Among the various fine cuisines dotting the vast culinary landscape of India, Chettinad Cuisine has a special place in our heart.
The very thought of items like Chicken Masala, Chettinad Chicken or Kaadai Varuval sends us into a drooling ecstasy.
So it was no surprise then that after watching Dasavatharam recently, we headed to Chennai Ponnusamy for dinner (plus the movie ticket offered a 10% discount at the restaurant).
Located on Rt 27 in Franklin Park, New Jersey, Chennai Ponnusamy serves a wide range of Chettinad dishes from Chettinad Chickent to Kaadai Chettinad, Mutton Pepper Fry, Vanjara Meenu Kalambu to Poondu Kalambu to South Indian fixtures like Idli and Dosa.
We let our taste buds roam free on a range of Vegetarian and non-vegetarian items at Chennai Ponnusamy.
Our choice of food included Onion Pakora($4.99), Ponnusamy Chicken ($8.49), Poondu Kolambu ($7.99), Ceylon Parotha ($2.99), Plain Parotha ($1.99) and Egg Biryani ($7.99).
When we walked in around 9:45pm on a Friday night, there were about 15 diners in the restaurant.
We were greeted by a smiling waiter who quickly led us to a table, filled in the water glasses and handed us the menu.
After a few minutes, another cheerful waiter - a Goan by the name of Sanadu - came by and took our order. We requested the waiter to get our Coffee ($1.99) first.
As we were waiting for our Coffee and Onion Pakoras, the first waiter Venkat Ramana who had seated us came with a small note book to take our order. We told him that we had already placed our order. He immediately apologized and explained that he had been attending to a different customer who needed assistance.
As requested by us, the second waiter brought us the Coffee with a small spoon and sugar. The Coffee was piping hot but had more of an instant Coffee flavor rather than the famous South Indian decoction Coffee.
As we were sipping our hot Coffee, our waiter Sanadu brought us our Onion Pakoras with Coconut Chutney.
Though the Onion Pakoras were not very crisp, they came to the table hot and we gobbled them up quickly as an accompaniment to our hot Coffee. We were disappointed with the Coconut Chutney that came with the Pakoras - it was way too bland, flavorless and worse, cold.
As we were finishing our Onion Pakoras, we had second thoughts whether the food we ordered would be sufficient. You see we initially ordered Ponnusamy Chicken, Poondu Kolambu, Ceylon Parotha and Plain Parotha. So we wanted to add Egg Biryani to our order. There were no wait staff in the dining room. So we requested the Amigo who was cleaning a nearby table to call a waiter. The Amigo seemed to have difficulty with basic English and had a hard time understanding us. The same Amigo had difficulties later too when we requested him to call a waiter so that we could place our desserts order.
Though we placed our order in installments, all the main items were served together.
Ponnusamy Chicken was hot and spicy and a delight whose memories linger and linger. We had it with Ceylon Parotha, Plain Parotha and even mixed it with some Egg Biryani. Rightly spiced for hardened Indian palates, the Ponnusamy Chicken was manna from heaven.
Poondu Kolambu was also hot with a thick and spicy gravy. Though overall Poondu Kalambu was tasty, the garlic pieces were a little hard and slightly raw because the spices had not seeped completely into the garlic.
An old favorite of ours for several decades, Ceylon Parotha was piping hot and we enjoyed it both with Poondu Kolambu and Ponnusamy Chicken. The Plain Parotha was a disppointment as it came to the table barely lukewarm and was a little hard too.
Egg Biryani came with two boiled eggs and Onion Raita. It was spicy, had a nice smell and very tasty. But just like the Plain Parotha, Egg Biryani could have been a little warmer.
Although Chennai Ponnusamy lists several desserts on the menu, Gajjar Halwa was the only dessert available during our visit.
Since there was no choice, we settled for Gajjar Halwa ($3.99). Unlike most Indian restaurants, Chennai Ponnusamy served the Gajjar Halwa reasonably hot. You see most Indian restaurants overheat the Gajjar Halwa and Badam Halwa which spoils the taste. While we would not put the Chennai Ponnusamy Gajjar Halwa in the outstanding category it was ok without the ubiquitous raw taste that we frequently encounter.
Barring some minor missteps, Chennai Ponnusamy is a fine Chettinad restaurant in New Jersey, one that we would consider revisiting. © NJIndia.us
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