Cafes & Eateries

"Kaira"

A Haven for the Nadan Kerala Gastronomical Expedition!

By – Lt Col (Retd) D Purushothaman Pillay

   The Kochi food scene is certainly abuzz with exciting happenings, options and launches. This weekend we discovered yet another new destination in our continuing food journey through Kochi - 'Kaira'. This name has a Greek origin and translates to mean - "a place where good things happen". This unknown nugget of trivia is emblazoned on the welcome plaque that greets us, as we step into the restaurant. True to its name, we were taken on a pleasant gustatory joy ride of the flavors of Kerala.

   Away from the bustle of rush hour, this new eatery is cradled literally in the heart of the city, in the tranquil neighborhood of Kacheripady. This restaurant serves only ‘Tani Nadan’ - Kerala cuisine. An elegant two-storied building with abundant parking invites you into minimal interiors that have an innate sophistication, which is tastefully furnished thereby imparting a warm welcoming ambience. The place accommodates 74 covers, of which 40 are in two air-conditioned niches in the inner recesses of the building hidden from the entry non air-conditioned section. The most exclusive seating however is the lone six-seated al-fresco dining alcove overlooking the manicured verdant surroundings, which is an airy jut out from the main dining hall. It should be an ideal hang out for some serious buddy-time with bosom pals, in a serene setting.

   Opened with much fanfare, just over four months back, on 9 Sep 2012, by Shri Vayalar Ravi, Union Cabinet Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, this new place is promoted by two mavericks, who also share an ‘Antony ‘middle name;  that have recently forayed into the restaurant business with fresh business ideas from Europe. Set in the expansive estate of Mr Lal Antony Katticaren, Chef Dony Antony Pattam, who is a master at continental cuisine, returned to his motherland, after spending over a decade, honing his culinary skills under many celebrated master chefs in London, to set up this enchanting joint venture. The potential to showcase the Kerala cuisine in an innovative manner that was not attempted  before, led them to handpick a team of experts counting a dozen; captained by a home-grown culinary talent, the Taj-inducted Executive Chef Saji Alex, a Kerala cuisine veteran, with over two decades of distinguished experience with the Casino group. For this fresh team, this new venture affords a unique opportunity to synergize their expertise and parade the well known delicacies in a novel original presentation.

   The menu is Spartan in choice but covers every edible delicacy one would like to sample. So one gets to choose from a choice of dishes done in vegetables, mutton, beef, chicken, duck, shrimps or fish. They are then presented in various forms, among others as Varatiyathu, Ullarthiyathu, Porichathu, Thalichathu, Pollichathu and the like. Mutton and Chicken Biriyanis are also being served. However, the signature dish, we are told is the ubiquitous favorite - “Duck Roast".

   I was very keen on sampling their cooking, hence I chose the fish curry meals which was served to me in the traditional style on a fresh, green banana leaf, albeit on the table. This choice, really allowed me to have a tasting of a variety of dishes all at one go - quite like a served-buffet on a leaf. I was totally overwhelmed by the gustative explosion that genially invaded my palate. It was amazing the way they captured the subtleties of all the various flavors, leaving my taste buds titillated by the bitterness of the Pachadi, umami-ness of the Beef Varatiyathu, tangy saltiness of the Meen Curry, sourness of the Naranga Achar and the sweetness of the Semiya Payasam. My word, this treat was totally unexpected, yet counts among the tastiest sadyas I have enjoyed in a long while.

   A quick word on the service, it was courteous, efficient, prompt and unobtrusive. Finally, the pricing of the menu is unbelievable; all the dishes come within the price band of Rs 100 to Rs 200. Pinch yourself; you will get the best Kerala meal for 2 for around Rs 400. Grand Hotel, since 1963; after ruling the realm for half a century; a new pretender to the throne has arrived at last, be prepared for an exodus in droves to ‘Kaira’ the new benchmark for the best ‘Nadan Kerala Cuisine’.

   It was great chatting with the Restaurant Manager Mr Subash, who also apprised me of the future plans. On the anvil, at this extensive facility that has been tastefully created are, an exclusive Seafood Grill with 36 covers, a Banquet Hall catering for 150 pax and a Coffee Shop with both indoor air-conditioned and outdoor seating with 16 covers.

   We as a family loved the ‘Kaira’ experience, more so, the tastes of what we chose to have today; to the extent that we all have even chosen our menu for the next visit; which we all know, will be pretty darn soon; only because there is magic in the tastes being dished on those copious steaming platters, that emerge from the kitchen in this great new dining place. The taste is simply irresistible! Am positive before the year is out, you will proliferate, dictated by the success of this restaurant and a growing clamor for another similar 'place where good things happen'.

   Well Done Team Kaira! Way to go Messrs Lal Katticaren & Dony Pattam, yours looks like a partnership destined for prosperity.

Timings - 11 am to 11 pm

Address - 41/3639 - Kacheripady,

Chittoor Road, Kochi - 682018

Tel - 0484-4041666

Mobile - Manager - 9400439151

Cafes & Eateries

Kethel's Chicken Fry - KCF

Move over KFC our own home-grown six decade old KCF

By - Lt Col (Retd) D Purushothaman Pillay

   Just last fortnight, with the intent of discovering a new dining experience; we homed in on the Rahmaniya Hotel Kochi, after a marathon internet search. The restaurant is located at a hotel called the A.J. Residency, on V K Menon Road, behind Lenin Centre, in Kaloor, very close to the Kadavanthra traffic signal. This quick service restaurant occupies the ground floor adjacent to the reception of the hotel. The modest dining area that seats about 40 odd customers in one sitting was full with people, even at an early supper time of seven in the evening. There were at least fifteen other people, like us, waiting to be seated. It took around ten minutes to finally land a table. During the wait we learnt that the place had only one trademark combination on the menu and that was the signature - Kethel Chicken Fry. The meal comprised of 8 Tender Chicken Fry pieces, 5 Chapathis or 1 bowl of Ghee Rice, Chicken Curry, Lime Pickle and Sweet Lemonade. The only additional dish that was available was the Chicken Liver Fry.

   I will never forget my first careless bite into the Kethel Chicken, mind you the chicken is always served piping hot, and that absolutely set fire to the rims of my lips and my mildly blanched tongue was set ablaze with the amazing flavor of the spice-rich, red chilly based secret recipe. The soothing aroma of virgin coconut oil in which this chicken is fried on a log-fire, that wafted thick in the air didn't help, but the unlimited sweetened lime juice left in big steel jugs on the tables, came in very handy to settle you in and douse the initial scalding calescence felt in the mouth. The eight small chicken pieces with copious amounts of the masala, garnished lavishly with fried red chilies were served on a banana leaf layered plate, wonder if that also contributes to the taste. The chicken was amazingly tender and the meat just slid out of the bones as they were introduced into the mouth. The five small chapathis were oil-free and very soft; it went very well with the thick gravy of the accompanying chicken curry, which is made with the remnants of the unfried chicken portions. One serving is one full chicken which is cut into eight fried pieces and the rest served in the curry. Even the lime pickle though hardly used, in such an explosion of taste, was very good. A word about the service, it was brisk and very efficient and operated like clockwork.

   After having had one of the most memorable fried chicken experiences in a long time; I was enthused to find out more about the fascinating history of this over 60 year old secret recipe. I then got chatting with the charming Khaja Mueenudeen who runs this place in Kochi. I learnt from him that the first restaurant of the Rahmaniya Hotel chain that started serving this dish was established way back in 1949 at the Chalai Bazaar in Thiruvananthapuram by his grandfather, the late Muhammed Abdul Khader. The over sixty year old secret spice-blend was concocted by and named after him. During the British rule, being originally a tea vendor he used to walk the bazaar with a kettle in hand serving his addictive brew that earned him the sobriquet –“Kethel Sahib”. Later, when he set up an eatery which served fried chicken he christened the dish 'Kethel chicken', to capitalize on the goodwill he enjoyed with his tea-drinking clientele, this legend serves as one of the first anecdotes of brand diversification in Kerala. After his passing, the recipe was inherited by Maheen his son who is also the father of Mueenudeen. The Rahmaniya brand currently operates four restaurants located across the geography of Kerala at Trivandrum, Kollam , Kochi and Calicut.

   He further elaborated that they desist from the use of any out-sourced broilers and only pure corn-fed organically raised, fresh chicken sourced from their in-house poultry farms in Tamil Nadu are used in their various restaurants. These farm-bred fowls are culled in the halal tradition, only on attaining a 500g weight threshold over a long 50 day period. All the spices that go into preparing the chicken are freshly handpicked from time-tested, reliable organic farms.

   It is indeed worth wondering how this over six decade old Kethel's Chicken Fry has been enjoying an enduring popularity, with both the masses and the classes, with only a single trademark offering. Suffice it to say, the brand, has been thriving on the undying loyalty of its faithful customers, and without any advertising whatsoever, it has been flourishing only by word of mouth publicity and the occasional write-up in dailies. This is indeed one reputation built on the testimonials of a legion of its admiring devotees. The secret of its amazing success must also be largely attributed to its affordability; the four of us had fried chicken to our heart's content and yet the bill only came up to a paltry unbelievable 350 Rupees.

   Pinch yourself to believe this; the cost of one full chicken trademark KCF, with all its accompaniments, mentioned above is only Rs 140, the additional chicken liver fry comes in at Rs 40. The Kochi restaurant is open for twelve hours between 1130 am and 1130 pm. It is fabled that, whatever be the time of the day or the day of the week, one has to be invariably prepared for a small wait before one can sink their teeth into the delicacy.

   Last word, Kethel's Chicken Fry - KCF is tender organic chicken cooked to perfection at its spicy tasty best! If you eat chicken, then you have to go here. What a welcome discovery it has been, we will certainly be returning there again and again! 

The New Original Italian Gelato Place On MG Road Kochi.

The Original Italian Gelaterie - 'Milano'

By - Lt Col (Retd) D Purushothaman Pillay

Kochi, now officially boasts of an authentic Italian gelaterie; opened on 21 Dec 2012, owned by Giancarlo Segalini; this stand alone Produzione Propria (homemade - own production) in Ravipuram, MG Road, opposite the Tanishq showroom, is called - 'Milano'.

It was very fascinating to hear the story of how gelatai - Signor Segalini, who hails from a renowned family of Italian ice cream makers, who do business in the German trade fair centre of Dusseldorf, set up his shop in Kochi. It was during his visit in April of 2012, on a brief vacation, while accompanying his businesswoman wife Sara who regularly comes to Cherthala for sourcing her coir import, that he sensed an opportunity to start his business in India, that too in Kochi. He soon came back in August itself, with firm business plans and even enthused his celebrated Milano based designer friend, the famed Paolo Zani to tastefully design the interiors of this modest place he had hired to launch his new venture on MG Road. I must admit this new place has a definite aura of sophisticated elegance to it in every aspect, like the furniture design, product display, wall decor and lighting. Voila! In four months flat he has established this wonderful new place to go, for our fill of the best ice creams money can buy in Kochi.

Gelato derived from the Latin word for frozen - 'gelatus' is the Italian word for - ice cream. It is basically a soft ice cream made with whole milk, cream, eggs, sugars infused with a mix of flavoring of fruit and nut purees. The 59 year old veteran Parma-born and based Italian Gelato Maestro - Maurizio, brings the authentic tastes of Italy to life here using the very best Telme-  ice cream machines, for leavening, mixing, regenerating, maintaining, tempering, pasteurizing and shock freezing the mixtures. This master ice cream maker, with 40 years international experience, in such diverse places like China and Japan, presents 20 distinct mouth-watering flavors of gelato. The exotic flavors being served here are listed below:-

1.   Passion Fruit

2.   Pistachio

3.   Raisins

4.   Coconut

5.   Cherry

6.   Hazelnut

7.   Milk & Strawberry

8.   Fruits of the Forest

9.   Chocolate

10.  White Chocolate

11.  Chocolate Orange

12.  Pineapple Sorbetto

13.  Raspberry Sorbetto

14.  Strawberry Sorbetto

15.  Coffee

16.  Crunch

17.  Vanilla

18.  Ferrero Rocher

19.  Italian Tiramisu

20.  Italian Butterscotch

The above choice of gelatos are served at the shop in 100g cones priced at Rs 50, and also in small 100g, medium 150g and large 200g cups priced at Rs 50/80/100 respectively. There is also the option of having fresh whipped cream on top (Panna) at an extra charge of Rs 20.

In addition to the above cups and cones options, one can choose to have a 'Frappe' - a kind of milkshake in Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry and Banana flavours at Rs 80. Two other variants on offer are the 'Spagnola' - which is Vanilla Gelato with Amarena Cherry and whipped cream and the 'Affogato al Caffe' which is again a Vanilla Gelato with Espresso and whipped cream. Both are priced at Rs 100. Ice Cream Cakes are available at Rs 700 per kg. All the above prices are inclusive of all taxes. At these rates, which are an absolute steal - "Go Italian" - why should anyone now go for anything less. This place is open from 11 in the morning to midnight all seven days a week.

If you haven't yet been to this place, it is high time you rushed to savor these frozen luscious, delectable, delicacies in cream.

Address :

Milano Ice Cream,

Opposite Tanishq Showroom, Near Saraf Hospital,

MG Road, Ravipuram,

Kochi - 682016

Phone : 0484-3911137

Mob Mr G Segalini : +91-8281464593

Website : www.milanoicecream.com

      

Men's Grooming Saloon

A hidden place in Kochi; where Saddam and Musharraf give haircuts. 

'FACESTYLE'

By - Lt Col (Retd) D Purushothaman Pillay

These days in the hip and happening Kakkanad it is well nigh impossible to just go to any decent gents and kids saloon and get a small thing like a simple haircut without a long wait; more so on Saturdays and Sundays. My two boys and I badly needed a pre-newyear haircut and so went to all the big names viz; Zookie's, Barik's, Naturals and Polonica around the neighbourhood; there we found to our utter dismay, that we needed to telephonically book our appointment well in advance and the ignorant walk-ins generally had to annoyingly wait for anything between three to five hours to be entertained. That inspired us to explore the neighbourhood to find out decent alternatives for these busy haircutting saloons. After chancing upon a few shabby run-down and pedestrian, hole-in-the-wall barber shops; it was indeed a very pleasant surprise when we accidentally stumbled upon "FACESTYLE"-Gents & Kids Beauty Parlour, on the first floor of a building, at the nearby Vazhakkala bang opposite the Fish Market and Hotel Malabar Plaza on the Civil Line Road.

'Facestyle' is indeed a very new, well-equipped, modest, neat and clean grooming saloon for gents and kids. It is airconditioned, well-lit and furnished in an eye-pleasing, cool purple and white laminate and also affords the luxury of choice between satellite television and piped music to accompany the grooming session. It offers the whole range of men's grooming treatments from the basic haircuts and regular shaves to the more specialised hair spa/colouring/straightening, facials, pedicure, manicure and head massages etc. A haircut is only as good as the skill of the person who executes it; this is where we discovered that we landed in a gold-mine, for in this tucked-up, nondescript saloon were two unsung, amazingly gifted stylists, waiting to be discovered. The most amusing part follows; these enterprising North Indian youngsters interestingly go by the names SADDAM Farhad and Mohammed Pervez MUSHARRAF.

This was not by any design but by a totally accidental comical coincidence.Saddam hailing from Shahranpur in UP is a Javed Habib school trained hair dresser from Delhi who had previously worked in UP and NCR. Musharraf belongs to Yamunanagar in Haryana and has valuable styling experience in Delhi and Haryana. My boys and I got terrific haircuts and I additionally even enjoyed a great shave; our haircuts were appreciated by one and all. We enjoyed all this with the whole saloon to ourselves whilst being treated by their exceptional skills, with the welcome accompaniment of the latest Bollywood hits. However the biggest 'bonus' was that this great new delightful experience was at a third of the cost we would have otherwise doled out in the other reputed saloons nearby.

This has prompted me to share this piece about these two abundantly gifted stylists, so that more people can get to benefit their plenteous talents and indulge in this marvelous gratification. It also affords an intrepid vicarious pleasure to have your hair done by barbers named Saddam or Musharaff. I shall be returning to this new place for my grooming needs in the future; as it is excellent value for money for the exquisite expertise you get to experience. 
Saddam Farhad can be contacted on the mobile number +91-9567804249 for bookings and appointments. Presently being unsung and anonymous one can just walk in and get serviced; but this gesture of giving the number might lead to me having to wait the next time I need to go there. Who cares as long as these gifted twosome; can gainfully groom a few more of my Kochi brethren!

Cafes & Eateries

It's CHAI COFI Time !

By - Lt Col (Retd) D Purushothaman Pillay

Discovered quite by chance, a fairly new entrant, that deserves a warm welcome, to the happening Kochi Coffee Scene. Inconspicuously tucked away in a nondescript bylane behind Varkey's at Palarivattom is my new find 'Chai Cofi'. This is an expansive, uncluttered, relaxing space that gives you a heady brew with a fair selection of well-chosen reading material, an enthusiastic service, mellow music, soft lighting and good nibbles at reasonable prices for its copious portions. The place also has a pleasant steal in the form of a Pool Table that can be enjoyed at Rs 150 for the hour by 5 enthusiasts. The big bonus is its multi-station, multiple screen, airconditioned Gaming Zones for the freaks wanting to enjoy a fix of PC Games and X Box Kinect. It also boasts of Kochi's only Laser Tag play area in its 'Woot Gaming Lounge'. Definitely a nice new addition to the Kochi hangout scene, with its own ample basement parking. A great place to let your hair down for some casual fun with friends, on a lazy holiday!

Enjoy your weekend friends!

Fort Kochi

AESTHETIC FORT KOCHI

There are quite a few praiseworthy Hotels, Homestays & Restaurants that dot the pristine, laid back lanes of Fort Kochi worth visiting these days.

A casual stroll bears witness to a definite and discernable improvement in quality all around and aesthetic appeal is the first obvious beneficiary of this new conciousness among the various players across the board; be it a financially robust chain or a modest stand alone start up, they all seem to have joined the upgrade bandwagon. The result is a burst of positive buzz in the bustling neighbourhood.

It is indeed a pleasure to just hop from one place to another as each one is a different experience in its own unique way. The great thing is that both the discerning luxury traveller to the parsimonious budget backpacker, have great experiences waiting to be discovered; no one will feel shortchanged or left out in terms of the options on offer in the very same culture dense neighbourhood; they both clamour to stake out in; courtesy glowing words tatamount to tributes; that abound in all manner of pedigreed travel guides, following first hand experience of an erstwhile traveller; they refer, before making an informed choice. There are countless, in both categories, who have returned many times and swear by their surprise at the way this small geographic entity with its homegrown ambassadors of hospitality have rediscovered the place, for them to carry a different experience every time they go back, thereby also inspiring them to come back for more.

Kudos to the entrpreneurial spirit of those enterprising brains who keep this wonderful spirit of rediscovery in good health in Fort Kochi. I loved what I got to see in Kashi, Koder House, Old Harbour Hotel, David Hall, Oceanos, Cinnamon, Malabar House, Brunton Boatyard, Tea Pot, Raintree Lodge, Bristow Lodge, Old Coutyard & The Delta Study to name just a few. I love to amble along these dusty lazy bylanes abuzz and generously sprinkled with an abundance of multi-ethnic pleasure seekers cutting across national barriers all genuinely imbibing the heady energy that abounds the musty atmosphere of this backwater paradise.

Be advised, one must be there to feel it, and mind you once you feel it you will just love it. And when you love it; you just just go back for more and more. Oh my God, I didnt ever plan to write so much I just wanted to post the pictures, but then I just went with the flow and didnt realise; all it says is Fort Kochi today is a most captivating destination steeped in allure and enchantment.

My word, go see it, if you haven't already, you will fall in love with it!