Restaurant Chef Pillai

Asha Pillai

1 year ago

5.0

We tried the tasting menu at the restaurant. The service was impeccable all through. Great price point as well. The sambharam pani puri is a nice touch. I would have liked some potato filling. I loved the pazham pori mixture chaat - it somehow works. The inji puli chicken was pitch perfect. The prawn and fish had a dusting of dried fish adds to the flavour. Nool parotta and appam were lovely. Beef was flavourful but too chewy. The chicken and mutton were amazing and so was the ulli theeyal. Interestingly we ordered the unniyappam falooda separately but that barely had any unniyappam and was probably the only disappointment although the husband enjoyed it. I loved the palada cheese cake.. I wish the the toddy was real. Lives up to the hype!

Bhadra Choksi

2 years ago

5.0

Unni was very helpful with his recommendations and both him and Saran provided great service. Food was excellent and portion size was perfect too.

Nilofer Ahmad

1 year ago

5.0

Amazing food!! and ambience food that touches heart in every way we were very satisfied and happy

Angela

9 months ago

5.0

Beautiful place and wonderful service. Authentic South Indian food at it’s best.

Danny Blogs @food_soldier_

2 years ago

4.0

Restaurant Chef Pillai, the brainchild of legendary Chef Suresh Pillai is where we decided to have Lunch the day before- located inside the Le Meridien Hotel, Kochi. After having gone through a lot of hyped reviews and vlogs by paid bloggers and freeloaders from the county, wanted to check this place out. At the outset the ambience is mind blowing and awe inspiring. The whole vibe is like an 'Eettillam' meets a contemporary villa. The china and cutlery were neatly arranged and I particularly admire their turquoise/ apothecary coloured damask napkins. Everything out there seemed phenomenally inviting except for two things- the Service Staff and some of the dishes. Service:- Except for one odd Steward, the whole service staff seemed or acted clueless. Body languages emanating either a sense of profound lethargy or fatigue or disinterest, I couldn't put a finger on it. Etiquettes thrown out of the window, appams/ flatbreads served into the dinner/ charger plate and not the bread/ quarter plate. My Aunt was allergic to shellfish and I particularly told the Steward not to serve her Prawns but somehow he managed to; Ohh, the list is endless to the extent that the Manager came and apologized thrice. Food:- Food is high octane fare but not commensurate with quality or portions sizes. For instance, consider the Masala Grilled Prawns priced at 1K plus- just two average sized prawns, head in, shell in, coated with spices. The shell and coated masalas magnify the size of the prawns but when it comes to the meat, it's a no go. Chef Pillai's Nirvana Fish- We ordered two of them, one with King Mackerel( Seer Fish) and the other in Pomfret; the gravy was very light creamy but I expected it to be thicker- it combines well with appam but not with porottas. Also, the pomfret was very undercooked giving it a gamey odour. Nikkah biryani was decent in portion size but I doubt it was jeerakasala rice since the grains were too broken. We also ordered in Kappa, Shappu Meen Curry, Pol Sambal Kalamari, Venad Pal Konju, Kollam Aattirachi Curry and an Octopus preparation. Desserts- I loved Unniyappam Falooda, creamy delight reminiscent of the yesteryears unniyappams and soft candies with the fusion of falooda. Mocktails- except for Kalki which is coffee and strawberry based, I didn't quite like any other Mocktail we tried including Kerala Toddy, Catamaran and a Watermelon based cooler which was an eye wash with no flavours other than very watery watermelon. It is not bad for a first time visit- overall it is mixed feelings for us.

+11

Shax Mukhthar

1 year ago

4.0

The incorporation of coconuts into almost all dishes might be something to get used to. The distinct taste of coconut in 2 of 3 dishes I tried made me search for a reason and it turned out it's a thing in the south. Some more salt could amplify the flavors and the chicken curry could be made better with the juiciness intact. All in all, it's a 7.6 out of 10.

Vipin Moharir

2 years ago

4.0

Food is very good. Service is fine. I would ve loved to eat this quality of food in a fancier ambience.

Steven

1 year ago

2.0

The food is highly overrated. The beef ularthu was horrible. Prawns was decent.

Raakeshh Nair

2 years ago

1.0

One of the worst foods i could ever have in kerala being a malayalli! The chicken was under cooked all the dishes. Fusion of foods just disintegrates the traditional taste of dishes. Very Very over hyped! The price is okay but might be heavy for some on their pockets. Nevertheless my food expectations from chef pillai were shattered to the ground!!!