Food & Cuisine in Chennai

Food info sections | Eating locally

Being a major metropolis and a centre of arts and culture, Chennai attracts a lot of tourists and as such offers a wide variety of local and international cuisine. The city has them all – fine multi-cuisine Chennai restaurants, fast food joints, pizza centres and chaotic roadside eateries that offer mouth watering snacks and local specialties. There are numerous restaurants that specialise in international cuisine offering Chinese, Mexican, Continental, Thai, Japanese, Mediterranean and Italian food among others. An array of food from different parts of India is also readily available in Chennai.

There are plenty of ways to please the palate in this city - try local patisseries, coffee shops, pizza chains, "pure veg" Udipi joints, hot tandoori items, continental delights, sweets galore... the choice is simply endless!

After you're done shopping in Chennai, check out our Chennai restaurant guide below to find the best places for eating out in Chennai. Relax and experience the variety of food in Chennai. We also have general information for eating out in India in our India Restaurant Guide.

Food & Cuisine in Chennai

Chennai's Local Cuisine

But what Chennai is especially famous for is the delicious South Indian fare it dishes out. No visit to Chennai is complete without sampling some of the traditional culinary delights which are much sought after and quite distinct from food available in other parts of India. Traditional dishes are essentially vegetarian, and rice is the mainstay of the local diet of Chennai. Rice preparations are served for breakfast, lunch and dinner in many households. An assortment of spices such as chilli, garlic, pepper, curry leaves, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, tamarind and even rosewater are used to flavour the dishes and give them a distinct aroma.

Dosa (thin, crisp pancakes made from fermented batter of rice and lentils) and idli (steam-cooked cake of rice and lentils) are two of the top favourites and are eaten for breakfast and sometimes even for dinner. They are eaten with chutney (a coconut condiment) or with sambar (a stew of lentils and vegetables seasoned with spices). Other favourite breakfast items include vada (fried donut made from batter of lentils), uppuma (a preparation of semolina seasoned with onions and spices), sevai (rice noodles) and uttappam (steamed cake with onions and other vegetables). There are several variations to the above dishes depending on the ingredients and the way they are cooked and most are accompanied by chutney, sambar or mulaga podi (powdered mix of chilli, lentils and spices). The side-dishes can be spicy and hot for the unaccustomed.

The traditional Chennai lunch, comprising of steamed rice and a variety of curries and vegetable dishes, is served on banana leaves especially during festivals and special occasions. Banana leaves are said to bring out the right flavour of the food and many Chennai hotels and restaurants still use them for serving food. Rice is traditionally eaten with the hand, though many visitors find this a difficult proposition and prefer spoons instead. A variation to the regular lunch is curd-rice (rice mixed with yoghurt) which is very popular with the local people. Curd (yoghurt) helps soothe the stomach after all the hot spices and helps cool the body down in the hot conditions. Curd and other milk products are widely eaten in Chennai.

Those on the lookout for non-vegetarian fare can try out the excellent Chettinad style cuisine. Preparations of fish, chicken and mutton dishes in Chettinad style are extremely popular and are usually very hot and spicy. Fusion of traditional south Indian cuisine with other styles of cooking is a trend increasingly seen of late. So you now have spicier Chennai versions of Chinese, Mediterranean and Continental fish and meat preparations.

Chennai Drinks

Chennai’s favourite drink is coffee, and the Chennai filter coffee is really special. Brewed using a special filter, the coffee is sweet and milky and is made using a blend of dark roasted coffee beans and chicory.

A lot of seasonal fruits arrive in Chennai from different places and chilled fruit juices are refreshing in the hot, humid conditions. Alcoholic beverages are sold at government run outlets and at bars and pubs of major Chennai hotels. Hotel bars have much better selection of brands, however, they can be costlier.

Chennai Desserts

Chennaiites love sweets and pastries and there is a good variety available all over the place. Milk based sweets are the most popular and are consumed in large quantities during festivals and special occasions.