For a two-month-old restaurant, High On Grills is resoundingly empty. Even by early weeknight standards. Which is perhaps why the staff humours us patiently as we move from table to table, trying to find our sweet spot on the New Avadi Road rooftop.
The night is breezy, so we dismiss the air-conditioned and tin-roofed options at first glance, heading outdoors instead. Terrace walls here are fenced up to a height of about five feet: a smart move, since it ensures that instead of snarling traffic and hospital buildings, all one can see is a simple white fence lined with plants, some treetops, and the open sky. Even the traffic on the street right below seems muffled, leaving us happily nestled between potted plants, a brick façade and the clouds above.
What pleases us even more is our first glance at the menu, which has a generous number of vegetarian options in addition to the meat, at least among the starters. We order spicy tangdi kebab, hara bhara kofta , and tropical splash — “a packed punch of guava, litchi and orange,” says the menu — to wash it down.
Unsurprisingly, the splash arrives first. Served at just the right temperature, with a wedge of orange and hints of each fruit clear in its taste, the drink lives up to its sunny name.
We slurp happily till the server places a little revolving tray of five dips on the table: a sign of imminent kebabs. First to the table is the spicy tangdi kebab, plated with two flimsy, ineffectual slivers of brown roti and some salad. Three drumsticks for ₹269 feels steep: an impression that is strengthened at first bite. Soft and chewy meet each other at just the right spot halfway, but the spice that coats the chicken fails to percolate thoroughly. It is barbecued well — rarely has a bite into near-charred chicken bone felt so satisfying, though it is not enough to compensate for the meat itself.
What comes to our rescue is the hara bhara kofta . Fried to a crunch and just a bit crusty, its taste is dominated by the crumb-fried exterior, but with just enough flavour from the peas-and-greens interior to keep guilt at bay. Our only regret is that we can’t have enough: six small spheres for ₹239 hardly seems satisfying.
The main course is way more restrictive than the starters. Though there are enough chicken, lamb, beef and fish to choose from, there are only four vegetarian items, including a dal. Ironically, it is a vegetarian item that saves the meal: paneer makhanwala is light, its flavours right on point. The tomato gravy is balanced, the butter is rich, the paneer soft: what’s not to like? Another plus point is that it is eaten up entirely by a single person (don’t judge), who still did not feel too stuffed at the end of it.
- 80, Alagappa Nagar, New Avadi Road, Kilpauk
- Hits:Hara bhara kofta , paneer makhanwala
- Keema ki katli,shahi tukda
- Cost for two: ₹1,300
- 7550040888
Keema ki katli makes intriguing promises on paper, but fails to deliver. It is lamb keema wrapped in omelette served atop an island of gravy. The textures are all there, but the taste is only onion and ginger. With hardly any meatiness coming through despite keema dominating in quantity, it is one of those dishes always described as ‘okay’.
We need something sweet after all this. But no one (I repeat, no one) ever needs something as sweet as their rabri . It is so blatantly sugary that I can taste the granules in its texture. So sugary that it completely takes over whatever is served in it — be it the deep-fried breads of shahi tukda or the unfortunate carrot halwa -stuffed samosas which, tragically, might have held their own had they not come dipped in the saccharine atrocity.
