Craving Mallu Food? You Next Meal Should Be At This Kerala Cafe

Dig into mouthwatering squid 65, kappa biryani and buff mappas at Kerala Cafe on Baner road. And take our advice, go there on an empty stomach.

Mallus of Pune and others who love Malayali food, if an ideal lunch or dinner involves some buff fry, appams or a good roast then Kerala Cafe is where you must go. Serving the best dishes from God's own country, you can eat mushroom mezhukkupurati {stir fried with spices} to kandala curry {black chickpeas cooked in roasted coconut} and buff fry, they’ve got it all.

Designed to house approximately 40 people, the exteriors of the restaurant reflects quintessential Kerala architecture featuring a gable roof, cylindrical pillars at the entrance and bamboo blinds for the windows. The interiors, on the other hand, are simple and adorn a dual combination of black and white, pendant lights over each table, colourful Kathakali, elephant and floral murals on the walls, and classic wooden furniture. The place is quite spacious, perfect for those family luncheons and looks nothing remotely close to your go-to Udupi restaurants.

The food menu is traditional to the core, soul-satisfying, belly-filling and extremely pocket-friendly. We recommend you try their buff thenga kothu, a spicy meaty dish roasted in thin coconut slices. If buff isn’t your kind of meat, go for the mutton or the fish dishes. We loved their chemmeen pollichathu, which is basically prawns slow-cooked in banana leaf wrap. Vegetarians, there’s a whole different section for you. You must-try the ulli theeyal – a dish made of shallots in spicy tamarind coconut gravy.

Considered as one their signature dishes, the prawns biryani is served inside a tall cylindrical bamboo container. Sufficient for one person, we hear they slow steam the rice to perfection with homegrown Malabar spices. End your meal with either a bowl of jaggery coconut custard or kaipola which is Malabar-style steamed banana cake.

No matter what you do, but you cannot miss their filter coffee, which {according to us} is perhaps the best in town!