I decided to check out Thalaserry Corner Thattukadda, a name that has been making news in various food circles in the recent past. Since it is quite close to where I live, I didn’t have to wait for too long to visit it.
I have heard from a friend that the place is very small, and sure it was! A very small hole-in-the-wall kinda place, three small tables, just enough room to go in and go out. So no brownie points for ambience, interiors, etc. However, the place was clean, no complaints there.
It was Sunday afternoon and I checked with them what was available and decided to go with Ghee Rice, Kerala Chicken Curry and Kerala Chicken Fry. Since I do not eat seafood and beef by choice, I had to stay contended with chicken. The Ghee Rice and Kerala Chicken Curry were served in about 5 minutes, the Chicken Fry took a little longer, which was perfectly acceptable.
Ghee Rice was good and tasty, could have been a bit hot, it was barely warm. The Chicken Curry was decent taste-wise, but I didn’t like the Chicken in it. One piece that came off the bone was soft and good, while the other two pieces were boneless breast pieces and were chewy with absolutely no masala getting into it. Had to leave it.
Kerala Chicken Fry was quite a disappointment, it was a ‘basic’ chicken fry. Chicken pieces with bone deep-fried, that’s it! The chicken was not very soft, and somehow I encountered too many bones, in weird shapes, so it wasn’t very easy to eat. The chicken as such didn’t have any flavor as compared to a Chicken 65, possibly not marinated at all. The onion pieces that came along with it was too little, had to ask for some extra onion. I know it is a Thattukada and I don’t expect the quality of a Star hotel here, but they could have been decently cut fresh and served. Dry in some places, black stains perhaps from the knife, and the stem not cut off properly, it was a sorry sight. Picked the best pieces among them and managed.
I felt I could eat a bit more and asked for a little portion of extra ghee rice and some gravy, and they readily served it, but refused to charge for the extra portion. That was really nice of them.
All the while I saw that the guys were quite passionate, but I personally felt the Chicken stuff needs a bit of fine-tuning in preparation and more attention to small details. Not tasting seafood and beef in a Keralite place and rating it based on their Chicken dishes is absolutey unfair, but based on what I had, the negatives outweighed the positives this time.
Paid 180 bucks for all I ate and very nominally priced, no complaints with it ! I’ll definitely come back again to try their porottas, Idiyappams and hopefully the chicken is better by then !
Overall, for seafood and beef it might be excellent, but for chicken, it was just okayish!
No Comments