Sunday, November 22, 2009

Saravana Bhavan, Mylapore Tank

Another one on Saravana Bhavan. Saravana Bhavan is a popular chain, spread across the globe with a majority of their restaurants in and around Chennai. They are best known for their South Indian tiffin items, although they serve Chinese and North Indian fare too.
Saravana Bhavan serves only vegetarian cuisine and do not serve alcohol in any of their outlets.
There are many restaurants that go by this name, although the original ones have a red HSB logo and go by the name Hotel Saravana Bhavan.
This place in Mylapore has an air conditioned section that can seat around 100 pax and a non air conditioned section that can seat a similar number. The car park can accommodate around 20 cars.
Pricing varies (even within a city) based on the location of the restaurant and with the air conditioned portion charging almost twice that charged in the non air conditioned portion.
I always stick to the South Indian items which is their specialty.
Going for
+ Awesome food. The idli (steamed rice flour batter) is as soft as it gets. The dosai (thin pancake made with rice flour batter) was perfectly done – just a bit crunchy while still being soft. The aapam (pancake made with fermented rice flour batter) was light and served fresh with its shape (‘U’) intact and was served with fresh coconut milk (a bit sweetened). The aapam also comes with a veg gravy if required. The adai (a thick pancake made with a batter of mixed pulses) served with avial (a thick mixed vegetable gravy infused with coconut – popular in Tamil Nadu and Kerala). The rava dosai (a very thin pancake made with a batter based in broken wheat semolina) was also done to perfection – more crunchy than soft. The idli and dosais are served with multiple chutneys (sauces) – coconut, coconut and coriander and tomato and onion, chili powder (chili ground with various roasted pulses and salt and served with sesame oil) and shallots sambar (a light South Indian gravy made with shallots and pulses infused with tamarind and seasoned with mustard and curry leaves).
+ Cleanliness – is nothing less than what you get in a 5 star restaurant in India.
+ Consistency – there is absolutely no deterioration in quality and taste of the food served.
+ Presentation – the presentation of the food is as best can be for the South Indian tiffin items.
Not going for
- Service – very laid back. This is true of their other outlets and also of their air-conditioned section.
- Lack of parking – If the parking is full, it is not easy to find a spot near the Mylapore tank.
Non air conditioned - 2 plates of idli + 1 dosai + 1 rava dosai + 2 aapam + 1 adai avial + 2 cups of coffee came to around INR 230/-. (The pricing in this outlet is a bit on the higher side for the non-air conditioned section)
Reco – Must go. If you visiting Chennai or any other place where there is a ‘HSB’ do drop in to taste some idlis and dosais.

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