Sangeetha is a South Indian, 100% vegetarian restaurant franchise from Chennai. This al-Nahda branch on Amman Street is the forth I have visited and carries on in the same slightly fuddy-duddy, in definite need of an upgrade, corporate uniform. Why they don’t upgrade all branches to look like the fabulously funky al-Ghurair branch is a mystery to me. I usually come to Sangeetha for breakfast. Their dosas are legendary.
But today I was here for lunch and decided to try their thali. It’s a thali which starts with…um, tomato soup. I should have stopped them there are ordered a dosa. There is nothing wrong with their thali, it’s just very basic and underwhelming by Sangeetha standards. There was nothing special about the daal or the vegetable biryani or even the palak…which was nothing more than a mildly spiced spinach puree. In fact, the only thing I enjoyed was their delicious masala chass (buttermilk).
Service was almost welcoming but hardly what I’d call friendly. I’d really like to take these boys to one of my Gujju thali haunts for them to see how it’s done…or even to their Karama branch, which I love. Foodwise, I guess it serves me right; having a thali at a dosa specialist is like having chaat at a thali specialist, something I recently criticised myself for doing when I had chaat at the new Ajanta in Barsha. If I find myself in the Al-Nahda area in the morning I will definitely consider popping into Sangeetha to have one of their delicious dosas. For lunch and dinner, however, I will explore other options.
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Xerxes physically visits (and dines at) each and every venue he reviews. He pays in full for whatever he and his companions eat and drink. Xerxes accepts no money, gifts, discounts or free meals in return for reviews. What you have read was not influenced in any way by the venue. Join me on Instagram @ravenousxerxes or email me on: xerxes@dellara.com