Know Your City: From Bombay-style bhel puris to hot crispy jalebis, don’t miss these five snack points in Chennai

Customers gather outside Mehta Bros for some snacks.

Mehta Bros

Located somewhat in the middle of the street, a few youths can be seen huddled in a tiny shop, packing hot vada pavs, crunchy samosas and bread pakodas along with owner Bhavin Mehta. The youths take turns to make the batter, deep fry the pakodas in fresh oil and then serve it with the pav. There is always a queue of hungry customers outside the outlet.

Bombay-styled Vada Pavs by Mehta Bros.

Since being opened in 1999, the snacks at this shop have always been a favourite among city dwellers. “We got the idea to start the snack point when we had a cook come over to our place from Chennai every Diwali. He used to make amazing vada pavs. He taught us this recipe and we started making our own,” says Bhavin. Mehta Bros started selling their snacks for Rs 5 per plate and now it is priced at Rs 25 per plate.

Mansukh Lal Mithai Wala

Located adjacent to the iconic Ekambareshwar Temple, Mansukh Lal Mithai Wala offers the yummiest bhel puris in town on Sunday evenings. At least 50 customers can be seen outside the mithai shop every Sunday evening between 4 pm and 6 pm. Miss the two-hour window and you may not get your share of the savoury snack!

“My uncle started selling bhel puris in the 1970s. He replicated the one we get in Bombay and I learnt the recipe from him to carry the tradition forward. Back then, he sold a plate for Rs 2, now it costs Rs 50,” says owner Kinzal Sukhadia.

Stating that all the ingredients for his bhel puri are made from scratch, Sukhadia adds, “Since we focus on the quality of our dish, we are only able to cater to a few. After the pandemic, we have even started selling bhel puris on Saturdays and Fridays. Not many are aware of this, so most of our sales still happen on Sundays.”

Kakada Ramprasad

How about some hot jalebis right out of the kadai? Kakada Ramprasad on Mint Street offers flavourful jalebis in the mornings and evenings. Known for serving fresh sweets and savouries, the store’s allure is such that one can’t walk past it without catching a tempting whiff of the deep-fried snack coated in sugar syrup that makes you crave an immediate bite.

Among the group of eager customers queued up outside, Krishnamurthy K T, a regular at the store, says, “They serve crisp and hot jalebis, just out of the tawa. We pick up their sweets on a regular basis and they never fail to disappoint us.”

Meena Mithai Mandir

Looking for eggless birthday cakes, assorted cupcakes or other Jain snacks? Meena Mithai Mandir has them all. Their best-selling cakes include chocolate truffle, vanilla, butterscotch and black forest. They also offer cake pops for kids and assorted six-flavour cupcakes at throwaway prices. “We started our business in eggless cakes 18 years ago. Until then we focused only on savouries. Since we are based out of Sowcarpet and eggless cakes were in high demand in the locality, we ventured into this,” explains Mahesh, the owner of the outlet.

Irish Coffee Eggless Cake on display at Meena Mithai Mandir. The outlet only bakes eggless products.

The store will celebrate its 50th year in 2023. “We started off as a small shop on Mint Street 49 years ago, now we have an airconditioned bigger outlet just a few metres from our old store. We customise eggless cakes for celebrations and sell pastries, cake pops, brownies, assorted cupcakes and more,” he adds. Underlining that customers’ trust is of prime importance in the business, Mahesh says, “Our customers need not worry about the authenticity of our bakery products because we do not make cakes that contain egg.”

Novelty Tea House

Started by the late Chandrakant Moolchand Shah, Novelty Tea house was just a tea stall back in 1958. Over the decades, it gradually turned into a landmark on Mint Street.

Known for their pav bhajis and pudina dosas, Novelty offers a total of 250 dishes at its outlets. Currently it has four branches in the city with the parent branch based out of Mint Street. The outlet is owned and managed by the father-son duo Jitendra C Shah and Rushit J Shah.

Pav Bhajis made by Novelty Tea House in Sowcarpet.

“We often visit Novelty all the way from the outskirts of the city for their pav bhajis. They are made in a separate counter away from the kitchen, maybe to highlight the fact that they are specialists in pav bhajis,” says K Bhavani as she bites into a warm piece of the soft bread roll dipped in thick, vegetable curry.

“The heady aroma of the bhaji they make here spreads across a radius of at least 200 metres, attracting shoppers and residents on Mint Street,” she adds.