If you are one of those people, who feel that South Indian food revolves around idlis and dosas and is dished out in places where ambience takes a back seat; Bon South will set your aspersions correct. The restaurant, which has opened an outlet in Mantri mall in Malleswaram offers a range of culinary delights from the States that form the south of the Vindhyas.
To start with an assortment of crunchy papads is served, a delightful starter, when served with fresh coconut and onion chutney, a taste that is very reminiscent of breakfast at home. We start with the Kerala specialty, Chemeen Porichathu, prawns marinated with chilli paste, grated coconut and curry leaves.
The freshness of the preparation takes you to a trip to the backwaters of Kerala. It is spicy and the perfect appetiser to start. The spicy masa bellulli roast lamb, with green chilli and garlic is also a great bet, with the soft mutton providing the much clichéd melt-in-the-mouth sensation.
In the main course, we start with the traditional south Kerala delicacy, a spot of Allepey fish curry, with rice. The fish curry, served in coconut milk is superb, soft and providing a light tangy taste. The raw mangoes that goes into the preparation, adds a tangy flavour to the dish. We also gobbled portions of idiyappam and mutton ishtew, a sweet and spicy dish, which goes perfectly with the soft and fluffy idiyappams.
The appams are the next on the list to be devoured. We sample the sweet-sour appams with gongura mamsam, boneless lamb cubes cooked with spices and sour vegetables and spicy mutton Chettinad. The high spice levels counterbalance the slight sweet taste of the appams. The dish is not very heavy and leaves you wanting more. Another dish that scores high on the taste factor is the panchadhanyam roti, made from five grain varieties. We enjoyed it with kothamir vonkaya koora, brinjal cooked in onion tomato gravy flavoured with freshly chopped coriander leaves, a tangy dish that does not disrupt the diverse tastes that the roti brings out.
Bon South is located at Mantri Square Mall, III Floor, Sampige Road, Malleswaram. Call 22667377 for more information.
