Friday, December 12, 2014

Getting addicted; the ‘fooding’ experience

Street Food in Calicut


The first time that I tried, rather was forced to try this place was three days ago as I and Vinodettan went in search of some food parcels with our Gond artist friends (Everything else was closed by that time). Then after, Nanma, I and Jinu went for dinner there, day before yesterday. I had lunch and dinner here yesterday. If not addiction, what else do you call it?
‘Fooding’ here is an experience. It gives you a feeling of community eating. They have large round tables around which at least ten can sit. For me, a stranger intruding into your dining table (this often happens in small hotels) is uncomfortable. But here, for reasons unknown I was very comfortable with nine strangers around me. May be it was the night, the crowd, the ambiance, the highway alongside, the bright lights, the sharp smell that the place smells of, or may be all of it, I don’t know what.     There were conversations, jokes and much more, which brought us all to a common ground. The ‘ritual’ of an old man (that’s the case almost everywhere) trying to get the attention of the vehicles on the highway with a hotel signage in his hand is followed here as well. However, the difference is that it’s an easy job for him as he gets unnoticed against the bright light, life and energy of the place which automatically drag people in.
Dont go by this picture. Its from my phone which does not have a flash

On the first attempt, we parceled some chicken 65. However, the ‘fooding’ here is incomplete without the ambiance. So sorry, ‘chicken 65’!, you are not being reviewed. After all, there is bird flu in the air.  With Jinu and Nanma, we tried Chicken Sukka and Porotta. ‘Correction, Jinu had Baji and Porotta! Its Advent.’ All these dishes appeared to be wrong choices to me as they somehow didn’t fit to the setting. (The air smelled fried and more fried). Moreover, it was a good excuse for a revisit. And to top it up, our friend Kiran, who visited us during dinner was curious about our review.  
It was new information for me that the place is open for lunch. The lunch as such is on a low key, but the specials, as they call it, adds flavor, a lot. Mantha (Sole Fish) which was the add-on was a lunch in itself. It reminded me of the classic fish and chips. I went back for dinner at the same place despite the distance (Anything for ‘fooding’). All highway joints have certain similar dishes to offer, all fried with fried marinade topping. This joint also offers almost all of them. However, a vegetarian innovation that I found here is ‘Pavakka Masala’ (Bittergourd Masala). I got a portion parceled to be tried at home. On a second thought, to confirm the taste, I asked for a morsel. The end result; two portions were parceled. Koonthal (Squid) masala also tasted great.
By the way, this place is on the Trissur Highway ,a few meters further ahead from Thondayad junction. Trust me, you won’t miss it and if you do, you really are missing an experience.