Honestly, there really was no need to write this review in the first place because Ponnusamy is essentially part of the same, dinghy building at Narahenpita as their sister outlet: Vasantha Bhavan.
I'm a bit confused as to how one goes about writing two different reviews of what is essentially the very same building, but since Ponnusamy IS its own restaurant, I will try to incorporate some aspect of personality into this.
Ponnusamy Chettinad Non-Veg Restaurant
The Ponnusamy/Vasantha Bhavan duo are a rather well to do establishment in India. Their food is supposed to be quite good, sometimes not very authentic, but a taste of India nevertheless.
The new outlet is at Narahenpita at a rather odd location. It's more of a diner than an actual restaurant, but every time we go I always see families dressed to the nines having a grand old time. I'm guessing it's all about the mindset rather than physical experience.
The Food
Since my dinner partner is a vegetarian and opted to pick from Vasantha Bhavan's menu, I opted for the Prawn 65 as a starter, Chicken Biriyani for my main and a glass of Lime Juice to wash it down with. Short review, yes, but I figured a Biriyani should be enough to encapsulate the restaurant's general sense of quality*.
*If you'd like more info on their other dishes, either read our review on their Horton Place branch here, or wait a few months for an in-depth full-review.
The Prawn 65 (Rs. 750) is a plentiful plate of small, bite-sized prawns fried in your usual 65-batter. Nothing special save for a bit of tang from the batter and a nice, crispy shell contributing to the undeniable chunkiness that prawns have to offer. Is it worth Rs. 750? Nah.
The Chicken Biriyani (Rs. 600) looks promising, if you manage to discard that horribly fried egg it's served with. The egg tasted stiff and plastic-y so I chose to refrain. The chicken came buried underneath the rice- sadly, it had no flavour save for the obvious curry flavour. The rice was an hour away from going bad. It reeked after the first 30 minutes and afterwards, it was untouchable. Horrific. It comes served with a side of just oil chicken gravy, and raita- both of which did nothing to contribute. Rs. 600 for this, is a joke.
The Lime Soda (Rs. 250) was the best part of this entire meal. It was great. Not too sugary, not too tart. I especially liked how they didn't try to drown out any flavour in water.
Service & Ambience
Our waiter was the same guy as the one in this review. When it came to the vegetarian menu, he seemed to know some info, but here he chose to be completely clueless. He knew nothing about the non-veg menu and had to keep running back to the kitchen every single time we asked if a certain dish was available. UGH.
Ambience is the same old wood/glass chairs and tables, ugly paintings and bleak walls.
