Restaurants, eat outs, signature restaurants and speciality restaurants in Chennai

[Sathisht77]

Originally Posted by darkprinz

It is Thambiah reddy road. The old poli stall opp. to chinthamani school in thambiah road is still there.. It is old & authentic and it is called Venkatramana boli stall.. Other than this Venkatesawara boli or whatever two more names are there having shop near SRM hospital, stn road, near Ayodhya mandapam etc. etc....

They provide such pocket friendly snacks..still same old prices despite inflation in all other cafes

[murlee]

Look, what’s brewing!

After the recent outbreak of cappuccinos, expressos and lattes, Chennai’s beloved filter coffee is back with a bang in trendy, on-the-go kiosks. It is no longer confined to a few hotels or the halcyon memories of those who sat sipping them on thinnais, but comes in take away cups with Indian snacks to accompany.

Madras Coffee House was started two years ago when two friends wanted to drink coffee and didn’t know where to go. “Kumaravelan and I love filter coffee and found that it was too expensive in hotels. We don’t frequent tea shops and wanted something priced in between, offering good quality, hygienic coffee,” says Prasanna Venkatesh.

And so, Madras Coffee House opened its first kiosk at Chennai One IT Park in Perungudi, offering authentic filter coffee. “This was in June 2010,” says Prasanna, “and now we have eight stand-alone outlets and another eight in tie-up with a popular sweet shop.” The outlets are at Express Avenue, T. Nagar, Avadi with more coming up at Valluvar Kottam and Central Station.

Filter coffee on-the-go

Kaapi Cheenu in Alwarpet has a similar story. “When I was doing my MBA in Ahmedabad, I ran the student-run retail store there. After a while, I was fed up with tea and got my own percolator to make coffee. Soon, people began asking me for it and it became a huge hit on the campus. When I passed out I wanted to start something similar here. The kiosk model appealed to me because you usually never get filter coffee on-the-go,” says Manu Srinivas aka Cheenu.

Targeting colleges and corporates is Kaapi Kudil, a venture of Concepto Delicacies. K. Gurunathan, director, says “When you think of this city, the first thing that comes to your mind is filter coffee. But it’s a dying tradition and you don’t get to taste this coffee anywhere except in a few hotels. We’re trying to bring those homemade flavours and use no chicory in our coffee. We have three outlets so far and are targeting 20 by June next year. We’re also looking at a highway restaurant model in the future. ”

Idli Vilas on R.K. Salai had a tea and coffee kiosk even before it opened as a restaurant. “We just let the kiosks stay since they were doing well,” says R. Marimuthu, the manager. “People told us it was convenient since those just stopping by for coffee needn’t step in and wait for the order.”

Manu, on the other hand, has just one outlet and hopes to expand soon. Kaapi Cheenu’s kiosk, resembles an old Kumbakonam house with its thoon (pillar), thinnai (pyol) and tiled roof.

Idli Vilas’ kiosks open in the wee hours of the morning and serve till late at night. “We start getting customers from as early as 6.30 a.m. Joggers, walkers and others come for their morning dose,” says Marimuthu. “The coffee station closes at 11 p.m. We get about 600 customers a day at our kiosks.”

And it’s not just coffee on the menu. “We serve some tea, cookies, puffs and samosas as well,” says Prasanna. Cheenu’s kiosk offers four kinds of vadai, rosemilk and some beverages. “Our coffee is also customised,” says Manu.

Kaapi Kudil also offers panagarkandu pal, sukku coffee and vazhaipoo vadai,” says Gurunathan.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle4136749.ece

[kannan infratech]

Iddly Vilas near our office is so cheap compared to the HSB which burns a big hole in the pocket for similar items.

[Sathisht77]

Originally Posted by kannan infratech

Iddly Vilas near our office is so cheap compared to the HSB which burns a big hole in the pocket for similar items.

There is a big market for low valued + high quality tiffin based restaurants in Chennai..All the HSB type restaurants that used to cater to this market have all increased their prices and been out of hand...Even Saravana fast foods is as expensive..

[tamilbala]

A small cluster near Tambaram- Bharat Engg College caters food to all kind of food lovers.

Bang Opposite the BP petrol pump, you have

Anandhi Idly Kadai, awesome Idly, Onion Uttappam, Podi Dosai,... etc
Krishna Bhavan - 20 varities of Chappathi & its side dish
Paradise fastfood - Awesome Tandoori Chicken and Awesome Chinese food.
Basant Fast food - Good Chinese Food

All these within 50m to each other, I travel close to 5kms to eat at these locations.

[kannan infratech]

I have eaten / seen new Iddly & Dosa varieties in small shops near the Old Salem Bus Stand (Near Kichipalayam ???).

Fried Iddly
Stuffed iddly (with mainly Non Veg minced meat)
Muttai Dosai (with Half Boiled Like Yellow patch / Bulls Eye Like)
Minced Mutton Dosai

[ranga]

Originally Posted by Sathisht77

They provide such pocket friendly snacks..still same old prices despite inflation in all other cafes

Is poli and boli refers to the same item?

[venkatm]

I find the darshini and sagar type places in B'lore far cheaper compared to similar places in Chennai. Prices in Chennai are double.

[madrasi7777]

Salem bus stand is a great place for tiffin.

Originally Posted by kannan infratech

I have eaten / seen new Iddly & Dosa varieties in small shops near the Old Salem Bus Stand (Near Kichipalayam ???).

Fried Iddly
Stuffed iddly (with mainly Non Veg minced meat)
Muttai Dosai (with Half Boiled Like Yellow patch / Bulls Eye Like)
Minced Mutton Dosai

[madrasi7777]

Mr.Kumaravel of Madras Coffee is a very good friend of mine and he is my neighbour. He is the guy in the check shirt in the first picture. He is a partner in The goldmine hotel in Koyambedu. His coffees are wonderful.

Originally Posted by murlee

Look, what’s brewing!












http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle4136749.ece

[Sathisht77]

Originally Posted by venkatm

I find the darshini and sagar type places in B'lore far cheaper compared to similar places in Chennai. Prices in Chennai are double.

Absolutely..that is the low price/good quality market still open in Chennai to exploit..

[Murali Bala]

A new restaurant named "PIND" in Velachery is making great food & news. The cheese platter is just mouth watering. It is near Velachery Bus tand and run by the Bombay Halwa house group who were famous for the Lassi's on the Mount Road Wallajah road junction. Also try the Pan ice cream after the food.

[darkprinz]

Originally Posted by venkatm

I find the darshini and sagar type places in B'lore far cheaper compared to similar places in Chennai. Prices in Chennai are double.

Enakku Chakare sambar venam . DOT

[murlee]

Originally Posted by darkprinz

Enakku Chakare sambar venam . DOT

SO true.. I absolutely hate those sweet sambhars that I find in Banglore restaurants..

[iaafosc]

actually given a choice,even bangaloreans prefer regular non-sweet sambhar to the sweeter version. Hence, the mad rush everyday at all the A2Bs there...

[engineer.akash]

Originally Posted by proprashanth

My college friends are organizing a get together. Can anyone suggest me best lunch buffet in the city. Budget 1000/head max.

Originally Posted by ezhilan81

Barbeque Nation is my favourite for lunch buffet

I was about to say that you did it

[krishnaswamy]

When we talk about kayenthi bhavans,
Pavazhanthangal Bhavani (1 at the left side of the subway) , T.Nagar Brilliant tutorial opposite 1,
Anna Nagar (i think somebody has already mentioned about it) karthik tiffin center.

Originally Posted by darkprinz

Enakku Chakare sambar venam . DOT

but bangalore darshini's coconut chutney is good. Try Basavangudi vidhyarthi bhavan, MTR. I always like Karabath(namma ooru Rava uppuma), Vada, Masala Dosa.

[reswaran]

Originally Posted by venkatm

I find the darshini and sagar type places in B'lore far cheaper compared to similar places in Chennai. Prices in Chennai are double.

But read an article sometime back that darshinis are closing faster for the simple reason that its very difficult to run a shop with just idlis and dosas considering the spiraling real estate rents, raw materials cost.

Myself and my friend have noticied that to keep their shops running they have limited the availability of cheap foods like idlis. In most shops its very difficult to get idlis beyond 7 or 8pm and they push for fried rice, rotis, naans with separate side dishes instead to increase their margin.

We are going the US way in our lifestyle and that will reflect in the evolution of these restaurants as well.

[indiatraveller]

Originally Posted by Sathisht77

Absolutely..that is the low price/good quality market still open in Chennai to exploit..

Absolutely. Dosas at Adigas and CTR (Malleswaram) are the best I have had. 'Benne Masala dosa' is yummy. I don't remember one restaurant in Chennai that serves tasty crispy dosas. My mom makes dosas (10 dosas with a Rs 25 dosa mavu packet) that are 100 times better than the soggy, tasteless ones at Sangeetha and Saravana bhavan costing 80 bucks.

The sweet sambhar does not go well with rice, but for Idly / Dosa, it aint too bad.

[SVG]

Originally Posted by Murali Bala

A new restaurant named "PIND" in Velachery is making great food & news. The cheese platter is just mouth watering. It is near Velachery Bus tand and run by the Bombay Halwa house group who were famous for the Lassi's on the Mount Road Wallajah road junction. Also try the Pan ice cream after the food.

I absolutely second that. I had a chance to have a meal there about a month or so back. Great mouth watering food. Prices are reasonable. Will certainly go there in my next visit.