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The best Banana Leaf Meals (Sappadu) in Chennai

Also spelt sappadu, saapadu, veg meals and banana leaf lunch. A curated shortlist, shaped by your votes.

Editorial picks

Selected from published food guides and local reporting. How the list works

  1. Number 1.Amaravathi (Cathedral Road)

    Gopalapuram Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    Opens at noon; lunch meals from then
    Where
    1 Arthasarathy Puram, Cathedral Road, opposite the Music Academy, Gopalapuram, Chennai 600086

    The vegetarian Andhra meal is the thing to order, eaten with gongura pickle and a spoon of ghee. Doors open at noon. The dining rooms are shabby and cramped, so come for the food.

    What to orderVegetarian Andhra meals

    0 votes

  2. Number 2.Anandam, Hotel Maris (Cathedral Road)

    Cathedral Road, Gopalapuram Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    6am to 10pm; leaf meals from about noon
    Where
    Hotel Maris, 11 Cathedral Road, near the Music Academy, Gopalapuram, Chennai 600086

    Ask for the lunch leaf meal and start the rice with vatha kuzhambu. Service begins around noon and the room fills with office crowds by one, so get there early.

    What to orderLunch leaf meals with vatha kuzhambu

    0 votes

  3. Number 3.Nair Mess (Chepauk)

    Chepauk, Triplicane Triplicane & Marina

    Open
    Opens 11.30am, lunch until the food runs out
    Where
    22 Mohammed Abdullah 2nd Street, opposite Chepauk Stadium, Triplicane, Chennai 600005

    Rice, rasam and a vanjaram fry, in that order, off the leaf. Understand what this is, a Malayali mess, so the meal runs on fish rather than kuzhambu and kootu. Lunch goes early.

    What to orderRice and rasam with vanjaram fry

    0 votes

  4. National Lodge (Sowcarpet)

    Sowcarpet Sowcarpet & George Town

    Open
    11am to 3.30pm and 7pm to 10pm, shut Sundays
    Where
    112 Govindappa Naicken Street, Sowcarpet, near Broadway bus stand, Chennai 600079

    Order the unlimited Andhra meal and pay attention to the paruppu podi, which is the reason people come back. Sundays are shut, and the lunch rush after one is punishing, so arrive by half past twelve.

    What to orderUnlimited Andhra meals

    0 votes

  5. Rajabhogam (Sunambu Kolathur)

    Sunambu Kolathur, off the 200 ft radial road Purasawalkam & Kilpauk

    Open
    8am to 11.30pm daily
    Where
    Plot 388/10A, Sunambu Kolathur, 200 ft Pallavaram to Thoraipakkam Radial Road, Chennai 600129

    The veg virundhu at about 189 rupees is the sensible order. The seventy six item leaf is a spectacle and half of it arrives cold. It sits far south on the radial road, so allow for the drive.

    What to orderVeg virundhu

    0 votes

  6. Velu Military Hotel (Nungambakkam)

    Nungambakkam T Nagar & Nungambakkam

    Where
    59 Valluvar Kottam High Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai 600034

    Rice lands on the leaf first, then the tray of curries, and the mutton kola urundai is the one to take with it. Nobody publishes reliable timings, so telephone before travelling, and expect shared tables.

    What to orderLeaf meals with mutton kola urundai

    0 votes

  7. Prems Graama Bhojanam

    Adyar Adyar & Besant Nagar

    Open
    12-3pm and 7-10pm, daily
    Where
    23/10, 3rd Main Road, Kasturba Nagar, off Sardar Patel Road, Adyar, Chennai 600020

    Take the meals with kootu and thogayal, and eat it as it comes. One warning, the rice is millet rather than paddy, so this is a lighter, plainer sappadu than the leaf usually promises.

    What to orderMillet meals

    0 votes

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