So, are you being served?

Eating out translates to fun, good time and memories. Some places delivered that and some fell short. We list the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of eating out in the city this year.
GOOD
When you have hotels offering menus in languages other than English, like, say, Japanese, you know the city has arrived as a global food destination. Chennai also played host to celebrity MasterChef Gary Mehigan, and other Michelin-starred chefs.And thanks to the many food-related television shows, plating is now being taken very seriously by city restaurateurs.
New food frontiers have emerged in the city, including those serving Goan-Portuguese and Parsi cuisines. Heritage cuisine seems to be on a revival mode as leading restaurants dig into recipes from the yore and get home chefs to whip up delicacies from the past.
Another positive aspect is how many speciality restaurants refuse to bend backwards to please every palate. So, flavours are consistent, and the preparations are authentic.
Since eating out is about indulging all our senses, star hotels in the city are pulling out all the stops to deliver an ambience that makes for a pleasant food experience.
GO ORGANIC: With the city foodies becoming sensitive about their carbon footprint, restaurants are paying heed to this and have organic items on their menus. The farm-to-the-table concept has caught on, too.
HEALTH IS WEALTH: From vegetable cocktails, to calorie meter, food has truly acquired a status of health and well-being.
It’s not all health and about weight watching, molecular gastronomy in city restaurants has upped the fun quotient and sexed up the look and feel of dishes.
Chennai’s also the new freeze zone, what with the number of ice cream options, including gourmet ice creams, real fruit ice creams, frozen yogurts and the works.
BAD
NO VALUE FOR MONEY: Star rating is great, but what happens when you spend a lot on food because it’s a star hotel and end up feeling shortchanged? We deserve more bang for the big bucks we spend at such places.
NO STANDALONE SEA FOOD JOINT: Being so close to the sea, it is surprising that the city doesn’t have a standalone sea-food joint.
MULTI-CUISINE PRACTICE: Many restaurants, big and small, are going multi-cuisine with a vengeance. Now, this is bad news as you can hardly expect a typical Andhra or Chettinadu joint to rustle up a decent Chinese. Multi-cuisine may be populist, but for the foodie, it is a no-no, unless the restaurant in question has the wherewithal to do justice to it.
UGLY
BUGS IN FOOD: Eww, that is true. Ask actress Khushbu, who had a creepy crawly in her sandwich. Unhygienic washrooms: Many restaurants just don’t get this one right. The positioning of the loo, or the washbasin, we mean. No one really likes to watch people flitting in and out of washrooms, or seeing people rinse their mouths.
BOTTLED WATER ON TABLE: This new practice of placing mineral water bottles on the table without so much as by your leave is not on. Does this imply that the other ‘normal’ water is unsafe for drinking?