Chennai Restaurants and Dining

(Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)

Tamil cuisine makes dining out in Chennai a real pleasure. The city has the best selection of restaurants and recipes in the entire region, including plenty of spicy South Indian fare and a good supply of rice dumplings (idlis). Eating out is affordable in Chennai, and local eateries include a heady mix of street-level food stalls and top-end restaurants in luxury hotels, particularly around Cathedral Road.

Tamil cuisine is unlike any other found in India, and within this culinary tradition is Chettinad cuisine, a culinary subset that garners praise from locals, visitors and just about anyone else who has the fortune to enjoy a Chettinad meal.

What to Eat, and Where

Chettinad cuisine can be fiery hot, as it uses pungent masalas (spice blends) to add exotic flavour and colour to each dish. Chettinad, as a region, is arid, and so dried meats and salted vegetables are staple ingredients.

Tamarind, fennel, chillies, aniseed and cumin are cornerstone spices in Chettinad cooking, with cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves also in the mix. Karaaikudi is the most popular Chettinad restaurant in Chennai, and it is relatively upmarket for a local-style restaurant.

Traditionally, locals rarely go out to eat, which has led to a lack of infrastructure in this department. Most of what's available is geared for self-caterers or anyone in search of a quick bite to eat. However, the city's economic success is padding locals' pockets with more expendable income. As a result, locally-themed restaurants and similar dining establishments are on the rise.

Opposite this, most of the international restaurants in Chennai are found in the central hotels district. Five-star luxury hotels usually have three or four of their own restaurants, boasting accomplished chefs on staff who bring plenty of innovation to the table. Italian food and Thai food are the two most popular veins of international dining in the mix here.