The 1st time I was here was after spending a few hours at the beach with family. We were all famished, and this was the 1st place that we spotted. We had to wait only for about 5mins and we were shown to our table. While most of them ordered idli, i being an anti idli person opted for dosa and vada. Dosa was good, but vada felt stale. THey do serve quite an array of chutneys and then there is the sambar as well. The food was hot, which was all that mattered. The 2nd time was again a family meet, this time for breakfast, and we headed to the outlet in Usman road. The food was good,hot and yumm. Better than the earlier visit. Coffee was ok, but atleast they hadnt covered it in sugar .. Since then, I have been here quite a few times. The only things I dont like about the place is 1. the waiters sometimes just dont care, they kinda look through you 2. food is not of consistent quality 3. waiting period can range from 5mins to 1hour. 4. people who come to wait here are rude, they act all hoity toity and like they rule the world!!

So a mini Murugan Idli Shop opens in Arya Gowda road last week or so! How excited am i!! So bored with GSS and HSB alone for south indian in this area for a long long time now! So i rush in the hot sun to buy my afternoon lunch ffrom here n come and duh! Seriously never really a big fan of murugan idli shop, but love their pongal and vada usually. Also the sweet pongal. HATED IT to say the least, tried the mini meals for the first time and what the heck was it. Horrible saltless and tasteless lemon rice and tamarind rice (is what i assumed from the color of the rice), exactly one or two spoons of sambar rice and NO CURD RICE??? There was a sweet and 4 or 5 pieces of sundal, no vegetable and a soggy appalam. The chutneys along with the idli and dosa was tasteless as well. Never really liked their idli and dosa was very small and very roasted. NEVER EVER AGAIN!

So many great reviews on Murugan Idly Shop Besant Nagar, I couldnt resist the temptation to get in there when i passed through Besant Nagar beach. This time after reading all the reviews, I decided to go for the idli and sweet pongal (tho' i don have a sweet tooth, the reviews really got me!). Vada comes automatically with the idli but mind you, its 10 bucks more! The pongal n sweet pongal are always awesome in all the branches. Then it was time for THE IDLI, which unfortunately was such a let down. Sadly, it was half cooked! Nothing close to the ones you get in Saravanna Bhavan. Is it just me or my bad luck? It was served with some 5 types of chutney of which i liked only the coconut one. Surprisingly, i didnt find tomato chutney. The sambar was good. The vada was mouth-watering. Dosa was the best part, thin crisp and just right! The coffee was another let down, wasnt anything special for all the hype. The service is very fast to say the least. But they do have an attitude problem like anyother local south indian fast food which is always over-crowded. They dont really know what 'customer' means. Nevermind! The food is good and comes soon when you are hungry. This applies to the ambiance too, for a place in Bessie, with all the 'american' fast food joint look outside, the inside is a typical mess, well i dont know what else i expected!

Why is this place compared to HSB even outside Chennai? Everyone wantin to try it out more n more nowdays wen they come to chennai! I mean HSB deserves the name this place sure doesnt! This food is either good or bad depending on you luck that day. But the cleanliness and service are consistently bad! At 8 30 in the morning, the Vadas were not hot and fresh, seemed from yday. Big and bulky, not crisp at all. The Idlis were half-cooked, it was jus batter in fact! Seirously disappointed to the core with IDLI on their name, that the first thing they shud learn to make! The Pongal was ok, nothin great. Coffee for 16.50 was jus 3 sips and was fulla sugar! The Chakra Pongal and Dosa are pretty good though. Overall horrible experience, the guy at the bill-counter wasnt very friendly and it took them 20 mins to parcel the already made and displayed dishes. Worst is the bill was around 125 bucks for just this, which i wouldnt have mind paying in ID where the vada and pongal are awesome!

1. Waiters are so occupied: took ages to make sure the tables are wiped clean when someone else is ready to occupy them, do not come over and patienly wait for your order and your preference... i asked if i could get a spoon but he dashed away saying nothing.... never got the spoon i had asked for... imagine it was simplest of requests 2. Food is just ok.... it tasted like any other place i have been to ... nothing to remember it for 3. Prices are ok 4. Not a place to sit and enjoy your dinner (which you may want to do if with friends or collegues) ... more like come-wait-eat quick-off you go