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.

Benjarong, Alwarpet, Chennai

This is not from a recent visit. But i have been here a few times. It is favourite among some members in the family, but i dont necessarily love the experience or the food.

First things first. The decor, the ambience is great. There is a 'thai' lady, usually sitting in the front as you enter carving flowers from carrots and other vegetables. It is an interesting side-show for kids. Once you are seated and the first order has been taken, you are treated to some leaves. It tastes like nothing i have eaten before. My first time, i thought this was basil leaves. But no. I havent dared to ask, lest i find out it came from the Bougainvillea plant from the garden. Jus kidding. So this lil pleasure of eating green leaves with peanuts, chopped onions, sweet nectar, dried fish. Hmm, some chewing stuff this. Keeps you occupied for sometime.

But not enough, cause you soon are done or bored with this. And then the wait begins. The service has always been slow. I wonder what the deal with "expensive" places and slow service. Slow service doesnt necessarily mean great food and good service.

The food is ok. Better than ... (well there is no other thai alternative in Chennai). But i have eaten in several Thai places in the US and the food here doesnt compare. Not even close. So maybe it is tweaked to the local taste !! Wonder why, because in the US we ventured to Thai restaurants, because it was the closest to Indian food !!

My main problem is the rice served with curry dishes. They use basmati or some equivalent. And it is probably been washed after cooking, 'cause it is devoid of any stick stary. This rice just floats in any curry. Just imagine eating briyani rice with some curry! The whole point of Thai food, i think is mixing and eating the rice with the dish. So that the rice also soaks up the curry. Again since i have been aclimatized to eating chewy and thicker rice (with some guey starch) that blends nicely with the curry, soaks it all up and gives you a wonderful experience. Well, so much for all this watery saliva that builds up in your mouth. Try the noodle dishes, 'cause you may not then share this disappointment so much.

Try it. You wont be disappointed, if you have eaten Thai food before. But if you have, you will be sure to compare.

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.