Aachi Namma Kitchen | Ashok Nagar — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

Just got back from a breakfast dine-in at this joint: it's a tad above-average but please avoid such restaurants at peak times or holiday meal times because there's a queue to be seated and they run out of a lot of stuff as I discovered today.

NOTE: Usual caveats regarding the run-of-the-mill South Indian vegetarian restaurants apply, i.e. eating with bare hands and cutlery usually available on request, iffy drinking water unless you buy it bottled, cramped seating with strangers and queues if busy, masala dosa filling is typically sub-par these days, hygiene standards not that great yet.

LOCATION: About 500 metres from the Ashok Pillar junction or 1 km from the Ashok Nagar Metro. Centrally located at the crossing of a main street and quite easily found.

AMBIENCE: Looks brighter due to the predominantly off-white interiors but is probably as clean as any other, similar local restaurant. Table and seating layouts are somewhat basic but that's sorta the local standard for such places and it's certainly above-average in this part of the world. Very busy at peak times and holiday meal times so be prepared to queue up if you visit at such times. A bit annoying that you may have to share a table with complete strangers but that appears to be really common here. Indians tend to eat with their bare hands so be prepared for that and ask for cutlery if you want -- they usually have it available.

HYGIENE: Okay by local standards but not great. On par with mediocre North American diners or European pubs, and standards in Latin America and other developing Asian countries. Food is served on banana leaves in steel plates. The banana leaves bit is usually a goo thing because it minimises the risk of a sloppy dishwash job.

SERVICE: Efficient and mostly effective but don't expect very social staff -- the dining experience is close enough to an assembly line to encourage one to go elsewhere. This is typical of many such restaurants. Peak times can mean queues, food shortage, and the like. That's the mistake I made this morning. Everything else is tolerable.

FOOD: I tried the Podi and Masala Dosas -- both were alright but the masala dosa filling was as unsatisfactory, albeit bearable, as I expected it to be. Masala dosa and any dishes with filling or "masala" are to be avoided at all restaurants due to consistently poorer quality than I remember from 10 years ago. If I come across a place that serves better filling, I'll post a review: for now, avoid dishes like this because they're seeming a bit suspicious in appearance, texture, and taste. Chutneys were fine but the sambar seemed to develop "skin" on the surface after a few minutes -- not sure what that indicates but it wasn't very appetising. Dosas are best eaten in the restaurant because they seem to deteriorate faster than other items during delivery. The difference between dine-in and delivery/takeaway quality for dosas is rather obvious.

PRICE: INR 185/USD 2.25 in total for both dosas. Pretty much the norm for restaurants of this sort.

BOTTOM LINE: Acceptable and a bit above the average. I wouldn't be fooled by the homey name: it's like any other local...

We tried to visit last Sunday but they told us it will open on 15th August( eventhough the restaurant was open and busy). So, we visited yesterday for dinner. There was lot of crowd and after waiting for 15 minutes got our table. We ordered one plate idli, one dosa and a mushroom masala dosa. As soon as the order was taken, we asked for hot water. The person who took the orders asked the server of the table to provide water. Then, after 10 minutes, we asked for bottle water as the hot water did not come. The person who took the order informed us one of the items was not there. So, we ordered another 2 platse of idlies. The server came with a small bottle of water and told us there is no 1 litre water bottle. So, again we asked for hot water. The food came we ate and no compromise in quality. In the end we called the person who took the order and complained about not providing hot water or water at all for one person. He at once went to get hot water and gave two cups. We told him when we needed the water it was not provided and tried to tell him it was a great mistake. At once, he told us that he didn't include the cost of small bottle in the bill. We really felt bad that he didn't realise his mistake of not providing water even after multiple remainders. Since it is a new restaurant, the restaurant workers should take ample of care to improve it than getting into habit of covering...

The tea served here is probably the best tea you can get in this area. Their tiffin items are also at the top end of restaurant food available in ashok nagar area. It is the service staff that fall a bit short. One young man in particular falls quite short of the general standard of this restaurant. I went there for tea around 5.30 p.m. on the 23/11/22. I told the young man who took the order that I wanted a cup of tea with half the normal sugar, brown sugar in particular. My seat was quite close to the window where the tea orders are given to the tea maker. I could hear that this young waiter not mention my specifics about the sugar content. So I called him and told him that he has forgotten to mention about the sugar. He replied " oh...okay..." and he mumbled something into the window again. After a while he gives me half a cup of tea with full sugar, probably white sugar. I left my seat without drinking the tea, complained to the safari suit supervisor, who was willing to set things right, and left the restaurant. In general there is a bit of rudeness and brusqueness with some of the serving staff in the restaurant. I wonder if they are getting a second salary for sabotage from...