Kumarakoam - Restaurant Review

Kumarakom - Restaurant Review

Address: V3, Near Tower Park, 4th Main Road, V Block, Anna Nagar, Chennai 600040

Expectations:

This restaurant had been in my mind for a long time and finally I had a chance to visit the place. Heard good reviews about this one, so my expectations were really high. I have had my Keralite friends raving about the authenticity of the food here, so thought I could give it a try. We went as a group of 3 here on a Sunday afternoon for lunch.

Ambience & Service:

Let me start from the parking. The parking was full when we reached there. They had a board which mentioned Valet Parking but no one was to be seen around. Even the security did not help us with the parking and finally we parked in a nearby lane. We got a table after waiting for 10 minutes (this seems to be the norm over here). The ambience was not that impressive, and the place looked very crowded with not so much space between tables to walk around. However, our table was laid out neat and clean.

The silver lining in the cloud was the service. The waiters were courteous and friendly. They were prompt to address any problems immediately.

Food:

1. The Starters:

We ordered for Cream of Mushroom Soup, Fish Fingers, Parota, Beef Masala , Steamed Rice, Chicken 65, Prawn fry and Malabar Fish Curry.

The look of the soup itself was pathetic in taste and it was not hot as well. the taste was too bland and the creaminess was missing. It was like mushroom boiled in water and served hot.

Among the starters, chicken 65 was really good and crispy with soft chicken adding to the taste. Me and my friends finished it within minutes of the arrival of the plate. :)

Fish fingers were too bad, the garnishing and presentation made the dish look good. But, we put one piece in the mouth and we realized that the fish did not taste fresh at all! Again, the fish fingers didn't have any accompaniments, not even the usual tomato sauce. That left a bad taste in our mouth.

Prawn fry was good, but you could feel the coconut oil's taste more than the prawns. But I guess that was the 'authenticity' that my friends had been mentioning about. The highlight of the dish was the soft prawns fried with tomato and onions but I guess the secret of the taste was the coconut oil used, that gave a unique flavour to the dish. I liked it, but my other friends didn't like the flavour.

2. The Main Course:

The Parotta was hot and soft and went well with the Beef Masala. It has been quite some time since we ate parotta that was so well made.

The Beef Masala was in North Indian style preparation and that was the best dish that we tasted that day. We were disappointed with the Malabar Fish Curry. The curry was also very watery as you can see below and didn't taste authentic (I know, because I have eaten at roadside shops in Kerala this same fish curry and they have tasted better). It was spicy, all right, but did not have the flavour in it.

By now, we had lost interest and didn't want to try any desserts. We later went out to Cream and Fudge for a separate dessert. :D

Value for Money:

Overall, for three people, the bill came around 1400, which is at the usual range you find in good restaurants nowadays. But some of the items being not so good, caused me to think whether it was worth the price we paid for. 

Overall, the restaurant did not meet my expectation and may be Keralites would like it more. Go for it strictly if you like Keralite style of food or if you like to experiment with different flavours in your food. Else, better stay away! 

My ratings would be 

Ambience - 2

Food - 2.5

Service - 3

VFM - 2.5

Overall Rating: 2.5/5