These restaurants on ECR, Chennai, offer a mix of retail therapy along with dining

Chennai’s East Coast Road is bustling with day trippers again, and with a flurry of 2022 restaurant openings, you can sample a new menu with every drive. We start with the sea food, of course...

A meal at Hibiscus Cafe feels like a quick holiday, thanks to its cabana style seating and the view of a shimmering lake. The ground floor houses an organic food store called Vaer; the traditional kitchenware brand Essential Traditions by Kayal, and Matriarch, which curates handloom saris sourced from weaving clusters across India.

Kayal Vizhi R, co-founder, explains that Hibiscus has been set up as an experience centre housing five segments “just like the vibrant petals of the hibiscus flower. While four concepts are functioning, the fifth one, a banquet hall called The Shed, will launch in a few weeks”.