Cafe cuisine: the best places to taste it in Chennai (Madras)

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80/100 (515 ratings)

Restaurants

Cafe

Café

"You guys must try out this place if you live south Indian food. We were in love with this place. The food is a little costly but the taste makes up..."

Nidhi Patil

"Loved the service and the food, but it has been closed now for a while and I doubt it they will open up..."

Narayanan Hariharan

"Had breakfast here. Having zomato gold is a plus here. Orders: nellore erea karam dosa, onion uthappam dosa, masala dosa, mushroom dosa, podi dosa,..."

Bon_vivant Foodie

"Why ID: I love their Batter and it has done so much good for me and my family, in times where we didn't have Mom to depend on. I wanted to see how..."

Swetha Kishore

"Ambience - 5Taste - 5Service - 5I had breakfast at this place.Dosas were crisp and tasty.Excellent service.Parking..."

Pavithra Orakkan

"Compact place but service was good with tasty food. Ambience is good too but the tables were kind of sticky. This is where they could really improve..."

Vijay Chauhan

"After a long working day, I and my friend decided to go to ID in Besant Nagar . Ambiance was good and service was cordial. We ordered Dosas and..."

Kartik Sarma (Kary)

"I never missed a chance to visit ID, this was a surprise for me. As usual my favorite masala dosa and variety of chutney with perfect aroma..."

Ra Vijay

"We decided to head towards this small, yet simple and neat restaurant on a Sunday morning whilst craving for some comforting food.We..."

Oru Cup Coffee

"Breakie time and my bestie and me, decided to give good ole Murugan idli a break for a change and try ID. Apparently it is an accronym for Idli..."

Vijaykrishna Ranganathan

"Where ?ID idly dosaBesant nagarPerfect ghee roast with aroma of ghee and crispy while eating ...!Chutneys were awesome..."

Madras Foodie

"Bottom line: It’s a Zomato gold order! 😋 tasty worth it! It’s located just opposite to superstar pizza parking won’t be an..."

Bala Melice

"I love the pesarattu and upma.the ambience so good.The only place I go for eating pesarattu in Chennai after my home town in Andhra.It might seem a..."

Vsk Praneeth

"We were planning for a get together in a pure vegetarian restaurant and decided to go with this place. This place is easy to locate. Parking is..."

Sugan

"We ordered Mysore Masala Dosa and Erra Karam Dosa. Both tastes really good. They serve 3 varieties of chutney, mint, tomato and coconut...."

Franklin Francis

"#Veg#Casual DiningAmount Spent: < 500RsWhat we ordered1. Pongal2. Medhu vada3. Idly4. Poori..."

FullScoops Reviews

"The food is great at ID. We ordered Kaarai Vada, Medu Vada, Pongal, Poori and coffee. Coffee was the best, vadas were super hot and right out of..."

Gaurav Lagad

"The food is too good. The service needs to be improved a lot. The dosa and Puri were the best I had in South India. The service is very ordinary...."

Elora Sil Roy

"Wonderful ambience. Nice and courteous staff. Tasty food. The entire menucard was just a size of forehand, typical South Indian tiffin items with..."

Velmurugan Eganandham

"We went for an early sunrise at Besant Nagar and after that we had our breakfast in ID restaurant around 7:30 am. It is very neat but has very less..."

Ashwin Kumar

"The fresh sambar that was made by the chef, Mr. Madasamy was really good. Great service and the staff was very courteous. Mr. Manoranjan's service..."

Ashok

"A quintessential south Indian outlet, that differentiates itself from the other "Bhavan" joints in terms of its ambiance and menu. They probably want..."

PRAJIT JAYARAJAN

"Very good choice for breakfast.Try out Thati Idly, pesserattu, Ghee roastOften this place is crowded advisable to go early so that you can..."

Vinay Varma RudraRaju

"Nice service provider Mr.BalamuruganFood taste is very nice .one new experience at hotel ID and Mr. Alan boss is very friendly movement . Must..."

Impulse Biomed

"Been here on a Sunday morning for breakfast.Better to go early otherwise you have to wait 10 mins or more. Luckily we got a table in 5..."

Madhuri

"quantity of sambar, rasam and poriyal are too little. you even charge extra and provide..."

Suganthi J

"Great place.... Great food....Great service by saha alan..We are frequent visitor here because of wonderful taste and ambience...Keep growing..All..."

Sethuraman

"Nice place and ambience..thanks Saha allam.taste was really awesome.very good place for fiends to hangout .especially for foodies.As it was first..."

Essaky Guru

"The cheese dosa here is delicious. The staff are extremely friendly and their supervisor Vijay always goes out of his way to take care of us...."

Samudra Gupta

"Went to this branch of ID for an evening meal. Had thattu idly which was spectacular with the aroma of fresh ghee. The place is pretty clean and the..."

Shiva Balaswaminathan

"We had a wonderful experience. Great food as always and impressive service. Thank you.A special shout out to Mr. NOOR for his friendly..."

Nafisa Shakir

"Awesome food and great service. Great and courteous staff, Alan ensured the service is prompt and our sambhar / water is replenished and AC..."

Karthikeyan Subramanian

"The food is awesome as well as the staff taking care of the guests,had a great dining experience with my guests.Keep up the good show.Will keep..."

Anjali

"We thoroughly enjoyed the South Indian food at ID. Saha Alan was very polite and nice in his service. We strongly recommend this place for Tamil..."

Vijna Vasudevan

"Very good place to have South Indian food. Karuveppulai Idly was very yummy. Special thanks to Saha Alan for the excellent service. Nice place and..."

Nisha Ambat

"Mr Saha Alan the server was very courteous and polite and gave a very pleasant experience. Had a wonderful time having a very delicious evening..."

Chaarulatha Dhinakaran

"A bit expensive but the food is nice, would recommend checking out.We ordered in breakfast of Idly and Medu Vada. Everything was nicely packed,..."

Ramana Kumar Salva

"So I visited this place a while back, and had their vads, masala dosa and garlic dosa. I must say the food was spectacular ☀ Healthy and tasty..."

Varsha

"The food was really good and the service was perfect. The waiter Alagesan was really kind and his service was good.Great food quality, good..."

Sathish Siva

"Amazing ambience and great food. Wonderful service by one, Mr. Susanta. Lucky that this is in one of the hottest spots in Chennai! Good food at all..."

Vishwesh Kirthi

"the food was good but needs to be..."

Dilip

"While searching for south Indian vegetarian at 10 minutes to closing the restaurant, Noor, the steward, received us with a huge smile. We had a..."

Jishnu Vignesh

"Great food. Nice ambiance and really attentive service by Jaseeb. I'm definitely coming back for more delicious dosas and vadais. It's awesome that..."

Vijay Krish

"It’s a very great exprerience and food was tasty especially the medu vada was my favourite and severed with good hospitality by NOOR ,thanks iD..."

Thanesh Romieo

"I have been here a few times and I also have tried the other outlets of ID across the city. In my opinion, this is one of the better chains serving..."

Vijay Raghavan

"Great place ; great food ; right by the beach ❤️Friendly staff - Noor - left a little note with the bill - that's really awesome..."

Pradaini Surva

"Great food and couteous service. Predominantly South Indian fare but very neat and hygenic and also affordable. Near to beach with ample parking..."

Mahesh Kumar Shankararayanan

"..."

Thilak Raj

"The quality, taste and packaging was wow..."

Thilak Raj

"The new ID in besant nagar is really tasty and has the same quality.A good and different ambience.special thanks to ALAGESAN who served us..."

Random Dude

"Great food..."

Uthra Ravishankar

"Food is delicious and packing is neat. Enjoyed..."

Prasad Babu

"One amazing place to eat your south Indian dosa’s and idly’s ! Noor you are splendid 🤤. My favourite dish is podi dosa and methu vada...."

Madhu Soothanan

"Absolutely mouth watering dishes , the best part is the service..They are very very professional and treat you like you matter. Sambhar idly was..."

Shobin P

"Fantastic food by chef - myilraj and madsammy! Excellent ambience and service quality! Rava idly, sambar vadai, filter coffee is a must..."

Santosh Balakrishnan

"Food here is delicious, especially Sambhar. A must visit place for South Indian food. Also, excellent service by Noor. He was always attentive and..."

Harsh Keshari

"Great place for South Indian food. Mr Noor the staff out there was very helpful and courteous.Food was authentic . They have a different menu...."

Sabarish

"Went to the newly opened ID restaurant this evening. It is quite small and as it was a weekday evening we had the place more or less to..."

Vijayalakshmi Chandran

"Right near the Elliot's beach you will find this place which serves awesome breakfast starting 7am. We tried almost everything - thattu idli is..."

Ekta Singh

"Amazing place , taste and staffs .Must taste karuvepila idly Nellore erra Karam dosa and coffee do visit and enjoy your meal . Nice restaurant..."

Neerajaa17

"Good food and packing...."

Raghavendra Nayak

"Lovely place for South Indian food. Might be slightly on the expensive side but you won't go wrong if you want a nice Aapam or craving some pesarattu..."

Aparna Pillai

"good..."

Kathiravan

"Excellent food. Had a very pleasant time. Special mention to Noor who took very good care of us while we were there. It's brilliant that soo many..."

Basim Shahid

"Nice place ,always liked ID . Service is really good. Alagesan was very polite and served very well. All staff are helpful in assisting immediately...."

Aswin

"Came to know about this place only last week. Actually we were searching for this restaurant after viewing the comments about the same Id restaurant..."

Sridevi

"Alagesan k m is very courteous and kind to ensure the customers are having good food and served at time. Good attitude and hard working guy!! Keep it..."

Kavitha Jayakumar

"good..."

Vasudevan

"Thank you very..."

Jeswanth Raj

"This is one of my favorite restaurant in Chennai. I once headed for breakfast. Me and my friend ordered pongal and Podi idly. It tasted real good. We..."

Vaishnavi Soundararajan

"Everything was really very tasty n d service was good by rahman (noor)very friendly n smiling had a very good experience looking forward to..."

Ibrahimalways4u

"Good food..."

Uthra Ravishankar

"Great food as usual ! Absolutely love the sambar at this restaurant. Noor has been really helpful and a thorough professional. Will surely b back..."

Faraz Makhani

"V nice food.. the place is very clean.. Had appam and sweet Pongal which was really good..staff is v courteous... aexcellent service by Alagesan....."

Preeti Bhanot

"If you are in the mood for pure veg. south Indian food/tiffin - you should try ID. This branch brings high quality staple south Indian veg. food to..."

Ravi Peddibhotla

"Good ambience, a bit noisy though. Food is good, quantity is very good. The rose milk with chia seeds is not too be missed Very good service by Mr...."

Raj Rangachari

"..."

Suku.kumar2020

"ID is one my favourite restraunts. I visit ID on weekly basis. The ambience ,food, music, service of staff is very good. Mr. Noor is always friendly,..."

Shriya

Rathna Cafe

80/100 (16804 ratings)

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"It was a drizlling morning of chennai, No rush and horns were there to disturb us.🌦️☔😄😍🥰It took 30 minutes 🚗⚡to reach..."

Raaj Kumar

"Food quality is good and the prices also is high. The service in the restaurant needs to be..."

Naga

"I had the ghee paper roast and the size was bigger than I expected (the biggest I've seen so far). It was delicious but would have been so much more..."

Priya Bai

"Simple and tasty..."

Krishna Kumar

"The idli wasnt soft as rayar cafe but decent.The sambhar is coconut grated and also small onions added. The coffee is amazing as well the milk..."

Foodie_by_hobby

"Rathna cafe. The legendary idli- sambar of Triplicane stands the test of time. When other franchise branches are not upto the mark, the..."

Balaji Venkatachalam

"❤️ The sambar that we get here is heavenly 😍 seems like the cost is only for the sambar and not for the main items 🤔😂 Idlis were soft...."

Bavya Mohan

"Was suggested this place by locals in Chennai for their famous sambar and idli. And they have been in existence from a long time. And yes, their..."

Neelav Samrat De

"We went here for breakfast on a Sunday. The place does stand up to its name. I thought I would not like the sambar which is not sweetish but their..."

Siddarth N

"Visited this place 10 years later, and it did not fail to amaze me this time as well. Can endure chennai heat just to visit this place again..."

Vaishnavi

"We decided to go to this place because of it's good reviews. The ambiance inside is not very good but there service and food are really very..."

Ritambhara Dubey

"One of my favourite restaurants in chennai.. The sambar is as magical as they claim it is. Do not expect a different taste when you are visiting for..."

Aarthi Sabesan

"Triplicane Ratna Café is widely known for its Idly-Sambhar. To enjoy the authenticity of Ratna Café's Idly-Sambhar and to tick one off from my..."

Rishi Srinivasan

"No better sambar idly in the universe! As simple as that. Just only that here....Ghee is the trademark here. Ask for it. They charge..."

Karthikeyan S

"It's in my area and I've been here since childhood.. the taste didn't change at all.. world's best sambar😍dosa with sambar is a deadly combo..end..."

Renuka

"Place was tucked away behind Marina beach drive. Looks small from outside but boasts spacious seating in AC and non-AC areas. We went to AC area...."

GH

"Great place when tastebuds are seeking South Indian delights. Their ghee roast podi idly is amazingly crispy on outside and soft on inside. Masala..."

Akanksha Patel

"The way service of idly and sambar loved it.but I am looking for navadani oothapam which is famous in ratan cafe please update that in which outlet i..."

Subham

"To pick the best IDLY in the land of idlis, Chennai is a tough task. But head straight to Ratna Cafe, triplicane, and you can taste the best idly in..."

Shekar Iyer

"In chennai for few weeks and I couldn't miss going to Ratna Cafe as was highly recommended by locals... so we went to this outlet. Good sambar and..."

Sneha

"The search of authentic south indian good ended at this place with the last meal of the Chennai trip. The Idli Podi, Medu Wada, Bonga, and Ghee..."

Rishabh Karnik

"Hot idyls and ghee roast are the best . Yummy coffee and soft vadas . Spl mention to Keera vada . I’m not big fan of keera vada but keera vada at..."

Sheena Joyce

"Great place, a very simple ambience, busy round the clock,,, they have all varieties of north and south Indian at its best, they have sweet stall..."

CVIEWS

"Ratna Cafe.. This is a legend... I remember my childhood days... I actually am from Hyderabad.. A Tamilian basically.. Most of my summer holidays are..."

Sree A

"We wanted to try this place for a long time , heard so much about it especially sambar.We have been here on Sunday morning for breakfast..."

Madhuri

"Great place fro breakfast..We have been there on Sunday Early morning just after they have opened.We were surprised to see almost..."

Vinay Varma RudraRaju

"One of the best places to have idly and sambar... Mini idly was better compared to the normal one.. I was shocked to see the vessel he used to pour..."

Flawless Fazil

"This has been my go to place for a very long time. I go here almost every time I visit Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane. It is more than a mess but..."

Raghu Nandhan

"The best sambhar idly of my life! Idly was good but the taste of sambhar was ultimate! It was so unique and amazingly tasty that I ordered another..."

Aston

"Sambar idly is what comes to my mind when anyone says ratna cafe !!!I've been here thousands of times just to have idly sambar. They are..."

Ashish Taleda

"Lovely place and really enjoyed the food here. One of the oldest restaurants and maintaining the standard pretty well. The traditional south Indian..."

Hari Krishnan

"Finally tried the place which is known for its amazing sambar..!!!Tried the:Ghee masala dosaIdly VadaiParottaFilter..."

Mad Over Madras

"I go there for Idli's. It's really distinct from idli what you get at any other place. The texture is totally different and taste too. One of its..."

Rahul Srivastava

"I went there yesterday morning with my extended family (around 20). We enjoyed the Idly Sambar Vada Pongal Poori Dosa and Jilabi. Last but not the..."

Gouthamanps

"There is a coffee factory next to it so you can reach here just by sniffing 😄😄.Having read and watching videos about this hotel long back..."

Manjunath Raj

"Since childhood we tasted their food and the quality is good..Esp their famous idli sambar....wow - just for 2 idlies we end up taking sambar..."

Sujatha

"Just the word "sambar" always reminds me of this place as they serve one of the best sambar in town, i have been to this place since my childhood and..."

Koushik

"Ahhhh Ratna cafe,, is still the best no doubts,,, the triplicane famous Ratna cafe maintains the standards of its taste,, this place has got very..."

King Foodie Bengaluru

"Ratna Cafe truly is one of the legendary outlets in whole of Chennai famous for their Idly Sambhar and Filter Coffee which was recommended to me by a..."

Yash Kumar Singh

"A historically place known for its Idly Sambhar which is a must have.Ambience and Location - 3/5Located at the busy cross section the..."

Sandeep Jangala

"Old is gold !!Maintaining the quality is a tough challenge for the restaurants and this one does that at very ease.Legendary..."

Ajay N

"One of the oldest and finest restaurants in Chennai! A must try!! Do you know? This was a hub for bachelors many years back! Has a..."

Sai Ram

"One of the best restaurant for pure veg food. The idly immersed in sambar is always an attraction. The quality of the food has been the same since..."

Shanmathi R

"Best place in the city for idly sambar, typically every people go here for the unique taste of the sambar. Little expensive but worth for the..."

Badrinath G

"I visit there often. Their sambar idly is amazing and those who don’t like sambar, will surely start drinking it from here! It is that amazing !..."

Irene Alexander

"Good place for a South Indian veggies.. taste of all South Indian food would be good... Service in ac room ll be very good compare to non AC....."

Madhusudhanan Veeravalli

"Ambience 4/5Food 4/5Service 3/5I have veg south Indian food so I went to space to try south Indian food and it is awesome the taste..."

Absar Mk

"Best ever sambar served in the whole city and they have sambar master to do quality check every single day . Should try keera vadai definitely..."

Mansoor Mohamed

"If ever there is a superlative place for traditional breakfast in Chennai, this is it. Breakfast here left me in such a high, it took days to recover..."

JayR

"One of the very famous and oldest restaurant in city.......started its first restaurant in Triplicane and spread its branches in other..."

Jayashree

"Visited this place during my short trip to Chennai and it was worth it. Dosa, Idly, Coffee, Rose Milk, Badam Milk were all terrific. Service is quick..."

Saurabh

"Been here many times and this is the first time I am writing a review.Idly/Sambhar combo- Excellent and the legendary dish here.Ghee..."

Rajamanickam Ravisekar

"It was really a good time in ratna cafe when I have a idli sambar with my friends really it was good time with breakfast and sambar was fabulous. I..."

Vinod Pandita

"Ratna Cafe is located at Triplicane High road. This place was on my bucket list for a long time. We ordered sambar idly, ghee pongal and filter..."

Sonu

"One of the best vegetarian meal i have ever had in chennai.I would say this will be in top 5.It was a complete meal!Veg briyani was..."

Ganesh

"Ok, after a long await I got an oppurtunity to visit this place.Early morning on a pleasant day i drive to marina beach and ratna cafe. Swiggy..."

Aa Harem | ആ ഹരം

"As you all already know, sambhar idly in this place is LOVE 😋🤤 We also tried their pongal and mini breakfast. Both were good.Special..."

Lenin

"They serve you with authentic South Indian Breakfast. Ratna Cafe is famous for its Sambar Idly, where your plate will be filled with full of Sambar..."

Siva Kumar|Panda🐼

"We went here for breakfast after visiting the Parthasarathi temple. On entering the hotel you can see this place is local's favourite. One can see..."

Sathya Narayanan

"Woahh!! The legendary restaurant really had legendary idli sambar and the filter coffee was so strong ,u can't get rid of the taste of it so..."

Sadhana Macha

"What can I say... The malli poo idli, the endless mugs of sambar dripping with delight all over the plate, the pongal, the dosas... My only pain..."

Aarthi

"This is a legendary outlet in Chennai. They serve predominantly South Indian items but the real highlight of this hotel is their Sambar, it’s what..."

Mithilesh Mahesh

"The BEST place for Sambar and Idly. People who don't like sambar with idly might change their minds after eating here. It's the only place where idly..."

The Food Ninja

"Sambar was authentic, which I've never tasted before in my life. Can't believe they're giving only 2 idlis for such cost. Anyway, for the taste of..."

Vishal Devanand

"Sambar Idly - must must try ❤️ That Orange and White chutney is very Yum .. If you try with one set of Sambar idly that taste will make you to..."

Hasnul Banna

"One of the very old and famous vegetarian hotel located in triplicane. It's very famous for their sambar. The old style ambience and food taste was..."

Venkatesh J

"Ratna Cafe is a popular vegetarian restaurant located in the Mylapore area of Chennai. I found the ghee roast to be amazing. The porotta veg curry..."

Mr & Mrs Kottaram

"Staff serves you like a home / your mom Loved all the dishes I tasted Idly dosa Vada and sambar what to say about the master piece. Coffee was..."

Pawan Gangwani

"The Sambhar Idly at this establishment is truly exceptional. While many draw comparisons with the Welcome Hotel, asserting its superiority, I..."

Mahinthan So (MAHI)

"The Sambar was overated but it stands for that word. The taste was very good. Must try veg tiffin spot. Bucket list done..."

Sri Santhosh Natarajan

"My take, much of a hype in YouTube. Though good, there wasn't a wow moment. Located at busy junction. No parking area either for 4 wheelers. It has..."

Abhijith Surendran

"In Love with the Place. I stayed in Chennai for 3 days, out of which I visited 2 diff branches of Ratna Cafe on 2 days and none of them failed to..."

Sai Ram Nikhil Ravuri

"Its famous for sambar and idly. The Samar is the trade dish here. Tiffin is good and poratta and dosai have different taste. Try atleast once for..."

raja singam

"Vada?, Yes.. best Vada i have ever tasted. Perfect consistency, crispy, tasty. Parking at this place would be a pain, But get in there and have the..."

Soorya 99

"One special thing about this place is for one single idly you ask for one bucket sambar. They keep on refilling your plate with sambar. And coffee..."

Manu Srinivas

"A very old iconic cafe . Most well known for its Sambhar Idli ( basically Idli served with loads and loads of Sambhar on top of it . As you eat the..."

Niranjan Shenoy

"One of the best sambar and idli ever had. Great food with awsome service. The ambience is a bit noisy and weared out. The sweets they serve are also..."

Sanu _

"Most authentic idlis! Simple and yummy food. No complications! Love their dishes and it’s a must visit place when in Chennai. Ambience can be a bit..."

Mandar

"2-3 km away from the Chennai railway station. It is famous for idly Sambhar, other dishes are also available. They are serving food since so long..."

Rishabh Singh (Rishu1707)

"Best vegetarian hotel. One of the oldest hotels in chennai. Neat Ambience and quite high..."

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Cafe cuisine: the best places to taste it in Chennai (Madras)

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