. We do order soups, usually chicken corn, but that is only for more elaborate meals. They do serve some fresh roasted pappad and mint chutney, which are usually good to keep you occupied till your order is ready to be served.

The order during first of the two recent trips, was egg fried rice and veggie hakka noodles. I prefer egg over chicken fried rice, becuase i think there is some wierd smell associated with the latter. Both these dishes are also quickly served. We also ordered a lemon chicken gravy dish, which was a disaster. I have no clue what concoction was used, but it was a mess to look at, and tasted even lousy to the palette.

The second time, it was sizzler time. The desi version of steaks sizzlers. Well, you can get all kind of sizzlers. We got the chicken pepper steak, which was decent, but for some saucy stuff that was poured on the chicken. I guess it was done to hide the poor quality of meat (as in the fat and other uneatable parts). I would think that they would take extra care to choose the piece of flesh or meat. We also got the chilly chicken starter. Seafood came in the form of Phuket fish, which was sear fish all nicely cooked in some spicy sause. Was decent, but i think the spice used for many of these are all the same.

The place is about ok, in terms of ambience and also in terms of service. But their restroom (bathroom) simply sucks. They are not any different from most other restuarants here in chennai, all of whom ensure that the bathroom is the most smelliest and unclean place. This is true even sometimes with restaurants located in 3 and 4 star hotels.

I would go back again, simply because its a fave amongst the family, its also on the way between the center of the city and home in adyar. Although i will have to hold my nose and search for any hidden toilet paper and paper towels when i use the bathroom to wash hands etc.