Had a very horrible experience at Kumarakom Velachery and have never stepped foot there again. Posting for benefit of all mallus and non mallus alike so that you dont waste your time hoping for an authentic feel good experience of Kerala.
I went there during lunch the week before Onam hoping to have Onam Sadhya with my friend(whom I had invited to get a feel of Kerala on Onam!).
The food was prepaid - 300 per head for the Sadhya - and we paid at the reception which is outside the eating area. Then started the worst experience and service I have ever encountered at ANY restaurant in Chennai
Ambience - The minute we stepped in, the first thing that struck me was "HOW DIRTY IS THE PLACE" - Pictures posted. Judge for yourself. There were dirty dishes on most tables which had not been cleaned up. Spilled food on the floor and seats and the whole place reeked of spilt Sambar and Curd. Needless to say, my appetite had already gone for a six. Still having paid and feeling really hungry, me and my friend decided to continue with our lunch.
Service - We sat on the cleanest seat we could find - which was an achievement in itself. And waited. And waited. And waited. After 5 minutes of this pointlessness, I waved to a waiter and asked him to please clean the table in front of us. Surprise surprise - he refused to! I said "How can we eat on this? There’s still leftover food from the last customer" and he says "Sir cleaning will take time. At least half an hour!". In all this time, nobody came to take the order for the meal coupons we had. After 10 minutes of this foolishness, I finally stood up and asked the Tie wearing attender at the door to get me the manager.
Management - A bossy looking person arrives and says he is the manager "What is the problem?" I explained that all me and my friend wanted was to eat - but if he could please get the table cleaned so that we dont feel disgusted while eating - He says "Sorry sir. I can’t do it now. It is lunch hour". I said "Yes I get that, but I can’t eat in such a filthy environment"(I am not even a fussy person) and he calmly says - "Sir food falls on the table and floor all the time. We will clean only when the restaurant closes. If you want, you eat else don’t eat". I said "In that case, I can’t eat here". He says "Ok, but we can’t refund anything. It is prepaid". I had to argue for fifteen minutes before I was finally given my money back.
Needless to say, not the kind of place I would ever like to visit or eat at. If the importance to hygiene is so less where it is visible, I shudder to think what goes on inside the kitchen!
Definitely not recommended. I wonder how they pass food safety regulations!.