Up North at Pullman Chennai Anna Salai by Accor — Restaurant in Zone 9 Teynampet

After a year of anticipation, I was thrilled to return to this beloved restaurant. It had been a regular spot for me, but it was barely occupied for a Saturday night, perhaps many weren’t aware of its reopening.

Upon entering, I was instantly captivated by the transformation. This place is undoubtedly one of the best-looking dinner spots in town. The ambiance was perfect, setting the stage for an exciting culinary experience.

To start, we were served with unlimited papads and chutney refills throughout our meal, which speaks volumes about the restaurant’s commitment to quality.

We opted for the panner tikka, served in a traditional “up north” style—a rectangular log. It was perfectly marinated, bursting with flavour, soft, and juicy. A solid 5/5.

Next, we tried the truffle edamame patti samosa, which was a decent dish, earning it a 4/5.

However, this was the high point of our dinner. Everything that followed was a significant disappointment, except for the partial redemption in the end.

The bhutte ke kebab was a letdown. It barely had any corn and felt too doughy, made with maida cornflour. The chef apologised and replaced it with rajma galaouti kebab, which was equally disappointing. It had a chemical taste, like a rajma gone bad, and felt very raw and tasted horrible. We returned it, but the chef didn’t say a word and sent another dish, the burrata chaat. It was average, earning it a 3/5. Good concept, but lacked execution.

On a positive note, the jalapeño kofta was a good 3.5/5. The dal makhani was a partial redemption, one of the better dals I’ve had in a while. 5/5 Breads were good. Blue cheese naan had zero blue cheese in it, didn’t bring it up since we were almost done pointing things out.

To celebrate a birthday, they also got us a cake, which was a 5/5.

The service was impeccable, with the staff being incredibly cordial and courteous.

Will I return? Only for the panner tikka and the...

The only thing up north here are the prices! I arrived at the restaurant with my group of 7 on a saturday night only to realise my reservation wasn't in their books. In hindsight, i should have left and gone any other place that night. We placed our orders of "small plates" (they weren't joking when they called it small) which arrived 55 minutes after placing the order! And each portion of the small plate and kebab was given to us in intervals of 10 to 15 minutes. And atleast if the food was worth the wait, i wouldn't be writing this piece ...

The main course portions should have been called smallish plates; for the price of 1000 plus per item the portions were teeny. Again, if the flavours or quality of food was great all would be forgotten, but our stars weren't aligned that night :(

When we ordered soft drinks, they were served warm but not before being told that they were out of soft drinks !

And even if we could have forgiven the below average gravies and biryani, or even the poor cuts of meat, the least that is expected in a restaurant promising north indian food is decent butter naan.

The naan we were served was undercooked, cold, and interestingly each portion of the bread was served in different sizes and shapes. Some pieces of naan were served whole while others were served broken into 4 or 5 pieces ! Wondering if we were served leftovers since they were running slow on their service ...

Oh and yes the finger bowls we were given had so little water that we could barely dip our nails into leave alone our fingers.

Overall Up north is a big...

The atmosphere is great, far better than what was at the earlier raintree. Absolutely loved the new ambiance of the lobby and Up North.

Food is good, just like earlier, however more than half the menu items were not available and the staff are hardly able to communicate what is available or not.

Since the couple of speciality ice creams on the menu were not available, we asked for regular plain chocolate ice cream from the buffet restaurant to be served for a child. They refused and suggested a bunch of stupid alternatives. This was absolutely pathetic. They don't have half the menu and refused to accomodate any alternative options because of their inefficiency.

It's not like we asked them to go outside and buy ice cream or something like that. It's a simple matter of going to another restaurant in the same hotel and getting it. Sumit is the name of guy who was more than happy to refuse.

Another issue was that we had made a reservation in advance and the could not find it and made us wait for 10 minutes.

Overall what started as a great experience dropped like a rock in the ocean because of...