Street Food in Chennai

Street food in Chennai will be like your travel buddy as you go out and about the beautiful coastal city. Because whether you’re hanging out in Marina beach. Or walking along the pavements of the city’s many temples. You’ll always find a plate of bhajji or sundal sitting on a paper cone and cupped in your hands wherever you go. Basically, the best street food in Chennai will give you – and your taste buds – some much-needed company. The kind of company that you’ll soon be able to live without at any cost.

Now, speaking of company, that’s something you start craving for when you’re living away from your loved ones, don’t you? Yes. Though, given your constant stream of assignments and pending excel sheets, you may find yourself cooped in your room rather than going out and making new friends. So that’s exactly where we come in. We, at Stanza Living residences, are all about freeing up your time and helping you spend time with like-minded people. It’s why our residences cover all your daily household chores like cleaning your rooms, preparing regular meals, and taking care of your dirty laundry. So you can spend time with your co-residents in our unique common areas with widescreen televisions, foosball, and plenty of pool tables. And on top of that, we even organize fun games and activities on special occasions and curate live gigs with some of the best artists in the country. Basically, when you’re living with us, you’d never find yourself looking for company and things to do with them. And even if you do, we free enough of your time to go out with your new-found friends. But that’s not all, we even suggest things about the city that can help you make that time even more exciting. Like recommending the list of the best street food items that you’ll find in any Chennai food street. Now, please don’t forget to bookmark this page and note down these names carefully. As carefully as you’d make sure to demolish each and every piece of bhajji on your plate.

Best Street Food Items in Chennai

Top 15 street food dishes to try in Chennai:

• Idli
• Uthappam
• Dosa
• Thukpa
• Athouk
• Kothu Parotta
• Sundal
• Puttu
• Murukku
• Idiyappam
• Jigarthanda
• Kuzhi Paniyaram
• Boli
• Paani Puri
• Atho Man

Looking for a place with pool tables and yum cafe food? Just check out our residences in Chennai.

Idli

It is perhaps the most famous street food dish from South India. Its batter is made using black lentils and one or two spices in the mix. After the idlis take full form, they’re served hot with a sambar and a scrumptious coconut chutney. The chutney, which, deep down we all know, is the real star behind the mega success of idli and dosa.

Where to Try: Murugan Idly Shop

Uthappam

Uthappam is another superstar from the South Indian food scene. And for good reason. It’s a spiced up rice crust cooked with masala and vegetables like tomato, capsicum, and cabbage. In short, it’s like a South Indian pizza with plenty of Indian chatpata and one that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket. Just visit any Chennai food street and you’ll get in 50 rupees.

Where to Try: Sheena Bhai Tiffin Centre

Dosa

Ordering a dosa from any street food stall or restaurant is always fun. Firstly, because of the variety of fillings, you can choose from. And secondly, figuring out how to eat it given the number of different geometrical shapes it comes in. Now, we know most of you hated maths back in school, but trust us when we say this, devouring dosas is exactly the type of geometry you’d like to be involved in.

Where to Try: Dosart

Thukpa

Although Thukpa is a Tibetan import, it’s fairly popular in Chennai’s many street food areas. It’s basically noodles served in a scrumptious meat broth. Now, we don’t know about us, but this is gonna feel perfect to those people who have their Maggi with a bucketload of water. Though we promise you, thukpa is much richer than any soupy instant noodles out there.

Where to Try: Kailash Kitchen

Athouk

Athouk is a Burmese salad served with half-boiled eggs and a traditional soup called Mohinga. And of course, the best thanks you’ll find will be the ones served at the street food stalls in Burma Bazaar. Basically, the best street food in Chennai is not always Chennai street food.

Where to Try: Burma Bazaar

Kothu Parotta

Kothu Parotta is basically a shredded flatbread that is made of flour. It’s kinda like the North Indian Laccha paratha. So the next time your North Indian friend visits you and starts complaining about the extreme use of rice and coconut in Chennai cuisine, you can shut them up by shoving a piece of kothu parotta in their mouth and making them miss home a little less.

Where to Try: Maplai

Sundal

Sundal is a mixture of boiled chickpeas, onions, a couple of local spices and herbs, and topped with some shredded coconut. This is one of the exotic street foods that you’ll find local to Chennai. And sure, dosa and idli are pretty much fun, but when you’re gonna return to your hometown, you’d have something respectable to say when anyone asks you what’s the best street food in Chennai that you tried?. So there’s that.

Where to Try: Royal Sandwich

Puttu

Puttu is a local staple in every Chennai household. The dish is made from rice flour and coconut which are steamed inside special cylinders called puttu kutti vessels. And if you wanna try a puttu with an uncommon twist, just visit Ismail who makes puttu with black rice under the North Usman flyover. We promise, once you try that, you’re gonna save Ismail’s number on speed dial for all your late-night cravings.

Where to Try: Nair Mess

Murukku

If you’re in the mood to try a local snack while you’re bingeing on your favorite Netflix series, then look no further than Murukku. Though just to give you heads up, Murrukku might look like a Jalebi but it’s actually quite salty. Now, we know that the sound of salty jalebi might seem scary to some. But if ever there was evidence of the phrase Fortune favors the brave, it is the Murukku.

Where to Try: Ajanabi

Idiyappam

Idiyappam is another popular breakfast dish served in Chennai. It’s prepared like conventional noodles but instead of dough, it’s made using rice. Also, the dish is served with south Indian curry and coconut milk. In short, you’re gonna have as much fun eating Idiyappam as you have to pronounce its name lol.

Where to Try: Kaaarakudi

Jigarthanda

Jigarthanda is a popular drink you’ll find in Chennai. The refreshing local beverage is the South Indian cousin of North India’s lassi. So the next time you find yourself running around in the city’s scorching heat, just stop by a stall and gulp down a glass of Jigarthanda. Nothing’s gonna feel better than that.

Where to Try: Madurai Jigarthanda

Kuzhi Paniyaram

Kuzhi Paniyaram is basically the younger brother of idli. And with every younger sibling of a family, it’s spoiled with additional spices and has its way of taking everything that it wants to. Like taking permanent ownership of your taste buds. Not kidding.

Where to Try: Murugan Idli Shop

Boli

Another Sureshot member of this list of the best street food in Chennai is boli. For those who’ve never been to the south, boli is a stuffed sweet paratha filled with dal, jaggery, charoli, and raisins. One bite of it, and you’ll start banging your head to figure out whether you should consider Boli as a sweet dish or a savory one.

Where to Try: Mambalam Venkateswara Boli Stall

Paani Puri

You’ll be glad to know that paani puri is also one of the popular street food dishes served in the city. And unlike other parts of the country, the paani puri here is served with so much space that you’ll probably be requesting the server to add less tikha (spicy) instead of constantly begging them for more.

Where to Try: Chatpata Chaat House

Atho Man

Atho Man is another famous burmese dish that you’ll come across in any food street, in Chennai. The dish consists of orange noodles cooked with spices, veggies, and meat. Basically, this is the perfect alternative for non-vegetarians who keep complaining about eating idlis and uttapam all the time.

Where to Try: Atho Corner

Checkout Street Food in other Cities

Street Food in Mumbai	Street Food in Jaipur
Street Food in Bangalore

FAQs on Street Food in Chennai