Winter Palace. Russian restaurant — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

Was here last week after enough permutations and combinations for choosing a restaurant. We finally decided on this place after reading reviews and as a matter of fact something that actually prompted us was the Dineout offer which was buy one dish and get other free.

It’s located inside the Russian embassy, so finding the place is never going to be a problem, just that only cars are allowed inside and bikes have to be parked outside. Atleast to the looks of it that was what I assumed.

It looks very decent from the outside, luxury written all over it with the colours and lighting’s giving it a rich feel. It got us excited to try the food and it was a long time since I had something different from the normal South Indian food. This place offers continental and Russian cuisine. The ambience was very pleasing, even Though it looks like a old place that was newly renovated, it still holds its charm. It was clean, soothing music and welcoming staffs are all positives. All these increased the appetite wanting to taste the food immediately.

For soups we wanted the beef borscht, which unfortunately wasn’t unavailable and ended up having the Thai coconut with prawns costing 230₹. It was amazing, it was finger licking good, the prawns were very well cooked and the soup was mild but tasted excellent. We even went to the extent of asking for more, but since it was chargeable we unfortunately had to control ourselves. This was an excellent start to our dinner night that started with a bang.

For starters we ordered the calamari with onion rings costing 360₹. To be honest, the onion rings were simply delicious, probably the best I had in chennai. The batter was very light with enough spices that wasn’t overdoing and it felt completely fresh and again we enjoyed it with the chilli garlic sauce. However the calamari was a deal crasher. It was rubbery as if it was cooked immediately after taking it from the freezer. It tasted good but the rubbery feel made us not like the dish. Having understood the concern they offered us fresh calamari but again it tasted good but felt rubbery. I wouldn’t call it a disaster but not my cup of tea. We had to return it and our appetiser dream was a wash out.

And for mains we ordered the beef stake 550₹ and chicken al a kieu costing 560. It was supposed to be their best dishes as suggested by the waiter and even after our bad start we still were positive and confident with the mains.

And it turned out to be a disappointment once again. The stake wasn’t cooked to perfection since at most places I had dined in before the juices simply ooze out and with the mashed potatoes and stake sauce it’s majestic. Here it was dry and lacked flavours. The insides of the stake still needed cooking and the outside portion lacked flavours. Stakes generally have a resting period after they get cooked for the juices to set in. But the one we had wasn’t to be.

The chicken which looked like a big potato has butter pouring out when cut into pieces but again lacked flavours and was bland. The sauce they served had mushrooms that were rubbery as if it was frozen before dropping it in the sauce. I knew the food was going to be less spicy, but lacking flavours and with no perfection is not ideal especially for a place like this.

I explained them the situation to which they accepted my point of view and offered to cancel the calamari dish which we didn’t even eat and returned except for the onion rings that tasted amazing.

The service is slow, so be prepared. The waiters offer the best to choose the dishes and take care of you throughout. Will I go back...

On my recent visit to Chennai, found this hidden gem inside the Russian Cultural Centre. The food is mostly Russian here along with some dishes from Ukraine, Georgia, Uzbekistan etc. I ordered a Beef Borscht, Mushroom and Potato Vareniki and a Beef Stroganoff. The food was authentic and reasonably priced. The Beef Borscht was flavourful with lots of vegetables, generous portion of meat and topped with smetana. The Vareniki was excellent as well. The Beef Stroganoff was accompanied with vegetables and mashed potato - though the meat was little towards the stiffer side was tasted fantastic. The restaurant has Russian decor and interiors. The place is named the after the Winter Palace also called The Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. If you are in Chennai and looking to try out a cuisine which is not much popular, do...

We have visited three times. Few items I would suggest are: Chicken Stroganoff (my favourite in pic) Kachapuri (must try - a sort of pizza) Blini Seafood Pasta (I did not try but friend said it was good) Beef steak (again I am going with friends review of it)

Some desert you should not miss are: Napolean Cake (Do not miss it) Nut biscuit

We know it is a Russian place but we decided to try the chicken platter. But it was not good. Probably due to my inclination to Arabic grills.

All in all a great place to visit with friends and family located inside Russian cultural centre.

Note: The items ordered will take about 30 mins from order to serving.

The staff are very friendly. Place usually...