The best Meen Kuzhambu with Fish Fry in Chennai
Also spelt fish curry, meen kulambu, மீன் குழம்பு and vanjaram fry. A curated shortlist, shaped by your votes.
Editorial picks
Selected from published food guides and local reporting. How the list works
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Number 1.Sundari Akka Kadai (Marina Beach)
- Open
- About 12.30pm to 9.30pm daily
- Where
- Shop 134, beach side of Kamarajar Salai near the Marina swimming pool and MGR Memorial, Triplicane, Chennai 600005
A plate of rice, meen kuzhambu and a fried slab of vanjaram is the point. Come by one o'clock; the good cuts go first and there is no seating beyond a few plastic stools.
What to orderFish curry meals with a vanjaram fry on the side
0 votes
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Number 2.Velu Military Hotel (Eldams Road)
- Open
- 11am to 11pm daily
- Where
- 131 Eldams Road, opposite the TVS showroom, Teynampet, Chennai 600018
The founder is said to have checked the fish gravy by its smell from the street, and the kuzhambu is still why people come. Carry cash, and note the branches are not the same.
What to orderMeen kuzhambu with rice, plus the nethili fry
0 votes
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Number 3.Nair Mess (Chepauk)
- Open
- Opens 11.30am, lunch until the food runs out
- Where
- 22 Mohammed Abdullah 2nd Street, opposite Chepauk Stadium, Triplicane, Chennai 600005
Order the vanjaram fry alongside the meals and let them ladle extra curry over the rice. Lunch is the real service; the kitchen shuts by three and Sunday evenings are dead.
What to orderVanjaram fish fry with the fish curry meals
0 votes
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Madurai Kullappa Mess (T Nagar)
- Open
- Noon to 11pm daily
- Where
- Door No. 53 (old 30), Sir Thyagaraya Road, T Nagar, Chennai 600017
Southern Tamil Nadu cooking done properly: the netheli fry is worth a plate on any day, but the ayira meen kuzhambu runs on Sundays only, so a weekday trip will miss it.
What to orderSunday ayira meen kuzhambu, otherwise netheli fry with the non-veg meals
0 votes
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Meen Satti (Ekkattuthangal)
- Open
- 11am to 11pm daily
- Where
- 7A Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Ambal Nagar, Ekkattuthangal, Chennai 600032
Everything arrives in clay pots, and the tamarind fish-head kuzhambu is the one to order with rice. It began as a delivery brand, so the room is plain and small; book ahead at weekends.
What to orderClay-pot meen kuzhambu with the fish-head curry and a varuval
0 votes
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Naga's Mess (Loop Road)
- Open
- Noon to about 10pm daily, cooking from 11am
- Where
- Loop Road, Pattinapakkam, near Santhome, Chennai 600028
Kavitha and Suresh buy at Kasimedu at dawn, so ask what came in today and take the sura puttu with the curry meal. Weekend lunch queues spill onto Loop Road.
What to orderMeen kuzhambu meals with sura puttu and nethili fry
0 votes
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Thoondil The Family Restaurant (ECR)
- Open
- Noon to 11pm daily
- Where
- 19A East Coast Road, J Nagar, Panaiyur, Chennai 600119
Worth the ECR drive for the nethili, fried thin and crisp rather than heavy, with fish curry and rice after. Parking is on the highway shoulder, so evening arrivals should take care.
What to orderNethili fry with fish curry and rice
0 votes
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Erode Amman Mess (Anna Nagar)
- Open
- 11.45am to 4pm, 6.45pm to 11pm daily
- Where
- 96, AA Block 1st Street, Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai 600040
Kongunadu cooking rather than coastal, but the vanjaram tawa fry holds up and fish kuzhambu comes with the meals. It fills up after one o'clock; the biryani here is beside the point.
What to orderVanjaram tawa fry with the non-veg meals
0 votes
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Royapuram Meen Sappadu (Anna Nagar West)
- Open
- 12:30pm to 10:30pm daily
- Where
- 795, 1st Street, G Block, Anna Nagar West, Chennai 600040
North Chennai fish meals moved inland: rice, kuzhambu and a fry for about the price of a coffee and a snack. Ask before you sit, since the better fish goes by early afternoon.
What to orderFish meals with an extra fry
0 votes
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