Restaurant Review: Madame Shanthe’s in Pondicherry

I don’t know what made us go to Madame Shanthe’s. Was it that we were tired after our flight from Mumbai to Chennai, the saree-shopping in Chennai and then the drive from Chennai to Pondicherry? Unlikely. For, this is almost our regular travel routine. We hadn’t even read about Madame Shanthe’s. Then why did we go to Madame Shanthe’s for our first dinner in Pondicherry? Was it the appearance of the place from outside?

Ambience at Madame Shanthe’s in Pondicherry? From the outside, it did look inviting. A few meters from the Pondicherry Promenade and tucked away in the corner of a block in the French Colonies, Madame Shanthe’s roof garden restaurant somehow seemed alluring.

Inside, at the restaurant, we found that it was an average place, done up in bamboos and had some very beautiful lights, be it the massive chandelier right at the centre, or the palm-sized sea-shell lamp shades that looked so beautiful.

Well, the enchantment ended there!

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Food at Madame Shanthe’s in Pondicherry: Should I begin to rant? We ordered Squidd Fritters – came fried in a batter of besan and tomato sauce dip – was quite good and the serving was rather big. Would have liked a better dip.

For main course, I ordered a Basil Pesto Penne that I intended to share with my daughter – turned out to be yucks!!! Never have I eaten anything this bad! Tasteless, with an overpowering after-taste of basil, we couldn’t eat the stuff to even fill our stomach, no matter how hungry we were!!! Jayanta ordered a Fish Steak Florentine that came with rice and potato chips. He found it ok…nothing great. We ate the chips off his plate.

Didn’t have any heart to order desserts.

Is Madame Shanthe’s in Pondicherry worth it? Absolutely NO!!! The prices are reasonable. The three dishes we ordered cost us merely 700-800 Indian rupees. But the food was BAD!

BEWARE!!