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Food in the Farmhouse
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Feel at home at The Farmhouse on the ECR and enjoy some dal-chawal
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Photo: Shaju John
CHEERY PLACE The Farmhouse is for large groups of families and friends
They seem more excited about Anjali, their wobbly-kneed calf, than their new restaurant here at the Farmhouse. You can't begin a meal without first having a quick tête-à-tête with her. And she's quite irresistible, with her melting brown eyes fringed with thick eyelashes and damp, friendly nose, which she burrows into your palm. Beside her, Lakshmi, the mother cow moos lethargically, as she watches people walk in and out of her restaurant, with a proprietary air.
"People now come here just to meet Anjali!" chuckles the manager of the restaurant, adding that Lakshmi, who was brought in for good luck, now provides the restaurant with enough milk for their daily cooking — ensuring a daily supply of fresh paneer and thick curd.
The cows aren't the only surprise at The Farmhouse, though they are the most charming ones.
Airy terrace
The restaurant, set in Uthandi — like most of the East Coast properties — sprawls languidly over a large plot of land. You can chose where you want to sit: There's an airy terrace, open only during the weekends, delightful cabanas and gazebos set around a pool rippling with spirited fish, and a dining area inside, for people addicted to the air-conditioning.
However, unless it's unbearably hot, stay outside. The air-conditioned restaurant is rather sterile, a stark contrast to the delightful gazebos, lit by flickering lanterns and cooled by breezes from the sea. This is a cheery place, targeted more at large groups of friends and rambunctious families, rather than moony couples, so keep that in mind.
After all, you are quite likely to run into a number of high-energy children, coming in just to see Anjali, and eat French fries, accompanied by cousins, and a host of pint sized friends.
As a result, the food doesn't really aspire for gourmet status. Keeping the demanding `family crowd' in mind, the menu includes a wide selection of Continental, Chinese and Indian food — so you can begin with a Chinese soup, move on to kebabs for starters and end with an Indian dal and rice. We tried their kebab platter, which included well-browned chicken legs, Jumbo prawns and firm cubes of creamy paneer.
However, the best thing on the table was, surprisingly, the humble and ubiquitous `dal-chawal': Hot fluffy jeera rice, served with a steaming, subtly spiced vegetable dal.
Although the lemon pie served for dessert was a disaster, thanks to an overpowering dose of lemon essence, the rich vanilla cheesecake more than made up for it.
The Farmhouse is roughly a five-minute drive from the Prarthana Drive-In theatre.
SHONALI MUTHALALY
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