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Where khana meets gana

Khaana Ghaana combines food and music with a difference

Photo: R. SHIVAJI RAO

Apparently, it's `the place to be.' Khaana Ghaana, which opened recently on Chamiers Road, promotes dining and live entertainment. It's the Moulin Rouge philosophy, except it's more about chicken curry than cabaret.

While combining music and dining is probably one of the oldest ideas ever, Khaana Ghaana seems to have modelled itself slightly differently from most restaurants.

For one, they have a bar but no alcohol. So the bartender mixes and serves `cocktails' such as Strawberry Daiquiris, which contain nothing more potent than a dash of strawberry syrup.

Tamil pop

Then, the music seems to be strictly Tamil pop, sung — on the night we visited — by a rather talented young woman crooner, backed by a minimalist band.

Judging by their menu, their chef is a veritable Jack-Of-All-Trades. It lists kulchas, parathas and rotis. Manchurians, spring rolls and chopsuey. There's Hungarian goulash and Thai chicken. Burgers and `diet' sandwiches. And of course, an entire drinks menu of non-alcoholic cocktails.

Keeping with the potpourri spirit, we started with their fish fingers, which were sizzling, fresh and evidently made from scratch (an under-rated virtue in this age of snip and serve cooking).

A chicken sailana murgh methi, reportedly a `delicacy of the Sailana province, cooked with spinach and flavoured with fenugreek, followed. Which led us to the second bit of entertainment for the evening: a refreshing game of fish the chicken. (Maybe it's Sailanese tradition to bond diners by dividing a single chicken amongst five tables or so.) The chicken was accompanied by a bowl of succulent mushrooms cooked in everyday Indian spices and warm kulchas.

The focus is clearly on the whole experience, rather than just the food. The service is excellent, and the waiters are friendly and attentive. But Khaana Ghaana is clearly still ironing out the kinks, and while their food is nice enough, it's certainly not extraordinary. Some of their prices, on the other hand, are. At Rs. 110 for a Strawberry Daiquiri, which is basically a innocuous fruit juice in wolf's clothing, Khaana Ghaana is bordering on the `expensive'. And the fact that they add a service charge to both your food and drinks/dessert bills, doesn't help, especially if you, like most Chennai-ites, are pre-conditioned to leave a cash tip of about 10 per cent behind anyway.

Khaana Ghaana is at 132, Chamiers Road, Nandanam. Call 24352227 for reservations.

SHONALI MUTHALALY

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