Taste of Kerala at Tharavad

Another restaurant review. Guess burrp! has really influenced me.Now its about cuisine from Kerala. I’ve spent 11 years there & its only fair that I write something about it.Not exactly typical traditional Kerala food, but its Kerala food made in Chennai.There are quite a few Kerala hotels in Chennai – Kumarakom, Naalukettu, Ende Keralam being few of them. But right now i’ll focus on Tharavad, mainly because I haven’t been to the other places, yet.

Tharavad essentially means ‘ancestral home’ in Malayalam. Tharavad is located on the road to Besant Nagar bus stand, quite near Cool Cats. Its not a fancy place. I figure, the owner probably started it as a small place (slightly better off than a thattukada and was surprised at how popular it became). This shows from the fact that the furniture is bare (no table cloth, cutlery) & there exist a couple of old air-conditioners which work if its your lucky day. In fact, the only good part of the decor is the front door, intricately carved & inviting. The interiors aren’t much to talk about. The tables-for-two are solid immovable ones plastered with ceramic tiles for easy cleaning (like I said, the owner didn’t really expect it to be a hit. He probably started it for the lower middle class. Surprisingly, a lot of families come here, almost exclusively Malayali). They have an extension, which I figure wasn’t there when the joint started. It is slightly better off with cane furnishings & dimmer lighting. But basic characteristics remain. The entry to this extension is via a unlighted stairway that is hard to find. If you’re going for dinner, do watch out.

Coming to the food, Its awesome. Typical coconut oil & milk laced curries, soft steamed rice cakes (puttu) , fluffy parottas feature on the menu. A friend tells me that the Fish Curry meals are a good option for lunch. Costing about Rs 50, they fill your stomach quite well. The parottas are the cheapest I’ve seen so far in Chennai (barring thattukadas) & are really fluffy. These people offer beef & the Syrian beef fry ( a regular of the Kottayam Catholics) is quite tasty. Chicken roast is quite interesting with a coconut based paste smeared on the chicken. It can’t be called gravy & it can’t be called ‘dry’. As you can see, the names aren’t too fancy. The focus is on practicality rather than on showing off. A chicken dish costs about Rs 70-80 & the seafood items come to about Rs 100-130.A wide selection of seafood is available ranging from prawns, pomfret (karimeen),seer fish (nei meen), mussels (kallumakaye) & squid. Vegetarian dishes are available for about Rs 30-50. The taste is good, and all are very spicy. So you might want to watch out if you suffer from indigestion or ulcers.Portions are quite large & a single dish will suffice for a couple of people. They don’t offer a lot of desserts but we have Cool Cats to remedy that don’t we?

If you’re a Malayali stuck in Chennai, dying to eat some Kerala food and aren’t willing to pay the earth for it, you can visit for it. Foodies looking for a change from the usual fare can also drop in. Most people come here for the non-veg. So obviously, thats tastier. I had the kadala curry(chick pea) once, and though it was tasty, the chickpea wasn’t cooked properly. I’ve heard the Egg curry is great & I’ve been told to avoid the Chicken Stew (Cheapest chicken dish available. Apparently they don’t encourage people buying it). The service is ok, though I had a problem with them billing me for something I hadn’t ordered (Hence they lose a point on that)
For the rating
For the rating,
Ambience: 2
Food : 4
Value for Money: 4
Service : 3

Overall : 3.25

So go ahead & give it a try.Do post comments here if you have a different opinion on something.Till next time,
Cheers!