Now this is long overdue…I have written on things that I love – books, politics and music in this space..There is another thing that I love – in fact all of us do – Good Food!!
Last Sunday I was in Chennai. My sister, cousin and myself had lunch at “Rasam”- a new restaurant in Purasawalkkam. This blog is on that.
“Rasam” is the restaurant venture of the “mysurpa” fame Sri Krishna Sweets. It is located in Raja Annamalai Road, opposite to Dharmaprakash kalyana mandapam and next to Sir M.Ct.M Boys School. The building is of vintage stuff – must be nearly 75 to 100 years old. They have maintained the old regal look of the building. Downstairs we have their regular sweet and savories shop. Rasam is located in the first floor.
The beauty of the place is in the way they have retained the old look of the building. In fact, downstairs you can relax yourself for a while on a old ‘oonjal’ (swing) and some cute looking chairs. You can also find a specimen of the radio of yesteryears. On the way up the stairs, you can find displays of old newspaper cutting (one was dated 15th August 1947) and photos showing you the Chennai (or should I call Madras) of the years gone by.
The restaurant itself is spacious. I had been there twice so far – once for dinner and now for lunch. The first time I was lucky to find a seat in the balcony overlooking the road. It was really good experience, sitting in an old building overlooking the busy traffic of Purasawalkkam and having good food. This time though we found a table inside.
The cusine is of Kongunad style. For lunch they have only two options – Regular Kongunad thali and Kongunad Special. Of course, we went for the Special. As soon as we settled, we were given wet towels to freshen ourselves. It was really good especially considering the Chennai heat. As it was a fixed thali, we were saved of the trouble of selecting the menu. Now for the food.
First we were served with ‘panagam’ – chill…Panagam is always my favorite..(I really love Ramanavami because of ‘panagam’ and .neer mor’).. Then came the appetiser – rasam and ‘vadaams’..
The next course was Kongunad masala dosai, vazhaipazha dosai, masal vadai, sambar, kiruneer pazham and cabbage poriyal. The dosais were small in size but tasty. We understood why the dosais were small when we saw the next course…..
The main course had sambar sadam, vegetable pulav, kothu paratha, rasam, sambar, sevai, some nice dish with badam and all – the name of which i cannot recollect, and some vegetables. The sevai and kothu paratha were very good. We could of course have white rice for sambar and rasam. But we were full already and went directly for curd rice.
The next course was payasam – karipatti payasam to be precise, mixture and a vazhaipazham. karipatti payasam is made of panai vellam and hence the name. We ended our lunch with a tea – flavored tea to be precise – without milk and sugar. the flavor for the day was curry leaves!! I loved it.
We ended up in true tamil style…vethalai sunnambu paaku…
It was a truly wonderful experience..the service was excellent..very courteous..neat..and non intrusive…As far as the price goes..it was value for money according to me – Rs.150/- per head excluding taxes.
Thanks to my cousin Swami for the pictures..
So the next time you are around in that part of Chennai..do visit Rasam…in fact you can even visit Purasawalkkam just for the sake of Rasam..
The Purasawalkkam high road is fast becoming the second usman road of chennai with large textile shops adorning it…There is also the Gangadeeshwarar Temple and Vinayakar temple which are just ten minutes walk from the restaurant..So you can come, pray, shop and eat…and while leaving u can even pick the vegetables for your home for the next week from the Reliance Fresh outlet just next to Rasam..doesn’t it sound to be an attractive weekend evening getaway?
Mani's Musings... 