40 Kinds Of Paan, Pottikadai Sweets & Chettinadu Fare At This Nostalgia-Inducing T Nagar Restaurant

Walk down memory lane at Thambi Vilas as its authentic food and ambience takes you back in time with classic southern flavours. It’s also paan paradise!

Whether you’ve been in Chennai all your life or not it doesn’t matter! Thambi Vilas is a unique experience with extravagant interiors, similar to that of a traditional Chettiar bungalow with colourful floral tiles and huge wooden doors with intricate detailing. Plus, they serve delicious, authentic Chettinad food. If you are a 90s kid who grew up in a Tamilian household, you’d get nostalgic here sooner than later. It hits you right in the feels when you look at those yummy orange mittais, kamarakats {coconut and jaggery sweets}, and peanut barfis all bottled up in shiny glass jars! Remember those quick visits to the nearby pottikadai just to grab some of these sweets? And that’s not all! Thambi Vilas also serves Panneer {rose water} Soda, Ginger Soda and Goli Soda, all in actual goli bottles!

Main course is a feast here as the menu is extensive and authentic. They serve all classics like Ghee Podi Idli, Chicken Dosa, Mutton Salna Pongal, several kinds of Kothu Parotta and also Saalna Bun. The otherwise mainstream meals and biryanis are also pretty exquisite at Thambi. Be sure not to miss out on their desserts. They have ice golas, kulfi, wheat and milk halwas, and the best out of them all has to be the elaneer payasam {tender coconut payasam} and the elaneer cake {tender coconut cake}. So much coconutty goodness!

For all you paan lovers, paradise is not far off. Choose from a whopping 40 kinds of paan ranging from Chocolate paan, and Chocolate-Caramel paan to fruity flavours like Kiwi, Blueberry, Orange, Gauava and Grape paans that are all available in the dark chocolate or white chocolate variants. They also have some special flavours like Rasmalai paan, Mogul-e-Azam paan, Mixed Dry Fruit paan and the famous Ice paan {an icy burst of frozen paan}.

Vegetarians may not have as many dishes to choose from here like their non-vegetarian counterparts, but hey, there’s always paan!