Junior Kuppanna

Chennai (Madras)


From an impeccably clean kitchen (which you're welcome to tour) come limitless, flavour-packed lunchtime thalis, dished up traditional-style on banana leaves. This typical, frenzied Chennai 'mess' also has a full menu. Carnivores tiring of the pure-veg lifestyle can seek solace in specialities like mutton brains and pan-fried seer fish. Arrive early: it's incredibly popular. Branches across Chennai.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Chennai (Madras) attractions

1. Valluvar Kottam

0.55 MILES

This 1976 memorial honours the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar and his classic work, the 133-chapter Thirukural. Its most striking element is a 31m-high stone…

2. Thousand Lights Mosque

1.39 MILES

Chennai's main Shia mosque, built in 1810. Mostly useful as a landmark, as non-Muslims aren't allowed inside the buildings.

3. Government Museum

2 MILES

Housed across from the striking British-built Pantheon Complex, this excellent museum is Chennai’s best. The big highlight is building 3, the Bronze…

4. Luz Church

2.15 MILES

Styled with blue-and-white baroque elegance, pretty little palm-fringed Luz Church is Chennai's oldest European building, dating to 1516 – which also…

5. Little Mount Church

2.5 MILES

For part of his South Indian sojourn, St Thomas supposedly lived in hiding in a cave just south of the Adyar River. This grottolike space can be entered…

6. Sri Ramakrishna Math

2.63 MILES

The tranquil, flowery grounds of the Ramakrishna Math are a world away from Mylapore's chaos. Orange-robed monks glide around and there’s a reverential…

7. Wallajah Big Mosque

2.7 MILES

Built entirely of granite in 1795 by the Nawab of the Carnatic, and generally known simply as the Big Mosque.

8. Kapaleeshwarar Temple

2.71 MILES

Mylapore is one of Chennai's most characterful and traditional neighbourhoods; it predated colonial Madras by several centuries. Its Kapaleeshwarar Temple…