Chennai Chettinaad Palace — Restaurant in Phoenix

Updated: 3/1/25

I’m a vegetarian, when it comes to vegetarian food in the west valley, there’s nothing to beat Om Indian bistro, but sometimes I do crave for a buffet. Today is one such day, my experience with Chennai Chettinadu had not been good in the recent past, but I decided to give it a try again (mostly because I didn’t want to drive to Chandler)

But, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The buffet was so much better than what I had expected. And they did have quite a few vegetarian options. Aloo bajji, sweet corn soup, veg Hakka noodles, baby corn Manchurian, veg biriyani, naan, Panneer tikka masala, brinjal masala, kootu, rice, sambar, papad, salad and dessert, plus they also served hot dosa at the table. Plus rose milk and tea. The non veg options also looked good. And everything I ate was fresh and delicious as well.

Plus, I guess they heard me, they did have small disposable cups for rose milk and tea.

Hence I thought I owed it to them to post an update to my earlier review.

——————————- My review a year ago:

I thought a lot before writing this review, but then finally decided that I should. I’ve been eating at this place for years. The management has changed multiple times, and so has food quality and service.

We ate there today, at the lunch buffet. The food was good, no complaints there. One of the waiters who cleared the tables was very polite and friendly. (Thank you, Sir, for that.)

But, the experience I want to share today is what happened at the end. We finished eating, my son wanted to leave right away, but I usually drink tea after the buffet, so I asked the girl at the counter for a disposable cup (I was just hoping for a small foam cup), so I could drink the tea on the way back home. Just so I’m clear, that cup can take hardly 6 oz of liquid and I never fill it to full. The girl says, “Why? You want to take it home?” with a super judging look, and she goes to ask her supervisor while I stand there not knowing if I made a mistake.. I really thought her supervisor would say “of course..”, but to my surprise, he says “yeah, but we have to charge for it”… (what 10 cents?????, in addition to a $40 buffet for 2 people that I’m gonna pay).. at this point, I felt very insulted, so I told them “Don’t bother, I’ll make tea at home”. And, I went back to my table to grab my belongings and back to the counter to pay.. The supervisor got a cup and gave it to me while I was paying but I refused to take it.

I would not have written this review, but I really want to ask these people one very important question “Would they have behaved the same way if it was an American woman asking for a disposable tea cup?”…

It is very common for Indian restaurants to keep a few foam cups next to the tea dispenser because a lot of people like to take it outdoors and either sip it chatting with their friends or on the drive back home..

Why do Indian restaurants never trust Indian customers?

Let’s the assume the worst case scenario here… it’s very much possible that a customer is trying to take tea to someone in her car who didn’t eat the buffet (which BTW, was not true in my case).. Even then, what does the restaurant have to lose? Tea is served as part of the buffet and isn’t a customer allowed to have that?

Even if they didn’t want to hand a cup, they could have refused politely.. not with so much judgement and questioning….. Not only did I pay for the food, but I ended up leaving the place feeling like I was begging for alms and was rudely turned away.. One hell of...

Outside, place is worn & in need of a face lift. Inside, decor is dated. Bathrooms were unclean, trash overflowing, dirty sinks, floors had dead bugs, & a bad sign of things to come. First impressions matter & gave us the impression this place was a mistake to try and were we right. I don’t know what other people see or are eating, maybe they do know what Indian food is supposed to taste like or quality. Poor representation of Tamil Nadu first off. Boyfriend was insulted that this place calls itself authentic, he is from Tamil Nadu and found the food disgusting. I’m American who knows authentic Indian food. This is not it! We ordered Medu Vada for an appetizer,didn’t get it until late in the meal & only after asking our waitress where it was. She said, it was being made fresh. Thus, giving us the impression our main course was not fresh. Service was horrible, the girl spent more time in the kitchen then taking care of the two tables in the dining area, and she couldn’t do it well either. She had no clue about the menu or food being served. She needs proper staff training. She was not attentive or knowledgeable. We ordered Saag(spinach) paneer and butter chicken masala, paratha bread and chapati bread. Our main course came first and with only one bread. We had to ask her where is the other bread and she was, “oh, I forgot to bring it.” She couldn’t deliver what we ordered and was absentminded. The Saag paneer was cooked properly but not served hot, the butter chicken had good flavor but the chicken was overcooked and tasted old so I pushed the chicken aside and ate only the masala. The basmati rice was okay. Both breads were not fresh, they tasted like frozen pre-made and probably were. When the appetizer finally arrived we were nearly done with our meal, it was bland and cake like. We asked for a take away box and it took her over 10 minutes to bring it, I could’ve got up and went to the servers station and got one myself faster. We could her here in the kitchen, again! The gentleman at the next table got up and went to the kitchen after 25 minutes of no server, to ask where his food was. He was so upset he left, then minutes later a staff member came out of the kitchen, we assume with the other customers food, sat down at a table and proceeded to eat the food. Shameless! Unprofessional! Even after we got up to leave, our waitress did not clean the other customers table, she went right back into the kitchen, horrible professionalism. I don’t know how this place stays open. Serious staff issues, horrible customer service, unclean dining area & bathrooms, and food that cannot be called authentic Indian anything. For $48.00 I expect better food, better serves, and a clean atmosphere than what we received. Overall, a disappointment! I cannot recommend this place nor will we be back! It is not authentic by any means and an insult...

Update: went to the restaurant again. Food was still ok but this time we ordered Ras Malai and owner served us Rasogulla. When we brought this to their attention they showed us the box saying that the box says it’s Ras Malai. It’s the responsibility of the manager/owner or server to check for the item if it’s right item or not. We showed them what Ras Malai actually is by showing the item on Google search and they just kept referring to the box. A bit disappointing. We didn’t care about paying for the desert but it’s bad to see that an Indian restaurant owner does not know the items listed on their own menu.

Update the menu card given to customers in the restaurant with the updated new prices. The menu which is being given has old low prices and when the bill comes you are surprised to see the items prices $1-$2 up for all individual items.

Old: We went to the restaurant on Friday evening for dinner. Place was almost empty for a Friday night but May be it was because of the location. It’s almost hidden and definitely need some better visibility. This is the first time I went to this restaurant. Place recently got new ownership and we heard from the owner that things are getting on track. Whatever we order was available, food was delicious and value for price. Portion size was good and quality of the food was also good. Perfectly balanced spices in all the dishes.

Order: We order Ghee Roast Dosa, Andrakara Masala Dosai, Chicken Kothu Parantha, and Chicken Curry with Garlic Naan. Dosas were good and chutneys were also balanced. Sambhar was a bit too oily for general dosa style but taste and consistency wise it was good. Kutthu parantha was sufficient for one person for dinner and it was tasty 😋. Chicken curry was good by portion for price and fresh with good quality all around.

With all that good quality, I hope that the new owners Keep the quality to this level at-least and improve on services a bit. Some improvements on the service side is required to reduce the waiting time for the food especially try to get the order of one table first so that all members can start eating together rather then waiting for 20-30 minutes when other members have already had their food. Maybe extra capacity in kitchen and 1-2...