There are two kinds of people in this world . The ones who REALLY like Hotel Ashoka and the ones who DONT like it at all .If there is any restaurant that brings in the extremes in you then this is the place.
Abhinandan Restaurant in Hotel Ashoka has been around for a long time in Chennai. Especially people living in the Egmore, Chetput , Nungambakkam corridor would have surely visited it at least once. It is surely an old world place with a marriage hall and rooms inside the premises. The car parking is ample and there is lot of space inside and outside the restaurant.
The best deal to have is the Andhra Meals (and order one potato fry separately alongwith it) .There is lot of rice, paruppu podi and ghee on offer and the potato fry is really crispy and hot.The vegetables and the sambars may be a bit bland though . The service for thali is actually good and you surely do feel well looked after.
The dosas and idlis are good . The bhel puri and snack items are actually better than what I expected and the pearl in the crown is really the mind-boggling variety of Ice-creams they have to offer .In fact there is a separate Ice-cream parlour outside.The ice-cream is sweeter and colder than in other places though.
The weakness is really on the North indian cuisine which tastes more like Madrasi North Indian . if you are okay with it then it is fine otherwise you may not like the north indian at all.
Apart from that the service may sometimes not be so fast - thats because the kitchen is actually more than 100 metres down the long hall ( as it is a very large restaurant) . The parking attendant always waits to be paid a tip and it may get real crowded on weekends.
But if you like the place - then you Really like it.