Cafeography
Chennai · Nungambakkam

Cafés in Nungambakkam

Cafés on Khader Nawaz Khan Road and Kothari Road, tea opposite Loyola College and late tables on Periyar Road.

Photo: Murali dharan, Pexels License

Nungambakkam appears in an 11th-century copper plate of Rajendra Chola and came under the British in 1708, one of five villages handed over together as the "Five New Towns".1 By the early 20th century it was a European residential quarter. Most of the present neighborhood stands on the Long Tank, which became landfill in the early 1970s.1

Coffee here follows the shops. Khader Nawaz Khan Road, known as KNK, was a quiet street of bungalows on both sides thirty years ago and is now a downtown run of eateries and shops.2 The cafés spread from there to Kothari Road, College Road, Haddows Road and Wallace Garden, and Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Barista and Café Coffee Day all have branches in the neighborhood.

Local tip: For coffee after dinner, Crafe on Periyar Road serves until 23:00 every day, with Wi-Fi and tables outside.

At a glance

17Cafés listed
1With opening hours
11:00Earliest opening
23:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Crafe, from 11:00 (Daily 11:00–23:00).
  • Most common features: air-con (18%), indoor seating (12%), specialty (12%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Chennai.

Coffee chains in Nungambakkam

Khader Nawaz Khan Road and Wallace Garden

Two cafés sit on KNK itself: Blind Chemistry, in Brindhavan Apartment at No. 11/19, and First Cup at No. 10. Fran Forsyth, who once lived on the road in an art deco house with a small front lawn, remembered very few cars and a flooded plot next door that buffaloes used as a pool.2

In Wallace Garden, Sandys is at 16 Wallace Garden 2nd Street. Goddy's occupies Flat 1A of Crystal Lawn on Haddows Road 1st Street. Haddows Road also has the Regional Passport Office, which issues passports to half of Tamil Nadu.1

Sterling Road, Kothari Road and College Road

Sterling Road is one of the neighborhood's principal roads, more than a hundred years old and shaded by trees on both sides.1 Loyola College opened on it as an arts college in 1925, and Chai Leela faces the campus from 73/1 Sterling Road, with air-conditioned indoor seating.1

Crisp Cafe is at 1 Kothari Road and Lafayette by Mug Cakes at No. 43 on the same road. Cinnamon House is at 44 College Road, the road where the Department of Public Instruction works from its own building.1 Women's Christian College, founded in 1915, is also in Nungambakkam.1

Specialty coffee and late hours

Southwest Coffee Roasters, in shops 4–6 of the Emelem Complex, is the specialty stop here, with indoor air-conditioned seating, and it welcomes laptop work. Coffee? at 31 Anderson Road and Tagercafe on 2nd Street round out the small cafés.

For an evening coffee, Crafe at 11/4 Periyar Road opens daily 11:00–23:00, with Wi-Fi, air-conditioning, outdoor tables and toilets. Further in, Tukaway is at 11 Brakathambal Street, 18 Kafe at 14 Jagannathan Street and Scooby's Cafe on Jaganathan Road in Tirumurthy Nagar.

Getting to Nungambakkam

Nungambakkam has its own station on the suburban line between Chennai Beach and Tambaram, and with Chromepet and St. Thomas Mount it is one of the three busiest EMU stops on that section by daily riders.1 Valluvar Kottam, the monument to the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, opened here in April 1976.1

The Austrian, Canadian and South Korean consulates and the British Deputy High Commission are in the neighborhood.1 Plan around the rain: Chennai gets most of it from the northeast monsoon between October and December, and November averages 377 mm.3

Sources

  1. Nungambakkam, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. When Khader Nawaz Khan Road was residential, Madras Heritage and Carnatic Music (Sriram V, April 20, 2026), accessed October 2026
  3. Chennai, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
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FAQ

Nungambakkam cafés: questions

Where are the cafés on Khader Nawaz Khan Road in Nungambakkam, Chennai?

Blind Chemistry is at No. 11/19 Khader Nawaz Khan Road, in Brindhavan Apartment, and First Cup is at No. 10. The road, known as KNK, was a quiet street of bungalows about thirty years ago and is now lined with eateries and shops. Sandys is in Wallace Garden, at 16 Wallace Garden 2nd Street.

Which café in Nungambakkam, Chennai, stays open until 23:00?

Crafe, at 11/4 Periyar Road in Nungambakkam, opens daily from 11:00 to 23:00, with Wi-Fi, air-conditioning, outdoor seating and toilets. For specialty coffee with a laptop, Southwest Coffee Roasters in the Emelem Complex welcomes laptop work and has air-conditioned indoor seating.

How do you get to Nungambakkam in Chennai by train?

Nungambakkam has its own station on the suburban line between Chennai Beach and Tambaram, one of the three busiest stops on that section by daily riders along with Chromepet and St. Thomas Mount. From there, Chai Leela faces Loyola College on Sterling Road, a tree-lined road more than a hundred years old.

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