Avartana

[Late review] Visited in Jul 2024 A visit to Avartana was on my to-do list for sometime as it has constantly featured in the Asia Top 100 restaurant list for the last couple of years. There are quite a few menus to choose from. We went with the Anika menu which provides a very good coverage of the different courses the restaurant has to offer. Every menu has a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option. The number of courses in the Anika menu is a bit of the higher side and I’d recommend trying it only if you’re very hungry. All the courses were good and the dinner was quite well paced. The dishes provided a wide myriad of flavour profiles which is a treat to your taste buds. My favourite courses were the lobster, shrimp & coriander dumpling, and char-grilled pork belly. Service is really good and you are constantly attended to through the meal. We had a flight to catch later in the night and the restaurant staff ensured that our dinner was done within a couple of hours so that we could leave for the airport in time. Overall, Avartana is a fantastic restaurant and you should definitely go if you’re visiting Chennai.

Food is great and 10/10 for consistency across our visits. But service was poor, though attitude wise the staff was good. We had a 30 minute wait between two courses - we reminded a waiter after 20 minutes, and then took 10 more minutes for food to be served. Since waiters were moving around tables, no one seemed to be in complete control of a table. Reason given for the long wait was that we had different menus on our table - but than it takes amazing skills to have everyone wait for 30 minutes And what excuse for 35+ minutes for billing? First 15-20 minutes no signs of anyone. Then there seemed to be one credit card machine and one tablet, and since 'three tables have asked for the bill', they cannot manage. Guys, please buy one more tablet and her one more PoS machine! Number of previous reviews complaining about the billing process means the Grand Chola management is indifferent (And yes, please pipe down the pipe music. Overall, they need a proper leader for the front of the house else all the innovation in food won't mean much)

Nice simple layout Not crowded Quiet Set menus with exciting choices Caters to vegetarians too The complex choices were brilliantly put to fether by Alan and his team This is a tough job We enjoyed the meal Would recommend it to anyone wanting South Indian food

Hands down one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. Go with the Anika tasting menu, and be prepared for a long (but exciting) dinner. I love this place!