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Quick bite, at what cost?
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From biriyanis and chaats to frankies and sandwiches, wayside eateries offer an array of appetising flavours and cuisines.
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THE CULTURE of eating out is yet to take off in Chennai, according to some food enthusiasts. They feel that chaat items do not have the `zing' because they are essentially `north Indian' delicacies. Though eating out today is not merely an idli-dosa routine, some would have you believe that Chennai is far behind cities like Mumbai and Bangalore.
If T. Nagar is a commercial hub then the credit goes as much to the mushrooming eateries as to the numerous jewellery and clothes stores. Restaurants have mushroomed in the nooks and crannies here. In residential areas, people have grudgingly acknowledged these `hotels'. Almost every street in T. Nagar sports eateries. Some have three or four `restaurant-cum-lodges', edging out homes. This has added to problems like parking and disposal of waste. In the evening, the mobile and pushcart eateries become drive-ins and patrons come in swanky cars. The one on Sivaprakasam Road caters to a variety of clientele, but its patrons, who enjoy the inexpensive food, have scant regard for the residents of the area. The residents have silently been putting up with two problems - a transformer across the eatery is used as a public convenience and the eatery is not only an intrusion on their privacy but patrons throw away used plastic water bottles with little respect for the homes around the area.
Mobile eateries have no licence to operate and some streets have two or three of them. All of them receive patronage, which is why the authorities do not come down on them. When it drizzles these eateries put up a plastic awning, protecting their stoves and also providing a toehold space for their customers.
On Thyagaraya Road, almost every other shop is an eatery - you can take your pick from the Andhra mess, the Gujarati, the Chinese, the Malaysian cuisine and the traditional spread from interior Tamil Nadu, including Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Chettinad.
Newcomers spread a few chairs on the pavement in a bid to woo more customers. Hot Chips has also put up a few tall stools for the `on the move' customer. Snack bars in the residential streets off South Usman Road have picked up clientele by setting up stools to accommodate customers.
A recent addition on Mangesh Street occupies a part of the already narrow carriageway and a pushcart vendor also hangs around for customers. Pani puri stalls with their space-saver stools can be spotted at some places while pushcart vendors sell snacks that include healthful items like carrots and groundnuts. But mum is the word on the way the food is cooked and served. And the same goes for meat varieties.
Patrons wax eloquent on the meat varieties of biriyani served in the city. Some of the favourites are the Ambur, the Vaniyambadi, the Muniyandi Vilas or the Military hotel biriyani. Along T. Nagar bus terminus, `biryani' stalls come up around dusk and do brisk business, late into the night. The biriyani is stored in huge vessels and placed on a stool. "I don't know where they make the biriyani, but I can buy them from a small cubicle even on Anna Salai. For just Rs. 25 or 30, I can get a good portion and it is so tasty," said one biriyani-lover. The biriyani is often sold out and orders have to be placed in advance. Some of these stalls also serve `halal' meat.
Rolls, called Frankies, are served in outlets outside highly visible shopping malls like Ebony, Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Daily Life and Globus. Said some `roll' enthusiasts, "they are inexpensive and one is enough for lunch." Both vegetarian and meat varieties are available for Rs. 25 to 30.
Some people, however, feel that while it is common to eat from pavement shops in Mumbai, it takes courage to eat at roadside shops here because of the clientele. "They seem to be drinking tea and coffee and are not there because their busy schedule keeps them from taking time off to go to a restaurant," observed a frequenter to these eateries.
Meanwhile, a wayside eatery in Egmore does brisk business serving varieties of sandwich. Even a crackdown on the eatery did not prevent its return because office-goers prefer this stall to taking time off for lunch.
If, however, you have time for a long break and enjoy good environs, then the corner pizza shop is probably a better deal. You might be saving their delivery boys the race against time when they take to the streets at breakneck speed on scooters to meet `deadlines'.
R.SUJATHA
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