The Dining Co at Ramanujan IT City in Taramani promises easy dining for worker bees 

Located inside Neville Towers, the 88-seater is a joint venture, co-owned by Sandesh Reddy,  who has partnered with four others to curate a menu that comprises of affordable comfort food.
Chicken Dum Biriyani
Chicken Dum Biriyani

An IT park may not look like an ideal spot for Chennai-based chef and restaurateur Sandesh Reddy (whose previous outfits are at sought-after locations such as Wallace Gardens and Somerset Greenways) to open a restaurant. But Ramanujan IT City at Taramani, spread across 25 acres with six towers of IT/ITES spaces, is a great choice. Not just because it houses over 40,000 employees within its buildings. 

But also, before The Dining Co opened last month, there was no sit-down restaurant experience on offer in the campus, save for the bustling food court.

Comfort food
Located inside Neville Towers, the 88-seater is a joint venture, co-owned by Sandesh Reddy,  who has partnered with four others to curate a menu that comprises of affordable comfort food. A casual dining space offering Indian, Chinese and Continental — the dishes here are reasonably priced and curated to cater to busy corporate professionals.

“The people here only have three food courts, out of which one is exclusive to a specific company. Until now, they didn’t have a place that could cater to top clients or management executives,” says Ramprasad Periasamy, the F&B manager at The Dining Co as well as The Broken Bridge Cafe and Radio Room at Somerset.

“We have kept the menu simple with dishes that won’t take much time to prepare,” shares Ramprasad, adding that the fastest moving dishes here are the Indo-Chinese plates, a combo of sorts,  which consists of one main dish (mostly gravy like Chilli Chicken) accompanied with your choice of rice or noodles.

Kebab corner.

From the starters section, the first to arrive is a plate of Tawa Fish Fry — mildly spiced and cooked pieces of succulent fish followed by Malai Tikka Kebab — soft, flavoursome and rather filling for an appetiser. We then go for a comparatively well-spiced Chicken Tikka and then some Paneer Tikka, both of which are decent starter choices. Yet another vegetarian starter that we try, the Tandoori Gobi Chutneywali — cauliflower dipped in mint chutney and fried, stood out from the rest with its strong flavours.

Moving on to the mains, the best pick is the classic Chicken Dum Biriyani (made of Jeeraga Samba rice instead of the usual Basmati). While there is a vegetarian alternative to opt for, we recommend the Gobi Manchurian or the Stir-Fry vegetable plate, which are rice bowls, with generous portion sizes. To end the meal on a sweet note, we try the array of desserts that grace the table, including the classic Gulab Jamun, a Hot Chocolate Cake, and  a Chocolate Brownie.

Average price for two: `500.
— Fathima Ashraf
fathima@newindianexpress.com @fathiimaashraf

Related Stories

No stories found.
Indulgexpress
www.indulgexpress.com