Yesterday my friends and me had a lunch in Annalaya. It was a nice experience for me initially we felt little costly for us when we started to eat we felt the food is good and homely. The service and ambiance was too good. we decided to come at least once in a week i like the combo offers in the restaurant and i like to come for breakfast
Really happy to eat in Annalaya there is a great place to have a food nice ambience and we'll served .food was hot and awesome taste.No words to explain my experience really awesome .
If you want a wholesome meal you should head here. I was introduced to this place by a colleague and have been a regular ever since. Their kadhal (jackfruit) biriyani is one of a kind, its not overpowering with spices, its moist and fluffy with nuggets of Jackfruit waiting to be discovered. My staple order is the full meals mainly for the tangy Rasam and delicious Keerai (greens).
Me and my Aunty went to Annalaya Restaurant as I heard lot about Mannar Virunthu from my Neighbour Mr.Loganathan uncle whos Working in Restaurant .Wow really wonderful and tasty food I never had mainly the service I want to mention the name of the waiter Mr.Muthu he treated us like queens my aunty likes the way he serviced me thanks a lot uncle (Mr.Loganathan) for this tasty food.Last thing I never seen in any hotel that vethalai thambulam wow Muthu finally given that vethalai also very nice to him and thanks a lot for tasty food and Muthu.
Well, personally I had no issues and was treated like a King but only thing is on the launch day,my Professors and their students of approx 150 could not be accommodated inspite of prior reservation but it's fine. I took the brunt for the sake of the brand and the owner who was really polite and courteous.
Brand Agency should think about Disaster Management in events like this well in advance to avoid Negative Reviews...
நான் முதல் முதலா பணி புரிந்த restaurant அன்னாலயா Restaurant ........my favorite annalaya
I love it all non veg food ,mouth watering traditional food.....���
Gud experience everything was gud also veg pls try everyone my rate was 5/5 but little bit improve service. This S gud place for any kind of get together. I recommended
good experience.i ordered veg meals and mutton omblette.taste was very gud wow sambar awesome.they played light music and dim light.that plaace was really nice
This s first time i try tis restarunt.they recommended mannarkarivirundhu
It was awesome. Everydishes excellent taste.server siva was great service.i must recommend my friends and relatives.very nice place to family lunch team lunch.annalaya pls keep tis service and taste
Hiiii, I tried many times to have lunch here but today I got a opportunity
Koli chaaru and lentil soup awesome
Meals was so good.
Everyone must try
I ordered online.. the food is delivered on time.... Taste is Okay... Didn't meet the expectations. . But the meat was well cooked and soft.
Having a great meal in annalaya with my friends nice experience and good place.Servjng hot food with hot and cold food with cold.Cooling place pls try this restaurant ambiance you so like this place everybody
We were here on 11th Aug 2017 for dinner... ordered for ghee rice, Malabar fish curry,parotta chicken gravy and annalaya mutton biriyani.. The Malabar fish curry was a perfect kerala style kuruma and was excellent.m we ordered idiyappam later to cherish the Malabar curry.. The ghee rice was also good.. The biriyani taste was good but was too much masala.. if the spice was less, the biriyani would have been great as well..
Jayasuriyan Alagarsamy
+4.5
Annalaya is a authentic South Indian restaurant located at the heart of the city, yes Nungambakkam is what I'm talking about. The place is easily identifiable and has enuf space for parking too. The ambience is usual to that of any South Indian restaurant and it's very very spacious. They have simple interiors and they are jam packed during the lunch always. We went in for lunch to try this place.
Now coming to food we had the combo "Mannar kari virundhu saapadu". The combo consisted of, chicken soup, sharbath, mutton Sukka, mutton liver, mutton chops, malli chicken, chettinad chicken , egg , fish fry, nethli fry, prawns thokku, kaada kolambu, nattu kozhi kolambu, mutton varutha kari, nethli kolambu, chicken gravy, mutton gravy, fish gravy, parotta, chicken briyani, raitha, sweet, white rice, curd , Rasam, butter milk, dessert of the day and ice cream. Yes the combo is very huge and you might wonder it's difficult for one person to finish it. The food taste was exceptional and too good. One should try this place and will come out with huge belly, the food is too good. Especially NV ppl will enjoy the taste of the meat served here and this is where they stand strong. Right from the rose sharbath to the vanilla ice cream, I loved the entire meal so did my fellow friends.
Service was really quick.
My rating would be 5/5. Just for the love of their food.
Overall my rating is 4.5/5 (includes ambience and other service).
Rajeshwari Chandrasekaran
+4
Annalya,Nungambakkam
This former ‘Vegetarian’ restaurant is now treating the meat lovers. The place serves downright authentic Chettinad and Andhra cuisines. I happened to be here on a lunch invite.
Parking: There is a sufficient parking space. Valet parking facility is available.
Ambiance: The place is a perfect fit for family dining. Definitely a disclaimer for the noise. The place can be really crowded and literally noisy .Like literally! Wish to the old gods and the new that you could have your meal peacefully coz that becomes a rather rare happening!
Food:
On the food front, we were warmly greeted by a cold rose sarbat.At first, we were told that was Nannari and the three of us almost doubted our knowledge of a nannari taste.But thanbkfully, it’s a rose sarbat with gulkhand. It indeed helped us to beat the heat.
Without much debate, we opted for a Mannar Kari Virundhu so that we could try out almost all of the specials.. Beware; this could be heavy even if you are a 1 on 2 taker. Justifying the virundhu nature, we were served food in a banana leaf.
The meal is a royal one indeed. A king sized appetite would be the most apt companion.
Firstly the soups. We had Mutton paya and Naatu kozhi soup. Paya was better I felt. Nattukozhi soup lacked the fieriness.
The vast meal had ample number of sides with white rice, briyani and even the desserts.
Mutton Sukka-Mutton liver-Mutton chops were the semi gravy sides. Amongst which, I felt that the mutton liver topped the charts. One thing to be mentioned here that the meat in all the three sides was tender and juicy yet cooked well inside out. With the right spiciness and flavor that a chettinad meal can offer you this went rather good with the parotta.
Mutton varutha curry : I was expecting a better version of it. Nevertheless was tasty. Lacked the flavor and Could have had the right texture I felt.
Malli chicken and chettinad chicken. The former had different feedbacks. I liked it while it wasn’t much appreciated by my fellow mates. Try this yourself and find out. Chettinad chicken was just perfect the way it had to be and complemented the briyani well.
I have been known to repeatedly state that I’m not a great fan of seafood, but truly I never turn away from them completely. Liked the prawn thokku and crab masala gravy. Prawns are better served as dry side. NO, that’s not completely true. Not after you try the gravy here. Options on the fish food included nethili fry, vanjaram fry, nethili kulambu and fish fry. Nethili fry served here is so far the softest I have tasted. Not sure if that’s good or bad. But definitely it was tasty. Vanjaram was downplayed.
Briyani – two small portions of Chicken and Mutton briyani, both made from seeraga samba rice served along with raitha and chicken and mutton gravies . I liked the chicken one better. Briyani had the authenticity. Mutton meat in the briyani felt rather undercooked and dint blend so well with the rice. The chicken gravy though felt a bit saltier. But with rice, nothing big to complain.
Naatu kozhi kuzhambu, nethili kuzhambu and kaada kuzhambu. The gravies were second best to none.Kaada kuzhambu was the personal favorite. Better had with the white rice.
We also had malai chicken. Short of marination. Chicken was not soft as it is expected to be. But mint chutney could save your day with that.
Panneer porichadhu was served to us as a reminder of the availability of vegetarian food at the place. Hardly had our taste buds right to judge it after such a heavy meal.
Moving to the last part of any meal, Desserts. We dint have the appetite after such a royal feast that we decided settle the score with icecreams.
Mannar kari virundhu, priced at Rs.700 has unlimited option on selected items and could serve well for two people easily.
Head out to one of the best chettinadu restaurants for a perfect family dining with more tolerance to the noise of fellow eaters..JK!
Happy eating peeps !
A nice dine in restaurant for a family/ friends gathering. The dishes are all good and the service is fast.
I will definitely recommend dining with this place.
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Annalaya has always got good customer feedbacks and is one of the best family dining places in the city. This place expertises on typical chetinadu style food. It was pure vegetarian restaurant once and now they have stepped onto to serving Non vegetarian food too. This being a reason a Food tasting event was organized by the management and I was invited to be a part of it. I went there along fellow foodies, after coming across few posts on social media by fellow mates, I had few definite orders there.
Mannar Kari virundhu was an obvious choice. This is huge, mark my words. Costing 700 INR , 2 Mannar Kari virundhu can easily satisfy the appetite for 3 people. I'd strongly recommend you to go for this, because it has a huge variety in the contents.
Like any virundhu ! Our mannar kari virundhu also starts with a soup of our choice either Aattu kaal paaya or Chicken soup. Chicken soup was thin spicy and was tomato based, more like a rasam. Where as the aatu kaal paaya was hot and mildly spicy, it is a treat to your throat with all the peppery flavours, the mutton piece in it was soft and well cooked, rightly flavored. My vote is for aatu kaal paaya here.
Then they brought a glass of sarbat topped with chiya seeds or Sabza seeds. When asked it was said it's naanari, but the pink color didn't seem to me so.
The idea of drinking a chilled sarbat after the soup didn't appeal to me, so I plainly avoided it, so no verdict on the taste.
I would recommend the management to serve the sarbat as a welcome drink in the beginning, and after which the soup can be followed.
Then came a big plate with various dishes in small portions, it was a beautiful take-a-picture sight for anybody! yes !
It had all of the following:
Mutton chukka: Spicy semi gravy type of mutton. the meat was well cooked and was drenched in the flavouring.
Mutton liver: dry pieces of mutton liver was good along with rice and the gravies !
Chettinadu chicken : it lived upto expectations, it was a good meals company, with all the authentic chettinad flavours in it.
Vanjaram fry : It was a bit hard, it could have been cooked for a little longer time, but the marination was perfect.
Nethili fry : Almost the only finger food from the platter, the marination made it fluffy. this was soft and tasted great.
Prawns thokku : I'm a fan of sea food, but mostly only when it's dry, so this didn't really grab my attention, it would have been great if this was a prawn 65, because there wasn't many of a finger food in the platter too.
Moving on to the gravies we had Kada kuzhambu, Mutton varutha curry, nattu kozhi kuzhambu and nethili kuzhambu. As the mains we had white rice and Barotta. All the gravies were awesome. Kudos for the chef here ! I especially liked the mutton varutha curry and kada kuzhambu.
A small portion of biriyani was also served, It was a biriyani with jeeraga samba rice, I don't really prefer this one usually. But annalaya changed my opinion. It tasted really great along with the boiled egg they provided
For desserts we had ice cream.
Apart from the Grand mannar kari virundhu saapadu we also tried their malaai chicken with mint chutney. The chicken in here was so hard and wasn't really marinated well.
Their menu is so huge, and their names were very tempting, so definitely doing another visit to try some other dishes !
Valet parking is available in here.
Regarding the ambiance, considerations must be made to bring down the noise levels down. I was there on a weekend lunch, it was surprisingly busy full and noisy.
But anyways Food > Ambiance.
So are you thinking of where to take your family for lunch? Or are you craving for some chettinad flavours? Blindly go to this place and thank me later.
Bottom line - King's style Mannaar kari virundhu is a huge hit !
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It was almost 2 45 pm ... We were in ravenous apetite,My husband is a ardent chetinnad food lover,,and we came to know about annalaya and their signature MANNAR VIRUTHU,,, means kings feast!! Was on our Wishlist,,
And definitely wanna try it this time... And the name itself tempts ur taste buds!!😋
And there we arrived to the resturant located near vijay tv office,,once you enter the traditional kind of ambience welcomes you..with well spaced cozy interiors depicted with the images which takes you back to the history.🙃
In no time we ordered "MANNAR VIRUNTHU" and pomfret tandoor!!
Frist arrived a water melon juice which was refreshing to the start..hope they should have provided nanari sarbath!!since we were in severe hunger pangs we didn't notice it!! And they provided us the "Mutton soup "which was hot,spicy , and tasty.
Then arrived the MANNAR VIRUNTHU in a quite big plate served on a banana leaf,,
The starters includes.. Mutton sukka,mutton liver,prawn masala,crab masala,nethili fry,fish fry,chettinadchicken.
Out of which crab masala,mutton sukka and prawn thokku was top notch!!
Loved the way nethili fry was made.. Hot and crispy!!
😋😋
We felt all starters had the same kind of taste,, felt they can show some variations!!!
They also provided briyani of your choice chicken or mutton,, briyani was also good!! In chettinad style!! And with parotta too.
Once you are done with starters, we were almost tummy full.. But we tasted the gravies they us..includes,,nattu kozhi,fish, mutton gravy with white rice and rasam and butter milk. All were equally good☺️
To end the grand meal,, carrot halwa was the dessert and a scoop of ice cream!! But it was okay not the best i must say..
They definitely need to improve the dessert part!!
The pomfret tandoor was cooked to perfection.. With the juicy and tender flesh of fish inside with perfect blend of masala..
To end its a perfect place for chettinad food lovers:)👍👍
Happy eating😋
Kugan Kannabiran
It's a wonderful place to spend the time... Whole day with lunch as well as delicious dinner... I never forget this place with these tasty recipes.. It fascinates me more and more...
So Id been to this restaurant both when it was a Veg restaurant and now as a Non Veg restaurant.
Went to this place as I had a meeting near by and didnt have too many options but was glad I did.
Service: Very Good as the staff was always available when required and made sure I was happy with everything.
Food: Extremely happy with everything I had here. Fried rice and Butter chicken. Chicken tikka and Naan. All were as they were supposed to be and tasted perfect.
The right place at the right time.
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The moment I heard the name "Annalaya", for some reason, a vegetarian south Indian thali danced across my head. Maybe because the name of the restaurant sounds like that. But actually it was a pure vegetarian restaurant that recently only introduced their non vegetarian menu and I was invited to savour what they have to offer.
As we just broke the fast a few minutes back we wanted to have a very light dinner. Therefore we chose just one non-vegetarian thali. The meal consisted of various non vegetarian dishes like Fish Fry, Crab Masala (my favourite!), Chicken 65, Mutton Chops, Biriyani, Chapati and few other Mutton Gravies. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of one particular gravy which I thoroughly enjoyed. The thali came along with Plain Rice, Rasam and Egg. We asked them not to bring these though, as we were sure that we wouldn't be able to finish the whole meal.
Before the start of the meal, they served a very refreshing Nannari Lemon Juice with Sabja seeds. The mutton soup that we had started the meal on a perfect note!
The biriyani was very flavorful and quite good. The chicken 65 and fish fry were fried to a golden perfection. Crab masala was claw snapping good! (See what I did there? 😅). Also the gravies and chapati made a very good combination! On top of that, just to finish the gravies, my friend ordered a plate of idlies as well. And when we both found out "Uravacha Parotta" in their menu, we had that as well!
The moment you enter the restaurant, I felt as if I was travelling back in time, at least by a decade, because Annalaya looks very much like a restaurant where you would have gone with your parents while you were a small kid for family dinners that commemorated special occasions! Or so I thought because there was this small happy family in the next table who were having their dinner in peace!
On the whole, Annalaya is a place to go if you are a voracious carnivore. Don't let the name of the place cheat you!
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Annalaya, Nungambakkam
Annalaya is a treat for those who love South Indian food, specially those who love their spices. This place has newly introduced non vegetarian and revamped their menu.
What we ordered?
1. Mannar virundu (non-veg overloaded on a banana leaf)- WARNING! you need a really good appetite to eat this! Enjoy a meal of over 15 dishes. Almost everything from the menu comes to your table. My pick would be the crab masala, fish fry, nethili fry, prawn masala and mutton soup and sarbath.
2. Mutton biriyani-mildly spiced seeraka samba rice with mutton pieces that are really tender and well cooked.
3. Prawn pepper salt- tiger prawns was batter fried with cornflour and tossed with onions, pepper, salt and few other ingredients. I found this a little oily but tasted good.
The ambience was homey and bright. Even when the place was crowded it did not appear to be stuffed like other restaurants. The service was quick and we had very friendly people attending tables and helping us with our order
Nice place to try chettinad cuisine. Awesome ambiance. Reasonable price. Everyone should try the mutton biryani here, which is mouth watering.
Great place for veg food, conveniently located in Nungambakkam. Affordably priced. Visited twice- once during launch and one more time during Onam. No major complaints. Standard food.
Nice place to try chettinad and andhra cuisine .. we ordered Guntur Kodi and Gobi manchurian for starters .. eral thokku uthappam, poondu dosa with nethili kolambu, couple of nallennai dosa, plain uthappam and veg fried rice .. the best of these were poondu dosa with nethili gravy combo and gobi Manchurian .. Guntur Kodi was basically made of green chili paste and on spicier side .. but can try once for it's unique taste .. service was prompt .. order took a bit long to arrive .. ambience is good ..looks like Anjappar kind of restaurant ... can definitely try atleast once if ur a fan of chettinad food ... total costs came to around 1000 with all the taxes .. not bad 😊
Authenticity, variety and flavour – Annalaya scores high on all of these. The service is spot on. Crisp golden dosas, idlis are as light as air, and the chicken briyani here never disspoints. The servers are always courteous and the place also has North Indian and Chinese food on the menu. A must visit place :)
Loved the food here. The ambience is classy! The service was good as well, and the variety in their menu is a real boost when you go with a large group of people. Prices are moderate! Another advantage of this place is that the parking space is huge, so you will never have a problem even when you go with a large group in multiple cars. A must try and among the best in the Nungambakkam area.
Annalaya is the perfect place for non veg south indian food lovers. The restaurant has awesome chicken, fish, crab, prawn dishes which will be a great miss if u have not tried them yet. A very pocket friendly restaurant with some mouth watering food. A place worth visiting with family and friends.
Really good place for fellow foodies who love Indian style cuisine. This place has really good chetinadu food too. Combine that with a chill peaceful ambience and thats annalaya :)
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Annalaya had earlier been a vegetarian restaurant and recently expanded to serving South Indian non vegetarian. We were a group of five and two of us decided to stick to vegetarian that evening and three to non vegetarian. I, having been with vegetarian side of the camp, will be mainly focusing on that in this review.
To start, we had Nannari Sharbat with an ample serving of Sabja seeds. It gave me a much needed boost of energy after a weary ride through the traffic and heat.
Soon we started off with quite a large variety of desserts, of which most of them were delicious. Kalaan Milagu Varuval, Paneer Tikka, Gobi Manchurian to name a few. However, we observed an extravagant use of food coloring in the starters. And paneer in the Palkatti Porichathu left an unpleasant aftertaste. Vegetable Sizzler didn't sizzle, but was alright in taste.
Soups were a bummer. Both Sweet Corn had too much salt and Hot and Sour had too much corn flour.
Main course was the best segment of the meal. I had Malabar Parotta with Aloo Peas Masala to touch. That wonderful gravy went well with Idiyappam too. Having eaten too much starters, I wanted to eat something simple and decided to go ahead with Steam Rice and Dal Tadka. Well made Dal, I must say. I had also asked for buttermilk to as to make my tummy settle down and it did the trick, though I would have loved it more if it had some chillies, curry leaves and ginger ground into it.
For desserts we had two cups of Gajar Ka Halwa brought. To my surprise one cup was heavenly and the other was quite the opposite. Folks had asked for many more desserts but I had to give them a pass on account of an about to burst stomach.
They have the talent to conjure up amazing dishes. That much is for sure. But they really really need to focus on repeatability and quality control.
That said, I had been constantly dipping my fingers into the various dishes that came with their signature non vegetarian spread Mannar Virundu, which was ordered by the other three. I was amazed by how good the non vegetarian food tasted, compared to the vegetarian dishes that arrived at our side of the table. Taste apart, the presentation made it much more visually appealing. Clearly non vegetarian is their forte.
The ambiance, the service and the general countenance of this restaurant makes it best suitable for a family who is looking for a nice place to have their lunch or dinner.
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Annalaya being a part of the Grand catering Chennai located in nungambakkam in Jaganathan Street right opposite to Eattza pizza, an other way to locate this place is in the street is a Grand catering food truck parked right opposite to the restaurant, the restaurant is located in the mains and it does not have much difficulty to locate it. They have a wide parking area for two wheelers as well as four wheeler vehicles.
AMBIENCE
Annalaya has a very good and peaceful ambience with a vast seating area, the restaurant has a ground plus one floor where the ground floor is for the common seating area and the first floor is divided into four beautifully decorated custom designed room's, each room of the four are designed according to each state of the Southern state of India, I.e Karanataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra pradesh and kerala style theme room.
FOOD
we opted to try out the Manar Kari virunthu sapad which was supposed to be the best in their for the lunch time the menu consists of 26 unlimited non veg dishes, the men has a virtual of sharbat, starters, main courses and the deserts.
STARTERS
For the start we were served with Mutton paya soup which was spicy and hot.
Then we went to the starters that was Mutton Chukka, Mutton liver, mutton chops,malai chicken, chetinad chicken, fish fry, nethili fry and pron thokku.
I personally loved all the starters they were really good and I wouldn't differentiate among them.
GRAVIES
For the Gravies we were served with kaada kolumbu, Nattu kohli kolumbu, Mutton varathu curry, chicken gravy, mutton gravy, fish gravy and finally mutton varutha kolumbu. All the gravies were fantastic and they had their own blend of spices and taste.
MAIN COURSE
For the main course we were served with nice fluffy and crispy parotha, Chicken biriyani (one of the best I have had in Chennai), Mutton biriyani, white rice, curd rice, sambar and rasam at this point we were completely full and we had no space for even one single grain of rice but we had a little bit of tummy for trying the fantastic deserts.
DESERTS
For the deserts we had ice cream and carrot halwa along with gulab jamun.
OUR EXPERIENCE
we were lucky enough to meet the management on that day there were very sweet and polite they took a lot of interest and time in explaining about the menu's, dishes and other exciting things in their restaurant, the service was very fast and we felt like we were being pampered as small children took keep hogging more and more , over all we had a great time and experience in Annalaya it is a must visit place for in nungambakkam for checking out their amazing cuisine.
Awesome place to have food in a pleasant place, it gives the feel to 5star hotels and very good polite customer service, food taste is good, cost of food is little high to the quality
My hunt for chettinad food never stopped, been on the search of authentic chettinad food, i finally landed to this place to have my dinner yesterday. if you are an chettinad food lover, you can just close your eyes n go to this place. All their chef are well trained in preparing authentic chettinad food though they have little drawback still their taste will amaze you for sure.
Avoided the place because it was vegetarian joint.. They have now changed their menu and serve non vegetarian. The new menu is brilliant.. a more elaborate review coming up shortly
Just landed to this place to hv my dinner
Ambiance was pretty neat and coming to the service they where fast in delivering food even though the place where crowed
Coming to taste of the food,
We ordered mutton biryani, wheat paratha,kadai fry, vanjaram fry
Everything was good, mutton biryani was spicy almost made me to drank the whole glass of water, vanjaram fry was good but slice was small
Wheat paratha was good, it was soft n fluffy loved it
Kadai chicken fry was good its better than malli chicken
Oreo shake was excellent, it was so rich and luscious
Vanilla flavour just duclified the whole oreo
It's surely a scrumptious shake must try it.
Overall I can rate them 4,Keerthivasan KA
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Ready for another one? This place is located in central chennai and is the easiest place to commute to, new or old to chennai wat ever it mayb.
Do u love non veg? do u like south indian? Then this place has to be in your must visit places.
To start of with, we were first served with some really good starters which had mushrooms, paneer and cauliflower. The paneer was a bit of a let down. We were next served with mutton soup which i must say was one of the best i have tasted. The veg soups were a bit of a let down as it had too much of salt added.
Now comes the main course, for which were all eagerly waiting. Its called the maharaja meal ( i have translated the name in English so that everyone can understand).
It was served on a banana leaf to add more to south indian values. We started with idiyappam and paya and we got served with a storm of dishes which included some amazing fish curry, mutton chukka, praws masala, crab masala, fish fry, nethelli fry, parottas, mutton biryani, chicken curry. The servings for certain dishes are limited, so ask the waiter before ordering as to what are the dishes which are limited.
The desserts were also good. We ordered vanilla ice cream with oreo, carrot halwa, falooda and gulab jamun.
The overall experience was really good and the waiters were really polite and ready to take on any feedback we had.
I would suggest this place for sure to all my near and dear ones. Do try it out.
Keerthivasan KA
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Annalaya is a venture that's part of Grand Catering Company and was earlier established as a vegetarian family restaurant and thus avoided going there. Recently I got to know that they have included non vegetarian in their menu too which pushed me further to make a visit. On arrival, we were welcomed with a warm smile and while we waited for the order, we were told about other ventures like Barottas and Green Circle of this catering company. Green circle is located the first level of Annalaya, more inclined towards private dining space and official purposes , which has four themed spaces that are well lit furnished : Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh which can be rented on hourly or day - day basis.
LOCATION :
This is located inside Jagannathan Street, on the right diagonally opposite to Gusto cafe or Eatza Pizza. Ample space is available for parking in and around, so not a problem.
AMBIENCE :
The restaurant done up in a traditional way which lot of divine objects and simple maroonish - brown colours with a set up of fine dining. It can seat up to 40+ people on the go.
MENU :
Menu here is designed in a simple way, they have separate ones for lunch and dinner which makes one easier to choose without any confusion.
FOOD :
We opted for their famous 'Mannar Kari Virindhu' which roughly translates to King's feast in English. It had about 25+ items in it, is a complete feast served on a planton
Started our virundhu with NANNARI SHARBATH which was really refreshing and it acted as an instant energy booster after a long travel.
Then came the MUTTON PAYA SOUP which was served hot and spicy, tasty.
STARTERS:
Mutton Chukka - lip-smacking, prefect starter
Mutton liver - not of my types, didn't try
Mutton chops - something different from what other places serve, delicious
Malli chicken - chicken marinated with coriander paste, tried it for the first time, mildly spiced
Chettinadu chicken - just the way I like it, yummy, perfect with the Parotta
Fish fry - always been a fan of vanjaram fry, loved it here too
Nethili Fry - well marinated, crispy and tasty
Prawn thokku - my first favourite among the starters, semi gravy type
GRAVIES :
Kaada Kolambu
Chicken gravy
Mutton gravy
Mutton varutha kolambu
Nethili kolambu
Fish gravy
Nattu kozhi kolambu
I couldn't try out all the gravy, Coz was already full with the starters. But I tried most of them with the Parotta and my favourites from the gravy are mutton varutha kolambu, chicken gravy and mutton gravy.
MAINS :
Parotta - flaky, usual size
Mutton Biriyani - This is not the normal mutton biriyani that's available everywhere and I personally haven't tried this before. This is sort of a Kari soru, which is made in typical Karaikudi style, must say it's brilliant. Though I was full, I helped my self with two servings of this.
White steamed rice - good with any gravy
DESSERTS :
Chocolate ice cream - anything in chocolate, love it
Gulab Jamun - soft and yummy
Carrot halwa - save the best one for the last, brilliant delicious halwa
Apart from the virindhu, we sampled a portion of Mutton Kola Urundai also which was one the best I've had so far. Soft mutton meat minced and fried, crispy On the outside and soft inside. They also have other non veg meals priced below Rs 500.
PRICING :
This sumptuous Virindhu is priced at Rs 700, which is pretty reasonable for the amount if portions served.
Overall, few dishes really stand out and are brilliant. This virindhu is definitely recommend to all the non veg lovers as you get pampered with a huge variety of dishes.
Stopped for quick lunch with a friend. Tried their meals. So filling at a very reasonable rate. Must try: Mannar meals. Don't miss the gongura pickle
I ordered Mannar Kari Virundhu Sappadu - cost Rs.700/-. More than enough for two good eaters (normal 3 persons). unbelievable varities in Mutton, Chicken, Kadai, Fish & Prawns. Best for Sunday Lunch.Excellent & Value for Money
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Annalaya Restaurant, Nungambakkam
The name Annalaya sounded like a veg restaurant so I was happy to know it serves non-veg too when I got a message from them to taste the menu. I had not heard of this restaurant before so decided to go for it. Located at Jaganathan street, Nungambakkam it’s hard to not notice because of the bright red branding. Right next to Vijay TV office and opposite where Waf O’ Bel used to be. Lots of parking space.
Was warmly welcomed by the staff on arrival. The manager explained that Annalaya comes under Grand Catering group which has many other brands under its wing like Barottas, Green circle which is a private dining setup right above the restaurant.
Annalaya’s ambiance was interesting with the walls having images of cooking artefacts and traditional dancers. There was a row of Kuthu vilakkus in the middle of the dining section. Decor was woody with reminded a bit of Woodlands.
The menu looks different since it’s not organised by cuisine. Most of the favourites are present in there but may take longer to find. The manager recommended me to try the Manar Kari Virunthu which is one of their signature items so I went with that. Since it has almost all the non-veg curries there was no need to spend time choosing.
While waiting they explained about the brand. Basically they started out as a veg restaurant but decided to pivot later on to non-veg to cater to both. First came a Lemon nannari sharbat with basil seeds on top. It was okay not too sweet. Then came the mutton soup which was light, spicy n good. Had only a few sips to keep space. In some time the food arrived. Was surprised to see a banana leaf laid out, it’s always nice to eat in one. Then the waiter kept adding dish after dish around the leaf until half the table was covered with items.
Manar Kari Virunthu - Southern Non veg Thali
There were 26 items in all with about 13 curries of chicken, mutton, fish nd prawn along with limited servings of chicken/mutton biriyani too. The spread sure looked impressive but I was confident I would never come close to finishing it! With the rice served, I got all set to eat!
Had a bit of each item with rice just to get the taste of it. The best among the curries were the Naatu kozhi kozhambu and the Kaada kozhumbu. Both their gravies especially chicken was delicious and well-made. The mutton korma type gravy was thinner consistency, lightly flavoured unlike the usual spicy Chettinad ones. It would go well with barottas included in the menu. Nethili fry was quite crispy made with a light batter it was different and good. Kept munching on it.
Decided to try the biriyani before I ended up filling my tummy with rice n curries. They had given samples of both mutton n chicken biriyani for tasting (its choose 1 in menu). The mutton bir was really good. Made with Zeeraga samba rice the flavour was subtle with that aroma of ghee that made it more tasty. Chicken biriyani wasn’t impressive felt it was bland. There were 3 simple veg sides/Kootu. Prawn curry was tasty too. Was one fish fry and a fish curry. Fish curry was good and the fry was good enough. Mutton chops and liver was tender and masala was pretty good.
They also brought mutton kola urundai for tasting. This was good, differently made with a crisp exterior and a soft interior with minced meat. By this time, I had almost reached my capacity and washed it down with two glasses of buttermilk. Decided to go for desserts since I tasted everything.
For dessert there was a unique looking gulab jamun. It had sugar crystals on the outside and the inside was also thicker. Tasted good and so did the mango ice cream that the other dessert.
Most of the dishes weren’t spicy and without an overdose of salt n masala. Would suit most people especially for this sultry climate. Spoke to the management who said authentic Chettinad in the rural parts isn't spicy and is mostly veg! The price for this Manar kari Virunthu is rs 700 which is on the higher end. But given the great location and neat ambiance it’s a decent deal. Since this was a tasting session, meal was on-the-house. A convenient place to visit for officegoes in the area. There are also other lunch Virunthu sappadu from rs 250 to 500 with fewer items based around mutton, fish and chicken and even Nethili. Gave the above feedback about the dishes and pricing they were happy to receive it.
Super hungry today afternoon after a long drive. Found Annalaya restaurant on the way. Waited for a friend for more than 10 minutes.We all decided to try 3 different dishes. i have ordered non veg meals and one of my friend ordered mannar kari virunthu. I didn't realise that there will be so many dishes comes with that order. Amazingly there were more than 25 dishes in that meals. Taste was superb and the waiter was very friendly. Atmosphere is 10/10. Planning to visit again with my family.
After considering all the reviews carefully we have decided to go to Annalaya in nungambakkam. We have ordered 2 non veg meals. Overall we are very much satisfied.
The service was very quick. And about the dishes ...especially pepper chicken fry and mutton sukka were highlights. Amazing homely rasam and a kind of veg side dish. It was nice to talk to the owner. He explained about Green Circle which is very unique.
Mahadevan Venkataramanan
+4
Very Good food for Non veg lovers, been there today tasted biryani small portion also but their Gravies are awesome. Worth the money and prompt service.
my suggestion is increase to increase the waiters as you have more number of tables to address.
This is an amazing place to eat. Ambience is not amazing but their food gives it my rating. The best thing to eat there would be the thali with the long Tamil name. It comes with 26 delicious famous Tamil foods. If you go there, eat that always with nothing else to eat
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Today I want to eat something different. Of course, if u r in chennai u'll have meals in lunch.
So before going @ Annalaya I was bit confused whether they are providing poori or roti. I belongs Mumbai, so got fed up with eating rice. I saw one pic @zomato, poori was also there in meals. But after going there I came to know that they aren't providing now. So, i can't walk out now. So who wants to come here, this info will help them.
1. Non veg meals -₹180+ST
Menu - 3 types of non veg gravy (without pieces), rice, appalam, butter milk, curd, sweet . Type- all menu Unlimited
2. Veg Meals- ₹140+ST
Menu - 3 types of sabjis, apalam, rassam, sambar, butter milk, curd, sweet, 1 spicy gravy (tomato chutney), Rice
Type- all menu Unlimited.
Taste - 3.9*
Ambience- 4.7*
Service - 4*
Summary - u can try once. Interior is good n interesting. U'll feel like u are really eating the south food. Not like other restro, just having the food like that and going.
NOTE: u won't get roti or poori guys:-(
Here I'm attaching the pic also.
A tiffin item for just 1 rupee with every gravy you order!!!!!
Yes you heard it right when you order a gravy you can get a Tiffin item for 1 rupee.
Saw this promotion on Facebook decided to go for dinner.
Food;
* Chettinadu chicken- Avg a bit salty
* Mutton chops- Good
* Prawn Masala- Taste is good but the prawn size was too small
* Idly - Excelent
* Idyappam - good
* Parotta - good
* Kal Dosa - Good
Ordered one kal dosa additional which was charged @ MRP
Total Bill 425/-
Ambience:
the place is calm with traditional decor, its a good place for a peaceful family dining.
PRAWN BIRIYANI - A CLASS, Followed by white rice and rasam. Hearty quantity & lasting taste. Only thing feeling a bit costlier! But the ambiance is too good, should go during cricket matches as they have television around. Liked It so much
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
So when I was invited for the launch of Annalaya as they're introducing a Non Veg menu, I was literally shocked of a good Veg place changing to Non Veg. Good fine dining ambience with ancient Village photos on their walls, kuthu vilakku and with inviting family seating.
NAATU KOZHI CHICKEN ROAST was a 2 piece chicken roasted masala loaded soft pieces of Chicken. Even though CHICKEN PODIMAS BIRIYANI with basmati rice properly cooked with podi pieces of chicken, MUTTON BIRIYANI in jeeraga Samba rice with nice aroma overtook that in taste. Both were actually less in quantity for 220 ₹ and 260 ₹ respectively. GUNTUR MIRAPAKAI CHICKEN was the pick of lot with a superbly tasted masala. Quantity, taste was all top notch in this.
KERALA PEPPER FRY with small pieces of Mutton again had less in quantity but high in salt amount. CHICKEN PALLIPALAYAM to end the meal was completely filled with huge coconut that even Chicken piece with it had that taste. Bad one.
Overall - It has got it's location right just next to Vijay TV office, turning into a Non Veg is also a good decision in one away, service is also fine but should definitely improve in taste to face their plenty of competitors and hope they do it. Cheers.
Ordered for home delivery.
Madras Idly + Vellore VadaCurry Korma (Tffin Combo): The idlys were good, though I actually prefer the soft ones that we get from another Tiffin place.
The korma is something I do not like much, but the family was okay with it.
A small box of Kesari too was part of this combo. No clue howcome it was green in colour as usually I have seen it to be saffron coloured.
Madras Idly - Just extra portions
Kara Bhat: Basically upma. Not bad at all.
The chutneys and Sambhar were okay.
Total cost: Rs 223/-. Not sure whether to call it VFM. The portion size was fine.
A very good veg restaurant with a lot of options and varieties of dishes on the menu... something that you normally don't relate to... when you are pure non veg sitting in a veg restaurant.. but the taste and the options make u think of visiting it once again...
Annalayas valai illai virunthu sapadu is to be mentioned for takeaway / home delivery meals. It is one of the best parcel meals available in the city which satisfies a whole family.
Today with my family I went to this place. It was nice. We had Virundu sappadu. It had variety starting from a welcom drink to payasam. Food was nice. Service was ok.
I had good experience to have food in annalaya restaurant.the food was amazing.there are many choices in the menu.on time delivery.I will take my family there
Compare - With Saravana Bhavan or equivalent
Ambiance - Decent for similar type of restaurants
Food - Good
Had 'Vazhai illai virundu sapadu' for lunch, one of the very best South Indian meals in town. Surely recommend 👍
I had a meeting nearby and reached early. Hence, decided to get some breakfast before meeting. Found this place on the same street as my meeting and was grateful for it. There were not many people and anyways it was a weekday and about 10:45 am so it's understood. Ordered a dosa (as always) and being in Chennai it had to be good and it was. What I really liked about this place is that it's spacious, friendly staff and hygienic place. They even have outdoor seating available. I am sure to visit this place again if I'm in the area.
I have visited this place several times. Though their breakfast menu is limited, whatever being served is good. I would personally recommend their karabath, which is upma and kesari. The kesari had the right amount of sweet sans the food color commonly used elsewhere. The evening snacks prepared in the live counter are a must try along with their masala tea. I would suggest the hotel management to come up with some set menus for breakfast as it was in Jeevan.
Nice restaurant. We usually go there every Sunday morning for breakfast. Nice car parking facility. We used to enjoy the breakfast. A manager/ incharge used to be there . Who used to look after the customers very well. But of late he has been transfered somewhere and the warmth has gone out of the place. However food taste still remains the same and ambiance in fact has improved.
Bhamini Pattabhiraman
+3.5
Annalaya is a great restaurant if you want to walk in and have a great vegetarian meal. Their service and food quality is commendable. Ambience is simple and good. Not one of the posh finishes.
However if you are looking to order in from home, its not a great option. Their time to deliver is extremely delayed and am not sure if they have a great delivery tracking system. I ordered their food and waited for a good 1.5 hours before calling back, and they didn't seem to have a track of the status. This is a ridiculous wait considering that my place is a couple of streets away from their restaurant.
Even better, the guy who came to deliver is not their regular delivery guy but their valet parking guy and he doesnt carry any change with him when he comes for delivery.
Frustrated with their home delivery service.
Balakrishnan Viswanathan
+4.5
Ambience and service in this restaurant was very good.when I first went into the restaurant,we were made to stand in a queue to get seats.so reservations has to be done before going to the restaurant (especially on weekends). So there are a variety of starters here. I tried the paneer fingers for one. Great taste and with the cheese it was fantastic. Secondly I ordered a sizzler (the one with Gobi 65 and paneer porichadu) ,the sizzler was delicious and amazing. Then I had a vanilla ice cream as dessert. Even though we had to wait at first to get a table ,service was done at a lightning speed. Had great experience there.hope to go there again someday
The ambience was quite good! Very different menu to choose from. Mushroom uttappa was exotic.. Appam with baby cashew curry, dosa pizza, milagu manual paal.. If you want delicious south indian with a food that wont upset your stomach n keep your taste buds asking for more of it, please visit this place! Awesome it is
Excellent millet based food. Kadal briyani was super along with khus khus milk
Excellent service.
They have thought thru of different menu items for vegetarians
I have tasted their Kichadi which is wonderful always. And their button Parotta, which is served with a vegetable Kuruma.
Quality is good, but quantity is always too less.
Best Vegetarian hotel..People always visiting Sangeetha and Saravana bhavan,can visit this..This will be very good change..service , taste both are excellent.
Venkatachalam Shankaran
+4
Good food, outside it looked very flashy, basic setup and simple. No gloom doom in menu reasonable rates and size of plates.. Tastes south Indian authentic........
Shiva Rethinam Navaneethan
+4
This is one of the very few vegetarian restaurants in Chennai, providing high quality food though the price is considerably high. Their lunch menu incorporates the traditional dishes which covers most South Indian varieties in the most healthy way. Their side-dishes (kootu, poriyal, and spinach) are unlimited which they serve you with love unconditionally.
Also, they change their menus considerably, which keeps on improving your satisfaction of having a homely lunch or dinner. Not to mention the ever increasing cost, which is the only drawback so far. I hope the management will look in to this issue, and take considerable action on fixing prices. The reasonable price will pull more crowd!
In short, if you wish to experience a proper meal of the day, Annalya is your one stop destination which also provide great ambiance for dine-in.
Good food. Great service.
We had a really welcoming receiving and very good tali. The staff was very attentive and we received excellent service. Food was authentic, well prepared and hygienic. If a little expensive. We'll come back.
Ramanathan venkata ramanan
+4
Today we had vazai ilai sappadu. All dishes were quite good and tasty.nothing to complain in this regard. but coordination in serving needs some more attention .
When we went the table occupancy was about 50 %. After serving vegetables, we had to wait for rice. we had to call for appalam which was not served in the first instance. aviyal/kootu was not served though it was mentioned in menu board kept outside (we saw it while coming out after finishing meals ).
Though these are small flaws , if avoided will add more repute to your restaurant.
The food and ambience was good. The prices were reasonable overall. We paid 1100 for 4 people, which included 1 meal and a la carte orders with dessert (ice cream with jamun)
It is very nice vegetarian restaurant. There are many varieties of items in the Thali. The specialty of this restaurant is Thangachi rasam - Sisters will serve rasam for his brothers when they visit to her - It is very tasteful , flavour . They served in banana leaf. It is mixture of Kannada/ Kerala/ Tamil Nadu / Andhra dishes .
Kanagasabai Ramanathan
+4
The food is sumptuous, price is on the higher side but worth it, strategically located, good taste and service contribute to a pleasant experience
Hotel ambience is very good. Foods were good and clean. Would be best suited for people like to have a peacful lunch or dinner
Hey guys yesterday i visited annalaya... Trust me i never had a tasty food which i had in this restaurant... I think every one must taste this delicious and superb food
Good Ambience, Friendly servicing. Certain food pricing is at par. Few buildings next to vijay tv office. You can try various combinations
Nice and clean with good ambience. Courteous staff. Delicious home like veg and non veg delicacies. Bit pricy.
Mutton briyani, Idli with kozhi kulambu is also good (served similar to sambar idli). Chicken briyani is not good. Gee garlic dosa with neethili meen kolambu is good here.
You'll get South Indian meals on a banana leaf here. Great taste. Helpful staff. Decent prices.
The food is really great and such a calm ambience for a pleasant evening dinner, must try their mutton biryani and nattu kozhi roast.
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