CHENNAI: If you are in a quest to find the perfect bowl of crab soup or meen kuzhambu at a reasonable price, head to Kuppathu Meen Kuzhambu mess, a local seafood eatery in Mylapore. Located in Kailasapuram, a lane off the Radhakrishnan Salai stretch (towards Marina beach), the eatery has been creating news for all the right reasons.
Sathish Kumar, owner, greets us and serves a bowl of piping hot crab soup. “Everything is hot and fresh, done in kuppam style,” he says. The crab soup is probably one of the best that we’ve tasted and Sathish beams with pride. “We get the mud crabs from Pazhavanthangal. Every single dish is prepared from fresh produce,” he shares.
The crab soup is usually served as a welcome drink-cum-appetizer or along with their famous `75 meal which comprises a fish piece, fish curry, rice, meen kuzhambu/ karuvattu kuzhambu, sambar, rasam, buttermilk and pickle.
Born and brought up in Nadukuppam, Sathish grew up around different kinds of fish and fish produce. “My father was a fisherman and I was always into this. But, I stepped into supplying fish to different hotels including the famous Ponnusamy Hotel. We used to set up food and fish stalls during World Fisheries Day and everyone loved our food. My friends suggested that we start a mess/restaurant,” he shares.
His wife Subhachitra, a former kindergarten teacher, came on board as the head chef of the mess. “We have been married for two decades now. We have supported each other in our journey, this was yet another step. She wasn’t into cooking until we got married. She learned a lot of dishes from my mother, who makes the best meen kuzhambu. She used to sell fish in the Nadukuppam market,” he says.
Subhachitra who’s busy making crab masala, nods her head in agreement and says, “After I tasted my mother-in-law’s meen kuzhambu, I didn’t feel like eating it anywhere else. The taste and kaipakkuvam is unmatched. That’s when I began learning all her dishes and recipes. She’s the food consultant for our restaurant.”
The preparation starts at 7 am every day and the food counter opens by 11.30 am. “I have two kitchen staff who help me but otherwise I handle everything. I love the kitchen,” she adds. Subhachitra quit her job to look after her children; cooking is her new calling.
She opens the lid of a vessel and the aroma of freshly made meen kuzhambu fills the air. “All the ingredients are dried, handground to make the kuzhambu. It’s our speciality,” she says.
People throng the restaurant during lunch hour. “People from the DGP office, and the nearby colleges come here on a daily basis. Since our food is delicious and affordable, even the conservancy workers and cleaners who work on this road, eat here,” shares Sathish.
From the kovalam Vanjaram, paarai meen, fresh prawns to squid, the restaurant serves it all but it depends on the catch of the day. “Since it’s all made from fresh produce, the dishes are decided based on what is available. I get it all from different parts of the city, but mainly from Kasimedu. I go there every morning at 3.30 to purchase,” he says.
The four-month-old eatery is filled with customers through the day. Sathish says, “We had a family from Malaysia who ate here. They’ve told us that they’ll come once every three months. There was another person who came all the way from Bengaluru to just taste our food. He loved the food
so much so that he tipped all the staff `500!”
Ask them about their plans on expanding the business and they say, “The response has been overwhelming. People love our food and we would like to make the space bigger. But currently, we are focused on maintaining our standards. The smile on their face after the meal matters the most.”
(Kuppathu Meenkuzhambu mess is located at Kamarajar salai, Kailasapuram, Mylapore. For further details, contact: +91 8608002221)