It was recently that I found out about this restaurant near Kazhakuttom called Travancore Street Kitchen… I heard that they serve nice simple and homely naadan meals with seafood… When I searched about them in google, I found some really nice looking Chattichoru options and so I was hoping to be able to try it while going to the place… It is a small place… Two small dining rooms with very few tables… Every table had water and the loose curries thats included along with their meals already set as can be seen in the pic below…
However, I did end up disappointed at the fact that the Chattichoru that I was hoping to have was not available and instead their regular Kerala Meals was what I ended up having… As per the waiter, they don’t have Fish Curry and instead its just a Fish Gravy thats part of the meals and Fish Fry needs to be ordered separately… So, I went ahead with the Meals and then among the options of Fish Fry, I chose the one he mentioned as “Ayala Podi”… This was a first for me and got me curious… So, the food was served shortly as can be seen in the pic below…
So, lets talk about the Meals first… As can be seen in the pics below, the meals here consists of Rice, Kappa (Cassava), FishGravy, Aviyal, Kovakka (Ivy Gourd) Thoran, Mango Pickle, Parippu, Sambar, Rasam, Pulissery and Payasam which in this case was the Ada Pradhaman Payasam… Regarding the taste, I was indeed surprised as to how ordinary everything felt, as if eating as a family member at an average homemaker’s home rather than restaurant as there was nothing fancy about anything… Just basic ingredients and straight forward simple recipes done just right where the ingredients stay dominant instead of being drowned in spices and flavourings…
Coming to the details, first of all, the rice was perfectly cooked and seasoned… The Fish Gravy had the flavours of Coconut, Moringa, Ginger, Mustard Seeds and a subtle flavour of Fish which to me, felt like that Netholi (Anchovy) mostly, along with the basic spices and if I am not mistaken a subtle taste of Raw Mango as well… The Kappa made in the form of a Puzhukku just tasted of the Cassava used along with Turmeric with a slight hint of Chillies and Coconut… The Aviyal felt different from others as in I couldn’t taste any sour component in it and just tasted of the Coconut, the Vegetables and Turmeric… The Kovakka Thoran was just like how my mom makes at home… Just the taste of the Ivy Gourd, Coconut, Mustard Seeds, Green Chillies and Curry Leaves along with the Coconut Oil… The Mango Pickle felt like it was made without oil and in brine and the saltiness, spiciness and sourness were just perfectly balanced… As for the ozhichu-curries, the Parippu was just like any other we find in Travancore area made with Green Gram and Coconut, but made with mild use of spices so that the taste of Green Gram and Coconut is what dominates… The Sambar tasted mostly of the vegetables that were used in it and just like the Parippu, was made with mild use of the spices… The Pulissery was just like any other and had a much more subtler hint of Pineapple in it… Taste of yogurt is what dominates along with Turmeric, Coconut and Mustard Seeds… As of the Rasam, it was the kind made with Pepper and Tamarind and tasted nice with the flavour of Coriander and Mustard Seeds… Lastly, the Ada Pradhaman payasam was the only item that was made with richness and it was indeed rich and creamy with a generous taste of Ghee and Coconut Milk along with a mild presence of Jaggery (hence the lighter color)… It indeed was a yummy dessert… 🙂
Next up is the Fish Fry… Among the choices the waiter mentioned, I went for the Fish Fry made with “Ayala Podi”… But seeing how it was served as can be seen in the pics below, I first thought it might be that he brought me some other fish like some kind of Sardine or what we call here as the Koyyala Fish… But turns out it was Young Mackerels and it was the first time I had them… Regarding the taste, it was clearly cooked using the traditional spices, all in medium level and the Fish were cooked perfectly… Sliced Onions are indeed a great combination with the Kerala style fried Fish… I ended up liking this Fish Fry very much…
Overall, I felt that the meals and the fish fry was a great combo for lunch… As I said before, from the taste, I felt it hard to believe that I was eating at a restaurant rather than at a home… I thoroughly enjoyed everything as everything tasted so clean and was seasoned perfectly to my taste…
Towards the end of the meal, I felt that I needed something to drink other than water and the waiter informed me that they have fresh juices and among the available options, I chose to have their Mango Juice which was served as can be seen in the pics below… Regarding the taste, surprisingly, it had the flavour of local mangoes rather than the mangoes we get in the market mostly that tend to come from outside Kerala… It was indeed rich with just the right amount of sweetness… But do beware that because of how thick it is, if you are almost full from the food you had, you might struggle to finish this… But tasted yummy though 🙂
From my experience, there are two kinds of restaurants… The most popular kind is one where they try to make themselves stand out from the rest in terms of taste… And to achieve that they add ingredients to enhance the flavours and richness of the dish like more complex spice mixes, more fat, MSG, etc… Then there are the others who don’t care about taste and just rather prefer sticking to their roots and just continue making good food with basic ingredients, just like how they would otherwise make at their homes… Based on my experience here, I felt that this restaurant comes in the second category… So, obviously, I am planning on going back for more… Hopefully very soon and in-fact I am tempted to make this my regular place for Meals and Fish…
