Rayar's Mess
Started in the early 1930s on Kutchery Road before moving to Arundale Street in 1992, this Mylapore mess has served soft idlis, pongal and strong filter coffee for more than 90 years.
Go early; it is tiny and the food runs out.
₹
← Back to index
Chennai
Chennai is Madras the port layered over Mylapore the sacred town: Fort St George and its colonial core on one side, the Kapaleeshwarar gopuram and the Pallava shore temples on the other.
Marina
7th c.
Mylapore
Pallava hymns name the Kapaleeshwarar shrine.
1639
Fort St George
The East India Company buys its strip of coast.
1858
Crown rule
The Crown takes Madras over from the Company.
1969
Chennai
Madras state becomes Tamil Nadu; the city later takes its Tamil name.
Price per person₹ under ₹300₹₹ ₹300–1,000₹₹₹ ₹1,000–3,000₹₹₹₹ over ₹3,000
Mylai Karpagambal Mess
A vegetarian mess by the Kapaleeshwarar temple since 1953, known for kozhukattai, thavala vadai and its idli with 'ghetti' chutney.
Try the keerai vadai and the adai-aviyal.
₹
Jannal Kadai
A 'window shop' by the Kapaleeshwarar temple serving hot bajjis and bondas through a single window for decades.
Opens around 5:30pm; cash only.
₹
Kalathi Rose Milk
A provisions store opened in 1927 on North Mada Street, now famous for its chilled rose milk.
A good stop after the temple.
₹
Ratna Cafe
Established in 1948, Ratna Cafe is famed for a distinctive sambar poured tableside from mini buckets over its idlis.
Order the sambar idli.
₹
Murugan Idli Shop
The soft-idli institution that brought a Madurai shop's recipe to Chennai and made it the tiffin benchmark.
The T. Nagar branch is the busiest; try the podi idli.
₹
Buhari
Founded by A.M. Buhari in 1951, this Anna Salai restaurant introduced Chicken 65 in 1965 — a deep-fried snack whose name is said to mark the year it was created.
Order chicken 65 and the biryani.
₹₹
Kakada Ramprasad
A Sowcarpet sweet and chaat shop serving the Marwari and Gujarati community of George Town.
Try the chaat and the sweets in the evening.
₹
Anjappar
A Chettinad restaurant chain founded in 1964, serving the peppery cooking of the Chettiar merchant community.
Order pepper chicken, mutton chukka and parotta.
₹₹
Sabha canteens
During the December music season, the concert-hall canteens serve some of the city's best Tamil cooking.
December–January only; go for lunch.
₹
Southern Spice
Fine-dining recipes from the four southern states at the Taj Coromandel.
Book for dinner; good for a special meal.
₹₹₹₹