Up North The Finest Punjabi Restaurant In Town Launches Its New Menu

Chennai has a handful of restaurants that serve authentic North Indian cuisine and Up North at The Raintree Hotel, Anna Salai is one of those places where you will feel completely satisfied from the start till the end of a meal. They have made some new additions to their menu and I simply loved it. Read on to learn about my complete experience.

LOCATION & AMBIENCE

Located right on Anna Salai road, it’s hard to miss. Up North also happens to be one of the most beautiful rooftop restaurants in the city. With soft pink lights and mild Punjabi music playing in the background, it really sets the mood with a desi touch.

The new additions to their menu is from the undivided region of Punjab which are authentic all-time favourites. It has been curated by Chef Amrik Singh and I must say that the entire team has done a great job.

SOUP & STARTERS

We started with a mildly spiced but rich in flavor, Mutton da shorba (mutton soup) served along with a piece of mutton seekh kebab. The soup was delicious and rightly seasoned. The seekh kebab had a lot of flavour and the meat was cooked very well.

I noticed that all their kebabs have been marinated thoroughly and cooked so well. With every bite one can taste the masalas that have penetrated well into meat and this can be achieved only if the meat has been marinated and tended to properly. They are just brilliant.

We were served a platter of chicken, lamb and fish tikka. If you have been following my blogs you would know by now that I do not enjoy chicken, but the Bhatti da Murgh Pindiwala (chicken drumsticks) was just too good. Marinated with green herbs and spicy it is quite filling. The Mahi tikka (fish) marinated in native spices and yoghurt was also great however my personal favourite was the Lahori Seekh, the traditional minced lamb kebab. Just loved it.

MAIN COURSE

The Punjabi in me leaped with joy when I saw the elaborate spread for the main course. The butter chicken was creamy and rich in flavor. What is Punjabi food without butter chicken? The pindi channa and Mushroom muttar hara pyaz were two very good vegetarian gravies. They went so well with the assorted breads. My favorite was the orange scented Narangi pulao with chicken. It was something very different. You could taste the flavor of ghee literally in every morsel of rice. Just brilliant.

DESSERT

For desserts we were served some Gulab jamuns, Phirni and Kulfi Falooda. Although these are classic Indian desserts, each one of them was decadently delicious. We were served the Lassi in the end and we were so grateful for that because it was so rich and thick but truly it was one of the best that I have ever tasted so far in Chennai.

IN A NUTSHELL

Up North is one of the best fine dining restaurants in the city. The food is simply brilliant, the service is top notch, well it’s one of those MUST VISIT places.

Written By: Sukanya Kaur