Trivandrum: Life, Culture, History, Greenery & Cityscapes

[praanthan_chaannaan]

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

- Lol, comments like those won't make you mighty popular with the cops, PC.

heh! heh! Make no mistake - I like the Kerala Police, I had the great oppurtunity of knowing some of their best men (and some really bad-ass ones at that) too. Infact, I used to love training alongside them, informally as well as in classes which included them. My instructors for years were two Sub-Inspectors who were 2nd degree black belts in Taekwondo, certified by Korean Federation . One of them got snapped up by ITBP and later got deputed to NSG SAG group. Most of the younger guys I knew where educated, state/national level athletes who would kick the butt of many Special Forces operatives when it comes to endurance.

Unfortunately, their image of a corpulent, mustached and loose tongued force got struck with them, though in my opinon, they had radically changed by the early 90s into a really competent force (of course, there are still pudgy exceptions, as always).

Now, I am out-of touch with these men for a few years, but I am sure, their standards wont have come down. That is why I got pissed when I saw that slouch on a Bullet

And yeah, in the early 90s I got ticketed for cutting the Statue-GHospital one-way by one fellow, whom I knew well. Did I get away with it based on my friendship? Nope, I paid the fine of 50Rs like a good citizen at the Cantonment station counter the next-day.

No sir! I wont mess with them

[praanthan_chaannaan]

Originally Posted by rajeshdxb

Guys,

Which do you think is the best restaurant in Trivandrum ?

Rajesh

Rajesh, that is a good point..... I want to find this valuable info before I land there again and shoot up my cholesterol to the high 200s.

LOL, I am totally outdated and most of the new ones may not b e in the list, but here goes my picks as I believe there is no one best restaurant for all food-types I have eaten

- Coffee houses of Statue and Medical Coll (for the gloopy but tasteful cutlets and rose milk)
- Azad @Statue(for the sinful coconut-oil soaked mutton fry)
- Arul Jyothi (for the dosa)
- SouthPark (for the lunch buffet, Chef Soman serves up a mean "meen pollichathu", I went into the kitchen last time to complement him, but barely missed him )
- The Kovalam ITDC hotel that got taken over by Leela, dont know its new name (for the boiled lobster, fried mussels, crabs, prawns etc)
- Aishwarya, a little "chaya-kada" (tea-shop) turned small restaurant near Thakaraparamba (for their awesome chicken curry, the best in the world, atleast in my book, and I take my chicken-curry research seriously )
- Rehmanya/Mubarak inside Chalai for their chicken fry and ghee-rice
- Bismi at Balaramapuram junc for their fiery mutton curry
- Guruvayoorappan hotel for the meals and fish fry

and of course, Ajay, I guess we should not forget the famous Hotel Maatha which used to be right next to CET and which all the CET-men vouch for (dont know if it is still there)

[Ajaypp]

- Yup, ol' Maatha is definitely there. Everything's pretty much the same there...

Some other good spots:

- The Taj Green Cove's Beach Restaurant and Grill - great barbeque, seafood and ambience. The Taj is also setting up a floating restaurant in its private lagoon - shud be great.

- The Residency Tower's rooftop indian joint.
- Casa Bianca - Italian restaurant and pizzaria at Vazhuthacaud - authentic cusine.
- The great bunch of malabari and arabic food joints at Palayam, next to the Underpass.
- Muthoot Plaza's Tiffanys - awesome buffet.
- Oottupura - seafood joint at Vellayambalam - a haunt of Sudheesh!
- Sindhoor and Sindhoor Palace.
- KTDC's floating restaurant on Veli lake, the food's good but the view is awesome!
- Al Saj drive-in at Kazhakkoottam.

.......and many, many more. No shortage of joints buddy, and with all the new 5-stars and 4-stars popping up, the gastronomic scene looks better and better!

[sudheeshnairs]

Ajaypp]

- The Residency Tower's rooftop indian joint.

It is "Oye Balle Balle"

Oottupura - seafood joint at Vellayambalam - a haunt of Sudheesh!

Oh, friend, you have a place for me always.. Yes, I go there if I don't take lunch from Home. It is a plain restaurant but has good variety of Sea Food, which I crave for.

Sindhoor and Sindhoor Palace.

My wife Nisha's favourite places and hence we frequent them for dining out. Btw Sindhoor Palace at Kowdiar has three sections, an Airconditioned a la carte wing, an Open air lawn/waterfall area good for evening & night as well as a roof top Buffet area.

[praanthan_chaannaan]

hey, thanks guys for the new places - should check them all out (with a bottle of cholesterol reducing pill in the pocket)

And any other folks who have a fav place, please do share

[sudheeshnairs]

"Park Fields", a theme restaurant is there before Sindhoor at Vazhuthacaud, after Bhadra Towers. Several Malayalam film songs has scenes from this restaurant, like "Thanmathra", "Achuvinte Amma" etc. It also has open landscaped dining areas.

"Pizza Corner" at Spencer Jn.

Btw, the speciality Italian "Casa Bianca" at Vazhuthacaud is run by an Italian Lady..

We have also missed the one at Leela, Kovalam.

Also Samudra, Kovalam, open air dining in the landscaped cliff under candle lights, with sea breeze in face is really great.

[mindcurry]

i think we missed out Kalavara which had its first restaurant off M.G Road (with Trivandrum's first fast food joint - Minutes Man) and now has another outlet behind T.T.C.

The good thing about Trivandrum, or Kerala for that matter, is that we get the yummiest of foods even in the small "hotel" restaurants as well.

I have another big question for us to wonder about here.. Can't the mayor, if we and all the people support, have a city free of political and film flyers and flags and stickers? I was going around the city and noticed how ugly these people make our cities. Any nice island and lamp post and garden are all screwed up by ugly multi-colored posters and flags.

We should have it banned, and have them placed only on alloted areas - Chennai has started this and it has made a world of difference.

[sudheeshnairs]

Rightly said Mindcurry, we also think on the same lines. I think we can tolerate film posters to some extent, but the flags, banners and posters of political parties & other organisations mar the beauty of our city..


Infact it is easy for a city like to Trivandrum to be seen like a developed world city, we have less trash, rubbish etc to be cleaned when compared with anyother Indian city. Something has to be done regarding this. Perhaps the NGOs lhere could meet the Mayor/authorities concerned for this.

Originally Posted by mindcurry

for us to wonder about here.. Can't the mayor, if we and all the people support, have a city free of political and film flyers and flags and stickers? I was going around the city and noticed how ugly these people make our cities. Any nice island and lamp post and garden are all screwed up by ugly multi-colored posters and flags.

We should have it banned, and have them placed only on alloted areas - Chennai has started this and it has made a world of difference.

[Ajaypp]

Spot on Sudheesh and MC, especially with the smashing roads of TRDP, those posters should be loooong gone!

[rajkrish]

Hi Sudheesh,
I think its run by a swedish lady. I went and checked it out. I had Spaghetti alla Bolognaise and tortellini from there. Food is typically Italian with less spices and generous usage of tomato sauce and it tasted a bit bland for my South Indian palate. The place is frequented by who's who of Tvm and u can also see quite a deal of foreigners too.

Rajkrish

Btw, the speciality Italian "Casa Bianca" at Vazhuthacaud is run by an Italian Lady..

[rajkrish]

Add Open House to the list. I think its the first fast food joint in TVM, if not in Kerala. Guess they started in 1981 (Can anyone confirm this?). Their Chicken dry fry, Beef fry and Beef Chilly are legendary.

Then there is Nikunjam. The place every dish is sold by the weight, like 1/2 kg of Chicken Fry etc. Their standout dish is Chilly Chicken.

For vegetarians there's a bunch of small eateries inside the fort area. Sweet Land, Venkadesa Bhavan- whose spicy "Ada Dosha with Aviyal" is a special combination.

Then there's the ultimate Buhari- The official "Puttu Kada" of Trivandrum.

Rajkrish

Originally Posted by mindcurry

i think we missed out Kalavara which had its first restaurant off M.G Road (with Trivandrum's first fast food joint - Minutes Man) and now has another outlet behind T.T.C.

[rajeshdxb]

Hotel Amritha at Thycaud had a nice restaurant... do not know how it is now.

Sindhoor is a great restaurant, I love the food there, though the interior of the restaurant is a bit overdone.

Rajesh

[praanthan_chaannaan]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

Rightly said Mindcurry, we also think on the same lines. I think we can tolerate film posters to some extent, but the flags, banners and posters of political parties & other organisations mar the beauty of our city..


Infact it is easy for a city like to Trivandrum to be seen like a developed world city, we have less trash, rubbish etc to be cleaned when compared with anyother Indian city. Something has to be done regarding this. Perhaps the NGOs lhere could meet the Mayor/authorities concerned for this.

Yes, those posters are an eyesore and are totally outdated means of advertisement - I mean how many of us went into a movie because we saw a giant Sivakasi print of Mohanlal's chubby face or Mammootty's missing molars?

Or who is going to make any 'informed decisions' upon reading that CPM's zillionth plenary meeting is being held at Putharikandam and when the posters blare that Chennithala or Murali are dragging their butt across Kerala ?

Same goes for product ads like the paan ads and the jewellery shop ads. We got it - paan is fun and gold is good, but not a two-storey picture of Dileep wearing a shirt 5 sizes bigger than his actual size, which bloat out the greenery behind it.

There should be a mandatory clean-up fee charged for posters of any party/product/movie or else fine them. Atleast that will prevent the more whimsical posters like the ayurvedic toothpastes, kerala miniscule workers unions etc

Atleast have make them use an adhesive which will degrade in a month, so that they can be ripped out without paint-damage

[sudheeshnairs]

Oh, so she is Swedish and not Italian...I happened to see a TV program featuring the restaurant and it was mentioned that the owner is an european lady. May be I took her as an Italian since it is an Italian restaurant.

BTW, at Kovalam there is a resort named "Lagoona Davina" which is been run by an English lady named "Davina Taylor". Check out it at www.lagoonadavina.com.

Originally Posted by rajkrish

Hi Sudheesh,
I think its run by a swedish lady. I went and checked it out. I had Spaghetti alla Bolognaise and tortellini from there. Food is typically Italian with less spices and generous usage of tomato sauce and it tasted a bit bland for my South Indian palate. The place is frequented by who's who of Tvm and u can also see quite a deal of foreigners too.

Rajkrish

[Ajaypp]

- Sudheesh seems to see a lot abt the nationalities of all the female restauranters in town....

[praanthan_chaannaan]

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

- Sudheesh seems to see a lot abt the nationalities of all the female restauranters in town....

hey, that is a good thumb-rule - eat 'puttu/kadala' from a local chaya-kada and pizza from a european-run place. Found the hard way that US/Indian pizzerias make a lot of compromises to suite the local tastes.

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by praanthan_chaannaan

hey, that is a good thumb-rule - eat 'puttu/kadala' from a local chaya-kada and pizza from a european-run place. Found the hard way that US/Indian pizzerias make a lot of compromises to suite the local tastes.

Yup, quite sad that despite having gazillions of pizzarias in India, it's still tough to find the real deal. Fortunately, Casa Bianca serves authentic stuff. Otherwise, one would have to go to the six-star facilities of the Leela!

[sudheeshnairs]

[Ajaypp]

Beautiful shot there, buddy! It looks even more enchanting at night, with the lightscaping switched on. Will try and capture a few frames soon.

[Ajaypp]

Yet another lush green cityscape. The tops of the classic buildings of the historic Government Arts College can be seen above the canopy on top of the hill.