Succulent Saturdays Installment
I love to visit small tea or coffee stalls. The price is nice (maybe Rs. 5 for a much smaller portion) and the feeling of these small places is unique as compared to hotels and fancy coffee shops like Barista. Sure, you may, as a tourist (or even as a person who lives in India), but weary of the hygiene. But, the good news is coffee and tea is made from boiling water, so the water is fine.
Last time in Kochi, we went to a small tea stall in the city near to MG Road. But, this time, as we walked around the neighborhoods, as we had leisure time, we noticed this small place called Gosreepuresh Coffee Café. So, we went inside. We had coffee. The owner there asked us (in Malayalam) how strong we like it, and he made it accordingly. And, the next day when we went, he remembered our preference and made it accordingly, again. It was tasty. On the second visit, we also purchased some snacks from the shop. Fried and salty snacks were very tasty.
Since this was just about all the information I had, I requested my father in law to make a trip there for a morning meal and collect information on the place, so I could know more and share it here!
“Gosreepuresh Coffee Cafe, located on the Palliarakavu Road in Mattancherry, Kochi, is a pure and pure family affair. The place is run by Mr. B. Bhaskar Prabhu, his wife and father-in-law. They are a Saraswat Brahmin family, locally called Konkanis. So, unlike the "family restaurants” which you will find throughout the length and breadth of Kerala towns (which means it is open to families or having special cubicles for families to sit together), this one is the real family cafe - run by a family having homely food. They do not serve lunch or dinner as is the case with many restaurants, but only serves snacks, coffee and tea with special traditional Konkani dishes thrown in once in a while. The items of snacks are Dosa, Idli, (with sambar and chutney), Puttu-kadala, Uppuma, Puri-sak (potato curry), chapatti, samosas, vadas, etc. during morning and evening hours. Once every Friday they serve Chole-Bhatura. The main special dishes once in about 10 or 15 days are Cucumber-dosa, and a dish called Rontas - a mangalorean dish made of rice powder (like puri) with sabji. I am yet to taste these.”
See this place on wiki maps. It is spelled Gosripuresh Coffee Cafe. On the right of the temple is a straight road, drag it down this road, near Mattancherry Town Hall.
Part 8 in series: Kerala 2007