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A slice of Karaikudi

At The Royal Chettinad Family Restaurant refreshes both your mind and tongue

PHOTO: G. MOORTHY

YUMMY For traditional taste.

Do you brood how junk food, Chinese or North Indian items or the Western quickies invade our stomachs and corner the traditional food habits? Do you salivate at the thought of hot and spicy Chettinad cuisine and miss a tasty fare where your tastebuds get delightfully tickled. Walk into Royal Chettinad Family Restaurant then, where you will get exactly what you are looking for. "Among all South Indian varieties, Chettinad food holds a special place among food connoisseurs," takes off Limton, one of the proprietors of this new restaurant, housed in the comfort and elegance of a typical Chettiar house.

House-turned-restaurant

The restaurant sports Chettinad-homely interiors, serves simple, wholesome and tasty food and offers services of the kind that one can expect only from a well-trained house staff. The house-turned-restaurant lacks the touch-me-not elegance of star hotels. Its adequate comfort levels, relaxed and homely ambience, make the guests or even the diners in waiting never leave without a full go at the meals, howsoever long it may take.

"We do not call our customers so. Anybody who steps in is our guest, like our relative," says Mr. Limton, who took special effort to decorate the premises with old terracotta dolls and traditional hangings bought in Karaikudi.

"The food is cooked with an eye to make it both, easy on the stomach and appetising. The taste, therefore, is not only exceptional but also satisfying without excessive oil or grease. One can eat well and happily here without feeling heavy or uncomfortable," he guarantees.

Retaining native taste

Though the dominant features of Chettinad cuisine are spicy and hot, just to cater to his guests needs, Mr. Limton says he uses less oil and chilly powder without spoiling the native taste.

The sole aim of the restaurant is to provide homely atmosphere, safety and home-made food items.

The restaurant offers as many as 60 varieties of which a large variety of non-vegetarian dishes are on the menu, all tender and well done. Vegetarian dishes too are included in the menu. One cannot ignore the staff here, who are extremely polite and eager to greet guests. Throughout the meal, they offer food with attentive and discreet service. Although a Chettinad restaurant, the menu also features an extensive variety of popular dishes of Chinese, North Indian, Tandoori, continental cuisines, which have been included on guests' requests. The restaurant is mainly patronised by office-goers who simply crowd the place at lunch time.

As a sound business offer, the restaurant offers them complimentary payasam and soup. The most preferred items are biriyani varieties, non-veg meals with three non-veg chettinad kozhumbu, Paramakudi Kalakal half boil, Karaikudi karandi omlette and Pudukottai podimass.The proprietors have spared no expense in equipping the kitchen with separate cooking ranges for different cuisines. "We are also using traditional kitchen bowls and vessels to cook," Mr. Limton shares.

An unique feature of the restaurant is `you ring and we bring,' outdoor catering facility, which is available in Anna Nagar, K. K. Nagar, Tahsildar Nagar, Shenoy Nagar, Gomathi Nagar and Sadasiva Nagar areas.

"We deliver within 20 minutes of the order," he assures. The restaurant even runs a small library containing mostly epics, for the knowledge-hungry guests who do not want to waste time waiting for their turn to eat.

S.S.KAVITHA

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