Madurai Musings

A City Where Small Eateries Are a Big Draw.

J. Chacko

My first visit to Madurai, Tamil Nadu was in 1980.  It is one of the oldest cities of India

with a great historical past and with many legends associated with it.  The famous

Madurai Meenakshi Temple makes it a great pilgrim and tourist centre.  There are

other historical sites like the massive TirumalaiNayakarPalace worth seeing.

My brief visit in 1980 was essentially as a tourist and we dropped in at a small restaurant,

just outside the TirumalaiNayakarPalace for some coffee and snacks. I do not even

remember the name of this eatery, but the Masala Dosa there was the best we ever

had anywhere.  Since we were staying with a relation, we had no other outside food.

My next visit to this City was after a long gap of 19 years in 1999 and thereafter till 2004

I used to visit Madurai once in a while, on official work.  It was during this period that I

came to know about the legendary small eateries of Madurai dishing out heavenly food.

The Murugan Idly shop, Konar Mess, Arulandam Mess, Prema Vilas Halwai shop etc.

are legends in their own rights.  People are ready to wait patiently for their turn to get a

serving in any of these places.  Then there are numerous small shops selling excellent

decoction coffee, tea and snacks all over the city.  There was one shop which

people seek out for the coffee.  Crowds would be waiting for their turn in front of all

these joints.

Konar Mess has nothing to do with Konark in Orissa.  Konar seems to be a caste in Tamil

Nadu and the name derives from this.  They are open only in the evenings and that too

by 1930 hours.  Located in a congested area in the City, the shop, specialising in

non-vegetarian snacks, is very small with limited seating capacity. My first encounter

with the food culture of Madurai started here.  I was shocked by the place and the

surroundings when my colleagues took me there.  As soon as our car reached there

a person came and took orders.  I was in for another surprise when told that the food

would be eaten standing on the road or sitting in the car!  As I was debating in my mind

whether I made the right decision to come to this place, the first lot of the items arrived-

idiyappam and chicken. It was simply out of this world.  As I was eating, I noticed that

limousines were parked here and there in the vicinity and the bearers were carrying items

to all these vehicles.  The next item was mutton dosa, another superb dish cooked to

perfection.  My friends then told me that all the high and mighty of Madurai who enjoy

non-vegetarian food are regulars to this place. 

As I was keen to know more about the place, I went near the shop and found that the

owners virtually operate from the foot path in front of the shop.  At the entrance to the

shop itself the cooking takes place.  They have a limited number of items besides what

I had and all these are gobbled up by their eager clients before they close shop late

in the night.

Murugan Idly Shop is a vegetarian joint and they specialise in idly, dosa and such other

items.  Acclaimed for their high quality, it is another very popular joint.  About 3

years back they opened a branch in T Nagar, Chennai where again people have to wait

patiently to get in.

Arulanandam Mess is only for lunch. They also serve excellent non-vegetarian stuff.

Recently they also opened a branch in Chennai, I was told.  Prema Vilas is

another place whose Halwa is legendary.  This is yet another small place

where one can always see multitudes waiting to savor their favourite halwa.

There are many aspects about these joints worth analysing.  All of them are very

reasonably priced.  Their food never caused even the slightest stomach problem for me

which speaks volumes about the quality.  They are not greedy to sell all sorts of things

all the time as some of the present day multi-cuisine outfits attempt.  Konar Mess is open

only during dinner time and Arulanandam Mess is open only for lunch.  They are quite

contended with the business during this limited period with a few items.

Above all, Madurai being a pilgrim and tourist city, there is always a vast floating

population and in such situations people are happy with whatever they get.  These

Madurai joints have not tried to exploit this situation to dish out something worthless

with an eye on the quick buck.

After a gap of about 3 years I again happened to be in Madurai for 2 days recently.  What

struck me most was that it was the same place I visited 26 years back.  No shopping malls

have come up there and I could not even find a shop which can even be called a mini

super market.  The city, the streets and the shops were all the same which

saddened me for I thought that the economic developments taking place elsewhere in the

nation are giving a go by to this great city.  It even intrigued me because the city is

dominated by Chettiars and Nadars, two of the most enterprising and prosperous

communities of our country. 

I also had a round of these food joints and they were also the same which was a

happy feeling. My prayer was that even when Madurai catches up with the rest of the

country at some future date with swanky shopping malls, wide roads, giant super markets

et al, Konar Mess, Murugan Idly Shop, Arulandam Mess, Prema Halwai and the 

numerous other such joints should continue to serve such superb fare at reasonable rates.