For many of us living in Coimbatore, Avanashi Road or NH 47, is the arterial road that leads us to many destinations. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of this stretch, new additions get swallowed by familiar landmarks.
Fortunately, the newly opened SMS Hotel did not escape notice. The facade is modern with clean lines. Big colourful boards announce the existence of two restaurants within – Spice Bay and Pink Pepper. Spice Bay offers traditional South Indian fare ranging from a variety of tiffin and rice dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, while Pink Pepper has Continental fare.
We visited Spice Bay. I scoured the menu and stopped at a dish, not otherwise commonly available here. The Ceylon Parotta. Growing up, I had eaten Ceylon Chicken at home. If memory serves me right, that was a minced chicken with spices, onions, tomatoes, coriander, chillies and egg. It was Indian in taste and yet not quite. Those familiar with Sri Lankan food know that it has a wonderful blend of spices, delicate and robust. If this Ceylon Parotta echoed those very same flavours, I was in for a treat.
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At SMS HOTEL they serve both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions of the same. We ordered both and, soon, rather generous portions of golden brown stuffed parottas arrived at our table. Cut into perfect squares they looked delicious, and once we bit into the parotta we knew they were not just good looking, but tasted great too. They were flat and golden crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and sandwiched together with a yummy ‘Ceylon masala’ which lived up to its land of origin. You must definitely try this one out. Of course, the restaurant serves a lot more than just the parottas. But they were so good that they deserved an honourable mention.
SMS is located at Peelamedu on the main road. They have ample parking space inside where there is also a little paan shop tucked away in a corner, ideal for a after-dinner night cap of paan. The next time I will taste the fare at Pink Pepper. That is, if I can keep away from the Ceylon Parotta at Spice Bay.
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