Thambivilas Cafe Porur — Restaurant in Zone 11 Valasaravakkam

Thambivilas Café in Porur is quite an interesting spot if you’re looking to try traditional dishes with a modern café touch. To clarify upfront, TOVO menu items are not available here—only the Thambivilas menu operates, so don’t go expecting a mix.

Food-wise, I had a mixed experience. The Thattu Idly was pretty good and soft, and the Chicken Joint Biryani really stood out—it was flavorful and definitely the highlight of the meal. I also tried their Waffle Parotta, which was crispy and unique. Personally, it didn’t suit my taste, but I have to admit the quality was good. Paya didn’t live up to expectations, but the Frappy Mocha was excellent and refreshing. The Chicken Roast was decent, nothing extraordinary but fine for the price.

The café has a clean, pleasant ambiance with enough parking space, which is always a plus around Porur. Staff are polite and supportive, which made the visit more enjoyable. The only downside is that the quantity felt a bit less compared to the price. Still, given the unique, traditional style they’re trying to maintain, it’s worth trying at least once.

I do have two small suggestions for the management: The menu is displayed only at the counter, which makes it difficult for customers to browse comfortably. Having table menus or QR codes would make it much easier. Water is served in glasses, but once it’s empty, they replace the entire glass instead of refilling. This leads to unnecessary utensils piling up in the cleaning area. It would be much better if they just topped up the same glass.

Overall, Thambivilas Café Porur is a nice place with some standout dishes, a clean setting, and a unique traditional feel. Worth a try if you’re...

Based on the high ratings, my family and I visited this restaurant for dinner on September 13th. Unfortunately, our experience was far from good.

We ordered the Tattu Idly, a chicken starter, and Chicken Biryani. The Tattu Idly was the most disappointing. It arrived looking brown, with a very dry and hard top layer. It was clearly not fresh; it had the unmistakable appearance of an item that had been cooked yesterday, kept in the fridge, and then microwaved to order. It was completely unappetizing and not presentable.

We immediately brought this to the staff's attention and requested a replacement. They took it back to the kitchen to make a fresh batch. However, after this clear failure in basic food quality, we lost confidence and decided to cancel the dish instead. The staff agreed to cancel it.

The real issue arose when I later asked for the amount for that cancelled item to be refunded. We were simply told, "We don't have a refund policy." This is unacceptable. A basic understanding of customer service would dictate that if a dish is cancelled due to the restaurant's fault (serving stale, poor-quality food), a refund or adjustment should be offered without argument.

A simple gesture from a manager or supervisor to apologize and handle the situation could have made a difference. None came. We felt ignored and, ultimately, cheated out of our money.

While the other dishes were average, this entire experience overshadows anything else. I cannot recommend a place that serves stale food and then refuses to take responsibility for it. Management needs serious training in customer service and food...

PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE ... !!

I visited today and the tables seems dirty and occupied with the left overs from the previous orders and I could see garbage bags behind the billing counter ( there was a strong foul smell from the kitchen counter ). I ordered Mocha Frappe , bun butter jam and a coffee , while taking the order they missed to include coffee and I noticed it late and I was waiting for the order more than 15 mins as same person was taking the order , billing and preparing the food. I received bun butter jam in a shrunken condition and the Mocha frappe literally looked like a coffee and when I checked with the person who served it , he said they serve Mocha frappe this way and he can replace the bun butter jam and when I showed him the reference picture they have for the Mocha frappe on the menu, he said , usually it comes with foam or cream , which was not available, so he served with the ingredients whatever he had that time.

I informed him that , if they were short in manpower or the item, then it's better to not bill rather than serving a dish without its full ingredient or in a oddly shape. I asked him for a refund and he provided refund to me . I'll not visit this restaurant again and Ill not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Question to Thambivilas management, do you really want to serve your customers this way, if you dont have enough manpower , it would be best to add more manpower than running the restaurant with lesser staffs and overburdening them which gives unpleasant experience to...