Until a decade ago, those going to the Thiruvanmiyur beach got to taste ‘sundal’ (chickpea), ice-cream, roasted corn and raw mangoes sold in push-carts and in small vessels that vendors carried on their shoulders. Things have changed now. The massive food street on RTO Beach Road, which houses over 50 shops (push-carts/small trucks), sells everything: pancakes, spicy fish fry, Burmese Atho, Golgappa, Turkish tandoori chai, blooming onions (bhaji), and freshly fried tapioca chips, among others.
Another key attraction on the food street is the smoked mojito. The food street gets crowded as early as 5.30 p.m. and it is full of people till late in the night. People take this route to the beach, and the shop-owners tap into them. Enter the food street, you will find Popcorn Hub, run by K. Arun and Anjo Anjolose. This outlet sells popcorn, which tastes like the one available in popular multiplexes across Chennai. “We started this over a year ago. It is a part-time business. We offer popcorn variants at reasonable prices,” Arun says.
At the other end of the food street, just before the beach, B. Akash sells Kozhukattai (south Indian dumpling made from rice flour, with a filling of grated coconut and jaggery) and freshly made Gulab Jamun. “I completed automobile engineering and did not find a suitable job. My mother B. Sangeetha makes sweets at home. I decided to sell them for her,” says Akash. After tasting his Kozhukattai, employees of nearby IT companies call him up and place orders for office parties and family functions.
