southern spice - taj coromandel

by far the best south indian place in the country - i have been going there for years (only for special occasions!!!) and though its pricey theexperienceand food are amazing. the modern yet classical decor is excellent and the entire cutlery and the eye for detail have always wowed me. their melugu rasam (pepper rasam) is a must try and so is their appam and chicken/fish curry. they have a wide menu to choose from and their grilled fish is also excellent. they welcome you with 4 chutneys and some short eats (mini applams etc) and that is pretty yummy too. overall a royalexperienceand need to try it out to know it

was put up in taj for 3 days and had been to southern spice for lunch. as i was confused about the option their staff as always helped me all the suggestions. took the fish and meat thali which i enjoyed. prices are bit on the higher side but the service andexperiencemakes it for.

chennai's best fine dining restaurant in chennai's (arguably) best hotel. we went, the seven of us, on a monday evening and were all surprised to see that the place was at capacity on a weekday night! but once the food arrived, we quickly understood why (no food pics, note!). every single dish we ordered (attached the list as a pic haha) was outstanding. and southern spice was the rare restaurant whose service outshone the already wonderful south indian food. the vaunted taj hospitality stood heads and shoulders above competing restaurants, thanks to our delightful wait staff (special mention to ms. tamilselvi who made us, especially my grandparents, feel right at home).
make no mistake, southern spice is an expensive place. but, with a budget of 1500 on average per head, one can reallyexperiencethe best of south indian hospitality.
taj coromandel and southern spice make me proud to be a chennaite.

an excellent diningexperiencefor which a prior reservation is definitely recommended. the service is always impeccable and the food was great. really enjoyed the meal.

“impeccable”, is the one word comes to my mind, if i want describe myexperienceat southern spice. from the moment we walked in to the restaurant to the farewell, we felt like a royalty. the rich decor, walls covered by impressive paintings, lush seating, crisp white table linen, attentive service and food fit for the kings are the few things one can expect.
coming to the selection of dishes in the thali, they seems to be handpicked to balance the flavours. overall greatexperienceand i’ll be visiting back again, this time to try other items on the menu.

this restaurant has been on my list for a while now and finally i had the opportunity to try it out. honestly speaking i wasn't very impressed. contrary to everybody's suggestion of the thalis we decided to try the à la carte menu. the complimentary thakaali rasam they served was amazing. other than that the guntur mushroom was pretty good, the parota was soft and flaky and one other dish that's worth mentioning is the vegetable stew and appam. the mamsam vepudu felt under cooked and it missed out on the zing factor. the kozhi varutha kari and the mamsam kura didn't taste as well as they sound. the service was great though. i don't seem to recall the waiter's name but he was amazing. i also felt that the menu was very limited i wish they incorporate more dishes. i would probably rate them 3.5/5 but since zomato doesn't allow you to use .5 i am giving them a 3/5.
thisexperienceof mine actually reaffirmed a very popular quote "never meet your heroes".

if you are not a local (like us) and want to try authentic and delectable dishes from this side of india, head straight to southern spice. there is absolutely nothing average about this place. from food to ambience to the service, everything is spot on. music is subtle and native, so is the lighting, with beautiful paintings and sculptures. this restaurant can be picked up for a date or for a family dinner.

we wanted to try different dishes, hence opted for the fish and meat thali. now we cannot remember most of the difficult (for us of course) names but the mutton was tender and oh so yum, so was the fish curry. rasam was flavourful with perfect amount of spices. although it was a lot of good for two people but we tried our best to justify the scrumptious meal. finally we ended our lunch with a bang with the coffee ice cream. it actually felt like having a filter coffee turned ice cream, delicious nonetheless. overall ourexperienceat the southern spice was pleasant and we will surely come back again and again for a wholesome hearty delectable meal!

we had stayed at taj coromandel for a month and had dined at southern spice several times during the stay. 

the soothing ambience, those carved pillars and paintings, impeccable hospitality, all these draw you into such a comfort zone from the moment you are seated in.

everything on the plate is scrumptious, idiyappam, mutton chukka, fish, banana flower vada, filter coffee and even a bowl of delicious warmed rasam! 

believe me, you don’t want to waste a skerrick of your lunch! it is 'dakshin unpacked' on a nice silver plate!

the chefs here take an enormous pride in what they do, and it trickles down to the service staff. they are warm and lovely. every morsel is served with such warmth and love.

this is a place, where food is almost a religion, and here, the simple becomes the best, and in here, ingredients are selected on quality and not price. and, this restaurant epitomises all these values and delivers the meal in a relaxed and friendly way, to make it more refreshing.

the whole mealexperienceis enjoyable, memorable, delectable and fun. 

thank god for all these little temples of taste and excellence, life suddenly becomes more piquant.


food- 5.0 ++
ambience- 5.0++
service-5.0++
value for money-5.0

good ambience..great food and world class hospitality! mr ashok and mr bala displayed brilliant customer service. we celebrated our 10th anniversary here and their customer service made the entireexperiencevery memorable! highly recommend

great ambience , good food ( which is served fresh and hot ) loved each and every bit of it , must try filter coffee ice cream , taj is known for its hospitality and service so i need not comment its had always been a goodexperiencefor me and my family .

an absolutely fantastic experience. the flavours were just marvellous and made us enjoy it a lot.
the restaurant has a spectacular south indian architecture and a very pleasant ambience. the tables are also appropriately sized to have a good conversation without having to raise your voice and also perfect to accommodate all the food.

the staff was quite friendly and made us feel welcome and also recommended some great food choices. a true taj experience... makes you feel proud to showcase a fantastic indian culinaryexperienceto an expat colleague in a truly indian hotel.

i'd recommend going here with family as well as on your business dinners.

it is a crime to be in chennai and not visit southern spice for a foodie !!! what blows you away is the grand ambience and great service with staff ready to do anything to make you feel and serve better. everything from starters to desert was just mind blowing. i can safely say one of the bestexperiencei ever had in a south indian restaurant for sure. must try are appam and veg stew. a special mention of mr. shiv whose knowledge of food and ingredients is impacable. a big thump up .

if i'm not wrong, there aren't many fine-dining restaurants serving southern indian food here in chennai. but even if there were, this would definitely be among the top ones. be it the ambience, service or the food, it was all brilliant from start to finish. and it's no surprise that this is among tripadvisor's top 10 restaurants in chennai

the first thing one would notice on entering this place is the tasteful decor and attention to details. it all went really well with what the restaurant stands for.

ordered their kuzhi paniyaram for starters, which was good. it was served with a nice relish, which i thought was a little hot and spicy, but tasted good. for main course, went in for their aappam, which happened to be the most popular choice here, and kurma. i liked them both. the kurma was really delicious and loved the fact that it wasn't too spicy or pungent. and aappam had a very nice texture and seemed quite perfect.

i can't help but mention this, the service here was exceptional the whole time - very attentive, prompt and friendly. great job!

overall, it was a great diningexperienceand i would surely recommend this place to one and all.

the iconic taj coramandel houses another iconic entity within!! one of the most decorated restaurants for authentic southern cuisine encompassing the malabar, coastal chennai and andhra style of cooking, the discreetly opulent gourmet place is to die for! the uniquely designed concept restaurant has an absolute air to it..upon entering the plush hotel lobby, being lead into this fabulous dining place, one would reallyexperiencea special vibe not so common even for places of the same calibre..food choice is exotic and taste wise is reasonably good, if not great..the beautiful and ornate paintings of hindu gods adorn the walls, which in turn is complimented with brass lamps and statues. hospitality was in tune with taj traditions!

a beautifulexperienceto eat at the taj coromandel for a special occasion at dinner time. the service was up to the mark and helpful in advices. the decor is as it should be fitting perfectly to the theme of the restaurant and the south indian culture and architecture with statues, paintings, though the grey color of pillars were strange to me. lights are not too bright nor too dark, making it the ideal atmosphere in the evening time. there's even a brahmin sitting at the entrance ready to interpret the cards that his parrot chooses to read your future if you are interested.

for dinner we had a light thali, allepey fish curry and kerala red rice. it was all delicious and flavourful, kingfish was melting in the mouth, the thali different sauces were delicately tasty, never over spiced yet full of flavors, never too much chili. as one of us didn't order the thali, they still gave us both the sweet basundi at the end which was deliciously caramelized. overall, a beautiful experience, and great food, as per the expectations that are quite high considering the price and the reputation of the taj.