Jul 27, 2006 02:48 PM
2195 Views
Malabar Hotel - Probably the god's own restaurant :-p Excuse me, but this one is not a swanky joint in koramangala but a very respectable restaurant for the masses in one of the busiest business areas of the city: Balepet. The chances are non-bangaloreans wouldn't have heard of Balepet let alone Malabar. I have been a patron (if I may) of this place for a while now and it never struck me all the while that is worth a review.
And here you are. Cusine-wise it is no different from any of the quasi-udupi hotels like the Kamats or the Sagars. You get the same derivates of the aboriginal udupi stuff. In the beginning I was more or less fedup (no pun intended) of eating the same stuff my Biz associate friend was getting to his factory from there because 'he' liked it and he didn't want me to take the trouble of walking down to the place. When I said I hate parcel'ed food and prefer to eat it at Malabar itself then he was more than happy to take me there. We go there first time for lunch, everyone seemed to know him there and there was a queer whiff of attitude in the owner, who gave a very subtle half-nod when my friend smiled at him.
I asked my friend who has been a customer for the last 10 years, why the owner didn't even reciprocate properly. He said it is not bad attitude but that is how most businessman are in the area, being a malayali he is no different. Ah! so this is a Mallu joint, I exclaimed and instantly visualised Avial and Varuval and smiled at the roof. Then I felt a little stupid as the name itself says something about kerala. We went into the service section and our man had a fixed table where he always sat and a humble waiter who always served him more proactively then any CRM assisted Customer Support Executive in the new economy. The Menu has the usual Idli/Dosa stuff and a few unconventional dishes which I obviously chose. Ragi Dosa and Salem Rasam (not Sambar) Vada. the waiter left without asking what my friend wanted. I gave him a puzzled what-about-you look for which he non-chalantly said he knows what to get me, today is wed'day and it'll be Pongal. I went DUh!?
Soon I realised that these guys have a different menu everyday. Now that, I thought was really impressive. Normally, These kinds of hotels struggle to maintain a fixed menu and screw up too often, but these have had it this way from day one. Apart from the basic dishes, almost half of the items in the menu change everyday. On day it is Jola Dosa, other day it is Ragi Dosa, another day it Musthi Kadubu, Gojju Avalakki, Green Idly, Mini Idly in Rasam with a dash of coriander and some chutney powder, etc, etc. So their level-2 dishes (which are not available every day) are rather uncommon and taste pretty good. To some how retain the mallu touch they serve Kerala Parota, which is somehow not upto the mark, also partly because here I had it at noon with the regular sagu-ish curry and the classic coconut chutney, which is the wrong time/place/combo for me ;-). Chutney/Sagu/Samhar/Rasam/etc are always fresh and taste consistently good. I am very particular about the taste/freshness of chutney and this is the only place I have come across which maintains such levels of consistency. Rating. They have a regular Mini-Meal which is so nice and thoughtful that we have now totally switched over to that. It comes with 3 hot puris (didn't check size consistency :-p) the typical Rasam/Sambhar/Rice, a Sandige (Sabudana based) instead of the corny papad and the sweet of the day, which is not a watered down cheap sugary thing but of the same grade as the ones in their sweet shop.
Last time they had carrot halwa, which tasted divine. One noticeable thing is that they are thoughtful enough to give a curry(sagu) suitable to eat puri with, while rest of the places expect you to eat the puri with beetroot curry with grated coconut. Grrr! I am sorry I am very particular and I cannot help make a big deal out of this. Taste of these dishes is distinctly NOT Udupi'ish, there is a strong touch of Malabar (aha!) to it sans the coconut oil and grated coconut (ugh!). Basically ala 'Malabar Meets Malnad'. The place is clean, people are clean, uniforms are clean, everything is neatly marked. Toilets are properly placed and marked and gender reserved. There is the self service section on the ground floor for the people on the move.
They crush their own coffee seeds in the lobby everyday. After going there many times and observing them, It really shows how well people do their jobs or rather how the management has so efficiently streamlined the processes in every part of the hotel. So far I have never heard either of the owners raising their voice at their workers. Exemplary Management which thinks 'Out of the Tiffin-Box'. Location: Balepet Main Road, Off Balepet Circle. Ask anyone It is a landmark. Sorry No Reservation. First Come First Serve only. Please take care of your belongings and Visit again :-p Enjoy!
Best Regards Kj
