An unexpected stop at a famous destination for idli fanatics. We went to Triplicane to do some last minute shopping for Eid. Once we were done with it, my wife, another obsessive Idli consumer, asked if we could have something to eat – Idlis maybe? Luckily we were on Triplicane High Road, home to the famous Ratna Cafe, famous for its vegetarian food especially the delicious idli and sambar. This road is also renowned for another hangout with the locals – the Murugan Idli Shop.

Murugan Idli Shop

The Murugan Idli Shop has it’s origins in the temple city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. It has been there in Madurai for more than 15 years and only recently about a year back was it launched in Chennai. Apart form Idlis, they have other mouth watering dishes too like dosai, vada, ghee and sweet pongal etc.

We decided to go there because for a long time we always wanted to go but couldn’t find the time. So we went in. It was a very clean restaurant and was crowded. On entering, the wonderful smell of sambar filled our nostrils. Wow! Heavenly! Nothing beats a South Indian Sambar, right? We sat next to the window facing the road, the red neon lights full on our faces. The waiter came and placed banana leaves instead of plates. Then another came and put two chutneys and went. Both looked the same under the neon lights! Then another waiter came and we asked for the idlis. Within minutes, hot steaming idlis was brought along with hot sambar, coconut and peanut chutney. Within minutes all the idlis disappeared! The idlis were really soft and with the sambar and chutneys were a real treat. Yummy! Afifa enjoyed it also. The second serving also disappeared and we decided that it was enough for the night. We had to get back home. Nothing ends a good South Indian meal without a South India filter coffee.  The idlis cost 8.5 rupees a piece. Not bad.

So anyone interested in Idlis when in Chennai, just go to the Triplicane Murugan Idli Shop and have a great time. More details can be found here – MuruganIdliShop.com

Become a fan of Murugan Idli Shop on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Murugan-Idli-Shop/107040885342

The article below is by my friend Priya Subramanian. Some of her experiences in Chennai and places to visit. Very useful for people wanting to know more places they can shop, eat out etc. Enjoy!

Last time while I was at Chennai, I totally went nuts on eating out, shopping and hanging out with my best-est-est friends. Many of my friends and family here in the US have been asking me for info on all the ‘wheres’, so I just thought I’d pen it here rather than sending individual emails.

Restaurants:

~ Cream Centre (near Chennai Kaliappa/Billroth Hospital) – for awesome parathas and chaats
~ Sigri (in Quality Inn, Aruna) – for yummee starters, dum Biryanis etc
~ Tangerine Restaurant (Alwarpet) – for spicy Paneer Kababs
~ Ajnabhi Mithai Ghar (Egmore Fountain Plaza) – for Chaat
~ Shree Mithai (Spencers or Chetpet) – for Channa Baturas, pedas, kathlis, bengali sweets etc
~ Copper Chimney (near Music Academy) – just about everything’s good!
~ Annalakshmi (Mount Road) – for exotic juices and thaalis! Lovely ambience too!!
~ Dakshin (Park Sheraton) – for Aapams and stew
~ GRT Grand Days and Mathsya – good buffets (at Mathsya, kids eat for free)

Of course, there’s the usual Vrindavan, Murugan Idli shop (yummee kutty vengaya uthappams), Saravana Bhavan, Gangotree, Mansukh etc. Don’t forget to grab Pan Kajur at Mansukh for a scrumptious post-meal experience!! Coffee Day at Kasturba Nagar houses delectable veggie tikka sandwiches.

Clothes:

This designer’s name is Mrs.Bhuvana Ramanan and she runs an ethnic boutique, ‘Vasthara’ in Thiruvanmiyur. Her numbers are:
9940388815
9790977773
She pretty much does everything from salwars to kurtas to kurtis to sarees to just dupattas etc etc and has her own fabric. I totally fell in love with every inch of clothing she designed for me this time.

Trinkets and other paraphernalia:

~ Seventh Sense (Mrs. Kanchana Ganesh) – you get really neat terracotta sets and gifts here.
~ Sundari Silks (t.nagar) – my favorites for ethnic pavadais for kids, ethnic gifts, jewellery, ethnic skirts, tops, podavais etc.
~ Golu Bommais – there is this great guy in Saidapet who makes his own bommais and packs them up really nicely for shipping to the US. His bommais have really sharp features and his sets are quite different/novel. I will post his number soon..
~ Cane and Bamboo (Ethiraj salai, Egmore) – http://www.caneandbamboo.in/

Temples:

~ There is a beautiful Shirdi Sai Baba temple at Injambakkam, Chennai (near Prarthana open air theatre). Try to visit if you can.
~ Shri Muralidhara Swamiji’s ashram at Manimangalam/Malaipattu graamam (just past thambaram) houses a lovely Gurukulam/Veda Paatashala/Goshaala and its such a pleasant retreat of sorts for any visitor.

Movie Theatres:

~ INOX in Chennai City Center and Sathyam Theatres are my favorites for a phenomenal audio/video and overall experience. Oh and they both have online booking and home delivery of tickets too!

I would really encourage y’all to add more to my list above.

I wish you an enjoyable trip to the glamorous and one and only Singaara Chennai!!

Last night as usual our gang of Sadiq, Thowfiq a guest Ibrahim and me went out for dinner in Dubai. Without a thought we just went straight to our joint. It was the Reef Deira restaurant! You thought i was going to mention some glam restaurant? Most of the time when we are in Dubai and cannot decide where to go, the only choice is here! This joint is on the Al Muteena road on the same line as the LuLu Shopping Center. A lot of restaurants line up that area. So if you are willing to try it out you can visit the place. There is a park next to the road and during the night especially now, it is really excellent to sit out… yes you have tables out … and just enjoy your food and just while your time away. You can hop into Sheraton Deira or the Marco Polo Hotel which are a minutes walk away. You can have a bite and crash into a disco!

What do these guys serve? hmmm.. typically this is a mallu (Malayalee, Kerala) joint. So all mallu food, mallu chinese, mallu shawarma, mallu arabic,  mallu western, mallu pakistani. It’s all mallu! You also get hot drinking water which is flavoured with cumin seeds, called jeera water or jeera vellam! This usually helps in digestion. Our typical dish we order is Beef Chilli and Chicken kadai with parotta. There are so many dishes, so just go there and try it out. Its a nice place with decent food.

For Sharwarma there is a place in Deira Nasser Square behind HSBC bank. Im not sure of the name. It is just amazing. You have a choice of Chicken or Mutton – spicy/ non spicy. They make it and put it in the grill to make it crisp. The wonderful taste along with the crispiness make it an amazing treat. I will update the details of the shop.