CHENNAI:Namma ooru is often been perceived as a multi-cultural hub, yet sometimes it’s also written off as a ‘conservative city’. And, when it comes to food, Chennai has been constantly tagged as the ‘idly-dosa-curd rice’ place. Though we have taken it in our stride, many eating trends and patterns have emerged in the city in the last decade, showing the wide food palate of Chennaiites. Based on a Food consumption Survey (2016) by Swiggy, City Express finds out what Chennai likes to eat.
The survey highlighted an interesting trend in the eating patterns of Chennaiites. While they like their traditional dishes like idli, dosa and Pongal, they also love to order dishes like chicken fried rice. The survey also showed the snacking habits of Chennaiites, with chaats, sandwiches, shawarmas, momos, rolls and coffee being favourites. And the neighbourhoods that orders food often are OMR, Perungudi, Adyar and Alwarpet.
While south Indian cuisine continues to have a strong preference, the survey shows a change in the food palettes of Chennaiites. “As opposed to common perceptions, Chennaiites enjoy multi-cuisine food including South Indian, North Indian and fast food. They are increasingly ordering North Indian dishes like paneer butter masala and naan, as well as Chinese dishes like chicken fried rice,” says TS Srivats, VP, marketing, Swiggy.
Talking about the huge change, Saima Farheen, a city-based vlogger and blogger, opines that people are accepting newer cuisines and are not scared to venture and try something new. But, she adds, “It’s been a decade since Chennai has woken up to new cuisines but idli, vada, and dosa are still the comfort food…age no bar!”
Talking about the trend of ordering online and the price range, Srivats says that the price range of orders varies from which meal the
customer is ordering, to whether it’s a personal or group order. However, given the love for food among Chennaiites, there has been a
higher average order value in the city. “We have delivered a single order as high as `15,000 in Chennai,” he shares.
Biryani, butter naan, idli, paneer butter masala, and chicken fried rice emerged as all-time favourites. While, it was seen that Chennaiites satisfy their sweet cravings with sweet pongal, fresh fruit salad and double chocolate chip cookies. “Savory waffles are quite a hit with the college goers. A fillet-mignon was considered niche at one time. Now even lobster salad has become a part of regular Sunday brunches,” shares Saima.
With Sandy’s and LA’amandier offering all-day-breakfast menu, there is no rules as to what’s breakfast and dinner. “We had pizza for breakfast a few days ago and eggs Benedict for dinner!” she adds.
With street food becoming the easiest and ‘yummiest’ access to understanding one’s culture and history, we ask a few foodies who are regulars in food walks about what’s trending. “There are no specific trends in street food and it depends on ones palate, but vada pav, pani puri, muruku sandwich, jalebi, aloo-tikki, podi-dosa and road side malli-poo idli remain most of the foodies’ favourite. And it’s not just the youngsters who like to experiment, but elder people find a great deal of happiness and satisfaction in trying new eateries too,” shares Madhan Chandran, a 25-year-old.
While, 60-year-old Mugilan Raj enthusiastically says that he's glad to have different options now. “Until 10-15 years ago, we had very few multi-cuisine restaurants and I doubt the authenticity of taste. Things have changed now. I'm a lover of everything from Karaikudi to Italian. The amazing thing about the city…you have an option for every palate — from veg, non-veg, spicy, bland, healthy, vegan, sweet…you name it!” he grins.