Yes, we're talking about one of Mylapore’s oldest eateries (started in 1959!) - the Mami's Tiffen Stall. Nestled in a tiny street next to the temple, this places serves authentic and comforting South Indian veg food you’d definitely want to try. While the place was an actual stall before, it’s now more of a mess/restaurant. The seating area is minimal and is mostly reserved for the elderly and standing tables are placed along the walls to go with the self-service model of the restaurant. In addition to that, the restaurant is kept spick and span at all times. The functionality of the space with its immaculate cleanliness truly drives home the feeling that Mami’s Tiffen Stall does what it does very well.
The menu much like any other vegetarian South Indian eatery features the usual suspects; Dosai (INR 55), Onion Uttapam (INR 70), Mini Idly (INR 55) and so on. Years of experience have made the cooks very good at the usual preparations and they make them super fast too - crispy dosas take 30 seconds flat to get from the pan to your plate. Much wow!
In addition to the staples, they’ve come up with their own specialities like 18 different types of pre-mixed rice, and an additional extra type of ‘rice of the day’. The spinach rice (INR 53) with fryums is highly flavoured and so is the beetroot rice. They also have a daily ‘sweet of the day’ (seven different varieties!) that features favourites like kozhukattais (both sweet and savoury, both yum) and Carrot Halwa. For INR 80, you can get a whole meal with Sambar, Rasam, Karakolambu, Thuvaiyal, buttermilk, chips, Appalam, pickle, Kootu, Poriyal and white rice. Awesome, eh?
Even though it opens for breakfast at 7 am every day, the rice and other 'tiffen' items are only available post 11 am. They also take an afternoon break post 1 pm and function again between 4 pm and 10:30 pm. The friendly staff is what makes Mami’s Tiffen Stall what it is and their exemplary service is always done with a smile.