Jakob's Kitchen - Khadar Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam

 Jakob's kitchen 

28/18, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai 600034

1:45 pm on the clock and still hadn't eaten my lunch and in comes a call from none other than "singh is king". He invites me to have lunch at Jakob's kitchen. Just when i thought it was only drizzling and didn't need a jacket, the rain intensified and was nipping all over the body. The whiff of the earth (mann vasanai) was kindling my hunger more. Reached at 2:35 pm  and as I opened the door, the pleasant smell of spices filled the air and our man was already seated at a table. Joined him and quickly scanned through the menu in haste without showing interest. I knew the man I was sitting with is a pro and who knows Jackob's kitchen menu like the back of his palm. Whether to go for the meals or ala carte was sorted and ala carte won.
I realized this one thing, if you know what to order in a particular restaurant, your experience would be very good. If not it can go either way

Ambiance: Quietly tucked away inside a premises on KnK. The board is now hidden behind other big sign boards of other establishments. The place has nice seating arrangements and clean atmosphere. The western music for a typical south indian resto sounded out of place. Some ilayaraja numbers would have elevated this experience to the next level

Service: Was very impressed, the fist soup came in less than 10 minutes and all the dishes followed one after the other as and when the ones on the plate got over. The timing was perfect and when the boss (Gudduji) is around nobody makes a mistake. Cold mineral water in the glasses were refilled without asking, empty bows cleared without hinting - sign of attentiveness and worth the 7.2% service charge

Food:

Nandu rasam 115/-: Hot piping soup with crab meat was spot on, the marbly, grainy crab meat was yumm and the pepper was teasing your throat and crab smell was filling you with excitement. I recently had nandu rasam elsewhere and it was literally rasam with nandu into it. You need to cook the crab first add the water and necessary spices and simmer it for a while that's when the real seafood taste seeps in

Javahar jaloor parota 160/-. Jaw-lure ing string hopper type soft parotta with mutton kheema stuffed inside and presented like a puff served with some kurma. This was more of a goduma dosa creatively crafted like a net filled with flavorful mutton kheema curry (would have liked it more crisp and some chopped green chillies added to the batter to make it spicy). The gravy was an absolute delight.. all the spice proportions were perfect and you get into the 3 finger slurp mode. Pure indulgence when especially piping hot gravy is served over a tender banana leaf

Aapam 60/- with the same gravy: Appam was crisp and brown on the outside and soft in the center with that whiff of yeast. This is gone in a few seconds and you ask for one more :)

Annakili meen kozhambu 200/- and white rice 75/-: Boneless fish steamed and cooked in the tangy gravy. Tanginess was less and when it mixed with rice became bland (they should add more tamarind to this dish) and set it aside for a day (nethu vacha meen kozhambu), liked it inspite of it falling short - you know what I meen

Mannpanai meen kozhambu 210/-: Made up for whatever was missing in the above dish, this was super spicy stuff and tanginess was right.I hope this goes well down south tomorrow morning

Elaneer payasam and hot halwa: Both the dishes were a perfect ending to a very fulfilling and satisfying lunch experience.

I felt aapam's price per piece was a lill high as one wouldn't fill you but at 15/- extra the rice is very filling

Its very rare that during the close of summer,you get to such a weather in Chennai.And your mind craves for some hot spicy stuff to eat anytime of the day

So if the weather did the trick, the food was magic and I wish Jakob's aroma/Jackob's kitchen be renamed as "Jackob's heaven" as perfect tribute to a man who left a mark for himself through his culinary skills par excellence

... a slice of south tamilnadu