Avartana

We visited Avartana with high expectations, especially after seeing all the awards they won neatly displayed outside, which was impressive. The food was definitely amazing. They've taken South Indian dishes and given them a modern twist with creative presentation. It felt like a privilege to try them, and I'm truly thankful to the chefs for the experience. We tried the Jiaa, Maya, and Anika menus, and they were even kind enough to tweak a few items based on our dietary needs. That said, I'm giving 3 stars because the overall experience didn't quite match the quality of the food. The atmosphere didn't feel as calm or polished as we expected from a fine-dining luxurious place. There seemed to be a lot happening among the staff throughout the evening, which made the vibe feel a bit distracting at times. The Anika menu took nearly 3.5 hours to complete -- they did mention a delay at the start, but this amount of delay for a dinner with reservation is unexpected and unacceptable. I just wish the service felt a bit more warm, seamless and hospitable. At the end of the day, people may not remember every dish they ate, but they always remember how they were made to feel -- so they could use some improvement here.

If you want Experience instead of just a Meal, please visit Avartana! They've set menu. You can choose how many courses you want. From 7 to 13! From 1.5 hrs to 3 hrs serving time! We choose 'Maya' which is least course - 7. Never seen such remarkable fusion of Indian and rest of world! They start with Amuse bouche made with Aloe vera! Very refreshing! Also, they serve a hot broth twice during meal which elevates your appetite! Each course is carefully thought of, taste amazing, always a fusion, always original with right portion size! You might feel portion sizes are small but you will go full! Both appetite ans soul!

3.8/5 Overall 4.2/5 Taste & Curation 3.5/5 Presentation 4.5/5 Ambience 2.5/5 Service Good meal overall and one of the better ones in India. But better service can see an elevation in experience. +s - The space was well lit while the music was ambient and lifting, but permitted conversations - Flavours and textures were great throughout (and atleast in principle when they weren't served too late). The menu was well curated and had a decent flow. The flavour profiles were on point throughout, the textures may need some work on a few dishes. - The Rasam was so simple, but so perfect in flavour - had to have this twice! Incredible that you have excelled at this simple broth. - Spiced Boletus was beyond exceptional. The texture on the rice cake was perfect and a good carb for the main, the mushroom curry paried fluidly. The threaticals was not just exciting but also added to the flavour profile, so it was a wonderful inclusion. Stand out performance on this dish! Will remember it whenever I think of my stay at Grand Chola. - Interesting cocktails menu, but my drink could be a little more boozy. -s - Dishes seemed often hastily plated and service was poor. Time between dishes was random and sometimes too long. Cutlery wasn't cleared after every dish, water was not replenished. Dessert cutlery wasn't provided. - 1 dumpling was too small a plate (you can reduce the size but atleast give two bites because it feels like I hardly got to hold the taste of a wonderful dish otherwise). - The potato cracker was soggy. - The gravy with the appam was cold for me, but was warm for my company (same dish). Mini appams were also cold, 2 were a little burnt and not palatable.

Would I pay for this myself? Yes! But I wished I knew how smart Avartana was before I ate. I went with work colleagues and had a tasting menu. It was a credit to the staff that I rocked up with my team having gone bowling and played laser tag, working up a horrible lather in the process. The staff did not bat an eyelid and treated our scruffy party with the same attention as others. Brilliant service. The food was all tasty and beautifully prepared. The only food I wasn't keen on was the caramel strands round the egg. It was a little like eating barbed wire.

Spent the New Year's Eve dinner at Avartana by ITC. Their personal touch for reservations was quite a surprise. Kimaya was the 13 course delicacy that night and couldn't fault any of it. The extra new year dishes and desserts were delightful. Fine dining at its best. Would definitely recommend for its memorable feast !

Avartana means distillation. Which is an apt name. Because it is about distilling a set of familiar flavours and combining them in interesting and unusual ways. Take the rasam. The tomato dominates as if underlined in the mix. All the other flavours are present - but this one takes pride of place. It may not be what you want to eat or drink every day. And that's the point. It's about food as a performance. And since you're eating it, it's quite likely that you'll find things you love intensely. As well as flavours that may not be to your taste. It's one of the hardest things to do. How do you elevate the food experience? One obvious way is the presentation. And the other is to come up with a symphony of flavours that's both balanced and exotic. I won't go course by course because that's really about your own likes and dislikes. But plating, cutlery, and the preamble play just as important a role as the actual consumption of the food. Go with people whose company you enjoy and those who mean a lot to you. It's like crossing a milestone and celebrating the journey What you discuss may be different. What matters is the enjoyment of food together with all the memories of shared meals - good, bad and indifferent. We found the interplay of courses arriving at the table and the gap to be just right. We didn't know 3 hours go by. And it wasn't the quantity of food either - it's not that you feel stuffed. You coast from course to course. And it all gradually builds up towards the finale of the panacotta dessert. The bird's nest in which a single egg rested. And then the breaking of the egg into a beautiful liquid yolk that did not have any relationship to eggs at all. The familiar with the unfamiliar. The exotic with the mundane. The sweet and spice in unexpected places. That's what makes the meal worthwhile. You can't do this every day. And you shouldn't. Like success, it's savoured when it becomes an event, not an everyday occurrence. Sometimes, life can be a bed of roses. Savour that instead of looking for the thorns all the time.

It was my long-awaited dream to go and dine at Avartana, but it was a total disappointment with subpar food, service, and racist behaviour by the staff. My take on it is if you are a foreigner, especially white, please go ahead; you will be treated like a king. If you are an Indian, avoid it, unless you want to be treated like a beggar in your own country. Goods: - Ambience was nice, nothing outstanding. - Staff were welcoming and explained every dish carefully. - Some of the food was really outstanding, very creatively presented. - Drinks menu is very nice. Very creatively done. Racist behaviour: We went for our anniversary, and we are from Singapore. When we sat initially at 7 p.m. it was only us, and the crowd started to come in. There were a lot of white people (almost 70%), and the rest of us were Indian origin people like me. The first welcome drink they offered is called Rasam (which they will overcomplicate when explaining it, and pretty much you can get good rasam in any average South Indian restaurant). Anyway, this is where the racist behaviour starts. Initially, we didn't know that the Rasam could be refilled. We only got to know because they topped up to one of the foreigners sitting next to us. So we politely requested a top-up too. 2 courses went by, no top-up yet, but free-flowing for most of the foreigners. Now we got pissed and asked why we aren't getting the refill, but for others. We asked the staff who was taking care of us. She went inside the kitchen and came outside. Believe me, she just didn't want to make any eye contact or come to our table for the rest of our course after. We asked. Now comes the interesting part. We were already fed up with service, and our course ended at 11:00 p.m. So it's already past our bedtime, and we requested the check, and so did the foreigners. Guess who gets the check first? WHITE PEOPLE, not just one or two, all the white people, and they literally forgot that we too asked first. After asking it for several times, only after the 3rd request, they came with the bill. We managed to leave around 11:40 p.m. Service and food: Service went from great to horrible. The first 6 courses came within 10 mins after finishing it. After that, it took between 20 mins to 1 hour. We literally lost our appetite. Food was really great for the first 6, after that it was just horrible, no flavour. Everything has too much salt, and it was out of balance. Pan-Fried seabass: Too much salt, no balance. Just bland. Uthukulli Butter chicken curry: Had expectations. But the parotta was very bitter, due to being cooked overly in the oil. The chicken curry was so bland, and after I cracked open the toffee butter, it was too overwhelming, which I couldn't finish. Slow-roast pork: Was okay, nothing extraordinary. Had way better pork in Singapore. Desserts: All were okay. Not a dessert fan. So I won't comment on it. In the end, I was disappointed and felt that my anniversary was ruined. While going home, I was wondering how this restaurant managed to get so many awards, with the subpar level of food and service.

The tasting menu as they call it at avartana ITC grand chola is a must try for the ambience , presentation and service if budget isnt your constraint. Priced on the higher side they are open on weekends for lunch and dinner. Lunch has only one option of 13 course whereas dinner presents toubwith 7,9,11 and 13 course priced accordingly starting at 2500. They food is tastefully prepared and more than that presented to you. Both veg and non veg options are available and priced the same. Their drinks menu is a booklet named kaleidoscope and has concotions you could never imagined. Pre booking is a must . Can be experienced once as long as you can afford it.