Chicken Curry OR Curry Chicken?!

[vcs]

7/10

I have only had chaat there tho

Their bhelpuri is excellent TBF

 

[vcs]

How would you rate A2B?

I would say it's like the McDonalds of Tamil food. Predictable and no frills. I eat the mini-tiffin for lunch daily (or used to pre-COVID when going to office was a thing)

 

[vcs]

Good thread this, need to visit Hyderabad, haven't seen much of it at all.

 

[honestbharani]

Charminar is our biggest tourist attraction and the entry fees are 5 rupees for locals and 100 for foreigners iirc.

The con is already on here, haha. So blatant but accepted by everyone.

Well, similar con is on in Mahabs here. I asked the guy at the gate who apparently works for ASI (more like a contractor, I assume) why the difference and he simply asked - do you want us to charge the same amount for locals? In their world, its not conning, its giving a concession price for locals.

 

[duffer]

Good thread this, need to visit Hyderabad, haven't seen much of it at all.

You're invited

 

[Anil]

Yeah both Grand Sweets and Adyar Ananda Bhavan are sweets and savories shops that became restaurants later. So did Krishna Sweets FWIW but they have not been as successful. As is Hot Chips. They all follow the HSB model. Central kitchen, uniform taste, you know what you get when you are going in. Consistent and all that jazz.


But nothing can beat the Triplicane Ratna Cafe and their Idli Sambar. Just no point in trying anything else in Chennai until you have tried that for breakfast or evening tiffin IMO, along with the famous South Indian Filter Kaapi (coffee).

i stayed in a lodge in triplicane for around 15 months when i worked in chennai, this was around 22 years or so back...there was a cafe (forgetting the name now) with awesome idli sambar that we used to go to all the time that was walking distance from the lodge...was the ratna cafe around back in '98-'99?

 

[silentstriker]

I stayed at the Trident when I visited Hyderabad a few years ago. It was right next to Paradise (I tried like six different biryani places) - plus the street dosas. The food was fantastic - though I will say I did like the food overall in Kerala better. Not to mention the drinking. But biryani is probably my favorite food of all time, so the trip was well worth it.

 

[honestbharani]

i stayed in a lodge in triplicane for around 15 months when i worked in chennai, this was around 22 years or so back...there was a cafe (forgetting the name now) with awesome idli sambar that we used to go to all the time that was walking distance from the lodge...was the ratna cafe around back in '98-'99?

It has been there since the 50s according to my dad. Those were the days all restaurants were "cafes". And Triplicane was especially famous for its cafes - Murali's cafe, Triplicane cafe, and of course, Ratna cafe.

 

[honestbharani]

Those lodges of triplicane (The bachelor pads ) are famous as hell too. It is the reason my dad refused to move out of Triplicane for more than 50 years and we had to literally beg him to move to where we are now, south side of the city, with us. Indra Lodge and Triplicane Lodge were very famous and in the noughties that gave rise to the new identity of Triplicane - the mansions. Its amazing that even as late as 2011 you could get a nice comfy room with AC and TV with cable and generator for as low as Rs 2000 per month. Some IT pros saved a fortune living in these mansions. Few of them started giving wifi for free too for like 500 Rs. extra. Some others set up their own wifi there. Tata Sky and everything was given. And given all the messes around (low cost restaurants), you could literally skate by a month's living expense with at times less than 10% of your take home salary.

 

[Anil]

It has been there since the 50s according to my dad. Those were the days all restaurants were "cafes". And Triplicane was especially famous for its cafes - Murali's cafe, Triplicane cafe, and of course, Ratna cafe.

Then yes I used to frequent the Ratna Cafe while I was there...first time I saw the Idlies submerged in Sambar, I was a little weirded out but soon I came to really like it...

 

[Anil]

Those lodges of triplicane (The bachelor pads ) are famous as hell too. It is the reason my dad refused to move out of Triplicane for more than 50 years and we had to literally beg him to move to where we are now, south side of the city, with us. Indra Lodge and Triplicane Lodge were very famous and in the noughties that gave rise to the new identity of Triplicane - the mansions. Its amazing that even as late as 2011 you could get a nice comfy room with AC and TV with cable and generator for as low as Rs 2000 per month. Some IT pros saved a fortune living in these mansions. Few of them started giving wifi for free too for like 500 Rs. extra. Some others set up their own wifi there. Tata Sky and everything was given. And given all the messes around (low cost restaurants), you could literally skate by a month's living expense with at times less than 10% of your take home salary.

Mine was significantly more important of a “bare necessities covered” kind of lodge but I was a bachelor without any financial encumbrances so it was not an issue...also had a lot of colleagues staying there with me with plenty of booze-filled parties as well...I kind of let it go from a health perspective but had a lot of fun...

 

[Anil]

I stayed at the Trident when I visited Hyderabad a few years ago. It was right next to Paradise (I tried like six different biryani places) - plus the street dosas. The food was fantastic - though I will say I did like the food overall in Kerala better. Not to mention the drinking. But biryani is probably my favorite food of all time, so the trip was well worth it.

You obviously have good taste...

 

[Shri]

I stayed at the Trident when I visited Hyderabad a few years ago. It was right next to Paradise (I tried like six different biryani places) - plus the street dosas. The food was fantastic - though I will say I did like the food overall in Kerala better. Not to mention the drinking. But biryani is probably my favorite food of all time, so the trip was well worth it.

Goddamn SS. Kerala has the worst food in the south overall except for their beef and seafood dishes. Wait Karnataka might be worse. ****s use jaggery in sambar ffs.

 

[Anil]

Goddamn SS. Kerala has the worst food in the south overall except for their beef and seafood dishes. Wait Karnataka might be worse. ****s use jaggery in sambar ffs.

you obviously don't have good taste...

 

[Shri]

Oh you like it too

That settles it

 

[silentstriker]

Goddamn SS. Kerala has the worst food in the south overall except for their beef and seafood dishes. Wait Karnataka might be worse. ****s use jaggery in sambar ffs.

I love seafood and beef. Hyderabad does biryani well and that counts for a LOT but Kerala is where it’s at. Even Goa didn’t do it for me in terms of seafood.


Plus trying to find a good bar in Hyderabad is like pulling teeth. Which detracts a hell of a lot from a place in my opinion.

 

[honestbharani]

Kerala is good only for one variety of food, really. I was so glad that I had to be in Trivandrum for work and that place is chock full of Tamilnadu restaurants, especially Tirunelveli and Madurai style.

 

[Shri]

I love seafood and beef. Hyderabad does biryani well and that counts for a LOT but Kerala is where it’s at. Even Goa didn’t do it for me in terms of seafood.


Plus trying to find a good bar in Hyderabad is like pulling teeth. Which detracts a hell of a lot from a place in my opinion.

Kerala side dishes are mostly okay but their main carb dishes are weird af.

 

[Kirkut]

I love seafood and beef. Hyderabad does biryani well and that counts for a LOT but Kerala is where it’s at. Even Goa didn’t do it for me in terms of seafood.


Plus trying to find a good bar in Hyderabad is like pulling teeth. Which detracts a hell of a lot from a place in my opinion.

Hyderabad is still a lot more conservative compared to other big cities in India. Not that it's a bad thing, just more conservative.

 

[duffer]

Goddamn SS. Kerala has the worst food in the south overall except for their beef and seafood dishes. Wait Karnataka might be worse. ****s use jaggery in sambar ffs.

Karnataka cuisine is awful for the most part imo. But a good bisi bele bath is super. If I have to eat at a local joint when I'm in Bangalore, that's my go to.