Located in a quaint corner off one of the busiest roads in T Nagar is Sre Chinnadurai Hotel that offers authentic Chettinad cuisine.
The place has all the trappings to give it the Chettinad ‘look’, with a thinnai, marble flooring, Chettinad carved pillars and heavy furniture. The ambience is that of an old village style house that reminds one of a simpler life without all the gadgets surrounding us. Welcoming everyone at the table is one small glass of ‘milagu rasam’ or pepper soup, garnished with garlic, ginger and a few select spices. It is refreshingly warm and goes down the throat without qualms.
Their menu is what separates them from other outlets offering Chettinad cuisine. All their spices are homemade (they use their own spices) and for things that they cannot find here, they source it out from authentic Chettinad regions of Tamil Nadu. The chefs behind the hand-crafted menu are Chef Balu and Chef Vimal who take turns to dish out the sumptuous food at the hotel. Apart from the menu that they have every day, the everyday specials change to give the customer that surprise element. Their chefs are professionals blessed with excellent taste and creative bent of mind. The restaurant has a royal kitchen open to serve customers with love and affection.
The signature Chettinad specials in the menu occupy a whole section of the menu and offer a gastronomic journey into the Chettinad heartland. It is a mix of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, with the non-vegetarian items occupying more space. Some of the dishes are Chinnadurai chicken dry. Chinnadurai chicken curry, kozhi vepudu, Karnataka chicken curry, Niligiri which gives you a choice of mutton, chicken or vegetarian, Malabar chicken curry and crab puttu. They use only shell-less crabs for all their preparations. Hot and crisp, blackened prawns — called karuvepulle yera — turn up on a banana leaf-lined plate. Crisp and tasty on the outside and juicy on the inside, the prawns are dipped in a mix of curry leaf batter and deep fried.
The menu is exhaustive and a non-vegetarian lover will definitely be left spoilt for choices at this restaurant.
For vegetarians who like their food with a hint of Chettinad spices, vaazhai poo vadai (banana flower vadai) and murungakkai soup (drumstick soup) is a cut different from the rest. One can also try the vazhakai kola urundai when feeling experimental.
Apart from Chettinad, the menu also features tandoori and Chinese dishes for all those who like to be in their comfort zone and not experiment much. They also have a party hall at the venue that can accommodate about 70-90 people comfortably. They are also into outdoor catering and can craft a menu according to the requirement.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India/ Home> Life & Style> Food / TNN / March 08th, 2014