Very lovingly and commonly known as Madhu Chettan, he operates the kitchen from the backyard of his house (apparently a new location from where you used to operate before). The good vibes started for my friends and me as soon as we saw that the Google map location dropped outside a house and the host came out to receive us. No, he didn’t know us to be bloggers from Chennai. He was receiving most of his guests the same way.
My friends and me jokingly summarized this experience as Sundari Akka Kadai in Steroids. But, honestly this place has much much much more on it’s menu. There was atleast 8 types of fish gravies and 7 types of fish fry and prawns and all the catches were fresh. Never seen anything like this before. I really don’t care what the locals feel about this place and they can have their own disputes on this. But, personally for me this experience is/was one of the most exciting.
Honestly, the gravies didn’t make a great impression on me. Pick any of the red gravies with the most favorite fish of yours and it’s all going to taste similar. So, we chose Varal Curry (₹300) which came with one full fish in the gravy and Neymeen Curry (₹200) which was the only yellowish gravy (on the day we went) as it looked like the only fish gravy with coconut. Both were good. Wouldn’t call it great but certainly satiated the urge for having a good fish gravy with seafood sides.
Prawns (₹300) certainly stole the show but if I had to ever go back to Madhu Chettan’s shop it would be for the Podimeen (₹200). It was my most favorite. Avoli (₹400) and Karimeen (₹300) had their own magic. Devoured all this along with their Meals (₹50) that comes with all the bells and whistles. Ordered a plate of Kappa (₹200) to feel the Mallu vibes. Honestly, the Kappa was a better accomplishment to the curries than the rice, I would say.
Since, this was a pre-lockdown visit, we were allowed to dine-in. The Chettan gives a complimentary lemon chaaya as a finishing touch to your meal. Well appreciated. This certainly is a place for the locals to be proud of and I’m Jealous!!
Google link to Madhu Chettan’s:
Madhu Seafood Restaurant
Kanyakumari, Panvel Highway, near KVM Hospital, Cherthala, Kerala 688539 https://g.co/kgs/eN7Mh3
