Benjarong, Alwarpet - Restaurant Week India [till 25th Sep]

Oh well, what do you know. Restaurant Week India is back and this time they have partnered with Ola Prime and John Jacobs. It sure is good to see this concept catching on and if this is any sign becoming a regular thing. The coolest feature about the whole #RWI is that people get the opportunity to dine at high-end restaurants without feeling the pinch on their wallets.

Restaurant Week is a celebration of the finest culinary experiences at formal fine dining restaurants across India. Currently held across Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, Restaurant Week showcases three-course prix fixe menus priced at a fraction of a la carte rates.

The meals are all priced at Rs700 for lunch and Rs950 for dinner [excl tax]. It also comes with offers on Ola Prime rides..

How it works

    Ø  You visit the website, pick the restaurant, lunch /dinner, and make a reservation by paying Rs60 [non-refundable reservation fee ]

    Ø  The restaurants typically have a specially designed menu for this festival that you can scan through on the website before making a choice.

    Ø  On the chosen day, you visit the restaurant, pick dishes from the menu and well all that is left is to enjoy the meal…

"Sawasdee Ka " is how you greet a lady in Thai... yes, you guessed it right, I am here to rave about my all time favourite Thai Restaurant in the city... No prizes for guessing I chose Benjarong, one of my all-time favorite Thai restaurants in the city.  Reservations were made for lunch, and I dragged a friend along [ I knew she loved Thai food and hadn’t visited this restaurant yet]

Since we were two of us [and both of us were vegetarians], between us we tried nearly all the dishes available on the menu under the Vegetarian banner [and mind you this restaurant has quite an extensive menu for Vegetarians]

Here is a round up of what we had…

APPETISER

Tofu in Pandanus Leaves  – Loved the soft Tofu and subtle flavours of spices it had marinated in. This was my favorite appetiser.

Grilled Assorted Veg  – Along with the peanut sauce it was heavenly.

Spicy Mushroom Satay- simple tender mushrooms that was served with a spicy sauce.

Crispy Broccoli in Tender Peppercorn Sauce- this was quite nice with the sweet chilly sauce.

&

SALAD

Raw Papaya Salad – yet another signature dish at this restaurant. My friend couldn’t believe that such a dish was possible with the poor papaya.

Spicy Assorted Mushroom Salad – a medley of mushrooms tossed with some garlic and onions- yumm&

Soup

Tom Yum Tofu Soup –This is my all time favorite soup, infact that day I found it low on spice factor, but flavours were intact

Tom Kha Veg Soup - this is a subtle version of the Tom Yum with coconut milk making sure your palatte is kept cool

MAIN COURSE

Assorted Vegetables in Thai Curry Powder and Celery Sauce  – When the chef told us it had Thai curry powder, my mind took a minute to process it as I was only familiar with Thai curry sauce [it also had celery]. The dish was beautiful; friend and I polished it off right from the serving tray.

Tofu in Red Curry Paste and Long Bean Sauce  – Loved how the Tofu had been cut, it had those funny v  kinda edges. Again the tofu was delicate.

 Babycorn, Broccoli, and Fresh Greens in Spicy Yellow Bean Sauce – as the name suggests, this was a simple stir fry.

STAPLES

Spicy Holy Basil Fried Rice Veg Steamed Rice
Veg Soft Noodles with Bean Sprouts
Thai Flat Noodles in Black Bean Sauce with Veg

All three were good, I loved the flat noodles in black bean sauce, it had wood ear mushrooms apart from few vegetables. It was good on its own, did not need any sauce/gravy.

DESSERT

Water Chestnuts in Coconut Milk – Ah, was good to dig into a bowl of this familiar dessert. It has the rich sweet coconut milk and the crunchy water chestnuts just play around your taste buds.  They also have three other desserts to choose from.

Tender Coconut Ice cream- Creamy ice cream that burst in your mouth filling it with tender coconut flavour..

Now, since I had been to this restaurant earlier, I was quite familiar with their food and so was curious to know what my friend thought of their food. She was spot on when she said each dish had distinct flavours and most of it were new to her. She definitely loved the place, the food and service and even contemplated bringing her family over for a visit.

Benjarong doesn’t disappoint, infact every time I come here, I fall in love with Thai food all over again…  There you go, a place to pick from the list of restaurants in Chennai for this Restaurant Week India edition.

Address:	# 146, T T Krishnamachari Road, Alwarpet, Chennai- 18
Telephone:	044 2432 2640
Timings:	Lunch: 12:00 PM-3:00 PM Dinner: 7:00 PM-11:00 PM