Karim Mess, Periamet - ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Category: B

I had been hearing way too much about this place. So I just wanted to see what the fuss is all about.

Located in the congested Periamet area which is not only the leather hub of Chennai, but also one of the major biriyani hubs. With almost 20-25 biriyani shops in a 4 km radius, Periamet's most popular biriyani shop is Karim Mess (This claim was validated by a traffic police when I casually went and asked him for directions - must be true then right?!)

Now, having visited this place twice already, I do think it is kind of overrated!

The place has a counter area in the ground floor and a dining area in the 1st floor. Majority of the purchases are take aways. People often buy biriyani in tubs, buckets etc. The cost is very nominal, with a plate of mutton biriyani selling at 110 Rs. The chicken version is obviously lesser than that. They also have some mutton based side dishes, like mutton chukka (dry) for 70 Rs and mutton chops (gravy) for 70 Rs. For 180 Rs, one could have a complete satisfying meal at this meat paradise.

But why only 4 stars mate???

To start with, the biriyani as well as the side dish are not spicy enough. It was rather bland. The flavour does not hit you. If I go to such a hyped place, I would be expecting a mesmerizing taste and a flavour which should take full control of all my senses. But this biriyani just didn't do the magic for me. Also I felt it was dry.

But I must say that the meat to rice ratio in this place is much much more satisfying than many other usual places. maybe this is one of the reasons why this place is so popular. If a standard biriyani has 20% of meat in it, this biriyani has almost 35%.

When I had the mutton chukka, i felt like as if the meat was there for the sake of being there.

But nevertheless, this place must be visited at least once, just for the heck of it!


My rating: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

How to reach there: Take the road adjacent to rippon building, towards periamet, then take left at the first signal and then take the 2nd lane to your left. You can't park your car inside. Plan accordingly.