Lost art of eating- Reborn

Mylai Karpagambal Mess 

(Awesome and tasty food, Zero Ambiance, Cheap. Average per person is Rs 90/$1.8)

I am talking about food served on a eco-friendly vaazhai ilai or banana leaf and food eaten with fingers (Photo below and the video following below). When finished the leaves are fed to the cows in the backyard. Everything goes through the full cycle.

Eco-friendly table service

I have heard about a number of restaurants in the old Mylapore area of Chennai (Madras), India. These provide home-cooked food in a decent environment.  Many of them have been around for 20-40 years.  The one I have heard most often is Mylai Karpagambal Mess.  Partly because the house where this Mess is (more on this word later) was owned by Mom's uncle (Chitappa).

Menu Board and coffee corner

There is no menu, just a board with names and prices in Tamil (Above). The names are what they are, no fancy make-believe names or food served on silver platter.  The food is delivered on banana leaf on top of a big plate that the waiter serves from.  There is no question of - Bisleri or regular?  Aqua is all you get. There is a small A/C section but it was full when we got there. Prices are about 25% more. It is one of the few places where Pepsi costs Rs 10/$.20 and Bisleri mineral water costs Rs 15/$.30.

Tasty and yummy-looking food!

How-to-eat with your fingers... A education

The food is outstanding. There is a how-to-eat video above! The best part was the coffee.  My wife is a coffee connoisseur and she said it was the ultimate.  I had a vaazhai poo vadai (banana flower lenthil cakes) and keerai adai with avial (spinach pancakes with a mixed vegetable coconut gravy in curd ). Vaishnavi had a rava dosai (crepes made of semolina) and idi appam (noodles that are steamed after threading) with kurma (mixed vegetable in a coconut sauce).  The food was very tasty.  There were a number of items on the menu that would only be available at homes.  The food was authentic and tasted like home-cooked. Those with a American tongue would find the food spicy. Make sure you drink a lot of water.

They were no fruit juices or other artificial beverages. They had one Pepsi bottle in the fridge, that was it.  They had a shelf at the entrance with appalams, pepper powder to go with the crepes and other essential home items. Below is the photo of the counter and the owner of the restaurant. The place is surrounded by photos of various Hindu Gods and Holy men.

The counter

The ambiance

The food came fairly quickly, the waiter was very good in making recommendations based on our interest and liking. He was almost like the Ask Jeeves Search Engine. There were so many items and his assistance is absolutely essential to select the right items.  I have never seen this type of service by a waiter. The ambiance includes street noises and everyone filling up the next empty chair. You could be sharing your table with 3 unknown, but friendly folks.

Mylai Karpagambal Mess is a 500 meter walk from the rental house we live in Mandaveli.  You can take the sounds of Chennai during this walk.  The blaring religious music, autos honking, hawkers screaming, mid-size cars polluting the place trying to drive through the crowd (or plough through them), birds, animals etc......