19.09.2017 At Palmgrove, pulpy grape juice and idli-sambar serve up a
heavy dose of nostalgia
Chennai’s Kodambakkam High Road Hotel Palmgrove’s Menaka
Restaurant, dozens of morning walkers from the Marina sit down for a relaxed
breakfast of idli-sambar and wash it down with coffee, or everyone’s
favourite grape juice. So, what goes into this juice that has everyone hooked?
Fresh paneer grapes from Coimbatore’s vineyards and a recipe passed down the
decades. The USP? The pink-purple grape is not fully juiced, but left pulpy.
Jeweller Vummidi Murali first started coming here 35 years
ago, when his kids were studying in Don Bosco. He found it a “safe and
hygienic” place to pack tiffin for his kids. “Even today, I manage to come here
once a week for idli, vada and sambar. And when I can’t, my son Gautham packs
it for me,” he smiles. What he rates high are the food quality and the friendly
staff.
Palmgrove began operations in November 1973, and since then
it has served up thousands of platters of South Indian snacks and thalis for
lunch and dinner. The food, served from 6 am to 11 pm without a break. Among the most popular here, besides South Indian short
eats, are parathacombos
and thalis, served with paruppu podi, gongura chutney and
endless spoons of warm, molten ghee. The sambar is a mix of
sweet, sour and spice. Menaka has been an introduction to Mangalurean
vegetarian cuisine. Be it the goli baje, neer dosa, shavige (idiyappam)
with coconut milk served in the evening, or dosas, poured out into thick
roundels and cooked till brown and crisp. In the presence of flashier outlets, people still head here
to sample old-world hospitality.
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