Started in 1960, Junior Kuppanna is based out of Erode, which was an important part of the then Kongu Nadu. Today, this eatery chain has over 11 branches in Chennai alone and in this recommendation, we will be talking about the most happening one. The one in T Nagar, duh!
No fancy ambience, no fancy furniture. What looks like just another busy mess in Chennai serves some of the tastiest meals. It is a cosy place though, with good lighting and well suited for an outing with the famjam (you can get tables easily on a weekday). The food served here is authentic in taste made with subtle yet spicy homemade masalas and the most natural-looking colours. It will totally remind you of home-cooked meals.
Specialising in non-vegetarian cuisine, Junior Kuppanna's Poritha Kozhi Urundai (fried chicken balls), Kaima (grounded meat), Chicken Pallipalayam (dry curry) are some of its most popular specialities. They claim that these dishes are oil-free too! We tried their Chicken Biryani and loved how different it tasted from regular restaurants. We couldn’t taste their aatu kaal (goat’s leg) soup but we've heard it’s one of the dishes one ought to have here.
A non-vegetarian, Indian restaurant MUST have Kothu Parotta, don’t you agree? Junior Kuppanna says ONE BIG YES with their delish Kothu Parotta. They also have wheat-based parotta and upma. Set meals, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, are available only during lunch, including something called a 'Cup Lunch' where you are served a portion of biryani along with plain gravy, rasam, buttermilk and poriyal. It's this consistency in being authentic that has us going back to the place again and again. You could take a train to Mamballam, which is the nearest station to T.Nagar or a regular bus to get here.