As Chennai changes its morning patterns, restaurants and cafes are responding with chic, intuitive and global menus. Even just a year ago, if you wanted an early breakfast in this city, it meant ghee dosas, idlis and pongal in bustling Udupi-inspired restaurants. Now, it’s fascinating to see how quickly the city is embracing new spaces, flavours and ideas. Today, you can choose between inventive jalapeno waffles, Israeli shakshuka or classic chocolate croissants. Between cold-brewed, Turkish and Aeropress coffee. Between trendy European-style cafes, beach shacks and even a farm, complete with hens and cows. All at 8 a.m. The MetroPlus team scours the city to find you the most delicious ways to start your day.

Mash

Sitting by a veranda and watching the azure sea is therapeutic. More so when, with each wave crashing into the shore, a spoonful of tangy baked beans makes its way into my mouth. And then there are the additional views — people running on the beach (inspiring yes, but I’d rather tuck into my large breakfast here), a few attempting yoga on the warm sands, friends catching up, coy couples holding hands while surreptitiously looking around, chubby, playful dogs being walked — a laid-back breakfast at Mash entitles you to all of this.

As for their breakfast menu, there are fluffy pancakes topped with fruits coated in honey, plump sausages, a satisfying selection of eggs, including a gooey cheese omelette, French toast, veggies, beef masala, chicken masala, and if you can resist temptation, there are oats. The only risk however is that if you have somewhere to be the blissful ambiance can make you forget all about it.

Timing: 7 a.m. on weekends, 11 a.m. on weekdays

Address: T54B, Elliots Beach Road, Besant Nagar

Tel: 4551 1555

L’amandier

With exposed-brick walls, high windows through which the morning light streams in, and comfortable seating, this cafe is popular for its breakfast buffet. The charming interiors can make you feel like you're in a French bistro, and the choice on the menu can leave you reeling.

Croissants, toast, muffins, preserves, maple syrup, fresh fruits, juices, cheeses and cold cuts, a salad bar, baked beans, bacon, sausages, eggs to order, one hot dish each for vegetarians and non-vegetarians, a potato dish and a vegetable stir fry... If it's your lucky day, they might even be serving pancakes. Finish with a steaming hot cuppa of your preferred brew: all of this at Rs. 399 plus taxes.

While service is friendly, it can be slow at times. Best go here when you're not in a hurry, so you can soak up the atmosphere and have a leisurely meal.

Timing: 7.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.

Address: 57, 2nd Main Road, R. A. Puram

Tel: 4282 7882

Chamiers Cafe

Fancy having continental breakfast for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Well, you can do exactly that thanks to the all-day breakfast menu at Chamiers Café, the quaint, quiet café just off a busy main road.

Aimed at people who’re creative with irregular timings, the café offers classics like baked beans on toast, pancakes, baked croissants and French breads. For those looking at healthy options, there’s muesli, fresh fruit platters and juices.

The simplicity of the fare on offer, including fruit or a quick meal of eggs and toast, is what works best here. One of the hot favourites among regular patrons are the waffles, which come plain, with cheddar and jalapeno, or chocolate chip, with toppings of bacon, maple syrup or ice-cream. Also, don’t miss checking out the recently-introduced Shakshouka, an exotic dish of poached eggs on a bed of tomatoes, peppers and chilli, spiced with cumin. All this while you can hear the busy world go about their everyday business from the comfort of your cosy chair.

Timing: 8.30 a.m.

Address: Old No. 79, New No. 106, Chamiers Road, R.A.Puram

Tel: 2431 1496

The Farm

A koel sings a longing song as we drizzle syrup on the spongy pancake; bamboo leaves rustle overhead when the baguette is served; a squirrel scuttles on the branch of a nearby tree, slides down the trunk and settles on a stone bench as we dig into omelettes. This is what breakfast at The Farm does to you; although the food is good, the ambience makes it difficult for you to concentrate on your plate.

It’s located inside a 17-acre farm — we park our vehicle near a cattle shed and walk past a hen and her noisy chicks into the restaurant. But what’s the fun in eating indoors when we can eat on wooden benches surrounded by strapping trees?

For the meal, we order a bowl of ragi flakes with honey and almonds, baguettes, plain pancakes with butter, omelettes with Mozzarella cheese, and baked beans on the side. The Farm claims to make its own bread on wood-fired ovens in ‘traditional methods’; the jams, butter, and cheese too are said to be made in their kitchens in small batches.

The snow-white butter and jam are excellent; so is the creamy yoghurt that’s served with the baguette. Apart from their artisan breads, you can choose from fruit bowls, cereals, and eggs served with two slices of rustic baguette, grilled tomato, potato wedges, butter and jam. The potato wedges deserve a special mention — done crisp on the outside, they soften as we bite in.

We feel a tad stuffed with all the butter and cheese and decide to burn if off with a walk — they offer a complimentary guided tour. The sun steadily climbs up the Sunday sky as we pass by the empty cattle shed (the cows have gone grazing) and trudge through their organic vegetable garden that supplies to the restaurant. We’re also introduced to their horses.

We leave for home, sun-burned and sweat-drenched, but satisfied — what we had was not just breakfast, but a field day.

Timing: 7.30 a.m.

Address: 1/277, Semmancherry Village, OMR

Tel: 91760 50562

The Brew Room

If you like eggs, this place is for you. The Brew Room offers an all-day speciality breakfast featuring eggs any way you might want them — Benedict, Florentine, or made to order. They also offer a massive soufflé omelette with chives and three types of cheese: brie, cheddar and parmesan. Their house speciality, however, is the moist and fluffy French toast, which come with a satisfying cinnamon twist. It is served with melted butter and maple syrup, and surprisingly, bacon, should you opt for it; its saltiness cuts deliciously across the sweetness of bread.

Breakfast is incomplete without a strong brew, and here you have eight different kinds of coffee, from the German-invented chemex, the cardamom-flavoured Turkish coffee to the Aeropress with caramel and nutty tones and the davara coffee, which lends a local flavour.

The place invites a wide range of diners, including joggers and guests from the hotel it’s situated in. Sit inside the cozy room with its European influences, surrounded by the smells and sounds of fresh brews or bask in the summer sun while lounging in whimsical wrought-iron cabanas, under the canopy of a 100-year-old sleeping tree.

Timing: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Address: 146, Dr. Radhakrishnan Road

Tel: 2811 4700

Pantry D’Or

Anna Nagar used to be fuss-free. Early risers from the locality settled for the traditional masala dosa and filter coffee — besides, these were the only breakfast options available in the area. Not anymore.

Now Pantry d’or, that opened a year ago, offers an elaborate breakfast menu with cereals, omelettes, juices and different types of bread — white, brown, multigrain, French toast, croissants, pain au chocolate, viennoiseries, cinnamon rolls and doughnuts. They also have a platter with hash browns, sausages, muffins and more, and four kinds of pancakes, served with maple syrup, chocolate, bananas or mixed berry capote, which are available all day due to popular demand.

On weekdays the place is usually relaxed during breakfast time, with families and working professionals from the area coming in to start their day with an international spread. The weekends, however, it is packed with visitors from as far away as Adyar, in addition to the regulars from the locality.

Timing: 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.

Address: 21/11, J Block, 6th Avenue Main Road, Anna Nagar East

Tel: 3085 3598

Old Madras Baking Company

Sometimes the only thing that can make you feel better is a custard Danish. Especially when you’re on your way back from yet another gruelling summer workout. Duck in here for some quick caffeine and carb comfort.

As the staff stack trays of still-warm croissants and pull loaves of spongy brioche out of the oven, grab a cup of coffee teamed with an indulgently buttery croissant. There’s just one communal table, and it can get rather cramped. Especially since, at 8 a.m., the store is still being put in order, and even the lone table is piled high with boxes of bread.

Nevertheless, if you don’t mind the constant bustle, it’s an unexpectedly reassuring setting, chatty customers, busy waiters and the powerful scent of baking bread.

While there are a range of baked goodies, from billowy buns to golden-brown gluten free rice bread, the menu’s deliberately short. However, besides the wide range of cheeses and meats, they have a set of salads as well, so the staff can make you a variety of grilled sandwiches. The only tough part is making a decision. Try the brioche or sweet bread with their creamy egg salad. And, of course, finish with a Nutella-filled brioche. You’ll probably have to run another 10K to work it off. But at least it’s worth it.

Timing: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 279, TTK Road, Alwarpet

Tel: 4208 4422

Sandy’s

Who wouldn’t want to start their day with French toast, maple syrup and pure, melted chocolate? Situated in the heart of the city, Sandy’s is a well-known hangout for youngsters in the city. Particularly famous for their desserts, they also serve mouth-watering breakfast dishes starting at Rs. 60.

The menu will leave you spoilt for choice, with steak and eggs with baked beans, grilled toast and hot beverage, eggs Benedict and Florentine, regular and red velvet pancakes, Nutella croissant, hash browns, toast with flavoured butter, chicken sausage, eggs to order and bacon.

The most popular dish is Hearty, a combination of sausage or bacon, three eggs, toast, hash browns and a hot beverage. Those who are looking for a healthy option can order ‘Light’ and get granola, fruit, yogurt, croissant and juice. Either way, you are going to be stuffed with delicious food and nothing compliments the start of the day better than breakfast that makes you smile!

Timing: 8am onwards. Served all day.

Address: 16/1, Wallace Garden, Next to Subway, 2nd Street, Nungambakkam.

Tel: 4214 4000