Karaikudi, Aachi Samayal Cooking on Metrotech Drive in Chantilly and Richmond - Closed

[TheMatt]

I've heard tell through the internet that the new Chettinad restaurant in Chantilly, Karaikudi Restaurant, has opened. It's been a long time since I've had even meh Chettinad food, so I'm curious to know if anyone has been (for buffet or meal)?

The menu has the usual egg-based and egg-featured Chettinad specialties, various parottas, quail, goat, crab, fish, prawns... Heck I was happy to see Chicken 65 if only as an appetizer, been a long time since I've seen that! They also have a pretty good selection of vegetarian dishes as well, including ulli theeyal which I'm not sure I've ever seen around here.

I'm thinking a weekend trip here might be in order.

[Marty L.]

I've heard tell through the internet that the new Chettinad restaurant in Chantilly, Karaikudi Restaurant, has opened. It's been a long time since I've had even meh Chettinad food, so I'm curious to know if anyone has been (for buffet or meal)?

The menu has the usual egg-based and egg-featured Chettinad specialties, various parottas, quail, goat, crab, fish, prawns... Heck I was happy to see Chicken 65 if only as an appetizer, been a long time since I've seen that! They also have a pretty good selection of vegetarian dishes as well, including ulli theeyal which I'm not sure I've ever seen around here.

I'm thinking a weekend trip here might be in order.

early report on chowhound

[BklynBoy]

There's also an Indian place right next to the Lotte Plaza market that has gotten some good reviews -- see recap of chow dinner on DC/Balt board on Chowhound.

An Indian friend took me to Karaikudi http://www.karaikudiva.com/. Terrific, very authentic Chettined food. They have a lunch buffet and most of the dishes were different than I am used to seeing in American Indian restaurants. Be forewarned by this Chillihead, the spicy dishes are Indian spicy.

[Bob Wells]

An Indian friend took me to Karaikudi http://www.karaikudiva.com/. Terrific, very authentic Chettined food. They have a lunch buffet and most of the dishes were different than I am used to seeing in American Indian restaurants. Be forewarned by this Chillihead, the spicy dishes are Indian spicy.

Yes, that's the place I was thinking of. I unfortunately missed the Chowhound dinner. Their menu looks really interesting.

[dgreen]

Anyone know how much the lunch buffet is at Karaikudi?

[ulrath]

Anyone know how much the lunch buffet is at Karaikudi?

10 bucks I think. It is worth it.

[Simul Parikh]

Went to Karaikudi yesterday and wow, was I impressed.

It's tucked into a large shopping plaza near Dulles airport. I drove all around the plaza before finding it - it is next to the Lotte Plaza International Grocery story. It's a small place and was entirely filled with South Asian customers, not one other ethnicity to be found, many wearing Indian clothing. There was a flurry of activity from the staff, always moving around and filling glasses, taking away plates. I had come in planning to order off of the money, but not a single person was doing that - all were eating from the buffet, which is offered on weekends and at lunch time.

There were many options, and even though I'm Indian and mom's best friend is South Indian, I had never seen many of these items. There were two 'soups' - Rasam which is tomato based in a part of every South Indian meal. I'm partial to my mom's friend and I tend to eat rice with the heavier curry items, so I passed. There was another soup, attu kal. It was brown, thin broth, I'd never seen it before. There was goat fat, bone and cartilage in it, with small pieces of potatoes. It was earthy and delicious. They had some fried appetizers, and one Chinese-Indian dish - Gobi Manchurian. It wasn't their finest dish, they don't specialize in this stuff. They had normal North Indian (panneer tikka masala, dal maakhni), but I didn't touch that. They had dosas, which I don't love in buffet format. I got to the stuff I wanted to try - Chicken 65 - deep fried chicken in spices with the batter coating of other fried chicken. So good. Then then Andhra Curry Chicken - holey moley! Dark brownish curry with aromatic fennel, so much ginger, and fiery spicing. I'd never had such a spicy dish in a buffet. It was sweat inducing and delicious, I had to cut it with rice. There was a vegetarian dish - kara kolumbo (spelled differently on the menu) - vegetables including eggplant, red chilis, cardamom pods, large pieces of ginger to avoid, and fragrance and depth. Again, super spicy. They had a fish curry with a different taste that the andhra curry, don't know exactly how to describe it, but it was delicious, and again, spicy. There was a hyderabadi style goat biryani that was as good as Gharer Khabar's version of it, and of course, spicy. I had the malabar egg curry, and this was somewhat milder than the rest of the dishes, but awesome. $16 with tax and tip.

This joint is legit. It is so far away from me, though. I can't imagine it becoming a regular, but any time I have to go to Dulles, I will insist on going here. I want to try the menu dishes, but the buffet is a steal

[Simul Parikh]

Came tonight, as I was headed to Dulles.

Lots of changes. New management/ownership coming in. Chef is staying.

Not going to get into details of meal, but the quality has changed considerably. The chef has been under pressure to tone down the food and spice level. I ordered the Chicken Chettinad, which I absolutely adored last time. Asked for it spicy (didn't last time and it came out fiery). It was much milder. I flagged down the server and asked him. He told me that the chef was told by the owners/managers that he was making it too spicy (people were complaining), so now, even if you ask for it spicy it won't come out spicy. He related a story about a (white; not sure why that was important) woman who said she could take it spicy and wanted it cooked that way. They brought it out she had two bites and ran to the bathroom. She caused a scene and it was pretty awful for them. So, now, no more spicy food. The biryani was still good, but they were out of goat, so stuck with chicken. They were out of many things, it was a limited menu (because of the changes, that's what he said).

I'm very disappointed. I loved this place.

[DonRocks]

Came tonight, as I was headed to Dulles.

Lots of changes. New management/ownership coming in. Chef is staying.

Not going to get into details of meal, but the quality has changed considerably. The chef has been under pressure to tone down the food and spice level. I ordered the Chicken Chettinad, which I absolutely adored last time. Asked for it spicy (didn't last time and it came out fiery). It was much milder. I flagged down the server and asked him. He told me that the chef was told by the owners/managers that he was making it too spicy (people were complaining), so now, even if you ask for it spicy it won't come out spicy. He related a story about a (white; not sure why that was important) woman who said she could take it spicy and wanted it cooked that way. They brought it out she had two bites and ran to the bathroom. She caused a scene and it was pretty awful for them. So, now, no more spicy food. The biryani was still good, but they were out of goat, so stuck with chicken. They were out of many things, it was a limited menu (because of the changes, that's what he said).

I'm very disappointed. I loved this place.

Thank you Simul. If anyone else can confirm an experience relating to this decline, I'd appreciate it.

[ulrath]

I'll probably hit the buffet one more time but this is horrible news.  This had become my favorite Indian restaraunt. 

[ulrath]

Went there on Friday to take one for the team and see how far downhill it went.

Closed for Renovations.

Never a good sign, if I were a betting man (and I am!) I would say it never reopens.

RIP

If anyone gets wind where that chef goes, let me know.  His cooking was awesome.

[ulrath]

Well stop the presses.  I am eating at Don Churros today with my wife and kids and I notice an open sign on Karaikudi.  I walk the three year old over to burn off his energy while aiting for food and lo and behold - the place is open and serving the buffet.  I guess they really were closed just for renovation....

[DonRocks]

Went there on Friday to take one for the team and see how far downhill it went.

Closed for Renovations.

Never a good sign, if I were a betting man (and I am!) I would say it never reopens.

RIP

If anyone gets wind where that chef goes, let me know.  His cooking was awesome.

Well stop the presses.  I am eating at Don Churros today with my wife and kids and I notice an open sign on Karaikudi.  I walk the three year old over to burn off his energy while aiting for food and lo and behold - the place is open and serving the buffet.  I guess they really were closed just for renovation....

Does anyone know if the Chantilly and Richmond (Short Pump) locations closed at the same time, or if one lasted longer than the other? This is a key piece of information, and I can't tell readily from the internet.

I believe this restaurant is now Bawarchi - does anyone know if it's the same ownership? In Henrico, I'm not sure what happened to the property, but Karaikudi is definitely closed there.

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Bawarchi (ulrath)