350. Chennai Arya Restaurant

Vegetarian Set Meal @$4

It's interesting. I joined 2 of my Indian classmates for lunch the other day and one of them brought me to this small eatery located just in one of the shophouses behind The Verge at Little India. First of all, being vegetarian, I wouldn't expect much from my meal. True indeed. I chose the set meal and what was presented made me more curious. First of all, our food was served in a big serving tray with the 5 small containers in it. Secondly, I'm surprised by the portion of rice served. It could jolly well serve two persons.

What's in the small dish? Left to right: The first was a yogurt drink. Next was the greenish sago dessert which I thought was one of the condiments to go with rice. Luckily, my classmate stopped me in time. Next came the soup which I would say taste more like the very diluted and made a tad more sour curry. Then, it was the curry which had a thicker base and with a tinge of sourness. The last was sambal which was thinner and could be mixed with rice to make it look like you are eating risotto.

For side dish, in orange, you have the curry potato and in yellow, the mixture was a kind of vegetable akin to melon cooked in curry. I would say it was tasty but just not so satisfied with 2 side dishes. The shocking news came was the side dishes could be refilled. Gosh! for just $4, you can really eat your fill with the scoops of vegetables. But, I could only finish half of it and I raised the white flag.

Coffee @$1

Coffee served in an interesting way. Two layers. Metal saucer and cup containing the coffee. Why such a design, I asked. Similar to us, for cooling purposes. Pour your coffee to the saucer and your coffee chills fast.

I would say Chennai serves the economic kind of food for our Indian vegetarians. Cheap and good.


Chennai Arya Restaurant

Behind The Verge

Opens: 8.30am - 10pm daily