THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One of the oldest existing restaurants in the capital city is back with an extra punch. Kerala House, an old landmark, reopened after a three-month renovation on Monday. Mayor K Chandrika declared the restaurant open at a brief function attended by Health Minister V S Sivakumar. Established in the 1980s, the restaurant at Statue soon became the place-to-be for many of the familiar faces from the political and cultural circles of what was then a small town. ‘’I started off with eight workers, but I never thought of establishing a venture like this,’’ says K M Kunchappan, who arrived in Thiruvananthapuram from Kuttanad in 1975 armed with a bachelor’s degree. ‘’Now I am very happy and satisfied because wherever I go, one or two people will recognise me because of the restaurant,’’ he says. In its heyday, Kerala House was witness to many a turning point in Kerala politics and also a place of serious discourse of eminent writers. Initially, the restaurant functioned in a rented house adjacent to the present building. He got the premises after the tenant, a Russian tourist who had been in town for a while, moved out, Kunchappan said. ‘’I struggled a lot during the establishment time, the main problem being trade unions. I even thought of closing down everything, but my friends dissuaded me from doing so,’’ he says. Renowned personalities like Paul Zachariah, Kanayi Kunhiraman and M G S Narayanan were frequent visitors here, he says. The late Sukumar Azhikode was another person who had a personal contact with the restaurant. Coming to the food, main chef Thankachan is quite eager to put a word in. ‘’Our special dishes are ‘meen pollichathu’ and ‘ginger chicken’, you won’t get to taste anything like these anywhere else in the city,’’ he says. Even ‘Lonely Planet’ and ‘Rough Guide’ mention these specialities of Kerala House, Kunchappan adds.
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