Crimson Chakra, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar Chennai -- an Experience to remember

Come Saturday afternoon, I had finally fulfilled my desire to dine at Crimson Chakra in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar. Now, a slight disclaimer. If The Woodlands on RK Salai is your idea of a restaurant, then you are probably a better off giving the Crimson Chakra a miss.

The concept, as I understood, behind Crimson Chakra, is the entire experience of a six course meal in a very relaxed setting that reminds you of the days of the Raj. The first thing you will notice as you step in are the very cordial and polite staff who will greet you at the door and seat you down -- a very good touch for a fine dining restaurant.

As you sit, you cannot miss the sound of water which is a constant theme around the restaurant. No matter where you sit , you are never too far away from the sound of water -- flowing or splashing. This further relaxes the atmosphere. At the heart of the restaurant, in the non-AC section outdoors, I discovered a small swimming pool with a miniature catamaran and water falling off the tiled roof of a wall into the pool.

Now to the food. You have a choice between an executive veg/ non veg lunch and a-la-carte (where you can order anything from Indian to Italian food). My friends and I ordered the executive veg lunch. What unfolded was like a Ram Gopal Verma movie.

Excitement started with the soup , where we had a choice of tomato or cabbage. As I was in a mood for experimenting I ordered Cabbage soup. I have never had cabbage soup before so I have no way of benchmarking this. All I can say is that it was delightful. It was a thin soup with a dash of spice and a flavour that was undoubtedly cabbage. The soup came with 2 large salads -- vegetable and fruit, besides a bowl of crispies and a hotly baked bun.

After the soup came the appetizers. We were served an array of fried paneer, baked yam, tandoori potatoes and fried raw bananas fritters. These were to be served with an array of 5 sauces -- garlic, mint, grated coconut, fresh cream, tomatoe chilly-- which, unfortunately came much later. Our waiter had forgotten to serve the sauce and decided to serve us with another course of the appetisers, this time with sauce. This was a dampener after the soup. Perhaps we would not have noticed the missing sauces.

The biggest surprise was to follow. we were served a very soft rice pancake resembling the Adai, followed by Idiappam served with 3 gravies -- a bland north Indian masoor dal, spicy potato masala and a stew with vegetables laced with cheese. This was an unusual combo. Traditionally dosa and its variants are served with sambhar or coconut based preparations like chutney and stew.

This was clearly not a place for the faint hearted. Sanity returned a few minutes later with roti and vegetable biryani (served with tangy raita).

The dessert was cotton seed soufle' and gooseberry halwa -- both of which were excellently prepared and presented.

At Rs 350 per head, the food can definitely be improved. But what the food lacks is made up by the ambience.

Those looking for more exclusivity can opt for the unique candle room (a room with scented candles) overlooking the pool. It costs Rs 3,000 only to reserve the room in advance depending on availability.