With a name like Ali Baba and 41 dishes you expect a treasure trove of the choicest of cuisines, at a steal. It was with those high food expectations that we dropped by the newly opened multi-cuisine restaurant on the Vellayambalam-Sasthamangalam road. Given that it was fairly early in the evening and a Monday to boot, we were not expecting to wait for a table. The 140-seater restaurant is jam-packed.
It did give us ample time to take in the ambience, though. The entire space, converted from an old home, is furnished in wood, steel and glass and is well lit, spacious, clean and not stuffy at all. Understated black and white photos and wallpaper and a built in fish tank adorn the walls. The tables and chairs look comfortable, are evenly spaced and you never get the feeling of being cramped. The centre of attraction is a decked-up autorickshaw parked next to the enclosed kitchen section that’s great for kids to play act as auto drivers and for adults to take the requisite selfies. We got to wait by the auto while our table was being cleaned and it gave us the opportunity to drool at the dishes as they zoomed by from the kitchen to hungry eaters. A platterful of crispy chicken garnished with what looks like strings of pappadam; flaky porottas the size of a side dish still giving off puffs of steam; an entire stuffed chicken , a humungous falooda jammed with all sorts of cut fruits, vermicelli, tutti fruitt and ice-cream...
Finally, we’re seated and handed the menu. Of course, then you just have count the dishes listed. Do they really have 41 dishes? It’s closer to 80, actually. The cheerful waiter laughs and tells us that it’s the restaurants trial menu only. Manager Santosh Kumar chips in: “The full menu will go full steam shortly. We will be including in a greater variety of seafood, Arabic, tandoor and Ali Baba specials such as brain fry.” We’ve heard widely contrasting opinions of the food from various sources in person and online (spicy, not spicy, reheated, bland…) that we’re more than a bit sceptical about the menu.
Save for some common items such soups and breads, there are precisely three things on the trial menu for vegetarians – Gulabi veg sheek kebab, Dil kush paneer kebab and vegetable biriyani. The non-vegetarians, on the other hand, can have a field day with choices, under varied labels such as Thalassery specials, Thalassery breads, Thalassery Dum Biriyanis, Indian non vegetarian starters and main courses. We decide to give the Chinese dishes a go. Ali Baba didn’t make it to China, did he? We were tempted to but, especially when the couple in the next table began happily tucking into beef chilli, shredded lamb in hot pepper sauce and Shanghai Fried rice and the like.
From the waiter we learn that the crispy chicken dish is a starter, what’s known as Alibaba Fried Chicken, “an Alibaba special, a must have.” It turns out to be a generous portion of melt-in-the-mouth fried chicken marinated in flavourful mild spices. It’s easily our dish of the day, though we still don’t get the point of the pappadom garnish other than it’s a novelty. The stuffed chicken, meanwhile, is Kozhi Nirachu Porichathu. That evening the service was rather quick, leaving us barely enough time to finish the soup, Ghost Yakhini Shorba (a bit underwhelming) and the starter before the mains arrived. We’d chosen Thenga pathiri, Ari oroti, and Ari dosa from the Thalassery bread section and they made for good accompaniments with the very Malabari mains.
Our favourites of the lot were Kakkam beef (a spicy, rather piquant beef curry), Meen mulakittathu (red hot spicy neymeen) and Koonthal Vattichathu (squid roast). Another highlight was the Alibaba Special Konjan choru, which is somewhere between a biriyani and fried rice in consistency and packed with plump prawns. The portions of all the dishes were of good size, just enough for us to wipe our plates clean.
The boss has raved about the fruit salad with ice-cream saying that it’s among the best in town but from the beginning we’d been eyeing the falooda, even though there was just no space in the stomach for one full one. Our waiter again came to our rescue, suggesting a ‘half’ portion of the Alibaba Special falooda. What a sweet, delightful, filling way to end the meal.
Pocket guide: Meal for two would cost about Rs.1,000
Taste guide: Alibaba Fried Chicken, Konjan Choru and Falooda
The restaurant also has a snack shop, Khoja, where you can get a variety of Malabar snacks and juices.
Contact: 0471 6561122, 6562233
