Onam Sadya @ Ente Keralam-Restaurant Review

Another Onam passed by.One of the most important thing we miss during Onam here is the Ona sadya.The variety of curries and savories and pickles,ah thinking about it itself is making my mouth water,and not to forget the payasams,most of the sadyas serve 4 of them!!I try and make Sadya every year with at least 1 payasam to get the Onam feel.This year though,we decided to relax and have it at Ente Keralam.

On Thiruvonam day,,along with a couple of my friends,we decided to recreate Onam festivity in Chennai,at least the Pookkalam/Flower bed part.Since almost all of us were novices,the outcome was nothing much to write home about,but we are quite proud of our effort:)

For lunch,we decided to head to Ente Keralam,one of the popular Kerala joints in the city.Dressed in ethnic Kerala attires,we were in for a shock when we stepped into the vicinity.There were hundreds of people waiting outside and all waiting for their turns.We almost decided to head back home,but what's a simple wait compared to a grand Onam sadya?

We got a table after almost a hour and a half wait.But credit has to be given to the manager who kept his cool and was very friendly,despite people breathing down his neck for their turns,including yours truly.

The sadya arrived almost five minutes later(which on regular days takes about 10-15 minutes),probably to serve more people.To be very honest,I was disappointed with the first impression.On normal days,the sadya is plated so beautifully,almost like a food pookkalam in itself.The pickles,curries and everything else causing a colour riot which soothes the eyes.As they say,you eat with your eyes first and then taste it.But here,it looked like it was done in a hurry-burry(which in reality could be the reason for the haphazard appearance).

A taste of everything and we were willing to let go the appearance and dived straight to the plate.We were quite hungry too so that could also be a reason.

As you can see from the pic above,the sadya was replete with all the regular Onam fare.My favorites were the madhura curry,koottu curry and the avial.Hungry or not,the meal overall was a delicious one.We glanced through the tables nearby and all of them were enjoying the sadya amidst serious talks about the rush waiting outside.Nobody wanted to finish their sadya in a hurry:)

Halfway through the sadya,we noticed that some of the regular sadya dishes were missing here.Like Olan,which is a main dish in sadya,instead of that there was a bowl of cut kumbalanga soaked in coconut oil which was something new to us.Also missing were Erissery,Rasam and Kichadi.But no complaints,the taste of whatever was served made up for it.

It was time for Payasam,the most awaited in any sadya.In fact,we restricted ourselves from having seconds because we wanted to have enough space left for the king of payasams and they didn't disappoint here.There were 4 payasams served.

We had a taste of each and were in a dilemma which one to finish first.Kept the paalada aside as we wanted to save the best for last:).Though we were not very happy regarding the quantity of paalada served,in reality,after the grand sadya,there's only so much payasam you can eat!!But we asked the server for a second helping and he obliged happily:)

The sadya is overseen by Thirumeni Unnikrishnan Namboodiri.One plate is priced at Rs.475+taxes.

On normal days,you can have regular Kerala Sadya,which is very similar to this.Make sure you reach there early for lunch as meals like these are best enjoyed when eaten in leisure.

Ente Keralam is situated at Kasturi Ranga Avenue 1st Street, Poes Garden and 5th Avenue, Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar

Disclaimer-This is not a paid review.I liked the restaurant and thought of sharing my experience with my readers.