Rayar's Mess, Mylapore, Chennai

An early Chennai morning, four of us set out pre-dawn for a ritualistic journey. Our destination, Rayars mess. For more than six decades hungry souls like ourselves have been trudging out from tens of miles away for the promise of the quintessential south Indian breakfast. One of piping hot idlies dripping in ghee and just-fried vadais whose pairing with the thick coconut chutney is one for the ages. Being my first visit I was eager to know if this place really was as good as it was made out to be.

The mess is currently located in a lane off Arundale street in Santhome. Earlier it used to operate from Kutchery main rd. The proprietor is also the chef here and before him it was his father who founded the place. The mess is set in the midst of apartments and flats. People are just stirring when we reach there but there’s already a small crowd waiting at 6:35 am on a weekday. If you have trouble finding the lane, get into Arundale street and check which lane has a bunch of people waiting outside the doorway! They operate by letting people inside in batches of about 12-16 each. Only after an entire batch is done having their fill will the next batch be let in. We were the second batch so we had to wait for ten minutes. The people waiting are a mixed crowd obviously from youngsters to NRIs.

 

The interior is just a room with an adjoining tinier kitchen, a wooden benches and desks with banana leaves laid out. Before we have time to dream about the food, the idlies arrive! There’s no waiter system here, the lady of the house or a helper comes with a big tray full of idlies or vadais and we just tell them what we want. 

In a few seconds a few idlies (rs 20 for a pair) and two medium sized heaps of piping hot pongal are served up. It's as delicious as it looks! Loved the pongal, vadais and idly. Pongal (rs 35) was just right for me from the softness to the salt levels it was all just yummy. Not too rich as well but with can be customized with extra ghee. Vadai was the best! Just fried seconds ago, it's oily but oh-so-crunchy n yum! Smaller sized too. You can get servings of getti chutney (a thick coconut chutney), ghee and podi (idly chili powder) for an extra charge. I tried all of it! 

They also have a chutney made from green chiliies that’s highly spicy! Don't have more than a touch!

Sambar was a bit different from what I expected. It wasn’t spicy but a tad bland. I’m guessing they purposely make it this way so it appeals to all. A smooth sambar that went well with everything on the leaf.

We were eagerly waiting for the vadais which we could see was being prepared right in the next room by the owner. He was deftly dropping handfuls of batter into the roiling hot oil. In a few minutes the mid sized vadais (rs 10 each) came to our table. It was super crunchy and tasty. Only minor drawback was that it was oily, but being just prepared this was an easy sacrifice to make. I ate more than four of them.

After a fulfilling breakfast, we waited outside. Filter coffee is to be had outside while one waits to pay. Billing here is highly informal we just tell the person what we ate and pay. There are no checks it’s all word-of-mouth.

They are only open in the mornings and evenings. Evening time is for snacks like bonda, adai and the like.