Srirangam Venkatesa Bhavan New Look

The Traditional eat-out has finally seen a major renovation and now wears a fresh new look

Venkatesa Bhavan, the over five decades old popular eat out in Srirangam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/aadi28-festival-in-srirangam.html), has seen a full-fledged renovation for the first time since its launch way back in the 1960s at the current location in Therku Vaasal. The restaurant had previously been located next to the Ranga Ranga Gopuram for about two decades.

The interiors have been refurbished with tiles and there is a bright new look to the restaurant that serves tiffen each day between 2pm and 5pm at rates that take us back to historical times. One of the founders’ son, Selvam Iyer, who delights guests with his non-stop jokes, told this writer that it had become too expensive to paint at constant intervals. Hence the family took the call to paste tiles on the walls so it is a long term solution. The flooring too is new. It is a welcome facelift that is likely to carry this over eight decades restaurants into the next phase. Despite the high cost of renovation, the prices have not been increased and the owners (photo below) have pegged the rates at an unmatched level.

Soon after they open the shop at 2pm, they serve a sweet. The specialties include Sevai, Jeera Boli, Akkara Vadisal, Rava Laadu, Bun Halwa and Kesari. Varieties of Dosai make their way on to the guests’ table at 3.30pm. Late comers are often left disappointed for the Rava and the Roast run out pretty quickly. 

Though many restaurants have sprung up around the temple over the last decade or so, Venkatesa Bhavan’s loyal set of customers continue to have this as their 2nd home, at least for their afternoon tiffen. 

Venkatesa Bhavan is located at 75 Therku Vaasal.

This section featured a story on Venkatesa Bhavan in 2017 - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/12/srirangam-venkatesa-bhavan.html