Mylapore walk.

This post is as much of a nostalgic trip down memory lane,as it is about the Mylapore food walk,so please bear with me as i reminiscence on the good times of yore.Food makes strange bedfellows as was evident in the gathering of a mixture of people from Chennai Food Guide who were invited for the Mylai Food Walk.Every now and then the Forum takes members on a exploratory walk to food places lesser known by the majority of people so that they can explore them and stay informed .CFG Mylai walk was a gathering of like minded people,from different culture,background and ages,with a serious interest in food.

Asked to join the food, I was ecstatic for the simple reason ,that I consider this my bastion,having lived most of my life on this side of Chennai (R.A Puram)I have had heated arguments with friends who say even the smallest of negative things of the place.

Mylapore still retains its old world charm,though many new buildings were seen along with the old,the place still holds its edge.The streets of Mylapore remain the same,faint memories kept jogging my mind,the tank of the temple,the book store opposite the tank, Himalaya juice shop on Luz church road,where you would get the best and the freshest juice from huge cauldrons with long spoons which a father and son duo would scoop up in a jiffy for us(thanks S for jogging my memory)Too many memories,the joy of a cycle rickshaw ride on a moonlit night along with my mother Q and sister T ,without a care in the world,life was simpler then...

To get on with the walk,it started off with most of the group meeting outside karpagambal mess,right opposite Rasi,a silk saree store been there since a long time.Yes our trips to Mylapore certainly entailed a visit to this place,around 40 years ago it wasn't this big.To continue,we proceeded from K mess to kalathi newspaper mart for their famous rose milk,I was informed that this place has been around for 40 years,it certainly seemed so from the taste and texture of the rose milk,the man serving us certainly knew his way around it.Quenching our thirst it was time to continued on  to Rayar mess located of Kutchery road(another nostalgic moment,well too many memories here)to have a bite of their famous tiffens. As we were yet to explore more places,I restricted myself to 1/2 a rava onion dosa beautifully crafted,tasty and fresh as it could possibly get (straight from the frying pan onto my leaf plate)Small tiny,not so neat or fancy place serving such amazing fantastic food, that it blows your mind away.If it hadn't been for this group or my band of girls,I would never have been able to enjoy such simple holistic food.A group of 20 and the bill a mere Rs 800.

From there we proceeded to Mamis Mess( located at Pichu Pillai street )for their bajjis and coffee.Another quaint little food joints,this one a lot neater than the earlier one,we ordered and waited right on the street.This place too was packed with people for their delicious food.Precariously balancing the food on the bikes and cycles outside,the inevitable had to happen.Hot coffee on a bike seat,and yes i did wipe it clean for him.Did both my bad/good deed for the day.The food bajji(fritters) and the coffee both were top notch,hot,tasty and without a hint of oil(wonder how they do that) Group picture taken we, the ladies moved on to check the beads and baubles on display by vendors on the street,temptation thy name is woman,stopped myself in time when I saw green leafy vegetables,but sadly enough there was no vendor,just the vegetables.

The whole experience left me with a huge smile on my face,one reason being that it was known territory, the other being the simple and fresh street food.This is one experience I'm not going to forget in a while.Made new friends on this trot (S.J.N,you guys are so sweet, making a woman feel like a lady, thank you) had good food and company,felt like yesterday once more.

Some of the photos are courtesy my friends Deepa,Aarti and Fazil.Please read their blogs too
http://notjustanothercookeryblog.blogspot.in/2013/01/mylai-food-walk.html
http://aromasofkitchens.blogspot.in/2013/01/mylapore-food-walk-mylapore-festival.html
http://www.foodinchennai.com/