Avartana

It was my long-awaited dream to go and dine at Avartana, but it was a total disappointment with subpar food, service, and racist behaviour by the staff. My take on it is if you are a foreigner, especially white, please go ahead; you will be treated like a king. If you are an Indian, avoid it, unless you want to be treated like a beggar in your own country. Goods: - Ambience was nice, nothing outstanding. - Staff were welcoming and explained every dish carefully. - Some of the food was really outstanding, very creatively presented. - Drinks menu is very nice. Very creatively done. Racist behaviour: We went for our anniversary, and we are from Singapore. When we sat initially at 7 p.m. it was only us, and the crowd started to come in. There were a lot of white people (almost 70%), and the rest of us were Indian origin people like me. The first welcome drink they offered is called Rasam (which they will overcomplicate when explaining it, and pretty much you can get good rasam in any average South Indian restaurant). Anyway, this is where the racist behaviour starts. Initially, we didn’t know that the Rasam could be refilled. We only got to know because they topped up to one of the foreigners sitting next to us. So we politely requested a top-up too. 2 courses went by, no top-up yet, but free-flowing for most of the foreigners. Now we got pissed and asked why we aren’t getting the refill, but for others. We asked the staff who was taking care of us. She went inside the kitchen and came outside. Believe me, she just didn’t want to make any eye contact or come to our table for the rest of our course after. We asked. Now comes the interesting part. We were already fed up with service, and our course ended at 11:00 p.m. So it’s already past our bedtime, and we requested the check, and so did the foreigners. Guess who gets the check first? WHITE PEOPLE, not just one or two, all the white people, and they literally forgot that we too asked first. After asking it for several times, only after the 3rd request, they came with the bill. We managed to leave around 11:40 p.m. Service and food: Service went from great to horrible. The first 6 courses came within 10 mins after finishing it. After that, it took between 20 mins to 1 hour. We literally lost our appetite. Food was really great for the first 6, after that it was just horrible, no flavour. Everything has too much salt, and it was out of balance. Pan-Fried seabass: Too much salt, no balance. Just bland. Uthukulli Butter chicken curry: Had expectations. But the parotta was very bitter, due to being cooked overly in the oil. The chicken curry was so bland, and after I cracked open the toffee butter, it was too overwhelming, which I couldn’t finish. Slow-roast pork: Was okay, nothing extraordinary. Had way better pork in Singapore. Desserts: All were okay. Not a dessert fan. So I won’t comment on it. In the end, I was disappointed and felt that my anniversary was ruined. While going home, I was wondering how this restaurant managed to get so many awards, with the subpar level of food and service.

Spent the New Year's Eve dinner at Avartana by ITC. Their personal touch for reservations was quite a surprise. Kimaya was the 13 course delicacy that night and couldn't fault any of it. The extra new year dishes and desserts were delightful. Fine dining at its best. Would definitely recommend for its memorable feast !

We were looking for vegetarian options within ITC. After Peshawari, which offers a set menu for veg or a few other options, we tried this place. There are 4-5 set menu options to choose from with each one longer than the previous. The number of items and calorific values associated go up from just under 2k to over 3.5k Each one has a veg menu and a non-veg menu to choose from. Very courteous staff and with each item they brought, they took time to explain what it is The photos don’t do enough justice to the presentation and visual treat that was the food we had. Strongly recommended

The tasting menu as they call it at avartana ITC grand chola is a must try for the ambience , presentation and service if budget isnt your constraint. Priced on the higher side they are open on weekends for lunch and dinner. Lunch has only one option of 13 course whereas dinner presents toubwith 7,9,11 and 13 course priced accordingly starting at 2500. They food is tastefully prepared and more than that presented to you. Both veg and non veg options are available and priced the same. Their drinks menu is a booklet named kaleidoscope and has concotions you could never imagined. Pre booking is a must . Can be experienced once as long as you can afford it.

[Late review] Visited in Jul 2024 A visit to Avartana was on my to-do list for sometime as it has constantly featured in the Asia Top 100 restaurant list for the last couple of years. There are quite a few menus to choose from. We went with the Anika menu which provides a very good coverage of the different courses the restaurant has to offer. Every menu has a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option. The number of courses in the Anika menu is a bit of the higher side and I’d recommend trying it only if you’re very hungry. All the courses were good and the dinner was quite well paced. The dishes provided a wide myriad of flavour profiles which is a treat to your taste buds. My favourite courses were the lobster, shrimp & coriander dumpling, and char-grilled pork belly. Service is really good and you are constantly attended to through the meal. We had a flight to catch later in the night and the restaurant staff ensured that our dinner was done within a couple of hours so that we could leave for the airport in time. Overall, Avartana is a fantastic restaurant and you should definitely go if you’re visiting Chennai.

The food was sumptuous and was served in culinary art standard. Let’s dive in to the Cons. 1. I understand it’s a set 10-13 course meal and you serve one course every 15-18 mins. It’s supposed to be a culinary experience rather than a dinner, I 100% agree BUT if you have kids/children (5-12 years) in the table they should be served faster , they don’t have the patience to wait and also they get really hungry if you make them wait 15mins for every course. Please see what can be done 2. The repeats should be served atleast before the main course , we got it along with the dessert A Big Plus is your vegetarian options which is as tastier or better than your non veg options except the sweet potato option which was not that great ..! Spiced Aubergine is the best..!!

Food is great and 10/10 for consistency across our visits. But service was poor, though attitude wise the staff was good. We had a 30 minute wait between two courses - we reminded a waiter after 20 minutes, and then took 10 more minutes for food to be served. Since waiters were moving around tables, no one seemed to be in complete control of a table. Reason given for the long wait was that we had different menus on our table - but than it takes amazing skills to have everyone wait for 30 minutes And what excuse for 35+ minutes for billing? First 15-20 minutes no signs of anyone. Then there seemed to be one credit card machine and one tablet, and since 'three tables have asked for the bill', they cannot manage. Guys, please buy one more tablet and her one more PoS machine! Number of previous reviews complaining about the billing process means the Grand Chola management is indifferent (And yes, please pipe down the pipe music. Overall, they need a proper leader for the front of the house else all the innovation in food won't mean much)

Amazing experience with the 13 course sampler menu! Every dish was unique. It was a South Indian fusion food as a category, with creative cooking, presentation, and unique taste. Everything they provided were edible, even though some of the items on the dish appeared differently. For example, the toffee wrapper in Uthukuli butter morel dish, or the wrapper in the spiced aubergine dish or the fennel panacotta! Unbelievable three hour experience!