Restaurant Week India is BACK! Wait. What is that? Restaurant week India is a unique concept formulated by Mangal Dalal and Natchiket Shetty, two Mumbai based Chefs who had the desire for all kinds of crowd to relish scrumptious star quality food and still maintain the thickness of their wallet. In Simpler terms, It’s an initiative where ‘AAM AADMI LOG’ can dine in star restaurants for an affordable price tag.

This time, 12 Star hotels & fine dining restaurants from Namma Chennai have taken part in RWI from September 16 – September 25th with a bigger and a better menu. The Participating hotels are as follows :

Benjarong – Alwarpet
Beyond Indus – Taj Club house
Dakshin- Crowne Plaza
Five Sen5es – The Westin, Velacherry
Golden Dragon- Taj Coromandel
Lotus- The Park
Navratna – Le Royal Meridien
On the rocks – Crowne Plaza
Prego – Taj coromandel
Sunset Grill – The Westin,Velacherry
Teppan- Alwarpet
The Flying Elephant – Park Hyatt

Ok. It’s Obvious. I personally Chose Dakshin, when I was invited for a preview dinner. Dakshin, Crowne Plaza is a connoisseur when it comes to serving us food from the Southern Part of India. It has been in everyone’s bucket list and I was no different. Being used to having Pastas and Pizzas outside most of the time, I wanted some ‘namma veetu sapadu’. Chef Harish and his team made me feel like I was home.

After a mundane day at office, we reach the entrance of Dakshin. Our face lightens up as we were welcomed by Ganesha and the charming waitress. We were seated in a photograph-friendly location and TIME. TO. SAPADU!

They have a special three course menu for RWI. We were lucky enough to try most of them.

Starters

Iyer’s Special

We were given a tease from the Iyer’s trolley. Mini Uthapam tasted heavenly with the Onion – Tomato Chutney which stood out from the array of Chutneys served. The Banana Dosa which has the perfect amount of sweetness tasted spot on with a slight sway of cashews and bananas.

Pookosu Milagu Peratti*

One of my favourites from the night. Being used to having the overly fried version of pookosu a.k.a Cauliflower, It was such a great feeling to have boiled cauliflower tossed in mustard and other spices. It was light…fresh..and very very tasty.

Vadai

Tiny bits of Crunchy vadais just kept disappearing as my friend who came along with me ate it like popcorn. It’s tasty of course, but I would avoid choosing this starter for the RWI lunch/dinner because I would miss out on the cauliflower dish. Yeah, still not over the Pookosu Milagu peratti.

RWI Signature Appetiser – Vazhai Shunthi

With just Rs.100 extra, you get to relish the RWI Signature Appetiser. Vazhai Shunti is fancy term for Raw banana dumplings. Mom, if you are reading this, yes! I had Vazhakai and I LOVED it.

Main Course

Chinna Vengaya Patchai Milagai Mandi

Chinna vengayam ( shallots) cooked to perfection in Spicy tamarind gravy. The butter beans in the dish was a pleasant surprise. Tastes best with Kal dosa.

Battani Masala

A perfect dish for those who don’t want to experiment much. Peas cooked with Tomato, green chillies, coconut and other spices. Tastes well with Parotta.

Patchakari Stew*

I think Patchakari Stew is one of the best vegetable stew I’ve ever had. Served in a beautiful pot, it tasted delicious with piping hot Aapams. A must order if you are into coconut milk based dishes. I strongly recommend.

DESSERTS

THE BEST PART OF THE MEAL. I’ve always been a fan of their Basunthi and Elaneer Payasam for their rich flavours, but The Mookani icecream made of Mango, Jackfruit and Banana completely stole the show as it was perfection on the bowl. I am still not over the ice cream. Reserve my table, Dakshin as I am coming back for more.

If you wish to eat here, just go to http://restaurantweekindia.com/rwi/RWC_SEP_2016 and book your table online for lunch ( 750 + tax) or dinner ( 900+tax) before Sept 25th. You also get Ola Prime codes which you can use to get major discounts on your Ola ride to and fro from the Venue.

The staffs had become our friends in those 3 hours, the food was too good to stop. We had to leave and we did with a happy face and a happy tummy! Until next time, Dakshin….

Photography by FACE PHOTOGRAPHY. Thank you Adhithya Sankar.