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Tasty temptations

Try Nagalakshmi Annexe for its variety in rice preparations

SATIATING For quality and tasty rice varieties PHOTO: K.GANESAN.

It is not one of those posh restaurants. Yet, the crowd it draws is amazing. Hidden in the cacophony and crowd of shops on the busy Kamarajar Salai is the easy-to-miss `Nagalakshmi Annexe' which people simply throng for its "tasty menu".

Once in after overlooking the minimalist setting sans any elaborate lighting or sitting arrangement, it is the tongue that becomes a slave to Nagalakshmi's taste.

A single room with half-dozen rows of tables accommodates its customers without a break from 4-30 p.m. onward. The parcel section is even more crowded.

Rice varieties

"Cooking is our family profession from my grandfather's time but the previous generation did a small business," says proprietor R.R. Dinakaran, while sorting vegetables.

Much like his hotel's get-up, Mr. Dinakaran looks far from the owner as he is always busy lending a helping hand to his employees in chopping and cutting vegetables or segregating other ingredients.

Token system

Some three-and-half-decades ago, Mr. Dinakaran started the hotel and established his niche in the market with his quintessential cuisine of rice varieties like lemon, tamarind, tomato, white rice (venpongal) and the unusual-sized vadas.

To channelise the crowd that throngs the hotel between 9 p.m. and 11.30 p.m., Mr. Dinakaran distributes tokens in the denomination of Rs.10, Re.One and 25 and 50 paisa.

"I have tokens even for five paise but they have lost relevance today. Now I use only these four denominations," he quips. Apart from the fast-moving rice varieties, at Nagalakshmi, you can savour parathas, eight varieties of dosas, chappathis, uthapams and soft drinks, cool drinks and coffee. He also displays five mouth-melting sweets such as the milk, bread and wheat halwa, gulabjamun and balgova.

Costly but tasty

"Though I have lost the volume of business I enjoyed some decades ago, I still have a section of my old and genuine customers dropping in who do not mind spending a little more for the quality and taste of food items served here," he says with pride.

"Items here are costly compared to a few neighbouring hotels," he admits but quickly adds that the cost of the final products escalate because "I never compromise on quality of groceries and ingredients."

The trait and passion for cooking continues in his family with the fourth generation preparing to step in. Dinakaran's sons Manikandan, a B.Com graduate and Sathish Kumar, a diploma holder in catering technology are now involved in the business and have decided to continue their life journey with Nagalakshmi. Mr. Dinakaran is a staunch follower of his own principles. For instance, he never packs sambar and chutney in polythene covers. Rather, he provides them in plastic boxes at minimum prices.

Customers are served food on plantain leaves, which they themselves have to remove once they are through with their eating.

Nagalakshmi is certainly a `house of tasty temptation' that entices many for the extraordinary taste of its items, which have a lingering effect notwithstanding the dimly lit ambience. Mr. Dinakkaren also takes orders for functions. Contact no. 2329493.

S.S.KAVITHA

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