Grand Siam

Anything related to Siam now Thailand reminds me of the famous movie The King and I,a brilliant musical film based on Thailand with Yul Bryner and Deborah Ker in the lead,the story deals with a heartwarming love story between the king of Siam and a teacher. My first showcase of the year,I headed of to Grand Siam located on a busy arterial road of Chennai.

The restaurant has at the entrance a welcoming Buddha seated with an enigmatic smile always associated with him, Buddha somehow doesn't seem Buddha without it.The ambiance had perfect lighting,ample space and in general a charming atmosphere.On display were many Buddha statues dotting the shelves and walls.Waited for the rest of the group to arrive before we were seated comfortably.

Welcome drink was a strawberry crush with a 7 up and a topsy-turvy  shark stirrer. The regular palette cleanser/appetiser arrived,entertained us for a while and then it was on to the next course. Soups arrived and strangely enough mine didn't for a really long time,heard the slurping  and the muttering of the spice content and the lack of freshness all around me,nevertheless dug into my soup and couldn't have agreed more with the rest of the group.

The appetizers arrived,most of them on barbecue sticks and one wrapped in pandan leaves...the prawn,fish and chicken were a delight and I enjoyed them thoroughly ..the pandan leaves wrapped chicken however, seemed a bit overdone..

The main course Jasmine flavoured rice ?( good) and a noodle dish arrived,the latter in my opinion, had a very distinct Chinese flavour to it.The side dishes to accompany  these were certainly not the best that I have had,but to give the devil its due, passable.After this it was one dish after the other which to my palette tasted more Chinese than Thai.The dessert Tub Tim Grob was the usual water chestnut in coconut milk.

This place needs a quick and efficient spruce up,the waiters can be educated further on how to handle guests better,I for one was not served either the soup or the plates at the same time as the rest of the group,but had to wait for a while.

All said and done,i must mention the manager,chef and other staff were courteous and kind while listening to us berate about the food.They heard us out patiently and promised to make the necessary changes,its left to be seen if they heed our advice.

I have always been intimidated by photography and photographers,more so with the ones on CFG,hence i have used the pictures from my friend Deepa Iyer,(with her permission) from her blog, check it out at notjustanothercookeryblog.blogspot.in


Please remember food is a subjective issue and very personal,one man's meat is another man's poison etc,these are my personal views so please don't shoot the messenger...

Grand Siam can be found at R.K.Salai Royapettah,Chennai