Food:
The only option here is the buffet and there is no ala carte fare here. But the buffet is just enough to shut any person about missing dishes. The items on the buffet remains same for the most part with a slight alterations here and there along the week.  Food service starts off with a mix of on-table grilling and a few starters served on plate. There is no discrimination between veg and non-veg foodies here. The same number of dishes for both, so one does not feel left out.



Usually I am stuffed by the time I am done with the starters and I just head over to the desserts. I did just the same this time as well. As this is a compilation, I thought I would list some of the dishes which were worthy of mention.



Firstly the Pineapple Strawberry Shaker drink served inside a pineapple is absolutely Bindaass!!!! Both the drink and the way it is served is top notch. BBQ Chicken wings part of the recently concluded Ay Caramba food festival was fantastic. Mind you I had atleast 4 to 5 pieces of the lovely succulent wings.



Then there was the tender, well marinated Jamaican style Mutton grill which was superb. Then there was this interesting looking chicken lollipop kind of dish which turned out to be a Corn-pop, was really good. Also they had a nice pepper grilled steak served with mustard sauce.


At this point I just move over to the desserts and pick my favourites Pan Ice Cream and the Saffron Phirni which was simply brilliant. I would just return for the Pan Ice Cream which is fit for Kings.

Ambiance:
Very, very noisy! It could be a turn off if you want a quite dine. If not, you would love the experience.

Service:
Simply fantastic, very attentive. The chef personally talks to the diners and is always willing to change the type of preparation according to the customers tastes.

Price:
The buffet here is priced on a average of Rs 699 - 899 depending on the day and time you dine in.

Leaving all this aside which sound interesting, getting a seat here is a big pain. I have been disappointed 'n' number of times trying to make a reservation. So if you could get a seat then you are in luck and make the best of the meal.

Disclaimer : Invited Review.

Absolute BBQ is next to the Hotel Residency, T-Nagar.

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*A review about a place holds good only for 6 months as there can be a change in quality and quantity of the food, the service and the staff, due to reasons best known only to them. So kindly consider these factors while visiting the places.

For the mains there were 4 non-veg dishes and around 7 veg dishes with various gravies. I was too stuffed from the round of starters to even sample the gravies with Indian bread. There was a live pasta counter, where you could chose the vegetables, the noodles and either chicken or fish, which would be then made with pesto or the creamy white sauce or tomato. I chose the tomato sauce, which was quite nice. The others who accompanied me had the pesto and creamy sauce. They gave rave reviews about  those also.

Success and failure go hand in hand. Same applies to Burgundy's. When it opened to public, it was one of the best buffets in town. It was the place to dine in. You needed reservations to get you seats. But the last time I dined here about a year ago, that changed. The buffet was quite ordinary. Nothing really stood out. But it has gone through a sea of changes at various levels. Enter Burgundy's 2.0 and I was here as a part of CFG Showcase to check-out the improvement.












For Dessert, the spread was huge with Chocolate Eclair, Chocolate Cake, Peach Tart, Lemon Pie, an assortment of Indian sweets and finally a selection of Gelatos. Sampling little of each was just sufficient to fill my tummy. Burgundy's has definitely run a full circle, moving away from the slump.

Ambiance:
The ambiance is very upmarket, with loads of seats. If you do get the option of dining outdoors, I definitely would suggest you to do that.

Price:
The dinner buffet here is priced at Rs 975/- which is good value for money.

Burgundy's is located in MRC Nagar opposite Hotel Leela Palace.
www.burgundyrestaurants.in

Main course had a blend of continental and indian. I simply avoided the Indian part of it. The best part of the main course were the Mushroom and Fussili Pasta, Beef and Spaghetti and finally the Chicken Liver Strongnoff. Each very special in its own way. Infact I went for another round.


Desserts section was a little small, but I helped myself to Vanilla Ice Cream with a small piece of Brownie, cookies and Chocolate sauce. Heavenly way to finish a neat lunch.

Ambiance:
The hotel sits right opposite to Pondy beach. It was slightly sultry so we had to sit indoors. But I think dining on the porch would have been quite a fantastic way to relax and have a killer meal.

Service:
NA

Price:
We used a friends discount card and attracted a 30% discount on the bill. This made the bill turn into Rs 630/head. Which is quite simply amazing.

Food - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Service - NA
Price - 8/10

Promenade by Hidesign is located on the Gorbert Avenue.

We started off with Wasabi Prawns. These were a mix of Mayo and Wasabi, crisp fried. It was Wow! I found it to have a perfect mix, while some others felt they would not mind a little more of Wasabi. I personally felt a small cup of the sauce would be amazing.


In between the starters we were served our soup. I had ordered the Sweet Corn Chicken Soup (SCCS) and while Mr.Srihari had ordered Clear Soup with Crab Meat (CSCM). The SCCS was actually a little bland, the corn in it did not feel fresh enough while the CSCM was fabulous, though we could find only one tiny piece of the shell of a crab .


Then came the veg starter for the only veggie in the group: Stuffed Lotus Root Fritters. This was a lotus root stuffed with potato and chilli fried to perfection and served along with sweet chilli sauce. I must say this was the first time I have ever had lotus root. It was mind blowingly delicious. I was blown away by the taste and the way it had been fried to the proper crispiness.


Next came the Chicken Yakitori, which is a relative of the Chicken Satay. The chicken is marinated in  soy sauce and was grilled similar to a satay. It had a  lovely, rich, earthy flavor. Since we all loved  duck-meat, we had Spicy Duck Roll. This had shredded duck with a good coating of chilli sauce and wrapped in  pancakes. I found the  duck really tender and fabulous.


Finally our last starter arrived. This was a TaiChung Chilly Beef. It was very similar to chilli beef served in all other chinese restaurants. The chilli heat seemed to be just right in all the dishes.


After being blown away by the stunning starters, we headed into the main course with high expectations. For the mains we decided to have a veg Kwai Teow Flat Noodles, a veg Ginger and Capsicum Fried Rice and a Spicy Crab Meat Fried Rice. Kwai Teow Flat Noodles had a slight issue of not being mixed together properly. So some of us had good flavors while others said it lacked flavors. On the other hand both the Fried Rice were mouth watering. They went well with the sides we had ordered. The vegetarian sides were the first to arrive. Of the two Bamboo Shoot and Mushroom in Chilly Bean Sauce and the Tofu gravy. I loved the Bamboo Shoot gravy. It was tasty. Again this was the first time me having Bamboo Shoots, I have only heard people say it being hard and not great. But this was soft and delicious. I would not mind to go back again and have just that with the veg fried rice. But the tofu smelt like it had been stored for while, which put me off.


Since I had loved the duck in the starters, I very badly wanted to have a duck in the mains. So we picked the Braised Duck in Hot Bean Sauce. The sauce was similar to the bamboo shoots, but the duck was cut into nice chunky pieces and cooked until it was tender and made amazing.


Also we ordered a Five Spiced Beef with Glass Noodles. This beef too was similar to the chilly beef, but the addition of the glass noodles made it very visually appealing. The beef too was cooked to perfection. Loved the taste.

Finally we had to wait a bit for our Crispy Chicken in Chiili Honey Sauce as there was a mistake in the service. But the chicken was worth the wait. I even saved it up until I had finished my rice. It was like dessert. The honey made it really sweet and the chilli in it gave a late heat to it.



Finally after the scrumptious mains, we were served with some Chocolate Cake, Elaneer Soufle and Sweet Roll which may not be a part of the menu. Of the lot it was universally accepted in our table that the Elaneer Soufle was heavenly.

Apart from a few dips, the food was fabulous. This maybe the best way for any restaurant to announce its arrival into city, filled with restaurants in every nook and corner. I sincerely hope that they can maintain the consistency of the food. If they do, I bet the other restos will  have trouble in their hands.

Ambiance:
I was simply wowed by the ambiance. It was a fine mix of Contemporary and Chinese elements, which makes it worthy of the title - Fine Dine.

Price:
Most dishes on the menu are priced around Rs 220 -350. So meal for two should cost no more than Rs 1200/-.

I give a Thumbs Up to this restaurant for its quality food.

Wok a Toque is located inside Hotel Chariot, which is opposite to Vidyodaya School, T-Nagar.

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Dining options in Chennai after 11 PM is very limited and once the clock crosses 12 Midnight,  those options are even less. I remember dining as a kid in Wang's Kitchen past 11pm and the buffet rate which was normally Rs 299, dropped  down flat to Rs 100. Guess all those days are gone now. If you could find a buffet for Rs100 in this day and age in Chennai, its got to have its annoyances. So if you are looking around to eat in Chennai past 11pm and want to have a decent buffet to kickstart your weekend then your choices are down to the major star hotels in town. On this route  if you decide not to burn your pocket then the list becomes really thin. One such restaurant that makes on to that thin list is Main Street at Residency Towers.









Last but not the least the meal completes with a small selection of desserts. All in all a decent fare. Do try this out, if you are out in the night and have run-out of options to dine at.

Price:
The midnight buffet starts at 11pm and runs all the way upto 3am in the morning. The buffet is priced at Rs 555/-.

Main Street is located inside Residency Towers in T-Nagar.