Lalit Refreshment – Taste of Kerala

You better enjoy coconut if you’re going to Taste of Kerala. It’s all over the sadya, the ₹310, all-you-can-eat vegetarian meal served on a banana leaf. Here pumpkin, beans, and other vegetables are cooked in coconut in all its forms—light and heavy milk, rich cream, freshly grated, desiccated—to make avial, thoran, kootu, pachadi, erisnsery, kalan, and more. Rounding out this coconutty feast are dabs of pickles (the jammy puli inji made with tamarind and ginger is incredible), and mounds of rice with sambar and rasam that threaten to run off the frond and onto your lap. On a second visit, or with a big group, get their other staples, like smoky, sour surmai pollichathu wrapped in a leaf, and starchy kappa biryani. The space is spare and functional at best, but after a meal here, it’ll be impossible to think about this spot and not feel excited and/or hungry.