A Guide: Eating out in Chennai

fiery enzyme · 30th April 2008, 04:48

OK Just to keep this thread alive... Now that we have run out of cheap and good places, lets try good ambience; Farm House on ECR has a wonderful ambience and is defintely worth a visit. the food is not so bad too ( though its almost 9 months since I last visited)

fash_1 · 30th April 2008, 10:30

Hyderabad Biryani, near Jamo showroom.

A small roadside dosa shop near SAE, TNagar - best dosa i've ever had in Chennai and it can get very crowded at times, and finding parking space becomes a headache.

Baywatch, Besant Nagar - Love the hamburgers.

praveen_v · 30th April 2008, 11:08

Last weekend went to a place called "Barbecue nation" in a small lane oppositte to Jains car shoppe in North usman road (Just before the Joyallukas jwellers). They have two buffet packages. One is with 5 starters (one Veg and one Non-veg barbecue right in your table

) for 250+taxes and another with 10 starters for 400+taxes (not sure how many barbeques).

Food and service was excellent and ambience was good. Limited choice for veg buffet but Non-vegetarians get a good variety. Finally I just loved those desserts. The vannila ice-cream with hot mini Gulab jamun combo was ultimate

I was there saturday afternoon. prices may vary for sat dinners and sunday buffets. I'm not sure. But it is a great place, do try it out.

Edit: Forgot to include that you get a choice of beer/coke with the buffet, but they have a bar if you need something extra!!

Marlon · 30th April 2008, 12:21

I had a bad experience in Barbeque Nation. I went for Buffet dinner with my family for Rs 400 per head. Ambience is very Good. Kebabs are good & different experince to make your own barbeque at the table. But the food on that day was pathetic. Just could not have it. Briyani was bad & all foods were Salty. Not much variety in deserts.

Better Option for Buffet is Old Residency. Rs330 only. The choice of food & deserts is awesome. Have been there few times for lunch & love that.

For more economical options I m suprised that No one in this forum had mentioned 'Loyola Fast Foods' . Awesome Fried Rice & variety of Beef specialities. For 100 you can have Fried Rice with two variety of side dishes. Ambience is not that great. Go to First Floor for A/C hall.

esteem_lover · 30th April 2008, 14:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marlon

For more economical options I m suprised that No one in this forum had mentioned 'Loyola Fast Foods' . Awesome Fried Rice & variety of Beef specialities. For 100 you can have Fried Rice with two variety of side dishes. Ambience is not that great. Go to First Floor for A/C hall.

Is this on the Nelson Manickam road just after you come out of the loyola subway ?

hrag · 30th April 2008, 14:16

Quality Inn's Sabari Classic at Navalur serves a good buffet (lunch / dinner) at 350 per head. Their bar, Zero Degrees, has reasonable prices as well. Zero degrees is quiet (noise level wise) on most days except for Friday/Saturday/Sunday, when they have some special DJs and charge an entry fee of 200 a head. Entry is free for ladies and couples on weekends.

Olive at Days Inn Deccan Plaza, Royapettah, has a fantastic vegetarian buffet - sorry but I don't remember the prices right now. For those who are squeamish about non vegetarian dishes near them, Olive is the place to go.

hrag · 30th April 2008, 14:19

Mods, please delete this post. Didn't realize I was within the editing period of my previous post.

Mission_Safari · 30th April 2008, 16:08

I had a real good experience in terms of the service and the quality of food at the Cascade Inn (khader nawaz khan road) . I think they have branches in anna nagar and adyar too..

Though expensive when compared to anjappar/ponnuswamy i like the taste of karaikudi restaurant. They have number of branches across chennai.

n_aditya · 30th April 2008, 16:22

Try the Chilli beef at Harissons Hotel in Chetpet. It's slightly crispy, slightly spicy and very delicious. I like the food at Harissons. Its reasonable and very appetizing.

thiyags22 · 30th April 2008, 17:03

Guys,

Try the following places:

Ratna cafe, Triplicane- for idly and buckets of sambar
Amma kadai, behind IIT campus- it is not the original name and we used to call it so. Havent gone there in 3 years and dont know if it is still there but the idlies/dosas/parottas were amazing and cheap too
Eden @ harrington hotel- not very cheap but good taste and value for money (u can get an italian dish for 160 rupes)
Hotel rajbhavan on sterling road- Good meals
Hotel
Sri Venkateswara Boli stall, Mambalam- Good snacks like boli, bonda etc
Bread omlet shop outside alsa mall, egmore
2 Idly 1 vada, arcot road, beyond vadapalani- Decent
Raos, opp. SBOA, Annanagar- Used to serve amazing masala dosa. Not sure if they still do

Regards,
Thiyags

nitrous · 30th April 2008, 21:51

Quote:

For more economical options I m suprised that No one in this forum had mentioned 'Loyola Fast Foods' .

There is parking for only 0 cars .

Mission_Safari · 30th April 2008, 22:00

Talking about economical options.. Karthik tiffin center in the 12th main road jn, anna nagar is a nice choice. I see huge crowd there even at midnight.

fash_1 · 30th April 2008, 22:08

Dunno how i missed to mention 'Shangri La', Besant Nagar.
Decent crowd, reasonable price and excellent ambience. Its been a while since i went there, but a year ago, dinner on Sundays was synonymous with Shangri La. Love the complementary Chinese tea they give you.

praveen_v · 30th April 2008, 23:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marlon

I had a bad experience in Barbeque Nation. I went for Buffet dinner with my family for Rs 400 per head. Ambience is very Good. Kebabs are good & different experince to make your own barbeque at the table. But the food on that day was pathetic. Just could not have it. Briyani was bad & all foods were Salty. Not much variety in deserts.

Oops!! when did you go?? I was there only last week and everything was fine. Maybe they have improved( or maybe I was lucky hehe).

For people who read ergo( for those who dont know, it's a free daily newspaper that's available in plenty in software companies on Old Mahabs road and in the company buses transporting them there

) they do a regular critic review of all the small but famous eateries in chennai. Am collecting those issues. Will post once I have a decent number.

Proxima · 2nd May 2008, 09:04

Nice to see this thread back to life again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by praveen_v

Am collecting those issues. Will post once I have a decent number.

Please do. I personally would love to have that info. Just shifted out of OMR to the Tambaram side, and no Ergo here.

30th April 2008, 04:48	#46
fiery enzyme BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: TN 01 Posts: 413 Thanked: 27 Times View My Garage	OK Just to keep this thread alive... Now that we have run out of cheap and good places, lets try good ambience; Farm House on ECR has a wonderful ambience and is defintely worth a visit. the food is not so bad too ( though its almost 9 months since I last visited)
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 10:30	#47
fash_1 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: B'lore / Trichy Posts: 230 Thanked: 84 Times View My Garage	Hyderabad Biryani, near Jamo showroom. A small roadside dosa shop near SAE, TNagar - best dosa i've ever had in Chennai and it can get very crowded at times, and finding parking space becomes a headache. Baywatch, Besant Nagar - Love the hamburgers.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 11:08	#48
praveen_v BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 507 Thanked: 215 Times	Last weekend went to a place called "Barbecue nation" in a small lane oppositte to Jains car shoppe in North usman road (Just before the Joyallukas jwellers). They have two buffet packages. One is with 5 starters (one Veg and one Non-veg barbecue right in your table ) for 250+taxes and another with 10 starters for 400+taxes (not sure how many barbeques). Food and service was excellent and ambience was good. Limited choice for veg buffet but Non-vegetarians get a good variety. Finally I just loved those desserts. The vannila ice-cream with hot mini Gulab jamun combo was ultimate I was there saturday afternoon. prices may vary for sat dinners and sunday buffets. I'm not sure. But it is a great place, do try it out. Edit: Forgot to include that you get a choice of beer/coke with the buffet, but they have a bar if you need something extra!! Last edited by praveen_v : 30th April 2008 at 11:10.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 12:21	#49
Marlon BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 273 Thanked: 79 Times	I had a bad experience in Barbeque Nation. I went for Buffet dinner with my family for Rs 400 per head. Ambience is very Good. Kebabs are good & different experince to make your own barbeque at the table. But the food on that day was pathetic. Just could not have it. Briyani was bad & all foods were Salty. Not much variety in deserts. Better Option for Buffet is Old Residency. Rs330 only. The choice of food & deserts is awesome. Have been there few times for lunch & love that. For more economical options I m suprised that No one in this forum had mentioned 'Loyola Fast Foods' . Awesome Fried Rice & variety of Beef specialities. For 100 you can have Fried Rice with two variety of side dishes. Ambience is not that great. Go to First Floor for A/C hall.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 14:16	#51
hrag BANNED Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bangalore / Madras Posts: 1,982 Thanked: 31 Times	Quality Inn's Sabari Classic at Navalur serves a good buffet (lunch / dinner) at 350 per head. Their bar, Zero Degrees, has reasonable prices as well. Zero degrees is quiet (noise level wise) on most days except for Friday/Saturday/Sunday, when they have some special DJs and charge an entry fee of 200 a head. Entry is free for ladies and couples on weekends. Olive at Days Inn Deccan Plaza, Royapettah, has a fantastic vegetarian buffet - sorry but I don't remember the prices right now. For those who are squeamish about non vegetarian dishes near them, Olive is the place to go. Last edited by hrag : 30th April 2008 at 14:20.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 14:19	#52
hrag BANNED Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bangalore / Madras Posts: 1,982 Thanked: 31 Times	Mods, please delete this post. Didn't realize I was within the editing period of my previous post. Last edited by hrag : 30th April 2008 at 14:21.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 16:08	#53
Mission_Safari BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 449 Thanked: 6 Times	I had a real good experience in terms of the service and the quality of food at the Cascade Inn (khader nawaz khan road) . I think they have branches in anna nagar and adyar too.. Though expensive when compared to anjappar/ponnuswamy i like the taste of karaikudi restaurant. They have number of branches across chennai.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 16:22	#54
n_aditya Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Namma Bengaluru Posts: 5,348 Thanked: 3,684 Times View My Garage	Try the Chilli beef at Harissons Hotel in Chetpet. It's slightly crispy, slightly spicy and very delicious. I like the food at Harissons. Its reasonable and very appetizing.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 17:03	#55
thiyags22 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Madras / Bangalore Posts: 148 Thanked: 19 Times	more hotels in Madras Guys, Try the following places: Ratna cafe, Triplicane- for idly and buckets of sambar Amma kadai, behind IIT campus- it is not the original name and we used to call it so. Havent gone there in 3 years and dont know if it is still there but the idlies/dosas/parottas were amazing and cheap too Eden @ harrington hotel- not very cheap but good taste and value for money (u can get an italian dish for 160 rupes) Hotel rajbhavan on sterling road- Good meals Hotel Sri Venkateswara Boli stall, Mambalam- Good snacks like boli, bonda etc Bread omlet shop outside alsa mall, egmore 2 Idly 1 vada, arcot road, beyond vadapalani- Decent Raos, opp. SBOA, Annanagar- Used to serve amazing masala dosa. Not sure if they still do Regards, Thiyags
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 22:00	#57
Mission_Safari BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 449 Thanked: 6 Times	Talking about economical options.. Karthik tiffin center in the 12th main road jn, anna nagar is a nice choice. I see huge crowd there even at midnight.
	() Thanks

30th April 2008, 22:08	#58
fash_1 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: B'lore / Trichy Posts: 230 Thanked: 84 Times View My Garage	Dunno how i missed to mention 'Shangri La', Besant Nagar. Decent crowd, reasonable price and excellent ambience. Its been a while since i went there, but a year ago, dinner on Sundays was synonymous with Shangri La. Love the complementary Chinese tea they give you.
	() Thanks