food yummy i'm hungry

road adjoining the mess

Mylapore is famous for vegetarian eateries. It is the paradise for south Indian Vegetarian food. Some eateries of note are Karpagambal Mess, Rayars Cafe and Kai Endhi Bhavan.

The Karpagambal mess is just opposite to the famous Kapali temple and has been in existence for more than 20 years. It serves typical south Indian food like Adai Avial, Nei Dosa, Kichodi and pongal. The mess is famous for morning and evening tiffin. Kichodi with kumbakonam degree coffee ( very fresh aromatic mix of coffee seeds ) is the morning breakfast for the local residents. With time the mess has also included a variety of pickles, spices, sambhar and rasam powder mixes which is very handy for people traveling abroad.

Rayars cafe is a small mess in Kutchery Road in Mylapore. This niche eatery can be easily missed if you are not aware of its exact location. It is located inside a small by lane of the main road. The Rayars cafe has been acclaimed as one of the best eateries of Chennai. It serves typical south Indian tiffin items like Aloo bonda, Jilebe and Mysore bonda.

Kai endhi bhavan is a famous road side mess that serves hygienic and quality food in east mada street. It is also located in a small by lane and is easy to miss if you are not watchful. Even though it is located in a small narrow street one can find people coming in big cars from all places in Chennai to take food here. It is famous for items like vadakari, soondal, masala vada and podi dosa. All items are made in front of you and served hot. Never have I seen old or stale food served to customers. It is called Kai (arm) endhi(request) bhavan(mess) since you need to serve the items yourself. Moreover you need to stand and eat. But this does not seem to bother the crowd.

Even though Mylapore area has seen hotels like Sangeetha, Vasanth Bhavan, Anand Bhavan which also serve quality South Indian foods the eateries like Rayars cafe have carved a niche for themselves. In fact one would be surprised to see these eateries charge you as much as hotels. Mylapore has never been successfully invaded by big five star chain hotels even though there are a couple of them they are not very famous in this area. This should be attributed to the conservative spending and eating habits of the local people. So everyone always associates Mylapore with these small messes.