Liu's Waldorf — Restaurant in Zone 13 Adyar

On a hectic Sunday evening at 8 p.m., this once happening and a bustling eatery wore a forlorn and a deserted look. That was the first loud pointer which I failed to notice.

In the dining area, which can seat about 50 persons, we were the only guests. And the handful of indifferent and listless waiters were all looking blank and bored outside the glass windows, at the mad rush-hour traffic just outside their compound gates.

I got my second tip-off soon after, which, I yet again did not read. This time, on entering the washroom, I was greeted with the most appallingly maintained restroom. It is common sense that any restaurant that cannot maintain a clean restroom, is highly unlikely to keep their kitchen clean too.

We should have just walked out right then. We did not. And we are paying a rather heavy price for our stupidity, one week hence – with most of us suffering a miserably upset and a constantly churning stomach.

We ordered the thick 'China Soup'. It was served piping hot and in a jiffy. For starters, we ordered 'Chicken Wings'. Instead, we were served 'Chicken Lollipop'. I did not complain or return the plate. The main dish was a 'Quaitho Mixed Flat Noodles Bowl with Chicken, Prawns and Pork' (recommended by the bored waiter). The Pork was semi cooked, even almost raw, which most likely must have messed up our stomachs, primarily. The 'Beef Strips Fried with Onions' was crispy and yummy. And, of course extremely hot. We also ordered the 'Yong Chow Rice', which is a bed of Egg Fried Rice topped with an hodgepodge of nondescript and random vegetables and assorted meats (probably from the afternoon’s leftovers, or even earlier). Again recommended by the waiter. The dish served was soggy and unappetising. But extremely hot, from inside out.

What clearly stood that evening was the overall lightning fast service. All the dishes were served within a matter of mere minutes. No cooking time. No waiting time. And, all the dishes were served piping hot, like I have mentioned earlier, inside out.

So on thinking back, it is quite evident that these dishes were not definitely prepared anew, but rather have been cooked god-knows-when, pre-plated and refrigerated.

When the customers place the order, which the waiters prompt, they just pull out the dish from the fridge, microwave it and serve it really hot and within mere minutes.

To cook each of these fresh would have taken at least half-an-hour, if not more. But the entire order was all served - in one go, and within a matter of a mere five minutes only.

So they do not obviously cook their orders fresh. The quality of the food served is the proof. And the after effects are the most clinching evidence of their unhygienic, improper and sloppy operations (the aerated drink was served in the same bottle, with a straw, but priced more than 4-times its original cost. Why we wonder ?).

However, we are not at all surprised why Liu’s Waldorf is running scarily empty, especially on a day and time when t is supposed to be running to its...

Where do I start? This was one of the "I had to try it because I saw a post" restaurants for me and I jumped right in. We went on a rainy evening, hence it was not too crowded, in fact at halfway we were the only dine-in's.

The ambience was elegant, not too blingy with unwanted decors yet still authentic to its roots with classical woodworks and seating along with the wall lights.

We started with a Waldorf Special Soup and Boy! Oh Boy!, never tasted something like that in a long time, I assure you it's nothing grand, just the basic ingredients but it's the method that matters, the soup on a rainy evening touched the spot with proper consistency.

We moved to a Chinese Chilli Chicken (did not want not risk anything new), and it was a instant hit, the herbs, the ginger, the garlic, the spring onion along with their signature hot sweet sauce was so delicious over that crunchy yet juicy chicken.

And finally to our main course we planned on our usual chicken noodles which was then modified to a Quaitho noodles as per the deskhelp's suggestion and one of the lightest noodles I tried, the ribbon texture of the noodles ties every other item in the meal perfectly fine and the usual feeling of bloatedness after a heavy mela was not felt at all, given the quality of ingredients and the oil used.

So good that we did not even need a aerated beverage to wash it down!!!

Definitely a must try and a perfect place a mid-range date. FYI, the dishes were also neat and tidy and there is no options...

This place used to be my favorite place for Chinese Cuisine in Chennai, along with a few other places. Unfortunately, this place is sliding down.

Pros:

1. Maintains the same old legacy of a place, that used to be
2. One of the old staff is still there and is it good to see him and listen to his recommendations and short stories
3. In a busy place this place has got parking for 3-4 cars.
4. Service time is 10-15 min

Cons:

1. I had ordered my favorite. Chicken mushroom soup. Unfortunately, there is a change in ingredient, dried shitaki mushroom replaced with chopped button mushrooms. Sad to see that, just killed it.
2. The chicken spring roll I ordered was, Chicken Spring roll. Unfortunately the content of the spring roll were dominated by shredded cabbage. Why not call is cabbage spring roll instead?
3. This place was known for its serving of pork. The slices of pork in the dish, were way too thin. Showed that the management was much more focused on cost cutting.
4. We wanted a fork and a knief to eat. The knief given to us had stains on it. I know from experience that any outlet need to check it cutlery, silverware and crockery before and after service. That care is clearly missing.
5. There are three condimants kept in a Chinese restaurant Soya sauce, Chilly Vinegar and some hot sauce. One of them was missing...