One spectacularly hot day, I was trying to get to a famous chapatti restaurant around the corner but they had just sold their last dough-frisbee. Forlorn and at the point of exhaustion, I turned a corner and spotted this hall. Walked in, not a single free space, however on the way in I noticed a small table outside, so I asked the waiter and he told me I could sit there. First off, a place to sit. Secondly, away from people.. this couldn't get any better. Or could it?

I ordered the regular banana leaf with some chicken curry on the side and sat watching the sad offerings at the temple across. Ten minutes later I was handed a freshly washed banana leaf and a pile of curries. A couple of minutes later my chicken curry came out fresh and steaming hot. I must have scarfed the whole thing down in 5 minutes flat, it was THAT food. Perfect flavours, heat, tang, salt levels. Everything was faultless, no wonder the place was so full when I arrived.

When smart people find old buildings and turn them into gorgeous restaurants, hire good cooks and front of house, this is what you end up with. Great sharing plates, awesome presentation, decent prices.

Try their cold brew Darjeeling First Flush tea! Bingo

Battling against the sweltering heat, pearls of sweat peeling off tanning skin, walking down dark alleyways until Madras Lane opens up like an oasis offering treats for the soul. Find the stall with the green bowls, order a curry laksa, pay the old lady grinning soul, occupy a chair of further intense heatspots, try to remain conscious whilst slurping down delicious broth and noodles and cockles and beans and all sorts of other hidden goodnesses. 

Wipe away sweat collecting above brow, replace sunglasses in victory proclamation, push plastic stool back into previous position, walk out into furnace and pray the AC was left on in the hotel room, buy a can of cold coffee and press it against your veins in a form of cooling repentance. 

For a second I thought I was headed to some new hipster Tamil place where the waiters would all have slick moustaches and tattoos. I quickly realised upon entering that it was just a funny name. The waiters did have moustaches, but they were not the hipster kind rolled in pomade. 

As the amber hued orb was placed in front of me a shot of fear paralysed me "This doesn't look that great, what have I done". Existential anxiety was quickly erased as I put the first crispy bite into my mouth, soaked in utterly spectacular sambar. Special mention to the red tomato chutney which was world class.

On my second visit I had the Chole Bhature, the samosa. Everything at this restaurant is TOP CLASS!!!

So highly recommended by the owner of Hyderabad Birjani House (amazing spot), I simply had to check it out. It took 3 attempts to actually get there, 2 of them destroyed by timing or incessant loud construction from the back of the kitchen. 

Dosa-wise, everything was generally good but there was this bizarre sweet-taste to the actual dosa. Perhaps it was the oil or ghee they cooked it in, but it left a lingering unease.