ITP Indian Travel Places: Food, Travel, Tourism Business Events and Trade Shows
Address: 240, Kilpauk Garden Road, Kilpauk, Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
Time: 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM
Meals for two: Rs. 300
Cuisines: South Indian
Facilities: Breakfast, Home Delivery, No Alcohol Available
Ratna Cafe, Kilpauk, Chennai: DECOR
Every Chennaiite knows Ratna Cafe. The flagship one in Triplicane has seen generations of diners grow, go away and return just to see if the Sambar still has the same taste they remember from their past. Later, they added one in Mylapore, which has, again, proved itself. Lately, the Kilpauk branch has joined the expanding family and is beginning to make its mark.
Overlooking Kilpauk Garden Road, I get a view of the sunset traffic: this is the route Anna Nagar dwellers use to get home. Sensible furniture, with granite-topped tables, metal upholstered chairs are surrounded by bright green, orange and white. The menu is printed on green paper table mats, so all I have to do is look at it before placing my order.
Ratna Cafe, Kilpauk, Chennai: FOOD
Ratna Café has pioneered the whole Idli / Vada drenched in unlimited Sambar, which is quite a story by itself. I cannot wait for my turn to get at the slurpy stuff. A large, flat, soft and slightly open-textured idli arrives, with a dollop of coconut chutney sitting demurely in one section of my plate. The Sambar, in a large pouring mug, is used to fill my plate to the brim. Frankly, I now know what everybody is talking about. It is the Sambar, which is delicious, absolutely acknowledged hero. The restaurant actually has a Sambar Master, who comes in each morning and grinds fresh masala.
Everybody dining here pours the Sambar on everything, including Pongal. Keeping up with a tradition that began in 1948, after a tiny taste of the drenched-in-ghee Pongal, I follow what everybody else is doing. I am quite happy with the slushy outcome that holds whole peppercorns, jeera, curry leaves, halved cashews and slurp up my hand-blended mixture. I admit this: it is worth the Sambar.
My next, the Onion Rava Dosa, has a yellowish tinge from a hint of turmeric. Delicate and crisp, the lacey edges break to the touch. This fragile mass holds a myriad of flavours from chopped onions, green chillies, asafoetida, fenugreek seeds and dots of whole pepper. The centre, soft and pliant, deserves a dunk in the Sambar with perhaps a smidge of coconut chutney.
I simply have to end my filling meal with the famous Rasmalai, a dessert Ratna Cafe introduced to Chennai. Flecked with slivers of almond, pistachio and yellow with saffron, the milky orb charms me completely. Soft as a dream, and sweetened just right. I end with a steaming dawra of Filter Coffee that must be had, in keeping with Ratna Cafe’s tradition.
Ratna Cafe, Kilpauk, Chennai: PLUS AND MINUS
Inheriting tradition is not easy. Especially, when guests’ expectations are high. Clearly, the focus here is on the food. No compromises. Each day, Ratna Cafe scion, Lokesh Agarwal, tastes the food himself, to ensure stringent traditional standards are maintained.
