I was able to convince my Office colleagues yesterday(30th July) to drive down to this rather new restaurant, NH-17-The Taste of Travancore for a Keralite lunch.Able to impress 6 of us to join in and this is what we got to..... It is located in the Jimmy Towers,Sector 18,Kopar Khairane,Navi Mumbai and has probably been a rented space so not much ambience has changed or allowed to be changed.The adjacent plot / shop has been boought over and a fine dine shall soon open there.The permit room license has been applied for and this place is gonna rockkkkk.... We were greeted very warmly and seated.
All tables were of 4 covers each,and may I share that there were only 6 such tables available and the 3 of them in the middle were converted into a buffet. We were impressed by a buffet style available in a restaurant like this and were told that during lunch many from the closeby MNCs,including Reliance drop by,but do not have a lot of time so in a hurry they savour the buffet.It was priced @ Rs 135/ The Menu there in was-Meen fry,Mutton Kurma,Avial,Suran,Kootu,Poriyal,Sambhar,Rasam,Plain rice,Kerela Rice,Chapati,Papad,Payasam,Banana,Butter milk-seems a steal.The best part is that all dishes were cooked fresh and had an amazing flavor from each of them,coconut dominated though and also the fact that the A'la carte seemed a bit pricier.
We decided still to go for A'la carte and what we ordered was: Mutton Pepper fry(Rs110); Chicken Chaps(Rs95); Mutton Masala(Rs90) with Rasam,Papads(Rs4), Kerela Paratha(Rs7) for the carnivores and the 2 Herbivores ordered the Kerela Thali(Rs75)and some extra Appams and Chapatis.The Thali was sumptous and had everything from the Veg part of the buffet. Mutton Pepper Fry-Very delicate within with a lot of fried onions and green chilli apart from freshly ground black pepper beseeching the right chords in our throats the moment it crossed out salivary glands on the tongue-9/10 Chicken Chaps-Amazing preparation,but the bird was a bit older than the normal 39-42 days' chics so the fibres,cooked with a whole tomato thrown into the masala to impart the fresh flavor and color to the dish.8/10 Mutton Masala-Chilli and coconut paste to cook the dish,succullent pieces,had not turned black(so they were definitely fresh),and tempered with mustard and curry leaves was like divine-9/10.
Rasam-Mind boggling-9/10. Kerela Paratha-we had requested for less oil on parathas and then steaming hot ones came in one by one by one and I dont know how many the 4 of us on this table gorged on...10/10. The Carnivores rated the Thali-9/10. When we realised that it was time to go,it was so difficult to get out of our seats-we were absolutely overstuffed and what did we pay for the Meal the 6 of us had,Rs 723/. The gracious owner I was speaking to inbetween the meals was pretty impressed and gave us a discount too, so @ Rs 115 each(incl Tips),we enjoyed much more than we would have with the buffet,but to return another day for the buffet too.
The Meen pollichattu was being recommended but we had decided that we were on a No Fish day,so the Chicken and Lamb had to suffer at the tables we were on...I love animals ,they are so tasty ... Worth a try,Navi Mumbaikars,esp the ones at Belapur,Nerul,Sanpada,Vashi,Kopar Khairane and Airoli...Highly recommended.
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