For starters, this mess is right next to Kasi Vinayaga Mess on Akbar Sahib Khan Street in Triplicane. So, does it compete with Kasi Vinayaga Mess? No. The latter serves only meals both noon and night, this guy opens only in the evenings and has what we call fondly tiffin which runs thro’ till the night.

That leads us to the next question. What makes this place special. The atmosphere for sure. The place can seat only about 20 max. inside. But the speciality is he has put about 10 chairs right in front of the mess on the platform which are also always packed. Here, your lap is your table.

Me and my friend reached the place by about 8.30pm, the place was packed. We decided to wait. And within 5 minutes we got a seat inside. And the next 25 minutes we went on and on and on eating, so much that it would have costed us a good Rs. 250 plus at any of the Saravana Bhavans.

I had a couple of Idlis, Idiaappams Coconut Milk (2 pieces) , Chapathi (1) and my friend 2 Parottas, 2 Idiappams and some Chapathis. The Idiappams are much bigger than the Saravana Bhavans, were hot and you have the option of the Thengai Pal (Coconut Milk) or Kurma to go along with it. They were hot, soft and fresh. The Chapathi Kurma was nothing to complain about. The Kurma was the traditional south indian one, the light green one if you remember. For the Idlis, soft, piping hot you have the sambar and 2 chutneys (onion & coconut) to go along. The parota master was the busiest guy. Every one seem to gobble up the 10cm dia layered parotas. Note it is parotas and not your parathas.

The focus here is the food, don’t even think about anything else. All you need to do is concentrate. Served in traditional banana leaf, with stools to sit on it was an experience in itself. The chairs outside get plates though.

The best part. We come to pay the bill. We roll out what we had to the guy at the desk. The guy says Rs. 36. That left me in complete silence for a minute. I was shocked. I asked him Rs. 136?? He said no, no thambi (brother), Mupathi Aaru Rubai (means Rs. 36 in tamil). The quality gets 8/10, the service is real quick, so 8/10 for that, the ambience 6/10, but who really cares about that.

With such wonderful options in Triplicane, I guess calling it the Bachelors Paradise is most apt. During the course of my dinner here, I found out, there are more than 100 such messes in and around Triplicane. So, the journey continues and you will see a Triplicane Special soon.