Every year, December season in Chennai is known for the Music and Dance concerts in various sabhas/halls, all over the city. Music and Dance enthusiasts come in large numbers to hear and watch their favorite artists perform. What is also interesting is the tasty food that accompanies these concerts.
Prominent catering companies (traditional wedding caterers) in Chennai set up their shop in these locations and serve a variety of their delicacies, all day. A typical breakfast, lunch, evening tiffin and dinner is what most of them offer. Some caterers start with lunch, while a few open only in the evening, until dinner.
While the concerts have their own following, there are quite a few who primarily visit this place for food 🙂
I decided to check out some breakfast options in the city and will list them in no specific order.
Sri Sasthalaya Catering in Narada Gana Sabha, TTK Road.
I am glad myself and wifey visited, as we truly relished the breakfast. Ghee Pongal was melt in the mouth, three chutneys were as fresh and tasty as it could get, Vadai was good and so was the Sambhar. Onion Ghee Dosai was next, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the quantity of finely chopped onions all over the dosa. In fact, I struggled to complete it, which was so unlike me. 
Asoka Halwa was damn tasty, oozing ghee, that it slid down the throat without any extra effort 
Finally decided to end the breakfast with a nice strong filter coffee, but this was the only item that was just average. Something was missing, probably decoction wasn’t strong enough, it lacked the punch.
Two mini water bottles along with all these added up to 320 bucks and I felt it was absolutely worth it!
They are open from 6:30 am to roughly 10pm. They serve full meals for lunch and resume tiffin varieties from evening onwards. They will operate from here until 1st January 2017 is what we were told. Those interested can give it a shot.
Meenambika Caterers in Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Musiri Subramaniam Road, Mylapore.
Meenambika Caterers have set up their shop at Mylapore Fine Arts Club, that is located right next to St. Isabel’s Hospital.
Our Order – Poori Masala, Pongal Vadai, Ghee Roast, Kasi Halwa and Filter Coffee!
Poori Masala was good, a bit oily, but tasty.
Pongal was very tasty, but not oozing ghee types. Medhu Vadai was crispy and awesome, chutneys were fresh and good and sambhar was good too.
Kasi Halwa was awesome stuff!
Ghee Roast was good too, could have been better. Sangeetha would beat this hands down.
Filter Coffee, again not to my expectation. Hot Chips Filter Coffee is still way better than this one.
290 bucks in all, paid by cash. Didn’t ask if they accepted a card.
Overall, a wonderful breakfast to start the day !
Padmanabhan Catering aka Mint Padmanabhan in The Music Academy, Cathedral Road.
Tasty, Yummy breakfast. The perils of eating alone is you can’t taste a bit of many dishes unless you eat more than usual.
Normally I don’t order idli, but today I did because Pongal would make it too heavy! I was glad I did. Wonderful texture, very soft, unlike the maavu types. Clearly the experience of catering showed. Medhu vadai was good, chutneys were fresh and tasty, sambhar was very tasty.
Podi Dosai was wonderful too, nice and crispy.
Parangikkaai Halwa was yummy, not too sweet, just rite!
Filter Coffee was good, a bit watery than usual. I’m used to drinking coffee like that, so liked it.
This place works on a prepaid concept – buy tokens/coupons in advance and then start to eat. Wear a shirt with a pocket it helps. Else you have to take care of the paper token until you finish each dish.
Overall, a wonderful breakfast. A bit heavy, but then..someone somewhere said Eat Breakfast like a King! Made me feel less guilty 
Paid 240 bucks in all, Idli – 30, Vadai – 20, Podi Dosai – 70, Halwa – 50 and Coffee – 30. 
damn…it only amounts to 200. Lesson learnt, double check the amount before paying !
Mountbatten Mani Iyer’s Catering at Parthasarathy Swami Sabha in Vidya Bharathi Kalyana Mandapam, Mylapore.
Personally I wouldn’t recommend this place as my experience was below average, read on !
Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, a confusing start to the day!
The sabha itself is in Triplicane, in a small apartment. Of course that was the registered office. Then got to know from a few people around that the actual place of kutchery was Vidya Bharathi Kalyana Mandapam in Mylapore. Finally located the place after quite a search.
Mountbatten Mani Iyer’s catering have set up their shop here and like everywhere else, it was quite busy in the morning. I dragged along a friend of mine this time
My friend started with Pongal and I had Idli Vadai. Pongal was very tasty, Idli vadai was good too. No complaints. Chutneys and sambhar were good.
Next I ordered for a Ghee Roast and friend wanted a Onion Rava Dosai. These were below average. Clearly the tava(kal) was not hot enough, the SPECIAL PAPER ROAST as mentioned in the bill was not one bit crispy, it barely managed to stand as a cone for a few minutes. I could roll the entire dosa without one crack anywhere! It was priced at 150 bucks. I have no qualms in paying more, but to call this paper roast is an insult! Same was with Onion Rava Dosai, not one bit crispy, flimsy ,just maavu everywhere, 95 bucks for that!
Filter Coffee was good.
Overall, 400 bucks in all for a mediocre, sub-standard food. A waste of time and money !
Whether you’re a fan of Music or not, its absolutely worth checking out places like these which operate for a very limited time during the Music season in December.
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