Amar Fast Food & Restaurant, T. Nagar, Chennai

Restaurant Name: Amar Fast Food & Restaurant, T. Nagar Restaurant 
Phone: 044 2815 2020, 044 28151919
Address: 45, Tower Victorie, Ground Floor, Gopathi Narayanaswami Chetty Rd, T Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600017 India 
Time: 7 am – 11:30 pm
Meals for two: Rs. 800 
Cuisines: North Indian, South Indian, Fast Food, Chinese
Facilities: Breakfast, Home Delivery, No Alcohol Available, Table Reservation Not Required

Amar Fast Food & Restaurant, T. Nagar, Chennai: Decor

I could be in any typical Udupi restaurant in Mumbai… The decor reminds me of the few I visited when I was there last. Large, movable tables have enough space for four people’s orders with elbow room to spare. Colored, glass-topped partitions and beige sofas with backrests are practical, functional, and comfortable. The lighting is bright enough for me to see my food. Or the waiter’s face. Or the menu, which is, again, so Bombay Udupi style.

When the carpenters working below take a break from their drilling and banging, I manage to hear snatches of popular Bollywood numbers.

Amar Fast Food & Restaurant, T. Nagar, Chennai: Food

The chaat counter is right by the road, and anybody fancying a quick fix can eat and run. Not to miss out, I order some dahi papdi chaat. The papdis (flat puris) are crisp. Amar’s dahi papdi chaat is made using sweet, white lassi. Adding to the Instagramability, a few ruby-red pomegranate arils dot the twirls of green and brown chutney. The sprinkle of chilli powder and chaat masala add to the multiple layers of flavours. Somehow, the sweetness is a tad too much for me. I wish they’d let the churned curd be plain, instead of making it into a sweet lassi.

Moving on, I decide to get my iron and vitamins from the hariyali pav bhaji. It is green (naturally) because, this is regular pav bhaji mashed together with palak, coriander, mint, green capsicum, and green chillies. I like that this one is making major contributions to my daily iron / vitamin requirement; however, I wish the chef had not been so generous with the salt.

Soft, fat strips of the tawa idli offer retribution. I like the familiar flavors from the tomato, ginger, garlic, onion, capsicum, mirchi paste, spices… The butter taste is hidden in the middle of the medley, but I’m not complaining, as the idli meets my expectations.

As if reading my mind, the pav bhaji dosa, cut neatly into manageable finger-food size, arrives at my table. Mumbai meets Chennai is this one, which is a take on the Mysore masala dosa, only instead of chutney and masala, a thin layer of bhaji paste is spread on the dosa base.

Cleansing my palate, the neer (water in Tulu) dosa with shredded coconut and jaggery is like a match made in heaven. I like the spongy elasticity of the thin dosa, the lightness from the fact that very little oil is used, the textures from shredded coconut, and sweetness from jaggery. Sometimes, the simplest recipes make the best food.

Amar Fast Food & Restaurant, T. Nagar, Chennai: Plus & Minus

Amar is a melting pot of a restaurant, a typical Mumbai kind of affordable place. It even has the very essential sabudana vada and tries to do everything (including some Chinese), spreading itself thin in the process.