The ambience, food, service, everything matters for an overall experience! Of course, you could overlook any of these when the other one absolutely makes up for it. Here’s how our experience unfolded.
Looking at the name board, I thought there were four different brands, but all of them read ‘Madras Takkar’, don’t know why they have so many of them! This is a restaurant in Madipakkam that a friend and I chose for lunch. It’s located on the Bazaar Main Road in Ram Nagar, on the right side, a little beyond Hotel Prasan Sandeepha when you’re travelling towards Madipakkam. Parking is an issue for four-wheelers, manageable with two-wheelers. Next was the sorry-looking Tandoor counter, just 3 skewers of chicken hanging from it for namesake, and three guys chatting up at the entrance. Made up my mind not to order any kebabs and just go with other dishes. Looked at the whiteboard in which the specials for the day were hand-written using a marker, many words incorrectly spelt. Entered the place around 1:40 PM and my friend was yet to arrive. Only one other table was occupied at that time. I don’t have an issue with basic seating. The non-AC dining section in Sangeetha is simple, yet elegant. This felt old, tired and certainly felt they could have made better use of the space. A few houseflies here and there which was an eyesore, they definitely need a fly-catcher. First ten minutes there were three people at the counter, looking at the dress-code, I assumed one of them was the owner and the other two were employees. They didn’t even ask me why I was there, forget serving water 🙂 Meanwhile my friend arrived and still it made no difference. I had to walk up to the counter and ask if it was some sort of self-service! 🙂 Immediately one of the workers apologised and said he thought the order was already taken. I mean by whom?!? Anyways, he quickly came to take the order.
Looking at the menu, understood that Hyderabadi Biryani is their speciality. My friend wanted a Mutton Biryani, and the waiter informed us that Mutton was not available, in any form. Neither Biryani nor any starter was available in Mutton, so we settled for Chicken! I ordered a Chicken Mughalai Biryani, my friend ordered a Chicken Dum Biryani and spicy Guntur Chicken, not sure what it was exactly called.
Food arrived in about ten minutes. Looking at it, it was welcoming! Yes, it certainly did feel like Hyderabadi Biryani. Chicken Mughalai Biryani came with boneless chicken Masala on a bed of rice, topped with an egg omelette and the quanity seemed huge. Chicken Dum Biryani was a regular-sized portion with a chicken leg piece and toppped with a boiled egg. The Guntur Chicken looked spicy and inviting! Absolutely no complaints with the Biryani, we relished it. The sides could have been slightly better, the gravy was a bit too oily. Traditional Tamil Muslim Biryani lovers, this is not for you, please excuse 🙂 Chicken also had an Andhraish feel, with green chillies, and it was tasty too, but felt the portion was a bit small for the price tag. We liked the food overall.
Bill was computer/machine-generated, yet had no GST in it. We paid 590 bucks in all!
Would I go back again? Perhaps not for dine-in, but a takeaway or a home-delivery is more appropriate when in mood for Hyderabadi Biryani!
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