When you put together five friends and a love for food, the resultant mix is The MaMa Shop — Madras Mazzeh, an eatery in Besant Nagar that seems to be the answer to the prayers of midnight snackers.
Manavaran, Diwan, Harish, Vignesh and Ramchandran, five friends who met at Anna University share one quality — they are foodies inside-out and have made trying new items their mission. One of them admits sheepishly that even during college hours, they would bunk classes to tuck into signature dishes at the newest restaurant in town.
At one point, they planned on starting a food truck. The idea did not clear the feasibility test the five rain on it. The five went in different directions pursuing higher education. However, as a parting note, they promised each other they they would get together to start an eatery one day. And that day arrived in February 2017, when the five friends started The MaMa Shop - Madras Mazzeh. The name is derived from meze/mezze, which is an array of small dishes served as an accompaniment to alcoholic drinks.
The eatery largely caters to youngsters and IT professionals, who often don’t have much of a choice of eateries that would deal with their midnight hunger pangs.
Listing out some of the popular items on the menu, Manavaran, one of the managing partners, says, “We have Falafel from the Middle East; Maggi Goreng from Malaysia; paneer tikka from Punjab; Shawarma from Mediterranean region; Indo-Chinese spring rolls and fried rice, as well as a variety of south Indian dishes such as vanjiram tawa varuval and mutton chukka.”
Their distinct ‘Do it Yourself’ Thai Buckets is also catching up among youngsters. The premix non-alcoholic bucket contains measured ingredients to make mocktails for house parties.
“We maintain transparency in our kitchen, letting our customers have an eye on what is being made and how it is being made,” adds Manavaran.
They also provide free home delivery service within a radius of up to 5 km, and 10 km if it’s an exceptionally bulk order.
On the sidelines, they plan to inaugurate their own bakery for midnight birthday cakes and desserts as well as open more outlets in Chennai and Bengaluru.
Time: 8.pm. to 3.a.m.
Address: 1st Floor (above Accura Labs), No:49, 2nd Avenue, Shastri Nagar, MG Road, Adyar
Contact: 7397000788
