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The best Ven Pongal with Vadai in Chennai

Also spelt venn pongal, khara pongal, ghee pongal and பொங்கல். A curated shortlist, shaped by your votes.

Editorial picks

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

  1. Number 1.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

    Ask for pongal with vadai and the thick getti chutney, eaten off a banana leaf. Get there by half past seven, because the pongal is often finished before nine and seating runs to sixteen.

    What to orderVen pongal with medhu vadai and getti chutney

    0 votes

  2. Number 2.Mylai Karpagambal Mess

    Mylapore Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    8am to 10pm, all week
    Where
    20 East Mada Street, opposite Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Mylapore, Chennai 600004

    Order nei pongal with a keerai vadai on the side, then a degree coffee. It sits right at the temple gate, so the queue after morning worship is long and the tables are cramped.

    What to orderNei pongal with keerai vadai

    0 votes

  3. Number 3.Ratna Cafe (Triplicane)

    Triplicane Triplicane & Marina

    Open
    7am to 10pm daily, idlis can run out at peak
    Where
    255, Triplicane High Road, Triplicane, Chennai 600005

    Pongal here arrives with sambar ladled from a jug and a medhu vadai alongside. Sambar idli is what most of the room orders, so say pongal clearly. Cramped, loud, and parking on the High Road is grim.

    What to orderPongal with medhu vadai and extra sambar

    0 votes

  4. Mami's Tiffin Stall

    Mylapore Mylapore & Alwarpet

    Open
    6.45am to 10pm daily; pongal is a morning item
    Where
    New No. 7 (old No. 4) Pitchupillai Street, Vinayaka Nagar Colony, Mylapore, Chennai 600004

    Pongal with ghee poured over it, and a thavala vadai if one is going. The old standing counter has become a small sit-down room, and pongal is cooked for the morning, so arrive before nine.

    What to orderGhee pongal with a vadai

    0 votes

  5. The Grand Sweets & Snacks

    Gandhi Nagar, Adyar Adyar & Besant Nagar

    Open
    Pongal at the tiffin counter, 6am to 11am
    Where
    24, 2nd Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, Chennai 600020

    Pongal and vadai are sold at the tiffin counter between six and eleven, and not afterwards. Sweets are billed separately at the other till. There is no real seating, so people eat standing or carry it home.

    What to orderMorning pongal with vadai from the tiffin counter

    0 votes

  6. Mathsya

    Egmore T Nagar & Nungambakkam

    Open
    7am to well past midnight
    Where
    1 Halls Road, Egmore, Chennai 600008

    Pongal with sambar and tomato chutney, then rava kesari if there is room. This is a sit-down Udupi dining room rather than a stall, so a plate costs roughly twice what a mess charges.

    What to orderPongal-sambar with tomato chutney

    0 votes

  7. Welcome Hotel

    Purasawalkam Purasawalkam & Kilpauk

    Open
    6am to 10pm daily
    Where
    112/241 Purasawalkam High Road, Purasawalkam, Chennai 600007

    Ghee pongal with chutney and sambar, much of it packed to go for the silk shops on the High Road. It opens at six and runs to ten at night, but pongal is a morning dish, so come early.

    What to orderGhee pongal with chutney and sambar

    0 votes

  8. Geetham Veg Restaurant

    Velachery Velachery & Guindy

    Open
    6am to midnight daily
    Where
    51 Ganapathy Nagar, 150 Feet Bypass Road, Velachery, Chennai 600042

    Pongal-vadai with vadacurry is the order, taken with filter coffee. Reviews from the last two years say standards have slipped from what they were, so keep expectations level and ignore the north Indian half of the menu.

    What to orderPongal-vadai with vadacurry

    0 votes

  9. Sri Venkateshwara Hotel

    Mogappair West Anna Nagar

    Open
    Opens 7am, closes about 10pm; vada curry mornings
    Where
    3/PC-6 Kambar Salai, Mogappair West, Chennai 600037

    Venn pongal with sambar and a crisp vadai, plus the vada curry that only comes out in the morning. It sits out west near Nolambur, which is a long drive from the centre for one plate.

    What to orderVenn pongal with vadai and vada curry

    0 votes

  10. Sapthagiri Tiffin Centre

    T Nagar T Nagar & Nungambakkam

    Open
    Mornings from about 7.30am, done by midday
    Where
    15/2 Dheena Dayalu Street, T Nagar, Chennai 600017

    Ven pongal with vadai from a vegetarian tiffin room whose menu also runs to Chinese and paneer dosas; stay with the tiffin side. Mornings from about half seven are the sitting that counts, and you will wait for a table.

    What to orderVen pongal with vadai

    0 votes

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