Our journey through Kerala and Tamilnadu was planned to be more of pilgrimage and spiritual. However, it turned out to be a lot more of food adventure!!!
As vegetarians, we didn't find any difficulty in finding good restaurants in India which serve pure vegetarian food. In Kerala and most of Tamilnadu, we enjoyed eating in fresh banana leaves. I must say 'fresh' here as many Indian restaurants in India and also abroad serve food in banana leaves but most of the time, the leaves are not fresh and when hot rice (which the hotel usually has no choice but serve hot) placed in it will smell strange but in the fresh leaves, the fragrance is much more appealing and the rice tastes more better.
I didn't get a chance to take many pictures but here are a few and a much more longer list awaits for you on internet to explore. A few times we ate in places which served both non-veg and veg. But we felt very good with the service as the staff in all the restaurants took care in seating us and also making sure that we get a good feel that the food inside was also prepared with care. Without fail we thanked the staff and the management for their special attention. You may think that they might have anticipated a good tip from this large group, but we saw the same treatment with the locals too.
In Kottaraka town, we had opportunity to eat at Amgalakkara Regengy's restaurant. The ambiance and 'smell' of the restaurant was pleasant and good. We got a chance to eat Kerala Matta rice here. The rice had a very light texture and felt somewhat sweet. The variety of side dishes we got very unique Kerala flavor. They were not loaded with usual masalas or oil. In Trivendrum we went to this absolutely tidy place with delicious thali. They don't serve any idli or dosa or poori. Just meals.
The staff were very friendly and spoke to our kids very gently and answered all their questions. Our kids wanted to know if they can get extra pappalam, less rice, only their chosen veg from the list etc etc.
The restaurant was on the first floor. On the ground floor entrance the pic at the right attracted our attention. Hotel for lady executives?! Felt very good. I had an opportunity once to stay at a hotel in Malaysia with highly secured 'Ladies Only' floor. That official trip went very good as I was at peace when I left my daughter in the hotel room.Our stop at Trivendrum and Kovalam were filled with adventure with food at different restaurants. Some of them boasting about western food. One of them, along the beach, actually made very good pancakes!
As we reached Tamilnadu, our quest for food reduced and my opportunity to take pictures also reduced as we had to go to many temples and everywhere cameras were no allowed. Though the temples provide safe deposit boxes or rather places, I was not comfortable with them.
Here is my last pic of food in the journey. We were driving through towns and villages at lunch time thinking of finding a good place to eat. Finally what we found proved to be the best and worth waiting for :-)
