One Weekend, Two Chennai Staples, Two Let-Downs

I've always liked Saravana Bhavan--good sambar, and good chutney (two of the rarest things, I learned from my years in the U.S.).
But recently, I went to the one near Ashok Pillar--the restaurant, with my mother-in-law. And promptly got sticker shock! Why is a dosai priced at Rs. 78? And when I ordered the regular masala dosai, I was warned by the waiter- It won't be enough for you. Do you want the ghee masala instead? The price difference? One almost double the other. And when we ordered juices, they arrived when we almost finished eating.
And the fresh lime juice had been extracted more than the IT worker! Total thumbs down!

And the other one? Murugan Idli Shop. I used to like the unpretentiousness of the place. When we went this weekend (again, my m-i-l and I, our spouses are out of town, you see!) we both had the mini meal. And when m-i-l spotted that the so-called mango pickle had gone bad, the waiter was unapologetic. He said something like, "I guess it had started to ripen." Huh?
And when we persisted, asking if there was some other pickle, or something we could eat with the curd rice, pat came the reply, "The pickle will come at 3 p.m." Double huh?? How about offering us some sambar, dudes? And the waiter was bit of a smart-alec too. When we thought he had an order wrong and asked him to repeat the order, he said it right. Along with the comment, "You must been too long in the sun"!!

Customer is king, but I guess these times are those of ridiculing your king!