Lyfe by Soul Garden Bistro — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

Had called ahead and reserved a table for 8. When we arrived on time, we were told that they had not reserved the seats and there was a 30 min wait. We decided to wait as it was too late to go anywhere else and we had a bunch of hungry children in the group too. The refrigerator unit outside near the waiting area was not working and perishable items on the shelf had started stinking, setting the stage for the experience to follow.

By the time we got a table, it was well over 45 mins. And it took them 10 whole mins after we were seated, to clean the table shoddily. I decided to take a wet wipe from my stash and clean the table myself rather than directing the staff to do better after two failed attempts. The floor was dirty too and the staff had no breather to clean it, between their runs. Then followed another ten minute wait for taking the orders. Meanwhile, the phone at the counter kept ringing continuously at TOP volume driving many of the diners crazy, as we had to yell to make ourselves heard. Finally once our orders were taken, the food started to arrive in random order (main course first, starters next etc.) but no one could bring us plates, cutlery or glasses even after several repeated requests. Oh then came the washroom trip. We had to cross the storage and kitchen entrance to get to the washroom which had a plumbing issue and therefore no water. And the WC has very evident remnants of someone's digestive system gone haywire. Everyone in our group was absolutely disgusted and shocked at the poor state of maintenance. When we FINALLY got the cutlery and plates, the food had gone cold. It was taking a lot of effort to remain calm amidst delayed service, hungry children, dirty surroundings and a noisy environment (the phone especially).

A couple of items were forgotten and by that time, dessert was already served. Overall, it was a terrible experience that marred the weekend. The food was lacklustre - aglio olio pasta was salty and had tomato sauce mixed in, raita was just cucumber in water with a drop of yoghurt shoddily mixed in, tomato salsa for the tacos was sweet with copious amount of ketchup, and there was a truckload of mayo in the filling, momos were just frozen momos. Basically, this restaurant served fast food in the guise of "health food" served in the most unhygienic environment by staff who don't wash their hands after using the wipe cloth (oh wait, there's a plumbing issue and so no water from the taps!) and charging exorbitantly for the experience. Our bill amounted to ₹ 4137.

For ALL of this experience, even after gently highlighting a few shortcomings, we didn't sense even a whiff of an apology.

NOT recommended especially if you want to stay healthy. DEFINITELY not setting foot in here again.

Pictures of the food storage area and part of the kitchen of the restaurant serving...

It was my second last day in Chennai and I planned to go here with my best friend cum roomie as a part of our girl's day out😋 It was suggested by my foodie friend Prem Chand

This place is located in Alwarpet. It has a beautiful seating on the outside. But since we went during the day time, my friend insisted that we went and sat inside in the AC. So we went inside. The inside seating is pretty small but it's beautiful with quotes all over.

We first ordered Spicy Cheese Fries. OMG I am still drooling over those fries. Anyone who visits this place, do try this out. The quantity is amazing with the perfect amount of cheese topping and spices. We were literally fighting over it till the last bite.

Then we ordered Barbeque Paneer. It was a nice paneer dish with a tangy twist. The quantity of this too was really nice. The paneer was really fresh and soft. Loved this one too.

We went ahead and ordered a Pizza then.. though we were skeptical if we would be able to finish it up but still we went for it and we had to try them seeing the menu. We ordered the Veg Exotica Peri Peri Pizza 🍕 It was a 11" thin crust pizza nicely topped with black olives, jalapeno, capsicum, onion, cheese and sauces. It was really good.

We were full to our throats by then. But then one thing took our attention. Their Nitrogen ice creams! It was something that you customize yourself. We decided to go for it! We chose the base as Cheese Cake Add on as Brownie Topping as Chocolate shots and Syringe as Chocolate Fudge

It was something different for both of us. We were just excited with the whole process of customizing it and the outcome of it. We sort of didn't like the tangy taste that the cheese cake gave but overall it was definitely worth a try.

All of this was not too heavy on our pockets too. Worth every penny spent.

The service was really good! We had this huge table next to us occupied by Ladies and their kids. They were intolerably noisy. The manager kept coming to us to ask us if we are getting too disturbed. They kept a check on the children to make sure that the other customers are not upset about it.

Overall it was a really nice experience. It's a must visit place.

Food - 5.0/5.0 Ambiance - 4.5/5.0 Service -...

Note caution below....proceed reading...

Located in a cosy, green space in Alwarpet, this place is a must go for real and wannabe vegans. The ambience was calm and very relaxing and one could just sit and chat for hours over slowly relished vegan foods.

They have all kinds of western ,continental and Indian vegan alternatives to dairy and meat varieties. We had chicken biryani with fish cutlets.(the names of these dishes were long and hard to bear in mind...so check out their vegan menu to know their given names. )

The chicken of chicken biryani were well cooked soy nuggets..... And fish cutlets were named so just for looks...it contained well mashed and cooked vegetables....yummy.

Desserts ....they have three vegan ice creams...vanilla, raspberry,and Belgian chocolate. Among non vegan ones. You can taste the chololatez and customise them.....for that final delightful icecream enjoyment. I went for Vanilla and Belgian chocolate. Really planning to go back for great guiltless royal foods.

03.05.2022 Sadly adding another very strange experience.

I visited the place yesterday again at night for dinner with my brother in law .

I hoped for same experience but have to record that it was not so.

We made our order and hoped for the wonderful vegan treats. And waited and waited . It was 45 mins after which we realised it was inordinately late. We cancelled the order fully. As we prepared to leave we were told the soup wa ready. After that a drumstick based eatable was ready and we had it. We had ordered for two Belgian chocolate vegan ice creams hoping to finish at least with some chilled feeling. But no. We again ended up waiting inordinately and had to cancel as it was very late....

This is not expected of this kind high end restaurant. Whatever the reason, this situation an be interpreter as careless and rude attitude to customers. It has erased the impressin I had earlier.

We would have appreciated if they had informed of delay...and shown some consideration.

To me it seemed very deliberate. But whatever it was it was humiliating and utterly unbecoming of a place of such high scale.

In case you do go there, please do so at the risk of bad...