Towards the End of MCR

Among the major roads of Kerala, Main Central Road (MC Road) has a major place, officially known as the State Highway One. Built by Raja Kesavadas, Dewan of Travancore and starting from Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram and ending at Angamaly where it joins the National Highway 47 from Kanyakumari with its end at Salem. As the very much traveled road ends at Angamaly, there are a few restaurants which I would like to recommend during its last few thirty-fourty kilometres of its journey.

As you go past Muvattupuzha from Koothattukulam, you are into the last thirty five kilometres of the journey through MC Road. After you leave the town, the first interesting restaurant that you reach will be at Pezhakkappilly, the Aaryas Food Court which will cater to your vegetarian needs. There is a wide variety of special dosas and the menu is quite an interesting one. Tea is available at all times including noon, and the varieties of Paneer there have been among my favourites.

The closing of Indian Coffee House at Pezhakkappilly has been the most depressing thing for me. I used to go all the way there just for the food at ICH, but unfortunately, all that is lost to us now. But Aaryas is there, and there is enough parking for some cars while the rest can be parked a little bit away from there on the side of the road. A former vegetarian restaurant there has also been restarted there, and if I remember the name correctly, it was called Hotel Paragon Park, and that is also a good restaurant.

This kind of setting was also there for the restaurant mentioned above.

This kind of setting was also there earlier for the restaurant mentioned above.

You get more restaurants when you reach Perumbavoor. Saravana Bhavan is right there keeping the quality as usual as you enter the town. It should be the vegetarian restaurant which I have visited the most number of times, and Poori Masala and Paneer Masala Dosa there have been my long time favourites. Just after this restaurant, there is Hotel Woodlands which is a smaller, but nice choice at cheaper rates. Aryas Dosa Corner is there near the main junction; but the location makes parking here more difficult than around the previous two.

After the rush in the Perumbavoor town is over and you go on, you will notice Ammu’s Dosa Corner on the right side, just opposite the Saint George Latin Catholic Church. The food is cheaper here, and there are many varieties of dosa here – you might want to try a few types. After that, you can have food from Annapoorna which is a standard place for people who return home after the church mass. For non-vegetarian, there is Honeydew restaurant which is only a few metres from there. The last two provides a lot of parking area.

As you go past Vallom and reach Okkal, there is Kerala Food Court has the best Appam I have had for quite a long time, and the Poori Masala as well as the dosa items are good too. The place has a lot of parking available, and it is a comfortable place which is very neat. This restaurant is my latest find in that route. Then you reach Kalady, and there you have the Indian Coffee House which will make the right choice for food as usual. There is also an Aaryas restaurant right beside it.

Another Indian Coffee House is there inside the Little Flower Hospital which I am yet to try. If you are going to stop at Angamaly town, there is the Rassam restaurant inside the KSRTC Bus Station which is a fine place for having some nice vegetarian food. Another Indian Coffee House is there inside the bus station, and there exists a Saravana Bhavan in the town too. Well, these are only a few of my favourite places, and it is certain that there will be no shortage of good food during the last stretch of Main Central Road!

When you go through MC Road, you will know that this church has its own Redeemer.

When you go through MC Road, you will know that this church has its own Redeemer.

***The images used in this blog post were taken by me on my Samsung Cybershot DSC-W310 and Samsung Galaxy Duos.

TeNy

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Possible Food Programs

It has been only a few months since I returned to the town of Perumbavoor, and I would still want to share my favourite places of food here. These places are the most frequently visited bakeries and restaurants during my short stay here. There haven’t been that much food programs as in Aluva, but there are always those movies and with the days at the theatres come the food from outside. Still, missing Anna-Gowri and Surya Restaurants or the Navya Bakers (http://www.navyabakers.com) of Aluva comes with it.

1. Honeywell Restaurant: The bakers attached with this place is fine and I have had something from there now and then, but my attention has been more on restaurant. What interests the most is the Beef Biriyani there, and the Ghee Rice itself is nicely prepared. I would choose the one here as the best Beef Biriyani I ever had, and it is a big challenge to my hopes to stay vegetarian most of the time. It is on the way to Kalady/Angamaly from Perumbavoor, and just after the Saint George Catholic Church and the Annapoorna Vegetarian Restaurant on the left side.

Navya Bakers brings the need to travel to Aluva and watch movie there.

Navya Bakers brings the need to travel to Aluva and watch movie there.

2. Maria Bakers: This was a discovery we made while travelling to Kothamangalam, and on the way, just about two kilometres from the town of Perumbavoor, this place is on the right, exact opposite of a petrol pump and between workshops and tyre works – a good choice to have tea and snacks from here if your vehicle needs repair. The cutlet and puffs are among the best, and the green laddoo here is very nice. Also check out for the special thengalapaal murukku and kuzhalappam here which comes from Thodupuzha – and another mention for the tea.

3. Orma Food Court and Woodlands Restaurant: Just on the side of the KSRTC Bus Station, Orma is the best choice around that area, and therefore I have chosen the place for food whenever I arrived at the bus station there – as far as I can remember, not many restaurants flourished at that place, but Orma does because of its bakery-restaurant combination and the nice Beef Fry. Meanwhile, if the choice is vegetarian, I would just walk to the Main Central Road, and choose Woodlands Restaurant which has nice Poori Masala and a fine Masala Dosa. It is a smaller and nice option.

4: Kumar Bakers: This one has always been there, and has been my first choice to buy cutlet whenever I passed through Perumbavoor. I have been to three branches of them at Perumbavoor, and the two on the Main Central Road are close to each other, one on the right side just after the Kalady Junction and the other on the left side of the Oushdi Junction, while travelling to Angamaly/Kalady. I have my tea and cutlet on the former, but parking a car might be a problem.

Ceecee Bakery has had a long "cutlet" relationship with my childhood.

Ceecee Bakery has had a long “cutlet” relationship with my childhood.

5. Ceecee Bakery: Ceecee Bakery is a big name in the bakeries of central Kerala, and I can remember those large number of cutlets and puffs that I had from there when I was a kid. After a short break, it has come back to Perumbavoor, and this time, it looks even better; situated on the way to Kalady/Angamaly from Perumbavoor, one the right, just after the Oushadi junction. I have visited nine branches of the bakery if I remember it correctly. Ceecee has a long history, and even when we were at Aluva, their branch near Cochin Airport was common choice for us. Here are more details: http://www.ceeceebakery.com/

Along with these options Saravana Bhavan is always there and Zaina Food Court is also a fair option. Shree Aryaas is also not much different from the former, but is without almost any parking space at all, which is applicable to the latter too. Annappoorna is another option. I would give a special mention to a closed Aarya Bhavan and the Indian Coffee House that hasn’t been here since its shifting long ago. The closest ICH is at Kalady, and it is also the quickest from here considering the fact that the same restaurant a few kilometres before Muvattupuzha has disappeared. ***All the images used in this blog post are from the websites of Navya Bakers and Ceecee Bakery.

TeNy