The Greenhouse Barbecue — Restaurant in Zone 8 Anna Nagar

(I visited this Food Paradise once again today (12th March, 2024) to update my review and also give the latest experience in dining here once again. I find the setup has not changed and so also the menu! It was nice to know that they maintain the standards.) Earlier review: Are you a connoisseur of food, want the best Vegetarian food in City that too at an affordable price? Then you have The Greenhouse Barbecue in Chennai! What a satisfying experience in buffet! I had an opportunity to dine here with my family first in the year (22nd September 2019) and again on 15th January 2020. As the Pandemic was threatening, I avoided taking food at the restaurants. Now the curbs have eased and I ventured once again in March 2022. Though I was hesitant a bit as it was called barbecue it turned out to be an exciting and unforgettable journey into Food Paradise. A wide range of menu surprises you, then the taste and quality impresses you ! Starting from Soup (today we had a choice of Rajma soup, which I had not tasted earlier and Green Peas Soup -please see photos- , range of starters, you progress to main course with Punjabi, Chinese, and italian side dishes and end with superb desserts of sweets, icecream etc. You have South Indian Sambhar, dahi rice too. Please see the menu photo attached. This stunning whole range comes at a surprise price Rs. 850/- all inclusive. I find the price has increased now from what I had earlier. The ambience is excellent, location is very good ( it is on the main Poonamallee High Road) at Kilpauk, the staff are very courteous and helpful, smiling. The hall is spacious, decorated, seating is comfortable, buffet items are arranged excellently - see the photos taken by me- the kitchen is clean and visible by glass partitions from the dining hall. Last time one of the partners took me around the kitchen (no hotelier will allow you to See the kitchen!) and explained to me modernisation aspects, elaborate exhaust system , clean and hygienic environment though at a higher cost, non- usage of food colours artificial agents, taste enhancers, in food preparation, recycling of oils etc. I find still it holds good. You will certainly appreciate their efforts in presenting a nice, tasty enjoyable food. Thanks to their painstaking effort this air-condioned Restaurant will no doubt be a land mark in best Vegetarian cuisine in Chennai. Recommended to visit with your family, friends and relatives and enjoy sumptuous delicacy of authentic vegetarian food at pocket friendly prices. You will love it! During my second visit they served different types of Pongal to celebrate Pongal festival. Apart from the usual Ven Pongal ( white Pongal) and Sweet Pongal ( Sarkarai Pongal), there were Ilaneer Pongal(Tender coconut), Thinai Pongal and so on were present to introduce the delicacies of Past periods. They were tasty too. During my present visit I felt the taste of Punjabi side dishes could be improved. Similarly the Briyani could be a shade better.Still I enjoyed Dhall Makhani which was served on table. Excellent taste! You have lot of starters, Papad varieties, salads and lo, the Sweets and ice creams! Parking space is available, cards are accepted. You can book through apps like Dineout etc to bring the cost come down. Dine delightfully in a relaxed atmosphere ! You will feel like visiting again!

The Greenhouse barbeque is newly opened pure vegetarian barbeque restaurant in kilpauk. To my knowledge, this is second barbeque restaurant in Chennai which is serving pure vegetarian BBQ food. I came across this place in Zomato, seeing pure vegetarian BBQ option immediately bookmarked it and went yesterday along with my dad. This place is easy to locate. Valet parking is available.

Ambiance is simple and decent. Comfortable seating. Smaller in size when compare to other BBQ restaurant. I think it will fit around 35-40 pax. Service is of top notch. They briefed about menu, gave insights about what will be served in table and what are self service. Also informed us about live counter of Sushi and Ice cream. They were attentive. Cleaned used plates promptly. Got feedback about food and took it positively.

We booked our table in Zomato at ease. We were 30min early but we were allowed to sit. Not that crowded but still would recommend table reservation especially on weekends.

Menu is good which consists of 1 appetizer, 1 soup, 8 live grill, 1 kebab, 3 starters, 12 salads 🥗, 12 accompaniments, 12 main course, 14 dessert and 2 live counter (Sushi and cold stone ice cream).

First we got Samosa Chat and it was excellent. Good start for dinner. Then we got soup. We are given 2 options to choose viz rajma soup and pumpkin soup. I had rajma soup and my dad tried pumpkin soup which I tasted. Both are short of salt, but after adding salt, it was excellent in taste.

Live Grills - Got 2 varieties in Panner, sweet potato, mushroom 🍄, Gobi, Pineapple 🍍 and Corn 🌽. Tastewise everything is decent. Bit raw in taste. Flavours not soaked enough. Sweet potato grill new over here is good. Corn 🌽 is better than we thought. Panner is softer.

Then came starters. We had Gobi Manchurian, crispy corn 🌽, cheese onion enchiladas and kebab. Everything is excellent. Crispy corn 🌽 was so light. No oil at all. Flavour was good. Cheese 🧀 onion enchiladas was new over here and it was better than I thought.

Then tried few salads 🥗 which are kind of okay. In main course tried garlic naan which is crispy (not soft) but tasted good. Fried rice, biriyani and pulao are not that great. Biriyani is just like colour rice. Pesto pasta was creamier. Tastewise it was excellent. Better than others dishes. Kadi with pakoda, sauteed vegetable and baigan Masala are good.

Live Sushi was surprise option for me. First time tried sushi here and it was decent experience. In chat tried Pani Puri, it was not great. Stuffing is short of salt. Paani is also not upto the mark. Tried payasam in dessert and it was good. In Live cold stone ice cream, tried strawberry among 4 options available and it was also good.

Pricing is okay. Overall decent experience with scope for improvement. If you don't mind having BBQ in veg and non Veg place, then this place may not excite you since other options in market are slightly better. However this place is for person like my dad who have food only in pure vegetarian restaurant and you want to give then BBQ experience. Also have Jain food options. Heard that they don't use any preservatives and artificial colouring which is a welcome move.

3 🌟 because the wash area is horrible otherwise staff is really polite 👍 Good thing, I had sanitizer and didn't go to restroom before eating or else I would have lost my appetite (no finger bowl)

Detailed review: I went for lunch, even on a Weekday resto was kinda full. Booked through Eazydiner. Reached late due to traffic but got table after 5 min of waiting. Manager was courteous. I told mum won't be going for buffet but he still offered her soup etc (only because she doesn't consume outside food) Since I was already late, I went to the chaat section immediately after choosing nariyal soup. They asked to come later. Post that, I completely forgot about chaat.

Starters arrived at the table. Loved everything. Probably the best part of meal is the starters. Babycorn manchurian was delectable, I asked for seconds pretty late into my meal but kitchen was closed. My bad. 🌽 was crispy 🍄🍄 were yum so was the 🍍 🍉 paneer was so soft. Didn't like peas patties and soup although I experimented with, didn't like it a lot.

Dal makhani was served along with garlic roti. It was tangy, didn't enjoy it at all unlike the last time I had visited or ordered takeaway. They need to give smaller portions to avoid wastage of food. It's unlimited, we can always ask for seconds.

For main course I took a teaspoon of almost everything. Palak paneer was really bad, biryani was a let down. Underwhelming options, No lasagne, pasta, strip 🍕 or 🥭 bao. I was served iced tea 🍸 (courtesy,eazy diner) no option of choosing your mocktail though.

🍝was spicy, loved it. Most loved dish from main course 🍜The oriental curries were all decent. But I was to full from starters to have much of it.

What I don't like is everyone touching all the papads with their bare hands and then choosing one. ❌ Papads should be served directly from kitchen because some people don't have any respect for hygiene✖

One fellow picked & smelled apple salad or something & then asked his friend to smell it & after this strange act, they kept it back where it belonged in the buffet. It's not a good sight for us, I couldn't eat anything from that section after seeing this🚫 I suppose restaurant can't control these things, I guess no one was around to witness this either.

Anyway, I tried rasam which I liked. And some other southern curry which I don't know of. Yellow dal was fine and so was kadai subzi 🍛

I had to rush for sweets, It was closing time. Good thing I had already tasted little bit before main course. There was gulab jamun, ras malai, both I liked. Rest I didn't like much, malai chum, barfis etc. Brownie was dry. Other tiny pastry was soft and good. Ice-cream, I had chocolate with Brownie and chocochip. It was a bit bitter for me. And I couldn't choose another one post that, closed. Last year, the desert area was better which had 🍎 jalebi 😋

I was so so full by the end of it, I had to skip dinner.

Also, Do not book with eazydiner, voucher didn't work for me. And I wasn't carrying cash. Lot of time got wasted and it was embarrassing for us to keep them waiting. Eazy diner was a huge let down. Restaurant was cooperative, which I appreciate.