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We ate out once or twice in Cochin, it was always fresh and lovely although fairly expensive by Indian standards but that's because it's a tourist town.

Most of our holiday was spent in Thekkady/Periyar and the restaurant we pretty much lived in there was the Ambadi restaurant - that was fab. I took a photo of the menu too as I'm a real saddo like that, thought it would help me to remember all the lovely things we ate!

During our visit to Cochin (Ernakulam), we ate at Ambiswamy’s Vegetarian Restaurant, M. G. Road. This was fast food Indian style. I ate a masala dosa that was very good and crisp. The fare offered included paper dosas, ghee (clarified butter) dosas, onion uttappas, idlis, vadas, chapattis and parotas, all delivered with amazing efficiency and speed.

We also tasted the Kerala lunch next day.. It was very authentic traditional one. Local guy we met there told that it taste like Home made food.

If we want to savour the real Kerala, these small food joints are real place for that.

Tasty, Hygenic and Damn cheap also .. The real Authentic Traditional mouthwatering Kerala vegetarian dishes in a hygenic environment.

If you happen to go to Ernakulam/cochin,
try eating at Bimbis you'll get to eat a variety of Indian food.
Kerala is famous for its sea food,coconut based curries and snacks like puttu,which is a steamed rice dish served with chickpeas masala.
Rice hoppers called idiappam is also a steamed dish.
Pazham pori is plantain coated with batter and deep fried.
Meals are usually served on a plantain leaf accompanied by a dark coloured water boiled with herbs and cumin to aid digestion.
Pal payasam is a sweet rice pudding.The Kerala Parotta is a layered bread served with a peas curry.
These are some of the specialities.
The vegetables are mildly flavoured, not very spicy but cooked with a dash of coconut oil and curry leaves.
Banana chips is very popular.
The spice markets, old Jewish towns, Bolghatty palace and the chinese fishing nets in cochin are sights not to be missed.
Colourful cotton clothes and coir based handicrafts are available.
Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Hi
We went to Kovalam in Kerala in April and it was fantastic. Some of the restaurants do pander to the tourist a bit (ie chicken tikka masala!) and we found that the ones that look a little bit less "posh" were the ones that had the best food. There are some like the German Bakery etc. that are trading off their name rather than the quality of their food.

We found as well that the restaurants with the owners standing out front had much better service - they wanted to give you a good meal and for you to enjoy it. They are very friendly people!

We also did an overnight stay on a houseboat (about a two and a half hour drive from Kovalam but well worth it!). The food was great - traditional Keralan food and plenty of it.

Have a great holiday (very envious!)

Thank you we are looking forward to going and trying a new culture and cuisine. Do people tend to eat early there? It sounds amazing. Did you do the rice boat? Apparantly a chef cooks on the boat whatever he catches that day.

Hi Kerala is fabulous for fresh seafood and vegetarian food. If at a beach location, eat early as the fish can be on display under hot bulbs from 6pm onwards -not always best in a hot climate! Yes - wine is VERY expensive, and most areas have local alcohol bans in place for drinking in public bars etc. Most avoid the ban by hiding their beer bottles in newspaper and serving it in large pot mugs!! Enjoy your time there - it is fantastic!!!!

Hi not been to Kerala - but it is a close neighbour of Goa ... where wine is 'relatively' expensive - but you can get a good bottle for about £8 ...... brandy is probably about 10p a shot for the local (and v nice) 'honeybee' brew .... hence 'relatively' expensive for the wine.
Don't be put off by beach shacks - try them - you'll be amazed at the quality of the food .... enjoy !