Munch N' Madurai: Restaurant Review

It's been a while since I've had South Indian (yes, that is a bit of a broad generalisation) food and I'm not very familiar with it either, so I decided to try Munch N' Madurai out last week. Located in Ngara, at Mellow Heights, I first came across it when I signed on a new client in the same building.

I passed by to pick up a menu, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Munch N' Madurai served non-vegetarian food (and Punjabi food too). I know it sounds weird, but I've never been to a South Indian restaurant that serves non-veg before. Since I knew I'd be frequenting the building two to three times a week, I planned to go on a specific day last week, and my cousin (of News Cafe review fame) came with me. We went to the restaurant at 2:30, and being a weekday, it was relatively empty.

The ambiance of Munch N' Madurai is very low key- think booths and a cafeish vibe.

Now, I'm really not a lassi person (which is weird, I know, being Punjabi and all), but that really doesn't extend to mango lassi, which I love. So yes, before embarking on a Madurai adventure, I had some good old Punjabi mango lassi- and it was really good!

(No picture, sorry! Forgot my DSLR and also somehow didn't take as many as I usually do on my phone.)

I don't always tell a restaurant when I'm doing a review there- it depends on what sort of experience I'm expecting. However, this time, the owner was in, and seeing as how I'm completely new to non-vegetarian food of this cuisine, I needed some recommendations. In hindsight (20/20 right?), I should've also asked her to explain the background of the dishes and a little more about the cuisine. Oh well, next time!

For starters, she recommended the Poricha Meen Fillet. I'm not sure what type of fish the fillet was- perhaps tilapia? I liked the flavour of the fish, but it was a little dry, having been overcooked. It had a nice amount of spice, and I would try this again. Extra tasty with some lemon on top!

Poricha Meen Fillet

For the main meal, I ordered the Chettinadu Pepper Chicken with punjabi phulkas, and my cousin ordered the Koli Chukka Varuval (chicken) with tandoori rotis. Both the chickens were gravy style and boneless.

Another first for me- I love the flavour of pepper and have had pepper flavoured dishes many times, but never an Indian curry. I was very pleased with my pepper chicken- it was well flavoured and soft, with a strong pepper flavour that managed not to overpower the rest. Some restaurants are very happy to add lots of oil/ghee, which this dish didn't have, thank goodness! The phulkas were soft and a nice accompaniment to the dish. I forget what the leaves used are called (limri maybe), but I've experienced dished that have them, and they can't be eaten but need to be filtered out. The ones in this chicken were cooked to just the right amount, so they could be eaten. Warning: If you can't tolerate spice, don't order this! 

Chettinadu Pepper Chicken

My cousin's dish, the koli chukka varuval, was nice too. A little milder than the pepper chicken, the predominant flavour for this one was tomato- but in a nice, spicy way, rather than an overpowering the dish, acidic way. While the tandoori roti's taste was good, it was a little odd and non-tandoori roti-ish.

Koli Chukka Varuval

The only thing I had a slight complaint about was the service. While the owner did give us recommendations and then ask how everything was after we were done, our waiter neglected to check on us during the meal. Also, I don't know how great a job he did of cleaning our table after its previous occupants left, as there were flies buzzing around, and I finally had to call him over to ask for a candle. 

However, the food was more than worth it, and I'm looking forward to try what else they have on their menu. 

What did you think of this review? Reach out to me on Facebook or Twitter and let me know! 

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— The Kenyan Nomad (@TheKenyanNomad) April 28, 2016