Fairly good food. The dosa is particularly delicious. I had the palak paneer and it was pretty good but not spicy enough for my tastes.

Had a lovely date-night meal with my wife here this past Saturday night. Had 7 o'clock reservations, but easily could have walked in without them as the dining room was only about 2/3 full. We started with the murg til tikka appetizer, which was quite...a large portion for an appetizer. It was nicely spiced and perfectly juicy, we both thoroughly enjoyed it. For our entree we shared orders of chicken vindaloo and phaldari kofta. The malai kofta was perfectly seasoned, spicy enough to get your attention but not so much as to distract from the flavor with a generous portion of chicken throughout. The phaldari kofta was delicious, one of the better versions of this dish that I have had in quite a while. The double cream sauce with cashews and raisins certainly mitigated any health benefits on going for a vegetarian dish, but the calories were certainly worth it! I do wish that there had been a few more paneer dumplings, but maybe there were just looking out for my well being by keeping the serving size where it was as there was absolutely no chance that I would have let a single morsel go to waste. Add in an order of butter naan to enjoy and to sop up the sauce and we ended up with a filling and delicious meal for under $70 including 20% tip. The only negative was the service, which was extremely friendly, but a bit disorganized and quite slow. The bottle of wine we brought with us helped to pass the time, and it certainly didn't ruin the experience, but it was noteworthy. Still, a very good choice for an affordable and tasty meal right in the middle of Princeton, an activity that is becoming harder and harder to accomplish.More

Our family of four recently visited Chennai Chimney for a delicious and (comparatively) inexpensive dinner. I might have given five stars based on the dishes I ordered...but poor service prevented that. The dishes I chose - the Rogan Josh and Jeenga Aatish (tandoor shrimp) -...were indeed quite perfect. The shrimp was flavorful with bright notes of citrus and cardamom while the lamb was earthy and spicy with enough heat to grab your attention. The Mysore Masala Dosa, Virudhunagar Chukkakari Dosa (lamb w/ onion masala), garlic naan, and cucumber raita were all quite good. The eggplant in the Ennai kathirikai was a bit mealy but the sauce - a spiceful though not spicy coconut sauce - was delicious. I thought the deep fried chicken lollipops were best avoided but my son loved them. However, the Gobi 65 - deep fried batter hiding what was theoretically cauliflower inside - was rather awful. Many have commented on having issues with the service and we had some as well - but oddly enough only with our ordered beverages. Our food arrived in good order and our water glasses were refilled attentively and as needed. But of our four beverages only the Masala Butter Milk arrived promptly. We asked about our Masala Chais and Rose Milk at least three times through our meal but to no avail - they all finally came at the end after we had finished.More

With dirty bathroom walls, what does the kitchen look like? Food ok. lamb dried out, butter chicken etc low on proteins mostly sauce.

Really bad customer service. Rude waiters/receptionist, irrespective of that, they say that their food gets over by 1 and the restaurant closes at 2:30. Why are you open till 2:30 then?

We called for a reservation and the guy was really rude. The buffets are so bad. They do not refill food. I won't recommend it don't waste your money try somewhere else.

I was expecting a lot from this place as it has been recommended by many. But it was kind of a dampener. The service was good but the food called for a lot of improvement. Being an Indian who cooks daily and also eats out...often, I might be hard to please. But I do feel that they need to improve on the flavor of the foodMore

We were here for a business meeting lunch. It was a week day. The lunch buffet was nice, though the vegetarian options were limited, added woe was that one of those veg items was mushroom based. It was a bit disappointing. The restaurant wasn't packed...to its capacity at lunch on that day, making our meeting very productive. The service was outstanding. Always a great place to dine, in Princeton.More

I’ve had a LOT of very good Indian in London and New York, but Chennai stands out... certainly the best in central NJ. For years we’ve gotten takeout every 2 weeks or so from Cross Cultures, which does excellent North Indian on a menu that...literally hasn’t changed since it opened. We tried Chennai Chimney for the first time two nights ago. It was astonishingly different from Cross Cultures and at least as good, which is saying a lot. So I went back the next day for the lunch buffet to try more things, and then I oddly returned for lunch the next day. I couldn’t believe that every dish on the buffet, save one, was different from the day before. Unlike other Indian places which tend towards tired sameness each day or cliche, the food here seems freshly imagined or perhaps drawn from a wider range of localized cuisines than other places I’ve visited. Highlights among over 20 different dishes I’ve sampled during the past three days: Kaalan Manchurian (mushrooms), Ennai katharikai, Aatiraitchi varutha araicha curry, karikudi curry, Fried fish street-food style, Karnataka fried chicken, gobi manchurian and kaoai vegetable. I’ve reviewed dozens of restaurants on TripAdvisor, and this ranks among my favorite inexpensive places anywhere.More

Having lived in Princeton, I'm not sure what took me so long to try this place, but I am sure glad I did. We have been devotees of Cross Culture, and continue to be, but this place may surpass it. If nothing else, it offers...Southern Indian cuisine, which adds a little variety. We ate here twice, and everything was excellent, with strong, distinct flavors and many interesting options. The service was attentive and polite, but a bit slow on a busy Saturday night.More

This restaurant is a nice option if you are looking for south Indian. While they have a range of the usual suspects such as butter chicken and palak paneer, your best options are those that match their regional speciality. Giant dosas with nice chutney. I...had the Chicken Chettinad which is a favorite. Not the best I've had, but very, very fresh. My husband had a south Indian lamb dish. I would get that again as it tasted kind of bland. Nice mango lassis and a batch of other drinks that I'd love to try. Make reservations, especially the weekend. We didn't love our seating as it was right by the kitchen and the door (and nosy). The runners and servers were not aware how much noise is going. We weren't sure who our server was and had to flag down someone any time we needed something. The restaurant was not full so this was disappointing. I think they either need more service staff or training on how to work tables. But the food was good enough that we will try again.More

We've eaten here a few times, and have generally enjoyed the food, in particular liking the novelty of some meals served on banana leaves. However, the service is disorganized (reminds me of eating in a restaurant in India) and the ambience is not that relaxing....On one occasion we felt we were being ushered out of the restaurant by overly attentive waiters at 9:30 pm. Happy to go with friends who enjoy it, but we would not go on our own.More