Madras Canteen & Grill serves up gorgeous interiors and succulent kebabs

Apart from the buffet, look out for live counters with Turkish pide, shawarmas and waffles
Madras Canteen & Grill serves up gorgeous interiors and succulent kebabs

After dining at home from cloud kitchens through the lockdown, it feels pretty luxurious to be sitting in the spacious 4,000 square foot Madras Canteen & Grill. Just a couple of weeks old, this new space in Perungudi makes a memorable first impression with its tasteful décor woven around tropical vibes and sustainable bamboo light fixtures. And we are tickled pink when we head over to the bathroom and spot brass urali pots repurposed as basins!

Owner Prithvi Raj Rammohan (27) notices our delight and leads us in the direction of another South Indian design element. “Athangudi tiles on the buffet table,” he points out. This quickly shifts the focus from the aesthetic to our appetites. Steaming pots of peppery Melagu Chicken Rasam and Chicken Biryani call out our name. But we decide to start things off with their signature grills — skewered at our table to warm up. As we sample cubes of smokey watermelon and bright green Karuvepillai Chicken Kebabs, we find out that Prithvi, who switched paths from law to the F&B industry is also the owner of the restobar East Coast at Madras Square in Neelangarai.

<em>Karuvepillai chicken kebab</em>
Karuvepillai chicken kebab



And it looks like a passion for food runs in the family because all the baked desserts on offer are courtesy his sister, Shivani Rammohan (also a food photographer who goes by the Instagram handle Fig and Focaccia). Don’t miss her fudgy brownie bites and the creamy Phirni, made in-house. But we digress...

<em>On the grill</em>
On the grill


Back at our table, things are getting busy with about 16 appetizers brought in quick succession. Some of our favourites that had us reaching for seconds were the succulent BBQ Wings, batter-fried Nethili and the sweet Banana dosai. We also enjoy the Turkish ‘boat’ pizza or pide, topped with a classic chicken and mozzarella from the Lebanese live counter. This is adjacent to other live booths serving woodfired pizza, waffles and softies, with pasta and dosa to be added to the list soon.  

<em>Banana dosa</em>
Banana dosa



The main course has all the usual suspects ranging from pasta to hakka noodles and butter chicken, but we head straight for the aromatic Mutton Rogan Josh and the coconutty Allepey fish curry. With this king-sized feast, we vow to skip breakfast and possibly even dinner the night before to do it justice next time. 

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, buffet at INR 699 ++, rest of the week at INR 799++.

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