Liu's Waldorf, Adyar, Chennai

This is one of the oldest and still running chinese restaurant in Chennai. Well, it looks and feels like it. Located very close to IIT Madras, on the main Sardar Patel Road, in Adyar, this restaurant has been around of ages. I remember going to the place as a kid. It used to be run by a Chinese family. I still remember the husband and wife who seated us and were serving us. I still think it possibly owned by them, no reason to think otherwise. Unless, of course, when you wonder about the condition of the restaurant now.

I visited the Waldorf again recently. The entrance is now a very crowded place, with two or more other eating places nearby, and the road on which it is located, is now a major artery within Chennai. But surprisingly, it had parking space for about 3-4 cars, and about 2 dozen bikes. The restaurant had a worn out look. We chose this place, out of desperation because we didnt want to travel very far and were hungry. We made a good choice. Waldorf was always known for its quality chinese food. This time too, they didnt let us down.

We were about eight people, quickly settled down in a corner, and were ready with our order. The veg fried rice, egg fried rice (i voted down chicken fried rice, i somehow am not a fan of that), waldorf special chicken, waldorf special veg. I also noticed the fooyoung, i hadnt seen one a menu for a long time. I ordered this egg dish, which probably closely related to an egg omellete. Even the waiter, answered to my query about it saying "its an omellete". We then waited. Waited for what was about 5, or maybe 8 minutes, to see the waiter carrying medium sized bowls of piping hot food. We soon added a few more dishes thinking we have ordered less, considering there were a few 'Bhim' in our mix.

The food was good, but they could have taken more care in preparing chicken dishes. The experience all together was a little mixed though. The restaurant should take more care in its cleaniliness etc. The waiter were dressed in clothes which were probably cleaned once a week or less. The glasses for drinking water were cleaned, but they were not dried and had water drops inside and outside. The people were friendly and helpful, specially the parking attendant outside. I only wish they had take more care. But, i guess, considering they dont charge a lot of money for decent food, they are probably just about managing on the numbers side.