Chennai - War of the Dals

Its been over 1 year today since I bade farewell to the carnivorous side of my appetite. As a mark of the same, I thought I should list down the 5 best destinations for the one dish that has kept me good company as my staple restaurant pick for the past 1 year - Dal Makhni / Kali Dal / Black Dal, call it what you like! Enjoyed best with any form of roti or Jeera Pulav.

Following is the order of restaurants in Chennai which get my "pulse" racing:

1. Sigree
By far the best dal in the city - sometimes a little excess on the butter but always thick, rich and a never miss!

Address & Phone: #144/145, Hotel Quality Inn Aruna, 5th Floor, Sterling Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600034. Ph:42664222

2. Copper Point (read full review)
A brand new entrant into the list and how! I was pleasantly surprised at how the medium thick, not-so-rich Dal Makhni stirred up such a rage on my last visit to this recently made over restaurant.

Address & Phone: GRT Grand, 120, Sir Thyagaraya Road, T. Nagar, Chennai - 600 017. Ph: 28150500 / 28155500

3. Peshawri
An all time Chennai favourite, was clearly the best destination for kali dal for over 10 years till the younger challengers came about. Still manages to retain its unique flavor and taste thanks to certain special cooking techniques.

Address & Phone: Hotel Chola Sheraton, Cathedral Road, Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600086. Ph: 28110101

4. Copper Chimney
The only multi grain dal to make it to this list, despite multi grains not winning much favor with me, the Copper Chimney kali dal has always been a mouth watering accompaniment to their excellent array of Indian breads.

Address & Phone: 74, Cathedral Road, Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600086. Ph: 28115770

5. Kabul
While the restaurant itself has gone through its highs and lows with the Chennai crowd, Kabul's 'Dal Kabul' has consistent, for over the 15 years that its been in business now.

Address & Phone: 35, TTK Road, Chennai 600018. Ph: 24996761

Chennai, Copper Point - Old wine in a new bottle

GRT Grand's Indian restaurant Copper Point sports a completely new look and is now open for business.

Now more than the crazy ads all over town (old nannies dressed in traditional indian wear sporting chef's hats, masquerading to remind your of your grandma's cooking, urgh..), it was the buzz that I was hearing amongst friends that led me to Copper Point.

I visited the restaurant with a friend for dinner on a Thursday and was surprised to see the restaurant quite full for a week night. I was glad to see that the 2 level seating format had been retained (it has a charm of its own) though we were seated on the only 2 seater on the mezzanine level and it was rather uncomfortable. The others seats we were told were "reserved". As expected, no one showed up on those tables till we were about to leave. Anyway.

We ordered for a glass of red wine each and were happy to see that the Sula Sartori variety was open and being served. It was as usual, smooth. A good start. We then went on to order some starters. Now its been a while since I visited and I don't remember the exact names as on the menu but will refer to them in their most common parlance. We asked for the ubiquitous Paneer Tikka which impressed while our Tandoori Gobi was a huge disappointment - to the extent that we had to get the kitchen to change it for us. Tandoori Aloo came instead and was quite decent.

We decided to keep the main course light - 1 tandoori (kadak) roti, 1 garlic naan with Dal Makhni was all we ventured into. I have always let the Dal Makhni at a restaurant decide whether I like the place or not. Seriously, if the kitchen can get that right and somewhat different from that served in other eateries, they've done a pretty decent job. To say the least, I was amazed at how good the Dal Makhni turned out to be. Don't forget to catch my Dal Makhni special coming up in a few days. The rotis were excellent and made exactly how we wanted it - for once, we didn't have to send back the tandoori roti for want of it being "kadak" enough.

Desserts were given a miss as we were quite stuffed with our quick meal.

Copper Point definitely did not disappoint. I hope to go back soon enough with my carnivorous friends to write more about the non vegetarian fare. The live Indian music still stays to add to the warm ambience and actually sets the tone for a nice, cozy evening.

Women and kids will love the presence of in-house palmists and a caricaturist.

Meal for 2: Rs. 1000/- (without alcohol)
Meal for 2: Rs. 1800/- (with alcohol)
Website: http://www.grtgrand.com/grand/restaurant.htm
Address & Phone: GRT Grand, 120, Sir Thyagaraya Road, T. Nagar, Chennai - 600 017, Ph: 28150500 / 28155500

Reviewed by: Harish Anand Thilakan
Date: 06th March 2008