I rarely start a blog post by talking about the service at a restaurant.
But, the two members of front of house staff at the newly opened Koottaan Curry Club in Cathays were so warm, knowledgeable and enthusiastic that we ordered dishes from the menu that we wouldn't haven considered. And they were glad to big up the authenticity credentials of the food served by their all-Keralan team.
In fact, with front of house staff this passionate, it puts Koottaan in a good place to weather the storm of opening a restaurant in the most challenging of times for the hospitality industry.
It helps that Koottaan’s cooking is delicious too.
With another branch in Bristol, which is currently closed for "a brand refresh, refurbishment and menu development," Koottaan also appears to have links to Cardiff's Mint and Mustard, Chai Street and Mattancherry.
On the menu are plenty of familiar Keralan dishes, including lamb and fish curries, chicken 65, biryanis, and idli with sambhar.
But there’s quite a few dishes that we haven’t encountered before such as mutta roast - “a sumptuous twist on eggs”, pal kappa beef – “blending the hearty essence of cassava with creamy coconut milk”, and the eyebrow raising porrotacos – “a creative fusion that blends the concept of tacos with Kerala’s beloved parotta”.
A pair of recommended soft drinks set the tone for the new flavours we encountered during the meal. Narangha Sharbath (£3.50), was like a Keralan version of Sasparilla, combining a sweet syrup made with a herbal root and the zesty contrast of lime soda.
Kochi kanthari (£3.50) was as savoury a soft drink as it gets. Made with tangy yoghurt, fiery birds eye chillies, fragrant coriander and soda, it was a bit like a watery, salty, spicy and fragrant lassi. I don’t think I could have drunk a whole one but I’m very glad to have tried it.
Pazham pori beef fusion (£12.95) was deliciously different, combining crisp and golden slightly sweet plantain fritters served with an earthy slow-cooked beef roast curry that packed a good hit of chilli and plenty of fragrant curry leaf and coconut. It was a lovely balance of semi-sweet and savoury.
Now, if you’re like me and you live for kothu parotta, the king of comfort food dishes, then you absolutely need to make a beeline for Koottaan’s kizhi parotta (£12.95). A silver parcel cocooned layers of golden flaky parotta, which was crisp in parts and soft in others from its soaking with curry sauce.
In between the layers of parotta were big flavoured tender beef and chicken curries, a spiced omelette. For good measure, it was then topped with pieces of crisp battered chicken 65. This dish was essentially a reconstructed special kothu parotta and I’m 100% here for it. I can also recommend frying up the chopped up leftovers the next day to make your own homemade kothu.
Our final plate, chatthi choru (£12.95), was a smorgasbord of Keralan dishes, including vibrant mango and creamy coconut chutneys, tender beef and chicken curries, potently fishy sardine fry, masala omelette, crisp poppadoms, and chicken 65.
It was a good dish, but it didn’t hit the same level as the other two we ordered, in part because there were so many different things on the plate that it was hard to find a focal point and also because of the huge amount of Keralan matta rice on the plate compared to the curries.
Armed with leftovers, we sadly didn’t have room for dessert. I guess I’ll have to go back to try Koottaan's compelling sounding gulab jamun brûlée.
Whilst there’s a wealth of southern Indian restaurants in Cardiff, I think it’s fair to say that Koottaan still manages to bring something different to the table. With their unique Keralan cooking and passionate front of house team, it’s a new restaurant which is well worth checking out.
The Details:
Address - Koottaan, 93 Wyeverne Rd, Cardiff CF24 4BG
Telephone - 029 2025 0000
Kerala taste gets rebirth in West 😍
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