This is a simple list of my top recommendations for food in Chennai, and a few hand-picked places worth visiting.
Food
Dosa
A dosa cart in Natesan Park (in T Nagar) serves the most legendary dosa. You’ll have to find the exact location manually. No Google Maps.
Location 📍: Near Natesan Park, T. Nagar, specifically the southeast side
Idli
Murugan Idli’s ghee podi thatte idli. You can go to any outlet, but I prefer the one on Besant Nagar Beach.
Location 📍: Murugan Idli- Near Besant Nagar Beach, Velachery, Chennai
Barbeque Fish
Zaitoon’s barbeque fish is my favorite. We had a subsidized outlet inside the IITM campus. I’d have BBQ Fish every other night after gym. Tastiest high protein diet you could ever ask for.
Location 📍: Zaitoon Nungambakkam. Or you can choose the Zaitoon outlet nearest to you.
PS. Zaitoon’s Special BBQ chicken is good too. Has a sweet + spicy flavor. Al-Faham Chicken is another favorite.
Grilled Chicken
Crescent’s serves the best grilled chicken in Chennai. Or anywhere. Period. Always well-cooked. With skin, which tastes way too good. When I was not having Zaitoon’s BBQ Fish, this is what I was having.
Location 📍: Crescent Restaurant, Tharamani. I recommend the Tharamani because it was my go-to. There are other branches too, you can choose the one nearest to you.
PS. The attached tea stall at the Tharamani branch serves perfectly sweet all-milk Irani chai.
Ghee Mutton
You’ll get great-tasting, well-cooked, juicy mutton at Knockout Rusi. I don’t remember the exact name of the dish, but you’ll be able to find it in the menu. All non-veg is tasty non-veg here. They specifically call themselves a “Non-Veg Restaurant” after all!
Location 📍: Knockout Rusi, Tharamani.
Pizza
If you like pizza, you’ll love the unique quality wood-fired pizzas here. This is Chennai’s favorite pizza place. This isn’t have some unique offerings, with even more unique names. Pizzas are called Hell Boy, Hot Boy, Desi Boy, Sardar Boy, etc. 😂
The fried chicken is great too.
Location 📍: Fat Boy, Alwarpet (this was the original outlet). They have other outlets as well.
Mexican
Mexe is a small place with lots of character. The food is nice, but the real highlight is the ice cream shop inside. More on that below.
Location 📍: Mexe, Alwarpet.
Ice Cream
It’s inside Mexe. Serves unique ice cream flavors. My favorite is Cereal Milk.
Location 📍: Soft Serve Co., Alwarpet.
Burgers
Pupil Diner has great Triple patty burgers. Worth checking out if you’re at Besant Nagar Beach.
Location 📍: Pupil Diner, near Besant Nagar Beach.
Beaches
Besant Nagar Beach
My go-to beach in Chennai. Always lively and full of people, with good eateries nearby.
Location 📍: Besant Nagar Beach.
Thiruvanmiyur Beach
No stalls, no eateries, no chaos. This is the beach you go to if you want to just sit peacefully and have a deep conversation. Locals prefer it for morning and evening walks.
Location 📍: Thiruvanmiyur Beach (also called Thiruvalluvar Nagar Beach).
Marina Beach
It may be India’s longest beach, but it sucks. Don’t go. Unclean and arguably unsafe at night.
Places worth visiting just for the vibe
A few select places where the place itself is the vibe-
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East Coast at Madras Square - Upscale restaurant with an almost therapeutic, tropical rainforest-type ambience. Feels best when it’s raining. It’s slightly out of the way, so I recommend going early because finding a cab late at night here can be a pain in the ass. The ice cream in the attached ice cream shop is good.
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Surf Turf, Kovalam Beach - Surf school at Kovalam Beach well outside the city. Surfing lessons are ~₹2500 per session. I did one lesson here and it was a lot of fun. The rooftop bar is such a vibe at night with good deep house playing in the background. Also has rooms to stay.
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Writer’s Cafe, Tharamani - Their Chicken Stroganoff is delicious and high in protein. Good place for dates and conversations over food among books. IIT kids’ go-to place for dates. Spacious, literary ambience. They’re at other locations in Chennai too, but I doubt any of the others are as big as this one.
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National Art Gallery, Egmore - It’s a museum. Good place to visit if you want to kill time / go on a date. Has some cool fossil exhibits. There’s a Writer’s Cafe within walking distance.
Places I haven’t been but know by reputation
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Pasha - a club inside Park Hotel, Chennai. Very hyped, but I don’t know if the hype is real.
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Chamiers - $$$ cafe.
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Les Amis - Another $$$ cafe.
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Sri Krishna Sweets - Arguably the most famous and loved sweet shop in Chennai. The Mysore Pak is legendary.
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Mezze - Highly rated middle-eastern cuisine restaurant.
Notes
- There are so many good places to eat in Alwarpet and Nungambakkam. If you go there you’re bound to find something good.
