Grilled, From Gargoyles

‘Dine’ at Escape
Express Mall, Chennai
Tel: 422 4224
Meal for two: Rs 1,000

or a film-crazy city like Chennai, falling into the tunnel of multiplexes at the Express Avenue mall is something of an out-of-body experience. Not only are there a million pixelated images being flung at you from screens advertising the attractions of the multiplex, the fragrance of caramel-coated popcorn, ice-cream cones and peanut brittle is so intense that you feel like Hannibal Lecter waiting for a ‘Bite’.

That’s when you discover ‘Dine’. It’s a dizzily posh diner, designed by uber-cool decorator Vikram Phadke, who’s gone for the full Gothic, black marble and dark mirrors, with velvet drapes from ceiling to floor.

All they need are the whips, but the food more than makes up, with the best Chateaubriand served with mash, hash and broccoli. It’s an intelligent mix of salads, starters and soups, with fizzy fruity drinks, warm Italian pastas, breads and grilled meats and fish, served Conti style. The desserts sound dreamy with coffee-laced tiramisu and hazelnut mousse, but tend to be stodgy. You need to drown them with the beverages at the end.

The real treat is reserved for the biriyani buffet that appears during the weekends. For a sensationally priced Rs 200 you can help yourself to a soup, a brinjal curry and as much biriyani—veg or non-veg—that you can possibly shovel onto your plate, with ice-cream and soft drink thrown in. It’s like watching Omar Sharif in the last scene of MacKenna’s Gold. People dig into the biriyani as if there is no escape from Dine.