WE can’t indulge in burgers, pizzas and calamari fries on a daily basis. We soon invariably return to the tried and tested flavours of meals and variety rice. So, a place I recommend for vegetarian fare in Nungambakkam is Renuga Bhavan.
The restaurant is always crowded but you will surely get a chair in a few minutes. Because it’s mostly not families that patron here, but strangers who share tables and hurriedly finish off their lunch as if it were a mission to be completed. A middle-aged man who was alike the proprietor, stopped me like a traffic police at the entrance.
After two minutes he pointed to a vacant seat in a corner and requested the men at the table to leave soon.
There were no conversations. The menu is written on a board high up and people simply say “meals or parathas or chapatti”. I gestured for meals and soon a large stainless steel plate lined with a banana leaf and half a dozen katories reached my table. The heaped Ponni rice was steaming hot and covered with an appalam. The dhal, too yellowish, made me skeptic about its taste. But it had the aroma of fresh ghee and I loved the way it blended with the rice. Next, sambar had circularly cut radish and small onions, which were crunchy and luckily not gooey like in most other places.
The vathal kozhumbu had a nice sweet flavour and the rasam was tangy, as expected.
The taste of side dishes was however a disappointment. The cabbage poriyal was so full of ginger juice and even the usual grated coconut and dry chilli garnish were missing. The snake gourd and lentil kootu was so smashed that it tasted like some kind of a vegetable batter! The sooji payasam was mild and nice, though devoid of cashews or raisins. And last but not the least, the thickly set curd was just perfect for the meal.
Watching a petite North Indian man devouring layered parathas, I also ordered for a plate and finished them in a few minutes. As usual, I was the only lady present in this 24-hrs restaurant and waited in queue to pay the bill.
The proprietor summoned me first and I greatly appreciate him for this.
Avg cost for two: Rs 80 Renuga Bhavan, Nungambakkam, Opp Hotel Palm grove : - 2826 6699, Timings: 7 AM - 11 PM