Poompuhar is a landmark on Anna Salai in Chennai and offers some of the finest handicraft items from various parts of Tamil Nadu. It is often listed as one of the must visit places for international tourists visiting Chennai.
For a long-long time, in fact as long as I can remember, the adjoining space next to the Poompuhar building served as some kind of old-fashioned junkyard plus godown.
I was surprised when my friend Sandeep said that a new cafe has opened up in that space. My interest was also piqued when he said that the management wanted to invite bloggers for a lunch-session.
The venture known as the Poompuhar Craft-Cafe is a joint-venture between the Sanskriti Art and Craft Boutique Store and Poompuhar. You see things have changed in the restaurant scene in Chennai. You need to be a food-blogging legend with numerous star-ratings and reviews on Zomato, you need to be a master with the camera, you need to know the intricacies of dishes and fine ingredients to be counted as a food-blogger. You need to be in a league of extraordinary gentlemen and superwomen to gain entry into star-hotels, glitzy launches, etc… You get the drift right!! And the single biggest – common complaint from chefs and management of restaurants and hotels — “We are being held to ransom!!!”
Well – I digress — so Sandeep said, just drop in on Saturday at 1 PM. Reached the place, it was tastefully done with a mix of seating in an area surrounded by bamboos and an air-conditioned interior.
We were seated inside the AC area and served a refreshing mint-lemon cooler.
The lunch was a standard thali that comprised a bowl of rice, a millet-flour chappathi, sambar, rasam, kaara kozhambu, coconut rice, moong dal payasam, potato roast, appalam, curd.
Everything was good and standard as it is supposed to be. The star of the show was the payasam and the millet-flour chappathi. The combination of ghee, hot rice and the vegetable-sambar was excellent as well. The cafe actually opens up in the evening with short-eats, soups and coffee. Their millet vadais and drumstick soup are supposed to be signature-dishes. Since it was a special lunch-event, we could not sample them and the management promised to invite us again during an evening.
This spread is priced at Rs 350 and offered for corporate lunches and kitty-parties that are booked for lunch-time meetings. The cafe is a great place to hang out and the decor with the metal idols is excellent. A craft and art-themed cafe is a good idea and I wish the team all the very best.
Thanks Sandeep for the invitation.
For some excellent pictures of the cafe — visit — https://citychennai.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/check-in-to-poompuhar-craft-cafe-after-a-tiring-craft-shopping/
Teerthadanam 