The Buffet Square: Ramada Plaza Hotel, Guindy, Chennai

Restaurant Name: The Buffet Square: Ramada Plaza Hotel, Guindy, Chennai
Phone: +914445653345, +914445653333
Address: 36, Sardar Patel Road, Ramada Plaza, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600042 India
Time: 06:30 AM – 11:00 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 1,500
Cuisines: Continental, North Indian, Beverages
Facilities: Breakfast, Home Delivery, Takeaway Available, Indoor Seating, Wifi, Buffet, Table reservation required, Brunch

Earlier called Coffee Place, the all-day dining restaurant at Ramada Plaza is now called The Buffet Square.

The Buffet Square: Ramada Plaza Hotel, Guindy, Chennai – Decor

Packed with busy diners, the place has a certain homely feel to it. Room dividers have shelves holding books, a brass tiffin box, an antique telephone and items of interest that one can look at and smile as they trigger nostalgia. One side is dominated by a live kitchen. The buffet itself is spread all around with

live counters, a dedicated dessert table, salads, etc. Right in the centre, the main course occupies pride of place.

The Buffet Square: Ramada Plaza Hotel, Guindy, Chennai – Food

Starters come to the table. There’s variety every single day — one steamed or grilled South Indian dish, like Paneeyarams, Nei Urundai, Podi Idli, etc. On this day, there was pickled corn Paneeyarams. Small, with brown, crisp patches on the outside, they were steaming hot and soft on the inside. From the chaat counter, it was hot Aloo Tikki piled high with sweet, salty, thick, tangy chutneys. Finally, cool, white yoghurt was topped by thin, yellow crispy sev and pomegranate seeds. I wish the tikki was slightly crisper.

Soft morsels of Mutton Chukka arrived on slender sticks. Tawa-roasted using Chettinad-style masalas, they were everything one expected from the starter. For the main course, among all the vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, there’s biryani and it changes every day. Sometimes, there’s even turkey biryani, if that’s what you fancy. But the most intriguing is the dosa counter, with different varieties of dosas, including the millet variety. Toppings can go up to 99 for the Sunday brunch.

Veg Farmhouse Pizza takes its name seriously. Thin-crusted, this one is topped with every colour of vegetable that is good for you, including broccoli, bell peppers, a little corn, onions, mushrooms and black olives. Some of them decide to peep through the melting strings of mozzeralla cheese. The

Vegetable Avial was made using fresh coconut and had everything one expects of it, including the slight crunch from its vegetables cooked just so. However, one cannot say the same for their Hakka Noodles.

The creamy-white, seasoned-with-curry-leaves and mustard-seeds curd rice tasted as good as it looked, and Kara Kuzhambu from the buffet added welcome spiciness with thick tamarind tang.

From the desserts counter, the milky, nutsliver-sprinkled Ras Malai, sweetened just so had absorbed the saffron milk right into its core.

Pluses and minuses:

Their breakfasts are a huge draw for in-house guests. Each meal has many healthy eating options. The South Indian food here is well made, with all the elements in tandem. But their North Indian fare needs some tweaking.