My Tryst With Buffet (ology)

Now, if you are reading this article thinking it will have anything to do with the Oracle Of Omaha Warren Buffet, I apologise and suggest you stop right here :-)

This post is about the one thing that i think God sent me to earth for. Indeed, it is about food or rather variety and unlimited food also reffered to as Buffet :-)

Being Christmas and all, I had the perfect excuse to coax my buddies for a food fiesta and continue with our journey with the best Buffet's in Chennai (yes, i work in this very city :-( )

Choosing a buffet place however is no joke.Almost all 5 star hotels seem to have buffet's and a uncountable restaurants have tempting Buffet Menus.So, how does one choose the perfect place.Well, for one it depends on what you are looking for.



A Buffet is a risky affair.We get all beefed up reading the list of starters,main course and the desserts on offer.Moreover, going by my college days, Buffet also has a profound meaning Unlimited Food. So, eyeballs pop out and the tounge starts wagging with the thought of enjoying a sumptous buffet.

But, then no one told us how tricky these hotel bastards are.They price their buffets upwards of 500-600 and we are sold thinking that given the variety and the unlimited angle, it is value for money.

But take it from a glutton, there is no way in hell one can justify the price with HOW MUCH YOU CAN EAT? So, the unlimited angle is pretty much in the favour of the restaurants.

Coming back to the selection part, my criteria for selecting a good Buffet is very simple,

A tempting variety of Starters and a sinful variety of Desserts

That's it.Plain and Simple.I don't give a damn about the Main Course.Why? It is the starter and the dessert delicacies that can justify the horrendous high Buffet price.The main course is a cheaper bet via the A-La-Carte route.

So, after putting a shout out on Twitter and reading reviews on Burrp, we settled on "Sigri" ,a seemingly decent North Indian Sounding restaurant at Sterling Road.

I am not the one who generally gives too much significance to ambiance , but i have to say I was sold at 'Sigri's' ambiance.Nothing upmarket or spectacular, but it had the right proportions of lighting,seating and a select few Chicas on the reception (Oh cmon, i can say that, cant i) .

What followed was a totally romantic journey that lasted close to 2 hours :-) It was the culmination of my unending love for good food.

I was presented with the tempting and yummylicious kebabs or rather Chicken,Prawn, Mutton and Fish Kebabs ( I am getting on ur nerves now, ain't I :-) ). The chicken was a little hard but the Prawns were larger than usual and cooked perfectly.The Mutton Seekh kebab was the winner here. They had soups too but generally Buffet's are not famous for serving the best soups, so i avoided that.The meeting went on for quite sometime with frequent replacement of empty plates with the filled ones :-)

Main Course was supposed to be mere formality, but then had to be completed.I am not the one to give a second look to the Vegetarian dishes, but Sigri has some reputation going with its DAL MAKHANNI .So, I had to give it a try.Belive me, it was a revelation.It was the best Dal Makhanni i have ever had ever since i came to Chennai ( 6 god damn years now). Other than the dal, the main course was a usual affair with nothing extra ordinary.

The Dal was so darn good that i was close to losing out on my Buffet(ology). I actually was stuffed and Desserts seemed like a distant dream.But then, Aerated Drinks were made for a reason :-) A glass of Pepsi with lime was the answer to my woes of going Dessert-less from a Buffet.So, a 20 minutes relaxation therapy with Pepsi pushing the food down the pipeline did the trick.I was indeed ready for the Dessert Section.

The Dessert Menu was not exactly vast and sinful as i have to come to expect from Buffets.But, it had something that reminded me of home and it didn't disappoint at all.It was the round and round maze of Sweetness commonly known as Jalebi. Let me make it clear that finding good Jalebis in Chennai is still a herculean task by any means.Just the right amount of sweetness with the perfect crispness bought me close to gastronomical orgasm :-) Except that , there were the usual fruit assortments, A few other sweets,Ice Cream and a Christmas Special Plum Cake on offer. The Ice Cream-Jalebi combo went on for a few rounds and i was spent :-)

I could not think of drinking a sip of water and that told me that i have had my money's worth. For a buffet priced ~550 , Sigri wins some real brownie points.

Oh Boy!! My gluttony is reflected in the post also.I have gone a little verbose clocking over 830 words.

But, I don't care.If you have 'Sigri' in your city/town, do give it a try.You wouldn't come out disappointed.

Sigri, Sterling Road,Chennai

Ambiance : 4/5

Starters :5/5

Main Course : 4/5 ( Dal Makhanni gets +1)

Dessert : 3/5 (Not as many choices one would like, though Jalebi saved the day)

That's all for today,till the next visit to another Buffet

PS: My first time chronicling a gastronomical experience.Feedback/Comments/Suggestions appreciated, I can always make space for them :-)