Loop Road at the Marina comes to life at night with new food stalls

New food trend near Marina Beach with diverse offerings from mini-trucks and pushcarts attracting youngsters and families at night.

With the construction of Metro Rail under way near the Marina Beach, a new trend has emerged on the Loop Road, a few meters away.

Dozens of mini-trucks and pushcarts have parked along the Loop Road. Many of them are operated by young women from the local fishing community. From fish and waffles to cupcakes, mojitos, marshmallows, and puddings, a diverse range of items is available from sunset until late at night. Youngsters and families who venture out to this part of the beach flock to these shops for quick bites.

One of the colourful pushcarts here, Wowfflicious, operated by Shalini Pandian and Harini Maran, was established three weeks ago. They start their business at 4.30 p.m. and close at 11 p.m. They point out that there were no other waffle vendors on this road, so they decided to experiment. “Our families are involved in fishing. We wanted to start our own business, so we decided to try this,” they say. “On average, we get 20-30 visitors daily,” they add. In addition to waffles, they sell ice colas and mojitos.

A few metres away is a mini-truck called Desert Factory. It is operated by G. Swetha. She offers a variety of kulfis, including strawberry, blueberry, butterscotch, and pista. In addition, she sells brownies that she bakes at home with the help of friends. “It’s not only the middle class but also those driving high-end cars stop by to enjoy the food from the carts and trucks here. Youngsters who come to the beach at night to play also hang out here,” says Swetha. Given the positive response, she plans to acquire another truck to operate at a different location.

On Saturday night, Syed Ibrahim, who was at the beach on the Loop Road side, was picking up spring potato and cauliflower bhajis from one of the carts.

“This part of the beach is less crowded than the main beach, and many families stay here until 1 a.m. at weekends,” he notes.

At midnight, hundreds of people stroll around the Loop Road, ordering fish from the carts. Many arrive by car and have the freshly marinated fish delivered right to their vehicle.