More on chennai! Economics of food prices?

This weekend, I decided to sample some Food options available in Chennai. This involved visiting 3 places....all of which served South Indian food primarily.

Place 1. Saravana Bhavan --> Standing Room only. Well, without even a place for seating, the prices that were charged were on par with a standard full service resteraunt. Rs. 25 for a Masala Dosa might seem reasonable if one were in a joint in Delhi or Kolkata...but in the heart of Chennai...with you supposed to eat the thing standing. Its Highway robbery!

Place 2. The Idli Place, T Nagar: This was an air conditioned joint (very useful in chennai), situated in the heart of the city's shopping area. Here, I did get a table to sit at, and the quality of food was rather good. Ate rather well, with Pongal, masala dosas, and few vadas, all for the grand price of Rs. 50. Practically the same price as a Saravana Bhavan, where you had to stand and eat, without an AC...with much cheaper real estate prices.

Place 3: Sri Krishna Sweets --> These chaps are known more for their fine sweets rather than their food, but I decided to sample their restaurant. Here, they had this thing called ambiance, with waiters hovering around, and chaps even handing you menus (rare in chennai! :)). They also had north indian dishes, which meant that I had to try it out...and I was pleasantly surprised to find it good as well. Out here, the bill came up to a bit above Rs. 60.

From this (Admittedly small) sample, I have realised that Chennai attaches value only to food...and not to the paraphernalia attached to it. This seems pretty strange, esp. for a chap used to Bangalore, where the rates range from cheap (Great Masala Dosas for Rs. 10) to Uber Expensive (Masala Dosas for Rs. 100). Of course, the Rs. 10 Masala Dosas were eaten standing up, with another chap elbowing you as he had his Vada-Sambar, while the Rs. 100 dosas were accompanied with an array of side dishes and air conditioning, and badly piped music.

So, Chennai is not really that cheap. Sure, at the medium end of the spectrum, it seems cheaper than most cities, but at the value end, where good food is served cheap, Bangalore beats it hands down. If you trip over a stone in Bangalore, you are likely to fall into a roadside eatery that gives you quality food cheap. If you trip over a stone in Chennai, you will just fall on your face!