The wonderful thing about my Malayali friends is that you can seldom get them to agree on anything. I used to think it was restricted to politics, but now I find that food divides them equally. Just the other day, I heard rave reviews about a Kerala restaurant in Hauz Khas Village. A friend told me she had a wonderful meal there. I asked another of my Malayali foodie friends about it, and she turned her nose up. Terrible, she said.
Then, when these Malayali friends came up with similarly diverse views about another Kerala restaurant in town, I thought I had to do something about it. I decided that I would eat the food there and then make up my mind. And to Mahabelly I went.
Our friends were taking us out to dinner. They hadn’t eaten at Mahabelly either, but had heard good things from their friends who had. So we, a group of seven, gathered at Mahabelly in DLF Place in Saket one evening last week. It is on the ground floor of the mall, in an area known as the Restaurant Block (I got lost, but that’s because I have a problem with finding my way around in malls).
The restaurant is run by two young men. I liked the name Mahabelly, the pleasant Kerala-centric décor and the well-lit tables. One of the partners, Thomas Fenn, was there to guide us through the menu. But our hosts –– one Malayali, and the other half a Malayali –– knew what they wanted. And being good hosts they ended up arranging a huge feast for us.
I can’t recall all that we ate, but I went through the Zomato site later to zero in on at least some of the dishes. We had mutton varathathu, sautéed mutton (Rs.400), erachi double fry, tenderloin fried (Rs.280), prawn varathathu, prawn fried (Rs.470), mutton curry (Rs.310), chicken roast (Rs.280), mackerel pan-fried and steamed (Rs.520), red hot fish curry with tapioca (Rs.260), Malabar parottas (Rs.55), appams (Rs.55), caramelised banana with ice cream and palm treacle (Rs.160) and payasam of the day (Rs.140).
Let me tell you what I liked the most. I really enjoyed the hot fish curry with the tapioca mash. The Malayalis were not so sure. They loved the fish curry, but thought the tapioca should have been creamier. I, however, had no complaints, and mopped it up happily. The mutton fry, again, was excellent, nice and spicy, with soft melty mutton pieces. The fried prawns, again in a thick and spicy masala paste, were very good, too. The chicken roast was tasty and its light gravy went well with the appams (which were, however, a bit dosa like). I didn’t have the mackerel, but this was one issue on which all the Malayalis agreed –– they thought it just wasn’t good enough.
But, overall, I was very happy with my meal, and particularly enjoyed the dessert that followed, the soft sweet dosas with coconut and the caramelised bananas. The payasam was a bit disappointing.
In every meal, there will be some disappointments, and some exciting revelations. What I liked, apart from many of the dishes, was the enthusiasm of these two young men who have turned a passion into a business. This is a restaurant you should visit. For the food, the experience and the heated discussions that are bound follow!
Rahul Verma is a seasoned street food connoisseur
