The Best Sabha Canteens in Chennai to eat at Margazhi Season

The Best Sabha Canteens in Chennai to eat at Margazhi Season

Margazhi is a sacred month in the Tamil calendar that runs from mid-December to mid-January. It is a very significant month in Tamil Nadu and holds both religious and cultural significance. The tradition is that people wake up early, draw kolams (traditional patterns) outside their homes, and offer prayers to God. The month is special to both Vaishnavites and Shaivites.

It is the coolest month of the year, and while people throng temples and indulge in spiritual practices, Chennai blossoms with an amazing plethora of concerts. Loosely called the Margazhi Music and Dance festival, the city explodes with various “sabhas” or auditoriums under the aegis of committees organizing concerts featuring Carnatic musicians: vocalists and instrumentalists. People throng to the concerts and these happen over a three-week period, starting with music and ending with dance festivals in the first week of January. Musicians from all over the country and world converge on Chennai, and it is a great experience to be a part of this month-long cultural and musical bonanza for which the coastal city is now renowned.

Ladies are dressed in their finery with rustling silk sarees and jasmine flowers in their hair. The men are in traditional Veshti (dhoti, a wrap-around garment). Many concerts are free, however, the concerts featuring premium artists are ticketed by the sabhas. Concerts go on from morning till late night. To enable the Rasikas (attendees and music lovers), most sabhas have canteens serving traditional food. Rasikas enjoy both good music and food and hop from sabha to sabha to listen to their favourite artists perform.

Sabha canteens have captured people’s imagination and have taken Instagram by storm. Many people end up waiting for their favourite Sabha canteen food. People come far and wide to taste the food at their favourite sabha canteens. The caterers keep changing the food and offer something exciting every year. From vazhaipoo vadai (vada made from the banana flower) and leaner payasam (kheer made from tender coconut water) to Guntur idli or even pizza idli, you can find a new variety and a new recipe every year. Let us look at some of the best Sabha canteens you find in Chennai during the month of Margazhi.

The Music Academy, Cathedral Road

The Music Academy is one of the oldest sabhas in Chennai and they have a great catering service that offers a full meal (served on a Banana leaf for Rs.550), or a quick mini-meal (Rs.300). Don’t miss the variety of breakfast options with over 30 types of dosas and 10 types of idlis and piping hot filter coffee. The Guntur idli and the vazhaithandu uthappam are a must, as are the usili upma. If you have a sweet tooth, you could try gulkand kasi halwa, sapota Kesari, or even strawberry kesari and other traditional sweets. For snacks in the evening, you could have molaga bajji, kozhukattai (steamed dumplings), mor kali or elai adai. If you are not a coffee drinker, try a piping hot Horlicks!

Krishna Gana Sabha

Tucked away in the busy streets of T. Nagar is Krishna Gana Sabha. A beautiful building dotted with green and sporting aesthetic Chettinad pillars, Krishna Gana Sabha is known for attracting top-grade artists to perform there. People throng the place for both the arts and the food. They have traditional favourites such as morkali, ammini kozhakattai, pidi kozhakattai and a range of dosa varieties. You could try the delectable morkalis (infused with just the right amount of that mouthwatering tanginess) and pidi kozhukattai dipped into a generous amount of green chutney. Never forget the filter coffee, of course!

Parthasarathy Swami Sabha

The most favourite option here is the elai saapadu (or full meals served on a banana leaf for Rs.600). Although most items are traditional favourites, they have given innovative twists. You can expect a watermelon rasam, avarakkai, red pumpkin sambhar, and litchi payasam. The menu changes every day, so you can expect new and tantalizing varieties every time you visit. The canteen is open from 7 am for breakfast. You can opt for yummy snacks like muruku, thattai, and seedai at non-meal times. Filter coffee is a staple and available throughout the day.

Narada Gana Sabha

Another well-known sabha with a massive hall in the nerve centre of Chennai on TTK road is the Narada Gana Sabha. Their breakfast and snack menus are the highlights. They have live counters making snacks like appams, kaara paniyarams, and kuzhi paniyaarams. The weekends have a speciality: adai and avial which are hot sellers. Breakfast is open from 7 am, and you can choose from idli, Pongal, dosa, and appam with sides of vada curry or Kumbakonam Kadappa—you can try pizza idli and cheese dosa for those who want variety. The sweets are to die for: rose jangiri, khoa jangiri, stuffed gulab jamun, and the traditional ashoka halwa and kasi halwa.

Mylapore Fine Arts Club

Mylapore Fine Arts Club is on Oliver Road, in the heart of Mylapore and has a loyal set of members who have been going there to listen to concerts for years. The canteen here opened its doors even before the concerts began and has seen a huge rush. The canteen has a new chaat counter open in the evenings. You could try North Indian and Chinese dishes, which are made to order. Chaats like bhel puri, pav bhaji, and dahi samosa are attractions. The traditional banana leaf meal is served with over 24 dishes! Specialities include chakka pradhaman, bisibele bath and coriander mint rasam. The evening snacks feature sevai, vada and bonda.

Conclusion

Sabha caterers have earned immense respect and reputation and are renowned worldwide for the fare they offer. Many of them take large bookings for weddings and other functions thanks to the name they built by catering at sabhas – each with unique ‘calling card’ dishes. Anyone can walk in for a meal at Sabha canteens. You do not have to be a member of any sabha to enjoy its canteen food. In fact, many people have recently prioritized the food in the canteens over the concerts. The sabha canteens have spawned a food and music/ arts sub-culture in Chennai. The atmosphere is electric and must be experienced to understand it. Aromas of food wafting through the air along with strains of classical Carnatic music is a combination that is hard to ignore.