Food walk is a famous concept in few parts of Chennai. One of the important Food walk place is in Parrys corner.. Mint Street. We recently went for a Food walk here.
Around 15 members joined together and started on a Saturday evening. We boarded the MRTS train from Velachery and reached Fort Station.
On landing at the Fort station, we started our work immediately (What else.. Lets take a Selfie Pulla !)
Mint street is about one kilo meter from Fort station; we walked slowly with lot of chatter through Govt medical college Mens hostel and Flower Bazzar police station and reached Mint street.
This is one of the largest roads in Asia ! It easily goes for a few kilo meter distance !
Mehta Bros Mithai Wala
The first shop we visited.. "Mehta Brothers Mithai Wala" is famous for Vada Pav.
Vada Pav is basically an Indian delicacy..contains potato dumplings/ bonda where the potatoes are boiled , mashed and sautéed on a tava with mustard seasoning, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves , turmeric and salt to taste. These are cooled and then made into lemon sized balls dipped in a batter made of Bengal gram dal/ Kadalai Mavu with a pinch of soda and salt and then deep fried. The hot bondas are ready to be served with a green chutney made of coriander, and garlic powder which together are stuffed inside a pav/ bun.
Friends really enjoyed Vada Pav very much.
Kakada Ramprasad
This is the only shop (among those we visited) which had a dining hall with AC. But the hall is full and a large number of people stand outside and ate, we were one among them.
We tasted Aloo Tikka, Badam Milk and Jilebi here.
Alu tikka is deep fried in ghee and made on a Tava. The tikkis then are cut into small pieces, with beaten curd poured on top of it and sprinkled with chaat Masala, jeera powder, dhania/ coriander powder , chilly powder, sweet chutney and garnished with little coriander and a big cube of fresh panneer/ cottage cheese. These are very delicious and filling !
Badam Milk was also pretty delicious !
A friend commented about Badam Milk like this" Milk and Almonds.. what a killer combo.. Best to have it in the morning before a run !" ( All are runners .. so running keep coming in our talks many times !)
Kakada Ramprasad is a must visit Shop in Mint street.. Don't miss it !
Lassi shop
This famous lassi shop is pretty close to Kakada Ramprasad. Its not a shop ! A man named Dinesh Soni (A gigantic man who is the owner) is standing in the streets. You need to approach him and order Lassi. He will call someone over phone and give orders.
Without much waiting, lassi comes in Big tumblers. (The owner had suggested us to take Half Tambler lassi, as he had sensed that we are on a food walk and cannot drink it fully). Half tumbler lassi is 70 rupees while the full tumbler is 140 rupees. Though looked costly, the taste is heavenly & it is worth the money.
Lassi is made out of thick curds , saffron and sugar which are stirred well and served in a tall glass with ice cubes.
I love Lassi always and will drink it sip by sip and will take pretty long time to finish it. (Want to prolong the happiness as much as possible.. ) Here the sweet surprise was the Milk Goa which you can taste in the Lassi as the finishing punch.
We took a selfie with him; I told the owner that it is one of the best Lassi I ever had. He felt very happy, raised both his hands towards the sky and said " All because of God !"
Agarwal Misthan Bandhar
This is the shop where we ate Pani Puri; Its a small shop; since we were in large number, we need to stand in queue to eat Pani Puri which was fun.
Ganesh Cool Bar
This is a small shop which sells sugar cane juice. Another famous shop, where people stand in large number.
Since we eat lot of sweets and walk a lot, we feel thirsty and having sugar cane juice helps to quench our thirst. Cost of the juice is just 12 rupees (with Ice) or 15 rupees (without ice)
Seena Bai Tiffian Center
We ate Kakra Sandwhich and Murukku Sandwhich here; both were very different items.
The making of this items itself was quite interesting and we were all standing and closely watching. They use Cheese and other costlier items very liberally !
Though it takes some time to prepare, these are very rare items and not to be missed out during the Food walk.
Podi Idli shop
Podi Idli is famous in Mint street and will be available in many shops. We ate it at the end in one of the small/ roadside shop. Drenched in gey, the Podi Idli was superb !
Some points to note:
* Week days evening will be very crowded and Sundays most of the shops will be closed. So Saturday evening is the best day for Food walk.
* Better to avoid going here in car. Difficult to park it as the streets are very congested. You need to park the car near High court and walk. Best method is to come in train, get down at Fort station and walk; Or you can catch an auto from Fort to Mint street; from there you can walk to the Food shops.
* It is not a very clean or beautiful street. Please keep it in mind; All kinds of vehicles will keep plying and we have to walk in between them.
* Need to share the food; we cannot eat it fully. Only then we can visit many shops
* Do not go alone or with a very few persons. Please go with friends or family of atleast 5-10; That helps to share the food and also for more fun
To conclude...
# The people who went there in this food walk were not very close friends. They know each other for a short span only (Many are new to Vibrant Velachery ie: One or two years; me. ..three months !) Still every one shared the food in the same plate without any hesitation which was cool.
# The cost per person including travel/ water/ food was less than 200 per person. We ate so many varieties of food and had unlimited fun !
If things go well, we may even go for a similar Non veg (Athos) food walk !
On landing at the Fort station, we started our work immediately (What else.. Lets take a Selfie Pulla !)
Mint street is about one kilo meter from Fort station; we walked slowly with lot of chatter through Govt medical college Mens hostel and Flower Bazzar police station and reached Mint street.
This is one of the largest roads in Asia ! It easily goes for a few kilo meter distance !
Mehta Bros Mithai Wala
The first shop we visited.. "Mehta Brothers Mithai Wala" is famous for Vada Pav.
Vada Pav is basically an Indian delicacy..contains potato dumplings/ bonda where the potatoes are boiled , mashed and sautéed on a tava with mustard seasoning, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves , turmeric and salt to taste. These are cooled and then made into lemon sized balls dipped in a batter made of Bengal gram dal/ Kadalai Mavu with a pinch of soda and salt and then deep fried. The hot bondas are ready to be served with a green chutney made of coriander, and garlic powder which together are stuffed inside a pav/ bun.
Friends really enjoyed Vada Pav very much.
Kakada Ramprasad
This is the only shop (among those we visited) which had a dining hall with AC. But the hall is full and a large number of people stand outside and ate, we were one among them.
We tasted Aloo Tikka, Badam Milk and Jilebi here.
Alu tikka is deep fried in ghee and made on a Tava. The tikkis then are cut into small pieces, with beaten curd poured on top of it and sprinkled with chaat Masala, jeera powder, dhania/ coriander powder , chilly powder, sweet chutney and garnished with little coriander and a big cube of fresh panneer/ cottage cheese. These are very delicious and filling !
Badam Milk was also pretty delicious !
A friend commented about Badam Milk like this" Milk and Almonds.. what a killer combo.. Best to have it in the morning before a run !" ( All are runners .. so running keep coming in our talks many times !)
Kakada Ramprasad is a must visit Shop in Mint street.. Don't miss it !
Lassi shop
This famous lassi shop is pretty close to Kakada Ramprasad. Its not a shop ! A man named Dinesh Soni (A gigantic man who is the owner) is standing in the streets. You need to approach him and order Lassi. He will call someone over phone and give orders.
Without much waiting, lassi comes in Big tumblers. (The owner had suggested us to take Half Tambler lassi, as he had sensed that we are on a food walk and cannot drink it fully). Half tumbler lassi is 70 rupees while the full tumbler is 140 rupees. Though looked costly, the taste is heavenly & it is worth the money.
Lassi is made out of thick curds , saffron and sugar which are stirred well and served in a tall glass with ice cubes.
I love Lassi always and will drink it sip by sip and will take pretty long time to finish it. (Want to prolong the happiness as much as possible.. ) Here the sweet surprise was the Milk Goa which you can taste in the Lassi as the finishing punch.
We took a selfie with him; I told the owner that it is one of the best Lassi I ever had. He felt very happy, raised both his hands towards the sky and said " All because of God !"
Agarwal Misthan Bandhar
This is the shop where we ate Pani Puri; Its a small shop; since we were in large number, we need to stand in queue to eat Pani Puri which was fun.
Ganesh Cool Bar
This is a small shop which sells sugar cane juice. Another famous shop, where people stand in large number.
Since we eat lot of sweets and walk a lot, we feel thirsty and having sugar cane juice helps to quench our thirst. Cost of the juice is just 12 rupees (with Ice) or 15 rupees (without ice)
Seena Bai Tiffian Center
We ate Kakra Sandwhich and Murukku Sandwhich here; both were very different items.
The making of this items itself was quite interesting and we were all standing and closely watching. They use Cheese and other costlier items very liberally !
Though it takes some time to prepare, these are very rare items and not to be missed out during the Food walk.
Podi Idli shop
Podi Idli is famous in Mint street and will be available in many shops. We ate it at the end in one of the small/ roadside shop. Drenched in gey, the Podi Idli was superb !
Some points to note:
* Week days evening will be very crowded and Sundays most of the shops will be closed. So Saturday evening is the best day for Food walk.
* Better to avoid going here in car. Difficult to park it as the streets are very congested. You need to park the car near High court and walk. Best method is to come in train, get down at Fort station and walk; Or you can catch an auto from Fort to Mint street; from there you can walk to the Food shops.
* It is not a very clean or beautiful street. Please keep it in mind; All kinds of vehicles will keep plying and we have to walk in between them.
* Do not go alone or with a very few persons. Please go with friends or family of atleast 5-10; That helps to share the food and also for more fun
To conclude...
# The people who went there in this food walk were not very close friends. They know each other for a short span only (Many are new to Vibrant Velachery ie: One or two years; me. ..three months !) Still every one shared the food in the same plate without any hesitation which was cool.
# The cost per person including travel/ water/ food was less than 200 per person. We ate so many varieties of food and had unlimited fun !
If things go well, we may even go for a similar Non veg (Athos) food walk !
