Vrindavan, New Woodlands, Chennai

This is not new, its been there for ages. This is one of the restaurants inside the New Woodlands Hotel, on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai. This is their attempt to 'up the scale', i guess more on the monetary side, than on the service side. The restaurant is a multi-cusine vegetarian restaurant, and is also 'Jain food' friendly. I have been to this hotel a million times, but 99 times of a hundred it is to the faster 'south indian restaurant' now called Krishna Restaurant. The visit to the Vrindavan side is only when there are special 'guests' in the party, or if the other side is packed.

Food is not a problem here. It was never a problem with this or the other restaurant in New Woodlands. In fact, the name 'woodlands' has become quite generic, and i have not been disappointed visiting one of these copies or originals or branches (i dont think they are branches, but more like within the family or something like that !!, i dont know and so no judgement regarding that). It appears that if you name something woodlands, the food is decent to good.

The service on the other side is somewhere between indifferent to decent. It appears to be a common trait with all restaurants in India. It is difficult to get good quality service. This place wasnt so bad, but, i am sure there is scope to improve. We ordered Idly, Dosa (couple of different varities) and then later coffee. Well, if you go to a Woodlands, get the Idly and Dosa, not the noodles and roti/naan etc. Straying from this mantra is asking for unnecessary trouble. Not that it will suck, but hey, if you wanted roti/naan, go to a dabha. Yeah, except its difficult to find a vegetarian dabha.

I am sure they share kitchens at this hotel, because i couldnt find any spectacular difference in taste. They all tasted just as good. One thing that stands out, and caught my fancy, while sitting and eating, is the decor. There are some beautiful painting or pictures, primarily based on Krishna, but also mainly keeping with the theme of Vrindavan. I snapped the picture on the right, a long while ago using a camera phone. The reddish tinge, was because of the limited lighting inside.

One other comment about the Woodlands place, is the bathrooms. It is common to all the restaurants, and it is kept quite clean. There is a guy also standing there, watching like a hawk for split water etc., and cleaning it up fast and regularly. For that purpose alone, it is worth repeat visits. While this is great, the parking can be crazy when the marriage halls are full. So good to avoid the place when the marriage season is in full swing.

BR Matsya, TNagar, Chennai

Something new, something not talked about much in the press or web so far. I think the restaurant has been around for sometime, as in atleast a few months, or maybe even about a year. I read about it somewhere, i dont completely recall, but i never did locate it before. The road it is located on, Thanickachalam Rd, is one of the less traveled, atleast for me, cause it leads to the busy intersection at Pondy Bazar.

It was by happenstance that i located it. And yesterday, saturday, when my better half, chooses to vegetate (i mean eat vegetarian only), i chose this over the many other options. And no disappointment there, it was a clear winner. The ambiance, the service and the food, all rolled in together to create a pleasurable experience.

They had wide variety of choices. The most tempting as is usual when it is available, was the dinner buffet. "its only 199 sir", said the host, as he tried to lure us towards this option. If it werent for a heavy lunch, it would have been a no brainer. But the spirits decided otherwise, as were to taste the choice of offerings on the menu, 'a la carte'.

As i said, a quick read of the menu, showed there is so much more to vegetarianism, than just thayir sadam and idly/dosa. Each menu item read better than the other, and there were even some pictures to help you, in case you had a doubt about the label used. Mexican, Pasta, some italian, fries and such, punjabi, chat, and the regular udipi variety.

Well, i was here for the udipi fare today. And so, it was Manglore Bonda, Kara Uppu Puli Dosa for me. The rest of the family went with some staid fare, wife and mom-in-law deciding to eat lite, and my kids, food is just a method to pacify their parents, so that we can go to bed easy. It doesnt really matter, they really like nothing specific, and most everything mashed or mixed together looks and tastes almost the same. But yesterday, my son chose the Fried Panneer, to which he has taken to liking recently.

Manglore bonda arrived first, along with the Fried Panneer. Must tell you know that we had a pleasing chappy who was waiting on us. Indian service in India is much better when compared to the same indian service dished out in desi restaurants in the US, one must wonder if it is something to do with visa and bonded labour. The Manglore Bonda was a tad bit small, small tiny balls, but had the same great taste all the same. The chutneys offered was nothing much to write about.
But the Panneer, was just out of the world. We have tasted this dish in about 2 or 3 forms, thanks to my son's insistence at the dinner table. This was by far, the best we had tasted ever. It wasnt dry, a bit of gravy. The panneer was the best, nice and firm, but still chewy, and nicely fried, but not oily. The gravy managed to coat itself well around each block of panneer. Both these items were quickly vanishing from the table.

Just before we reached a point where we may have had to wait around twiddling thumbs, came the idly for my wife and the Kara Uppu Puli dosai. Idly, a bit i tasted was great as usual, which anyway is a dish difficult to screw up. But the Kara Uppu Puli dosai, was out of the world. It had all the three ingredients as advertised in its name. But the sambhar that came along with it, seemed to dent accolades that would have been solely poured out on the dosai. The sambhar was so tasty that i had to ask for extra serving.

Now, what remained was the rest of the menu. Well, it will have to wait for another trip. And since we have now added this to the list of officially certified and must-visit places, it could be as early as next saturday. 'Cause there's a lot to offer on the menu.

The visit is not complete without a few words on the ambiance. As you enter, on the left is a children play area. Enough to entice parent to make repeat visits. But what will catch your eye, is the intricate glass painting of the Matsya Avataram. A beautiful representation in itself, the artist had also paid a lot of attention to detail. Walk inside the restaurant, its clean, spacey, and nicely chilled. You are again treated to more artwork, this time, it is intricate carvings on wood. It forms the outer frame around a Balaji and Padmavati tanjore style painting. Since we were already seated, couldnt spend time admiring this work. But from where we sat, it looked imposing.

Raaj Bhavan, Nungambakkam, Chennai, India

Raaj Bhavan is located at the major intersection in Nungambakkam, where Village Road and Nungambakkam High Rd meets. It used to be haunt for me, thanks to the easy access from the sterling road, bus stand. Even after starting work at NIIT on college rd, and the opening of Nagas (closed since then, and now some Sangeeta), Raaj Bhavan was a place to meet and eat, when the budgets were low.

Since moving out of the area, i havent visited the real Raaj Bhavan. They do have a section on top, where they serve stuff in an air-conditioned environment. Unfortunately since they serve stuff thats not in their domain (idly dosa etc), its better to skip these. Downstairs on the other hand is probably best now only for an early morning weekend visit, because the place is crowded with office going staff, like me. Except that i am now, never hitting a restaurant for weekday breakfast or lunch.

Their claim to fame if any, was again sambar. When i used to eat there, i remember that they had one of the better tasting sambars. I, off course, hadnt tasted the Ratna Cafe sambar. So now the reasons to eat here is even less, when you think of the one thing that would draw you to it. Also in my recent visit to the more 'posh' looking upstairs, left me very displeased. The place has been neglected and requires a lot of maintenance. The food is still very decent, but i think it safe to pass, considering there are other options in the city today.

Its sad, when you think of the possibilities this place had, and the start. Most important of it all, like they say in the restaurant business, location. Its quite possible that this place is raking in the moolah, and the management couldnt care less about spending additional money in its upkeep. Today the real estate price for this location will be way higher that the business potential of the current restaurant.

Hotel Saravana Bhavan, Royapettah, Chennai, India

Hotel Saravana Bhavan, or HSB as i call it now, has numerous branches. All over Chennai, there is one close to you, like finding an ATM. And now they have a few or more in other parts of the world. The hallmark of HSB, is consistency, unlike our Indian cricket team. Its like a McDonalds, only that the food is cooked fresh, unlike throwing 'boxed patties and french fries into boiling oil' fresh. The food tastes almost the same in every branch and location of HSB.

The only problem, i have, if any, is what to choose. I know HSB makes all kinds of stuff, including chinese and tandoori items, but i try to stick to our south-indian stuff. The reason, if i want chinese i would go to a chinese restaurant and for tandoor a punjabi place. I am at HSB, for their dosas, idlies, poori, and the likes. So, back to the choice, amongst this long list of south-indian stuff. Its always a tough choice, and i end up with some kind of dosa or dosai. Rava, Masala, Butter or some newer variant. If it is not Rava Dosai, then my instruction will include, soft dosai, not crisp like pappad. I hate paper dosai, what the hell, why would anyone eat it. My wife loves it, crispier the better. For me, dosai has to be crisp on the outside, kind of thick, and soft on the inside and of course flowing with butter.

HSB has started speciality restaurants, and the one i am writing about specifically here is the one on Peters Road, Royapettah, called Swathi. Go early, and you will find a place to sit, if you are any late, you will need to wait for your table, for a long time. Small place, but it can easily crowded. With all the restaurants in the city, a lot of them seem to want to wander here. For us it is place to be after a late nite movie, specially after a tiring and boring one. Its also close to the Satyam Cinemas.

The reason i stuck the logo picture (i couldnt grab a better picture), is because there are a lot of restaurants that have been using this name and passing-off as HSB. So dont get fooled about the quality when you visit a Saravan Bhavan, and find bad food, and then you realize its missing an 'a' in Saravana.

Hotel Saravana Bhavan