3 Kingdoms

Critic´s Review

• Food: 2 / 5
• Service: 4 / 5
• Decor: 3 / 5

-By Ameeta Agnihotri

Triple K Cuisine

Time was when you could not take a step down Chennai's toniest district, KNK, or Khader Nawaz Khan Road, as it's known without falling over a plateful of pasta. It had become Little Italy, or Cappuccino County, a tiramisu territory where if you asked for ice cream you were given a gelato and a Focaccia rather than a slice of bread. Is this set to change we asked ourselves as we marched down the long driveway into the Three Kingdoms"? The Three Kingdoms restaurant is located on the third floor of a glass and marble cube squeezed between old apartment buildings on KNK. You get out of the lift and meet the two young women at the reception kiosk, who whisk you into the main dining room. Opposite the reception area is a tiny space for the cashier. The staff has been issued Ninja style costumes in black, or black and red, so you half expect them to turn somersaults and vault you into your seats. The kitchen area is in a frosted glass space to the right so you don't actually see what's happening behind the opaque wall.

There are three portraits to represent the Three Kingdoms at the far end of the dining room. The furnishings are in soft fabrics, with cloth tablemats and napkins, all of which are nice touches. The young staff has mostly been sourced from the North East so fit into the decor. They are eager to please.

The menu however underlines a new trend in hospitality management. The concept seems to have been devised by an ad agency or by a committee of tasters who have stir-fried their favorite recipes into a winning formula. This one promises three exotic cuisines, those of China, Thailand and Malaysia. There seem to be inputs from Indonesia, a green curry type dish, from Sri Lanka, a fish or shrimp paste on toast and a merry-go-round of pancake rolls stuffed with all manner of ingredients, carrot and coconut for instance, or pineapple and doused with generous helpings of rose syrup that might have come from Polynesia!

It was not all a waste of imaginative programming of the taste buds. We tried a clear wonton soup. It was everything it was meant to be, bowls filled with pale slices of al dente veggies, wontons wrapped in semi-transparent envelopes in a light clear broth. From then on, it was a downward slide into the pancake wraps. The shrimp paste toast had what they called 'Chinese Floss" laminated on the top that I cannot imagine any Chinese Emperor eating, there was a sameness about the curries, the Ma Po Chicken, the green curry and so forth that could not be compensated by the excellent service. As we left, the two girls chirped "Feed back? Feed back?" It's sad to report that we heard it as "Food Bad? Food Bad?"

The Three Kingdoms will have to try a little harder."