Famous name, good taste and delicious breakfast

Value for money... Food is good... Fast service.. Kids enjoyed a lot after beach bath...Few issues noticed...Space got reduced...Degrading in taste from their standard...No car parking

Tastes good but definitely quantity doesnt match the price!!

IDLY AND SAMBHAR Lover ?? Then this is a place for you.The Pros:1.The quality and taste of the food is pretty good2. Have Parking area(small)3. The rate of the food is at reasonable price4. To be frank!! I had the best sweet here ever in my lifeThe Cons:1. The service is ok2. No pandemic precautions

24 karat Sambar. The best Tamil sambar I have had in chennai yet, definitely better than murugan.This place is quite popular, has been around since 1950s and a random search for food in chennai will figure Ratna Cafe. I saw reviews and especially the recent ones whic werent encouraging. I thought if this one of those places which werent able to maintain standards over time?Nevertheless I went and ordered the staple idli sambar, special masala dosa and ghee podi masala dosa. Found them to be great. Special mentions to the white coconut chutney which is clean and fresh.Oh. The sambar is just so good man! They keep it warm all the time. Not too thick, neither runny, perfect !

Ordered their signature idli and vadai... Sambhar is super tasty and the way they soak the Vada in the sambhar... Little over hyped though, prices are affordable but little on the higher side comparatively. Poori was very average.

Best sambar idly in the city before and now. Same taste retained!!!.I had triplicane Ratna Cafe sambar idly after 15 years. This time it tasted better with toppings of nostalgic moments :). I thought my son would not like the taste, safely ordered dosa for him. However he also ordered a plate after taste bite from my plate. Must try for sambar idly!!!!

One of the oldest and must visit hotel for south indian tiffin lovers. Sambar Idly is their signature dish. The taste of sambar is still same even after decades. The only drawback is absence of parking space.

Had sambaridly today, the taste was okay. Didnt taste as good as it used to be when I had with my father 20 years ago. Go without any expectations.

Pretty old famous restaurant but no more the same as before, sambar is their signature but taste no more traditional best

Tried mini thali and Taste was good.Rating 4/5 .Mini thali can be renamed as MicroThali as the served portion is perfectly good enough for a 10 years kid.

Loved the Idli Sambar here. Sambar is noteworthy. It is one of the oldest establishments of Chennai, serving for good food since 1948. They began in Triplicane, this very branch and today have branches too. The idlis are soft and fluffy. The sambar is made very nicely with asafoetida, dhaniya, masala powders. The dosa is crispy and hot, served with onion chutney and sambar. Pongal, Puri are other breakfast dishes served. The coffee is thick and foamy.

A pure veg hotel, which looks hygiene and the taste is very good, especially the coffee is my fav. But feels the price is little high for me, as Im from down South. We will get a better ambiance, hygienic and taste there even at little lower cost comparing this. I know we cannot compare, as the cost of living comparing here and there is quite different. So think that people who expect a good hygiene and pure veg hotels in Chennai may not feel that the price is high for the taste served.

Food quality tasteless and High rate.?STOP visiting and eating because management changed and taken by picnic hotel gupta brothers.Myself had stomach pain and loose motions after having food at RATNA CAFE. So,be careful.God bless all.

Very nice breakfast we had with family & friends with relatives homely made and enjoyed well evryone

The forever place of chennai. Most famous for their idly and bucket sambhar.. parking is a slight problem even for bikes.1) IdlyThe Idly itself was perfect,the sambhar taste sees to have differed with time (maybe due to addition of different masalas?) But nonetheless it was worth drooling over.2) Pongal vadaThis was a pur heaven and to add to the taste and smell was the Extremely aromatic ghee. Vada was crispy and went well with the combo.3) Puri masalaWe did feel it was slightly bland with a little less salt but other spices made the effect diminished.4) Plain DosaCrisped to perfection and the chutneys were a perfect add on over the perfectly hot sambhar.

Very old, one of the oldest restaursnt chain of restaurant in Chennai. They have both AC room and non AC serving tables. Kinda very old place, cannot expect ambience. Parking is strictly a congestion, as for 2 wheelers itself we would find place. Food is traditional South Indian tasty. There is special Jain Sambhar one should try.

Sunday Morning walk or cycle ride in beach should end with Rathna cafes idly sambar or sambar vada..

Idliy sambar is very nice. Most of the peoples are ordering idly sambar. Soft idly and hot sambar served. Coffee ☕ and milk 🥛 are available. Horlicks, boost etc. are not available.

Heaven for Sambar Idly, dont expect ample parking space, seems the whole menu is slightly on the pricier side.

First of all Visit this hotel at your own risk.. 🙂If I could give half star rating, that would be apt for this Restaurant. Literally its not at all a worth of money. The only one thing I liked is Medhu vadai & that too cost 38rs for one Vadai.. We ordered GHEE PONGAL - there is no ghee at all in pongal & pongal quantity was very low, they dint provide chutney. Sambar was Chill & not tasty at all . ghee pongal costs - 80rs. And coming to Idly cost 60rs which is very hard . we asked Dosai , they refused to take order as they will give after one hour only. Seriously from bottom of the Heart It was very Bad Experience for Us. I thought its Famous Hotel for Many years so we went and felt very bad experienced .

I went there on 2nd oct.Very very worst. They have changed the signature dish ( Sambhar) which does taste like a ordinary Sambhar in ordinary hotel. I usually go there only for the Sambhar. But they totally disappointed me. If they are going to continue like this then they would be closing the hotel very soon.

This place is best for south Indian food , especially Idli Dosa... Sambar is a trademark here in chennai and sambar idli is a signature dish .. Prices are high compared to other restaurants nearby , but worth a try once in a while occasionally...Ambeince is average , service is goodOverall a good one

Ok but, one Panner masala dosai charged for₹140. Not worthy. It was look like ordinary dosai. Old Glory has gone I think.

My school day hotel I enjoy 2 Idli and sambar

As always the best Idly Sambar in Chennai.

The restaurant Fully busy with customer service is good ,the quality of food is not good, price is also too high compare with other restaurants , want I found in these restaurant .

Sambar idly not upto the mark, try srinivasa

Food was good.Because of crowd service was slow.

Tasty sambar idly highly recommend

The best in class veg food !!

Ive planned so many times to visit this hotel but I never got the chance. This time I have decided to eat here. I have tried their sambar idly which happened to be their signature dish. Frankly the sambar was superb, it was more like home made. They keep topping up sambar in your plate. Staffs were courteous. I liked it.

This place as the name suggests is a good place for having Dosa and Idlis especially dosa, as Idlis here is common what most of thr chennai restaurants are offering.

Very hyped place! Idly and Sambar was good but priced very high!

Had a great Coffee ! Must Try

Sambar taste is changed not good as before actually not good

If you want your day to start well, you should come here after taking a stroll along the beach. The super soft Idlis paired with the utterly crunchy vadas will definitely make your day. These babies get a nice indulging bath in streaming sambar just so that it can melt in your mouth.

Thought great place but is just average

They have beautifully retained the classic tastes

Beloved fan of their Sambhar, Pongal, Coffee. Best Veg hotel. They serve good food and little higher cost. 100% guarantee for your stomach.

Nostalgic. I first tasted Ratna cafe in 1983. Now 38 Years after. Good taste and well behaved hosts. 100/100 in every aspects.

Taste not like before. Frankly saying, their sambar now tastes sour, its too liquid now and missing the ratna cafe taste which was given by them years ago. But their idly taste the same,sambar got some issues. Ghee roast is just awesome.

Know it dose not have taste like before

One of the worst hotel I have ever experienced. Food is awesome, taste is very satisfied, but the maintenance is worst at peak. Service is too weak, no proper response at the counter and mainly no clean totally. Rust all over the place and the toilet is too ugly to enter, its so annoying to touch the tap too to clean our hands, its worst than public toilet. I still wonder why people dont complain about it. I made a complain and they were not even ready to listen. People just want to eat even it is made in unclean area. Im curious how will the cooking area be 🙄🙄🙄.

I have been from my childhood.. Idly sambar taste was excellent and same it is.. If u can maintain the hotel little contemporary it will be more good...

Only this Ratna cafe at Chennai serves Sambar with idly just kidding 😂😂... Their Sambar taste was delicious so you could eat as much as you want. One sambar idly set is more enough to compensate hunger with their filter coffee. Slight disappointed with their price of cost

It was a drizlling morning of chennai, No rush and horns were there to disturb us.🌦️☔😄😍🥰It took 30 minutes 🚗⚡to reach kanakis anger👸🏼👿, near from Madras export processing zone.🏭🛫Three of us took a walk from anger to solve our hunger.To my bad I was in water fasting😒, but they both ate the classic breakfast happily without any guilt.😈🤤😋Among the two, one was so happy that made the other to burp and high heavy. 🤭😴Yep, before stepping into this beautiful world the third🤰🏻 had the divine idily sambar and vada🍛🥯 for the first time to become a typical south Indian.Thats it....end of the story... Everyone lived happily eating The classic breakfast.😍🥰😘😚🥳

What an idli and sambar!! The food server keeps pouring sambar into our plate every few minutes!! The sambar is always piping hot and tastyPost COVID they are providing wooden spoonsAlso try their jalebi please is 70 rupees 🥳2 idlis 55 rupees plus GST

I had very good opinion on taste on Ratna cafe ,tiffin and meals.Yesterday I took meals Rs 120, the worst meal I never had it inRatna cafe.If such food provide hotel will loose hard earned customer from 1948.

Best for Breakfast...HOT SAMBAR IDLY & COFFEE

Good taste but less resources now and servicing slow

S RICH VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT WITH GOOD TAST AN THE SAMBAR WAS VEERA LEVEL

Nice. Still maintaining the traditional sambar flavour. Nice service.

The crowd here sometimes beats the crowd that queues up outside parthasarathy temple! Best place to grab your breakfast

Best sambar loaded with ghee! Worth the price!

Not upto mark... tasteless stuff..The trademark idli sambar wasnt upto mark.The idli was not cooked and was somewhat raw,and sambar was not spicy.Pongal was average and there was no ghee...taste.An ordinary hotel would have better Pongal taste.Totally disappointed.The medu vadai was also below average.The onion rawa dodai was also very bland and the batter was notfresh and it seemed like a ready mix item.Complete disappointement.Given the cost of the items,it was totally substandard menu and probably the brand is running out of steam.The service though was excellent. improve.Its a great brand.

Still their authentic taste unchanged...idly sambar with little chutney in one word you can say wow.......

Ratna cafe was one of the best restaurants in chennai in 70s, 80s.This is located 100m from my previous house where i was born and brought up.It had lost its charm. Taste is below average.Toilet is in a pathetic condition!

Good quantity of sambar. And good place for veg lovers.

The crown jewel of South India breakfast, Ratna cafe is in a small ancient building. We had idli & vada doused with sambar. The waiters happily topped up sambar 4-5 times until we have had our fill. Their Andhra karam dosai is also very tasty.

If youve not heard of Ratne cafe, just know that there is a huge fan following for their sambar. Ambience is awesome, valet parking for two wheelers available, and excellent service. Make sure you finish with their filter coffee because its just out of the world. Best place for breakfast if youre visiting Triplicane.

Taste is undoubtedly the selling point. The price we pay is much higher even though the taste is good.

Gone first time after 1998 summers... in those days it was bachelors paradise, with so many mansions in triplicane. Sambar was something we all used love..it was rich with fried shallots...now its no where near to the old quality..and price is too high...at 717 rs for 2 its utter waste of money...

Ratna cafe is slightly overrated I feel. The food is good,no problems. Ghee pongal was very good. But it wasnt heavenly or anything like that. And the food is quite expensive here. Evening snacks combo cost Rs.130.

No social distancing was followed. All tables were occupied.this place is known for their sambar, but not anymore. Sambar did not taste good. Service is fine.

Worst Idly and Sambar lost its consistency. Dont know what happened to the old taste of sambar and soft idly missed lot

This hotel is been in the market for more that 3 decades I guess and still people come to eat the famous idli sambar, rose milk and before covid there was a separate jelabi stall outside. But for the place they havent done any renovation its still looks like when it started. Only the ac hall some modifications have been done.So give a chance and leave because of the ambience and the price is nominal when compared to other restaurants.

Still maintaining the consistency. Good service 👍

Definitely for sambar alone we have to go there

This place is amazing and food is very taste and all are should must try tea at that place

Sema taste... Maintaining the same taste and quality

Its a well known fact that they are famous for their sambhar idly.

The best place for Veg Food in Chennai.Porota Kuruma and Ghee Roast 🖤

Ratna cafe known for its Sambar in Chennai, but however it is not equal to Coimbatore Annapoorna sambar. I dropped the expectation after 1st piece of dosa. Annapoorna proved that no Sambar is equal to me.

Good place with friendly staff. The best thing about Ratna Cafe is their sambar. Must try.

Mandatory itenary for my every Chennai visit

After a Nice Morning walking/work out in the beach will end up here having a Idly (Steamed rice cake made with fermented dough) sambar (Shallots Lintel stew) as breakfast...The sambar is served hot topping lavishly for 2 idlis on a banana leaf plate ... Should visit once for a taste ...My sincere recommendation is that dont parcel the food have it in-house to satisfy your pallets...

Evening combo is good .. you can taste many dishes in mini quantities..Sambar & chutney very good

Famous for sambar and Rasa malai

Best Sambar..lives up to the hype.

Good Customer Service. With Decent and gentle manner

You won’t find any better authentic food any where else in the city. The taste and aroma were amazing. The biggest let down is the ambience and service. You need to almost beg the servers for extra sambhar or chutney. They keep ignoring you. Why why why???

For two idly and one vadai only 25 times waiter is bringing sambar.. On 26th time waiter is showing face to us.. Bad Boy Waiter

Ratna cafe means one thing which strucks everyones mind is :Oru plate idly and oru bucket sambhar.Yeah, they are well known for thier sambhar taste since ages. Their sambhar recipe is world famous famous when it comes with idly.Ambience is not that good now a days in Non AC section, whereas AC room looks better.This is the oldest branch in chennai since ages and all others are just newly opened branches.

Delicious idli n sambar! One of the oldest and best eateries in Chennai for breakfast!

Taste is good. Quantity very less But rate high.

Very authentic shop coffee was awesome.. Homemade taste

Very tasty food... Quick service. Specially pineapple shera.

Sambar ildy is main dish always

A bit costlybut the food was good...no ac

Ratna Café on Triplicane High Road was established in 1948. This traditional South Indian food joint is favourite of old timers. As I remember my early days of my career at Chennai, we used to get lunch from this place at work and this was a routine. One carrier lunch was shared between three to four people. This was our favourite place for ordering food.During our recent visit to Chennai, I was discussing with my two nephews, all the old food joints in Chennai during our discussion we decided to explore all the old places, one such place was Ratna Café. I was visiting this place after two decades, it was very nostalgic and still there are still good things to cherish here. The best part was, place has not changed and only thing which has changed is the name Ratna Café to Triplicane Ratna Café this may be because of the other branches they have opened. We ordered three traditional South Indiana lunch and flagship product Idle, Vada, Sambar Rose Milk & South Indian Filter Coffee. Even though I was coming after a long time nothing has changed taste, décor & dishes. Thanks to the management in keeping the tradition of pure vegetarian experience, the warmth and quality of food.Some of the item price we bought are coffee is Rupees. 32/- Two Idles Rupees 55/- & Vada Rupees 40/- Rose Milk Rupees 52/- (Without taxes) The traditional lunch served on plantain leaf is Rupees 120/- (Including Tax). Since we wanted to experience plantain leaf lunch we sat outside, in the airconditioned hall the food is served on the plates.This is place is open from 6.00 am to 10.30 pm and situated on Triplicane High Road and only two-wheeler parking is available.

Good place for having breakfast, their sambar and idlis are outstanding

Amazing food. Price is very reasonable. However, with fame comes crowd. Thus, the place is alwaya crowded and noisy. But, the service is very fast.One major drawback is 4 wheeler parking. The restaurant doesnt have 4 wheeler parking. So, you will have to invest time and effort looking for a parking space along the road.But, the food is definitely worth the effort!!

Somewhat ok. late serving. Taste of Cafe gone

Nice to sit in A/C hall. Pleasant service.

Best service in a fast moving restaurant.Good sambar.Cleanliness can be taken care in the hand wash area.Overall its good.

Good service. Nice place for Vegetarians.

Wrost hotel no hot sambar bad service very very bad

Rates of food is too high.2 Idly with Sambhar is Rs.60.00 even chutney is served only when we ask.

Not worth. .... Perambur Srinivasa valsarvakam is very good in taste as well as service also👍