Chennai Chimney

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#46 of 138 Restaurants in PrincetonIndian, Vegetarian friendly, $$ - $$$

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Chennai Chimney

Review

At a glance

Open until 2:30 PM

, 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Website

+1 609-608-0104Improve this listing

About

Set in the historic town of Princeton, New Jersey, Chennai Chimney, a captivating Indian restaurant, offers exotic dishes in authentic flavor with emphasis on refined and creative cuisine from the traditional kitchens of Southern India where the city of Chennai is located. Our contemporary version of rustic Indian food will be beyond your expectation and take you on a mouthwatering journey to it's

Features

CUISINES

Indian

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

American Express

Delivery

Discover

Mastercard

Reservations

Seating

Table Service

Takeout

Visa

Wheelchair Accessible

Location

19 Chambers St, Princeton, NJ 08542-3707

Is this restaurant good for brunch?

Yes

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Hours

Suggest an edit

Open until 2:30 PM

Sunday

11:30 AM - 2:30 PM5:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Monday

Closed

Tuesday

11:00 AM - 2:30 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Wednesday

11:00 AM - 2:30 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Thursday

11:00 AM - 2:30 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Friday

11:30 AM - 2:30 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Saturday

11:30 AM - 2:30 PM5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

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3.8

51 reviews

Excellent

Very good

Average

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Terrible

Claire W

Baltimore41 contributions

Delicious Dosa!

Jan 2020 • friends

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.

Written February 1, 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

bassjwp

Princeton466 contributions

Excellent meal with mediocre service

Dec 2019 • couples

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.

Written December 30, 2019

Leo M

727 contributions

Delicious Indian food hampered by mediocre service

Nov 2019 • none

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.

Written November 14, 2019

Sanjay S

Elizabeth3 contributions

Worst experience

Oct 2021 • none

This resturant should serve south indian dishes only, I would rate ZERO for any other indian dishes. We came here for dinner and was very disappointed with the service they offered. All Punjabi dishes were cooked in the sweet sause which shows that they have no idea how punjabi food is made, Half order came when diiner was already over. They ran out of onion which goes as a side with any punjabi food. I would not recommend this place it was a big waste of money and time

Written November 1, 2021

Valerie M

Trenton1 contribution

Surprisingly wonderful in every way

Jul 2022 • none

We had a delicious Lamb Rogan Josh; amazing Idly Rice; a special Idly lentil rice dish that resembled paneer chunks but light and delicate with special dry sauce flavorings--don't know which one we ordered, but so delighted by it; and the always beautifully prepared garlic naan and butter bread. The service was helpful both in answering questions when ordering, and in providing what we asked for. Very pleasant people work there, and the chefs must be happy to produce such lovely food. Thank you, I'll recommend to others and we'll be back.

Written July 31, 2022

Dimuthu J

Monmouth Junction285 contributions

Paid $16 for butter chicken

Dec 2020 • family

Paid $16 for butter chicken order pick up and few other items, just gravy, in fact this is not what is shown, down with this place.

Written December 20, 2020

mammag27

42 contributions

Dirty bathroom walls, just ok food

Nov 2019 • friends

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

Written November 4, 2019

Vitaan T

1 contribution

Worst customer experience ever

Jun 2019 • none

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?

Written August 30, 2019

Aasim a

2 contributions

Worst service and rude staff.

Aug 2019 • none

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.

Written August 30, 2019

Lopaaaaa

Princeton280 contributions

Average

Jul 2018 • none

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 food

Written March 20, 2019

YatriForever

Chennai (Madras)4016 contributions

Lunch buffet.

Jan 2019 • business

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.

Written February 13, 2019

DrakeBaer

Princeton193 contributions

Truly exceptional South Indian, & lunch buffet is different each day!

Jan 2019 • friends

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.

Written January 31, 2019

Jonathan K

Princeton705 contributions

Best Indian Food in Princeton?

Nov 2018 • family

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.

Written December 2, 2018

worktotravel14

Trenton4502 contributions

Lovely south Indian Food, Really Iffy Service

Oct 2018 • couples

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.

Written October 21, 2018

pandentom

Princeton28 contributions

Good food, average service/ambience

Feb 2018 • friends

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.

Written August 28, 2018