These last few months have seen me fly several times from Trivandrum into neon-tinted nights at Chennai, where I have been working on projects at animation studios. (So, where’s the recession?!) Long after humvee-like Macs sign off in the early hours of morning, I head off to Mathsya. For a memory of Madras, the city in which I grew up.
 
Mathsya, for me, marks a moment in time. Our rights-of-passage years—and the magical appeal of its filter coffee. Every trip home comes alive for me with a culinary pilgrimage to Mathsya at Egmore. The restaurant that is also a 21st celebration of the 5000 year old Udipi cuisine—a offering of India’s West Coast Mangalore region. Mathysa is an exemplar of Udipi Cuisine at its best. Mathsya has delivered a consistent brand experience since I first sampled its spread in the late 1980s. And, its spirit of hospitality is topped off by Ram ‘Bhatta’ Narayan, my friend, raconteur and restaurateur par excellence.

Udipi cuisine is a 5000 year old celebration of vegetarian cuisine that blends grains, beans, vegetables and spices in a mystic gourmet experience. It’s Aromatic. Earth-respecting. Wholesome. And, served with Ritual Purity.

The coffee set in front of you is not any coffee; it is a delectable decoction of two exotic coffee beans from the Coorg region. The ‘dosa’ is not just any dosa; it is a flavorsome ‘methi dosa’ that blends the magic of fenugreek with the traditional dosa. The sambhar is simply divine—it eludes description. And the chutneys, you see, are divinely ordained infusions of coconut, chillies and mint.

No wonder, they call it Food of the Gods!