Mana Andhra - Khadar Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam

Mana Andhra

24, 18, Khader Nawaz Khan Rd, Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034

044 4210 6860

The day I saw this on CFG (Chennai food guide), I had decided to make a visit to find out if they can  satiate my craving for  "mana" andhrula bhojanam. On Monday. a quick bike ride from Ambattur to Nungambakkam in 30 mins at around 2 pm to join my foodie friends Gudduji and Nikhil of CCfame.

This resto has replaced the once popular Kryptos. Located on KNK road, you have to climb down a small flight of stairs to the basement to enter the resto.

Ambiance: First looks give an impression of a classy supermarket or some organic super store with racks lined up with jars of spices,  savories, condiments, pickles, dal powders et al. I loved their creativity but the concept doesn't gel with the traditional andhra resto IMHO

 

Service: It was rather slow since the newbie staffs had to keep asking their seniors about what next. Stewards were fending questions but unable to give us satisfying answers about the taste, quantity, food etc. My fellow foodies had already had a tete-a-tete with the Chef Durga prasad briefly too before my arrival

Food: We only had a choice of either biryani or thali for lunch. Most of the menu items are available only during dinner. Plus we could order from the menu of any of the starters and curries

Fish fry 190/-: Two small masala coated pieces of fresh water fish deep fried was tasty but the portion size was too less

Kamuju pitta  vepudu (quail/kaadai) 225/-: This was fried nice and crispy and tasted good but the size again of was of a little chick than a full grown bird. the reason given was they only get such a size in market.

Mutton fry 190/-: This was definitely not andhra style. It is usually pressure cooked with tomatoes onions, whole spices and masalas. Then the cooked meat is tawa roasted in oil to get it to a thick consistency

Ratham: Usually, there is this standard tray display of non-veg items in most of the chettinadu hotels. Here they have taken it to the next level with some innovative thinking of  using the dim-sum cooker to keep the curries warm and moist (electric powered). This is taken around for the customers to choose their curries.

Raju gari bhojanam  375/-: The rotu pachadi was probably old as I could see it browning on the sides and looked dry. I would have liked some vadiyalu (rice fritters) instead of the ubiquitous appalam since its andhra bhojanam. Payasam had no trace of a cashew or raisin and was pretty ordinary. Even the pootha reku was only served as a small block cut from a whole piece. A scoop of vanila ice cream with chocolate sauce was the dessert and a killi (beeda) to finish the course.  The portions, the taste leave us with a lot to be desired and Rajugaru would have definitely left wailing

This has replaced the once popular Kryptos. Located on KNK road, you have to walk down a flight of stairs to the basement

Kachi ghost ki biryani 365/-: There are two type of hyderabadi biryani availabel Kachi and pakki. I already got a negative feedback from a friend about it but still wanted to try it first hand. Seriously, if this is hyderabadi biryani.. I wonder what they eat in hyderabad is called. Even the mirchi-ka-salan was touch n go (mine had a chicken chunk sized ginger in it) I have never tasted such a bland, yellowish rice that is served as biryani. The bony mutton pieces hardly had any meat on it and only 3 pieces in the bowl with less than half an boiled egg. After the first serving, i requested for them to get me some masala to make it better, but what they got me back again was still no better. I had to innovate and mix some pappu podi to eat it like podi rice. I don't waste food and therefore took the remaining biryani as parcel to give away.

Suggestions: Please make the thali interesting as you serve only 2 things in the afternoon.

Ulava charu with freshcream instead of vatha kozhzambu, mudhapappu dhappalam instead of sambar, pachi pulusu instead of rasam, bendakai, dhondakai pakodi instead of beetroot poriyal,  vadiyalu (gummadi, regular) instead of papad. Guthi vankaya, mirchi bajji etc... change the source of pootharekulu.. get a thin one with just ghee and sugar powder (it tastes best that way)

Iguru can definitely be added to the menu as it would make the Chennai people's mouth water if prepared right. The staff could also mention the customers to mix the vepudus to rice and eat first as we do in Andhra (chennaiites dont mix poriyals in rice rather eat it as sides (thottukka) with rasam/sambar/thayir sadam)

Verdict: The price point, service, the taste, quality and quantity all are a big miss here. They need to re-look into the menu and set it right before its too late.  Having paid a heavy price I went home half hungry and would like to forget the experience soon enough

I would definitely want to try their other dishes esp their guddu pulusu (my fav) and other few dishes to see if they can make me happy... but may be after a few months

The expression says it all!

Mana andhra: there was no mana as it was their/chef's perception of Andhra which I am not familiar with