If you thought Chennai was only about idlis and dosas, then you must visit the city's oldest and longest street
Chennai is known to be the city of temples. Just like one can find a temple at every turn and corner of the city, you'll find unique food options in all lanes, breaking the age-old stereotype that the Tamil Nadu capital only has idlis, dosas, sambar rice and curd rice to offer. Surprised? Well, this article will burst your bubble.
A north Indians food paradise in Chennai, Mint Street at Sowcarpet is one of the oldest and longest stretches in the city, filled with eateries no bigger than a 2x2 room. From unique snacks such as muruku sandwich and churmur chaat to vada pav, jalebi, kachori, khandvi and lassi, Mint Street is Chennai's very own mini North India.
Though the entire street has multiple food options, here are my top 5 recommendations:
Seena Bhai Chaat and Juice Centre
Every south Indian's guilty pleasure is to finish a full packet of muruku with a piping hot cup of filter kaapi (coffee). Now imagine your regular cucumber-onion-tomato-cheese sandwich but the bread is replaced by two pieces of this crispy muruku or the Gujarati khakra. Sounds yum! Doesn't it?
Seena Bhai Chaat and Juice Centre will just cost Rs 150 for two people but after a serving of this muruku sandwich your heart and tummy will definitely be full. My pro-tip: Amp up the spice with freshly-chopped green chillies.
Mehta Bros Mithaiwala
If you can't tolerate mayonnaise, after visiting this place you will surely change your mind. The cheese-mayo vada pav at Mehta Bros Mithaiwala tastes like its come straight out of Mumbai.
The brothers will feed you as much as they can and not just vada pavs, there's kachori, sweets, pani puri, churmur chaat and all things chaat-pakoras. Starting at a cost of mere Rs 40 per vada pav, Mehta Bros is a pocket-friendly snack-time delight. I highly recommend their churmur chaat.
Ajab’s Ajnabi Mithai Ghar
Chana Chaat, Sukha Bhelpuri, Raj Kachori, Chinese Bhel, Dahi Bhel, Aloo Samosa, Dahi Puri, Bhujiya Puff and the list goes on. Ajab's Ajnabi Mithai Ghar has been winning the hearts of locals since 1961.
Flavoursome and pocket-friendly grub, you must visit this place for a wholesome meal for just Rs 250.
Maya Chaat
Mint Street's baby Jodhpur, Maya Chaat, is quite famous for its onion kachoris and mirchi vada. Priced at about Rs 20 per plate, the onion kachoris are as authentic as they come by.
Though you'll find many savouries from Jodhpur at Maya Chaat, I would personally recommend to wait patiently for the fresh-out-of-kadhai kachoris and visit this place on a Saturday evening as the area is very busy and jam packed area on week days.
Anmol Lassiwala
A small stall located right next to the famous Kakada Ramprasad sweet shop, Anmol Lassiwala's kesar lassi and buttermilk will fill your stomach to the level where you'll have to share it to finish its single serving.
The lassi comes in a huge container and costs about Rs.140. This is easily among the best lassi’s in Chennai. No Mint Street journey is complete without Anmol Lassi. The owner, Dinesh Soni, a wrestler-turned-lassiwalla, is quite popular in the area for serving you the perfect beverage to deal with Chennai's hot and humid days.
My pro tip would be to end your food walk with this lassi as its quite filling.
While these are my top recommendations, but if you're able to spot a bright green cart by Ashok Kumar and his assistant selling street food, lip-smacking enough to make north-Indians forget that they are in the south-Indian city of Chennai, don't forget to say hi and dig into some phuckas. You won't regret it!
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