Restaurant Review: Delicious spin to the south Indian staples

Started by reigning food industry czar, Sam Paul and managed by the equally capable executive chef D. Srinivasan, Sambhar intends to serve traditional vegetarian fare with a dash of imagination. As we walked in to this brand new place, the white walls and yellow accents immediately lifted our moods. Chef D Srinivasan gave us a quick tour of the open kitchen with glass partition and the separate chaat corner. 

As we sat at our assigned table, we realised the place is no-frills attached with focus on food. The waiters promptly brought in the stainless steel cutlery and started service. We were particularly overwhelmed to receive five varieties of piping hot sambar served alongside crispy dosas. There is the spicy vengaya sambar, slightly sweet Jain sambar, deliciously sour thakkali sambar , filling kadhamba sambar and the slightly bland aravai sambar.  Of the lot, we polished of the vengaya sambar. It was full of flavours and stood out. “We intend to up the South Indian tiffin game and focus on the staples of every kitchen. But at the same time we have tried to innovate and come up with quite a few novel things. In addition, there are Chinese, North Indian, Continental options and chaat ; so that when a family comes over everyone including the kids have a choice,” said chef. 

We recommend the roasted garlic and basic dosa and those who enjoy spicy fare, do not miss the Andhra erra karam dosa . The former was prepared in olive oil and has strong garlic flavour balanced well with freshness of basil. For idli lovers, there are host of choices. They offer karuvepillai idli, podi idli and masala idli, tossed in an onion-tomato gravy, which was the clear winner. 

Chef Srinivasan also offered to serve a thali, but with the number of options we had sampled, we politely declined. But we couldn’t resist chaats. We absolutely devoured the dahi papdi and vada pav. The crisp papdis doused in sweet curd and chutneys were bang on. 

After some reluctance, owing to filled bellies, we gave in to the dessert temptations. Kesari, chakkara pongal and elaneer payasam made their way to the table. We loved the pongal , rich with ghee. Great end to a satisfying experience! 

Sambhar, Kilpauk 

Cuisine: South Indian, North Indian 

Must try: Roasted garlic dosa, vengaya and Jain sambar, masala idli, chakkara pongal 

Contact: 044 26454177 

Rating: 3/5