Jeeves

Part of the Citi Center. Has 4 screens showing the latest releases. Decent multiplex to visit specially if you are roaming around the Citi Center which is a good mall for shopping.

Pros - very comfortable seating. Good sound experience. Snacks are as expensive or cheap as other plain multiplexes (given this is part of a bigger mall)

Cons - Poor choice of movies typically maybe they dont tie up with the best of the movies; Limited number of theatres can only run 4 shows; Seating capacity is relatively smaller compared to the other biggies

One of the most crowded places forever even on weekends - the USP of the place is the 5 different types of chutneys that they serve and the great pongals (both sweet and salted) they have. But idlis are so not the way they are supposed to be - they are supposed to be soft and fluffy but here they are too smooth on the surface - maybe the rapid pace at which they churn the idlis is the cause of that. Dosas and all variations are pretty good. Certainly worth a visit if you can wait for a minimum of fifteen mins! If you want a predefined order, go for this - One Idly + One Vada + One Venn Pongal + One Plain Dosa + One Sakkarai Pongal + One Coffee = Stomach more than full for around 70 bucks (best is when twin share!)

Pros - (a) Great South Indian stuff (except for the Idlis; Sambhar is average) (b) Very economical (c) Have three branches at least that I know of (T Nagar - 2; Besant Nagar - 1) (d) Crowd is managed well (e) Chakkarai and Venn Pongal are magical

Cons - (a) Idly and Sambhar (b) Minimum of 15 mins waiting cause of the crowd (c) Very noisy inside and outside (d) Cannot sit in peace and eat (e) If you are alone or a couple, have to stare at unknown places cause you very rarely get to sit separately since most of the seating is shared 4 seaters (f) Parking may sometimes be a pain (Except for GN Chetty Road one)

Mayajal has everything that one could think of for a weekend - all in one roof - Some 8 or so different movie theatres, food court, childrens play area, bowling arena, snooker, music place, shops, an entire sports complex (with facility to play any game literally), a bar attached to the sports complex, a great cricket ground (where international matches have taken place btw!). Its some time since i have gone there - heard they have introduced more theatres and a go-karting place was coming up. Good place for the weekend since its at least a 1 hour drive from anywhere in the city on the East Coast Road. Weekend also makes the ECR crowded more so it can be a bit of a pain.

Ideal for (a) corporate parties (the IT Services companies does them for thousands of people in the ground) (b) Night time treat if you are working somewhere along OMR or ECR (has a bar with a quite place for dinner as well - food served is not any great though) (c) Weekend drive for the children (ECR is a great road to drive less the traffice) (d) All things under 1 roof (only place in Chennai that has got such a wide spread) (e) Comfortable cinema experience (chairs are nice comfy)

The Pain points (a) Distance from the city - specially driving back in peak traffic in the evenings (b) Quite expensive - ticket costs are in the range of 200 bucks in the weekend and snacks are obscenely expensive (c) Food quality is very very ordinary across the place