An esculant Chettinadu Experience at The Raintree, Taj Vivanta

The Raintree at The Vivanta by Taj will rake in as perhaps one of the finest Chettinadu restaurant's in the city. There is such a sense of serenity and quietitude here and it is a perfect getaway to have a lovely fine dining experience. Seldom would you find such a calming influence within the city and this place is certainly an exception on that front.

It's located in the interiors of the Taj Hotel and you would have to do some walking to get there. But what you would witness will delight you. It's spread across a vast space and the outside enclosure looks like you're in the woods. There is sufficient distance between the tables and nicely divided over the large surrounding. If you're the one longing for a perfect private feel, it doesn't get better than this. The inside portion gives the vintage native olden day feel with thatched roofs and decorations depicting the vintage cuisine of down south. Whether it's the outdoor or indoor there is a lot to smile about for the ambiance lovers. There is also some nice mild classical music and the gloomy lights gives the desired feel.

As we were going about placing our order, they served some fry yums as appetizers to go along with a sumptuous spread of chutneys - coconut, tomato, onion, peanut, coriander, gongura and chilli urga. The chutneys were just lip smacking and I just couldn't have enough of them. They also gave papads and chillies as add-on.

And then we got going with the food. Listed below is a brief summary of how each of them tasted:

- Murungakka saar soup:
Set the perfect tone for the dinner. It was liquidy with an aromatic flavoring of drumstick. With the spices crushed in it gave a lovely lingering taste. Great start.

- Kalaan Milagu:
This was a mushroom starter sauteed with spices aplenty and fragranced with karuga pillai ezhai and chillies. The texture made it look more like a semi gravy but it tasted fabulous and a perfect foil for the spice loving afficionado. Definitely not recommended for the spice conscious.

- Paalkatti Pattani Mundhri Parattal:
This was a main course gravy comprising a mixture of cottage cheese, peas an cashewnuts cooked in coconut cream. It was creamy and had a tinge of sweetness to it. It was a mistake on my side to order this as it didn't really go well with the appam and idiappam. From a spiced up start, the direction changed u turn and it wasn't really welcoming.

- Egg Aapam:
It was made really well with the bulging piece of egg right at the center and spruced up with herbs. It was mellow and felt nice on the mouth.

- Idiappam:
It was as soft as a feather. Just like how you would expect to be.

The food overall packed a punch. There was nothing really to complain barring the main course dish which was more a mistake on my side for ordering something off the hook. The portions were large and felt complete. We refrained from having desserts.

The price was however one of the grey areas. To say this place is expensive is an understatement. It can literally burn your credit card hollow. The service was top notch. The servers were very helpful with our orders and had good knowledge about the food at the restaurant.

Be prepared to spend a bomb but rest assured it will end up being one of your finest ever dining experiences.

Above Sea Level @Raintree, St Mary's Road

Its the ambiance which blows you away. Surely stakes claim for being one of the best outdoor restaurant's in the city. The panoramic view is just wondrous and has to be witnessed to be believed. Its a place to experience the beauty of the night sky over a quiet dinner.

The food is primarily of North Indian and Sea food and you would be hard done if you're vegetarian. However at Above Sea Level its more about being there and enjoying the zephyr billow across your face than about the food and drinks you have.

I went plain sailing on this occasion and just had a mocktail, a baked nachos for a starter and a grilled panneer dish for main course. The mocktail was a concoction of apple , orange and lemon and pretty nice on the mouth. The Nachos was strictly ok, i found the juiciness and creaminess to be missing and also expected it to be more wholesome and evenly spread out but it didn't turn out that way with some being abundantly layered with cheese , jalapeno and toppings and some being just plain dry tortilla chips with nothing on them. The grilled paneer was a skewer type also containing brocolis in between the chunks of cottage cheese with some salad and potato wedges for company. Both the panneer and brocolli were well cooked but however felt the zing was missing.

It really wasn't a night where I was in the mood to go full out on the food. Quite interested to try out some of their North Indian Bread and Curries on another visit perhaps. The rates are obviously expensive burning quite a fire hole on your credit card. Felt the service to be slow taking enormous amount of time to bring in the food.

But whatever said of the minuses , this is a place to enjoy the scenery and sereneness engulfing you. A perfect place for a candlelit dinner , special occasion or even just to enjoy a relaxed soothing dinner away from the vicissitude of life. You should experience Above Sea Level atleast once!.