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The best Filter Coffee in Chennai

Also spelt filter kaapi, filter kaffi, kaapi and by two coffee. A curated shortlist, shaped by your votes.

Editorial picks

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

  1. Number 1.Mylai Sri Karpagambal Mess

    Mylapore, East Mada Street Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    7.30am to 10pm daily, coffee from opening
    Where
    20, East Mada Street, Mylapore, Chennai 600004 (opposite Kapaleeshwarar Temple tank)

    Order the kaapi with a keerai vadai and drink it standing if the benches are full. Between seven and nine the temple crowd fills the room, so come earlier.

    What to orderFilter kaapi with keerai vadai

    0 votes

  2. Number 2.Rayar's Mess

    Mylapore Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    7 to 10.30am, then 3 to 6.30pm
    Where
    31 Arundale Street, off Kutchery Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600004

    Kaapi here follows idli with kara chutney, and the room holds about a dozen people. Get there by nine, because morning service stops at ten and the pongal goes first.

    What to orderFilter kaapi with idli

    0 votes

  3. Number 3.Vijayaram's Coffee Company

    T Nagar, South Usman Road T Nagar & Nungambakkam

    Open
    6am to 9pm
    Where
    New No. 37 (Old 17), South Usman Road, T Nagar, Chennai 600017 (opposite the T Nagar bus stand)

    Coffee arrives in a chocolate lined biscuit cup, which sounds like a gimmick and is not. About five people fit inside, so you will drink yours on the Usman Road pavement.

    What to orderFilter coffee in the edible biscuit cup

    0 votes

  4. Mami Tiffen Stall

    Mylapore, Pitchupillai Street Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    7am to 10pm, all days
    Where
    New No. 7 (Old No. 4), Pitchupillai Street, Mylapore, Chennai 600004

    Ask for kaapi with a ghee dosai; the Vivekananda decoction is what you came for. No seating, self service, and tucked down a lane, so use a map and expect to stand.

    What to orderFilter kaapi with ghee dosai

    0 votes

  5. New Woodlands Hotel (Krishna

    Mylapore, Dr Radhakrishnan Salai Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    7am to 10:30pm daily
    Where
    72-75, Dr Radhakrishnan Salai, CIT Colony, Mylapore, Chennai 600004

    Coffee comes in a cup rather than a tumbler and davara, which purists grumble about. Have it with a bonda on the lawn. Ring ahead, since restaurant hours here shift.

    What to orderFilter coffee with bonda

    0 votes

  6. Ratna Cafe (Triplicane, the original)

    Triplicane Triplicane & Marina

    Open
    7am to 10pm daily
    Where
    255, Triplicane High Road, Triplicane, Chennai 600005

    Sambar idli with coffee is the standing order, and the sambar will mark your shirt. Several branches use the name, so specify Triplicane High Road to the driver.

    What to orderFilter coffee with sambar idli

    0 votes

  7. Geetha Cafe

    T Nagar, Pondy Bazaar T Nagar & Nungambakkam

    Open
    From 7am to about 10.30pm, daily
    Where
    88, Pondy Bazaar, Sir Thyagaraya Road, T Nagar, Chennai 600017 (near Ratna Stores)

    Coffee after a masala dosa is the order, in a room little changed since 1954. Driving to Pondy Bazaar is a mistake; park near Panagal Park and walk the last stretch.

    What to orderFilter coffee after a masala dosa

    0 votes

  8. Mathsya (Egmore, Halls Road)

    Egmore T Nagar & Nungambakkam

    Open
    7am to 2.30am, per the restaurant
    Where
    1, Halls Road, Egmore, Chennai 600008

    Udupi kitchens set the coffee standard in this city, and this one buys single estate Chikmagalur beans. Take coffee with a bonda; ignore the continental half of the menu.

    What to orderFilter coffee with bonda

    0 votes

  9. Tiffin Shastra

    Anna Nagar West Anna Nagar

    Open
    7am to midnight daily
    Where
    995A/5, 2nd Avenue at 11th Main Road, Anna Nagar West, Chennai 600040

    Coffee here carries no chicory, so it reads cleaner and less bitter than the city standard. Take it with bun butter jam. Benches and standing counters only, so eat quickly.

    What to orderChicory-free filter coffee with bun butter jam

    0 votes

  10. Hot Chips (Velachery, Taramani Link Road)

    Velachery, Baby Nagar Velachery & Guindy

    Open
    10am to 9pm daily
    Where
    3, Taramani Link Road, Baby Nagar, Velachery, Chennai 600042

    A snack shop that pulls stronger coffee than its chaat counter suggests. Order at the till, take it with idlis, and accept the noise, shared tables and clanging steel.

    What to orderFilter coffee with a plate of idlis

    0 votes

  11. Vishranthi

    Besant Nagar, 2nd Avenue Adyar & Besant Nagar

    Open
    6am to 10 or 11pm, all days
    Where
    Besant Nagar 2nd Avenue, GOCHS Colony, Besant Nagar, Chennai 600090 (near Elliot's Beach)

    Beach walkers come at six for coffee and a plate of pongal, which is how to use this place. By nine the queue reaches the door and tables turn fast.

    What to orderFilter coffee with ghee pongal

    0 votes

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