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Aachis Chettinad
Edison, New Jersey
(Scroll down to read the review)
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Aachis Chettinad Restaurant
Reviewer's Summary: Spoiled Food Disgraces Aachis
Address & Telephone No:
Aachis
128 Talmadge Road
Edison, NJ 08817
Ph: 732-287-0570
Hours:
Lunch
Tuesday - Sunday
11:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Dinner
Tuesday - Thursday
5:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Friday & Saturday
5:30 PM - 11:00 PM
Sunday
5:30 PM- 10:00 PM
Closed on Monday
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It takes a helluva lot of audacity for a restaurant to serve spoiled food to diners and then insist it's fine even after more
than one diner points it out.
That's precisely what Aachis, the new Chettinad restaurant in Edison (New Jersey), did the other day when we stopped by for
lunch.
"It's just the garlic flavor," argued our hostess and Aachis manager Kalpana, a friendly young lady from Chennai, when we and
another diner pointed out that the Turiya Kootu (made from the Ridge Gourd vegetable) was spoiled.
Distressed as we were at Aachis' spoiled Turiya Kootu, we were more dismayed by Kalpana's stubborn denial of what was clearly
a smelly, spoiled mess on her Buffet Table.
To paraphrase Ignatius Reilly, it seemed as if the gods of chaos, lunacy and bad taste had descended on this so-called Chettinad restaurant.
Several minutes passed and just as our hopes were turning into despair better sense dawned on Kalpana. She asked the amigo
waiter to remove the Turiya Kootu from the buffet table and quietly replaced it after some time with Vegetable Kurma.
We've been eating Indian food for several decades and, of course, it's not the first occasion that we've been served spoiled
food in an Indian restaurant.
But Aachis' arrogance and gumption in brazenly insisting that the food was not spoiled when it clearly smelled bad and tasted
lousy took our breath away.
And then to quietly replace the spoiled dish without even an apology to the unfortunate diners. Oh, what a disgusting
restaurant.
When a restaurant serves spoiled food, it not only casts a dark shadow on its reputation but may also seriously affect the
health of diners. But Aachis seems oblivious to the health consequences of its distasteful and careless actions.
Aachis manager Kalpana seemed more interested in boasting about the 80 people who supposedly come to Aachis on Friday evening
and the 120 who come for lunch on weekends than in serving fresh food.
We love Chettinad cuisine. We've enjoyed it in Tamil Nadu. And we've enjoyed Chettinad food in New York, New Jersey,
Philadelphia and Delaware. So it's with heightened anticipation that we headed to Aachis on Talmadge Road in Edison (New
Jersey) pulling along an Indian friend with a fondness for nice food.
Besides the spoiled Turiya Kootu, much of what we sampled from the Aachis' kitchen was mediocre, some of it downright
terrible.
Chettinad Parupurandai Kuzhambu ($8.95) was a spiceless insult - a lamebrain creation from a harebrained chef. It came with
five Channa Dal dough dumplings set in a thick bland gravy.
Kaadai (Quail) Biryani ($12.95) is touted as the one of the specialities of Aachis' chef and served with boiled egg, Chicken
Kurma and Onion Raitha. Perhaps our expectations were high, but much to our disappointment we found the Kaadai Biryani
lacking in the promised aroma or flavor.
Located in a small strip mall on Talmadge Road (close to the Clarion Hotel), Aachis attracts a mix of Desi and American
diners eager to try Chettinad food, a category of Indian cuisine that's still not widely available in the U.S.
Chettinad cuisine has achieved fame for its spicy and aromatic qualities. But you wouldn't know it if you visited this
impostor in Edison, New Jersey.
Our meal at Aachis was a chronicle of high hopes and repeated disapppointments.
Chettinad Chicken Kuzhambu at Aachis was ordinary with none of that spicy flavor that gives Chettinad cuisine its exemplary
reputation. Most likely, the chef had forgotten that Indians have spicy palates.
While the Idli was soft, the two Chutneys - Coconut and Tomato - were cold and bland. The Sambar was less than ordinary. A
South Indian restaurant that can't get Chutney or Sambar right is a rarity but Aachis manages to scale new heights on the
ladder of mediocrity. Our other gripe was that Idli was just lukewarm.
An assault on the taste buds, Pakoda Kozhumbu (a first for us) was hopelessly bland leaving us with little appetite for it
after the first few spoons.
Carrot Bonda and Beans Poriyal were completely forgettable as were the tepid Parottas.
Among the many items we tried at Aachis, Chettinad Chicken Pepper Fry was one of the few standout dishes with justifiable
claims to a superior taste and flavor. Well cooked with just the right touch of spiciness to satisfy Indian palates, the
Chicken Pepper Fry was beyond reproach.
The only other scraps of comfort at Aachis were the Rasam and Lemon Rice. With a piquant flavor, Aachis' Rasam is non pareil,
in a class of its own.
We got the laugh of our life when we asked for the Aaachis Special Ice Creams listed on the menu. Upon asking about the
Special varieties of Aachis Ice Cream, our cheerful waitress Kalpana responded - Vanilla and Strawberry! But even those were
not available at lunch.
So we settled for the Pineapple Rava Kesari on the Buffet Table. Big mistake. Big mistake.
Aachis' Pineapple Rava Kesari was a travesty of a dessert. Touted as "sweetened cream wheat with pineapple chunks" on its
menu, it conjured up nostalgic memories of the countless times we've enjoyed Rava Kesari in Madurai, Salem, Trichy, Chennai,
Cuddalore, Erode, Kanchipuram, Krishnagiri and various other cities of Tamil Nadu.
Alas, in the Aachis' version of the Rava Kesari both the pineapple pieces and sugar had done a disappearing act. It also
lacked enough ghee and it clearly lacked flavor. Above all, the Pineapple Rava Kesari lacked a real chef's touch.
Out of desperation for something sweet, we ordered a Mango Shake only to be smacked yet again with another mediocre creation.
Although Aachis lists Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Dinner Thalis on its web site, the restaurant does not offer them yet.
The restaurant also lists several varieties of Dosas on its menu including Chicken Masala Dosa, Goat Keema Dosa and Onion
Rava Masala Dosa.
Aachis manager Kalpana was a clueless bubblehead but a very friendly and helpful young lady (she kindly let us order from the
menu during lunch).
All in all, Aachis has little going for it. This is a restaurant that needs a competent chef and a knowledgeable manager who
knows never to serve spoiled food.
If there's an overarching theme that runs through this pretender of a Chettinad restaurant, it's the pathetic inattention to
quality and contempt for diners.
Aachis is not just a disgrace to fine Indian dining in New Jersey, it's also a health hazard to innocent diners who go there
in hopes of eating a nice Chettinad meal. - RR
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