When a restaurant is named Junior Kuppanna, you are bound to hear a lot about it in the cyber world and otherwise. The words that I often heard describing this place were "wholesome food", "homely food", "honest stuff" and the like. The cuisine here is from Kongunadu in Tamil Nadu. So one weekend afternoon, with the cousin's family in tow, we headed to Junior Kuppanna. We entered the restaurant at prime time lunch hour on a Saturday and should honestly not have been surprised at how packed it was. Despite which, some of the things that came to our immediate notice was that the service seemed really efficient - tray loads of food were going forth all the while, someone from the staff would definitely come forward and ask how many people were to be seated, a time was being given to everyone and by far, almost everyone got seated in order.
We waited for around 15 minutes on the first floor, before we were called downstairs and seated there. Since we had already checked out the menus we knew exactly what we wanted. We started with two orders of Chicken chukka, followed that up with an egg based soft paratha (around 6 of them, which BTW were so good that 6 were no where close to enough), a chicken nati curry for the kids, a non-vegetarian meal for me, a mutton biryani, a mutton nalli gravy.
The Chicken Chukka had a brilliant dry masala in which the chicken was tossed and fried. The curry leaves gave it that added level of yumminess. The only grouse I had with this dish was that the chicken pieces were really small and cut in an odd way. We ended up chewing more through bones than through meat.
The mutton biryani was preceded by these three bowls - two of a mutton gravy and one of a boiled egg with a spicy tomato chutney of sorts on top of it. Dipping your finger into the gravy and the chutney while you wait for your biryani is not going to help satiate hunger pangs though... they just get your tummy going.
This was the serving of the mutton biryani - this is available in half portion as well and when this came, we wondered where this was the half portion, since it seemed small for a large one. But in the course of eating we clean forgot to find out. The meat in this biryani was really nice, but in itself, I did not care much for it. The rice was unevenly cooked and that's what went against it.
The chicken nati curry was really nice and on request it was mildly spicy since it was for the children. The pieces here were cut well and the meat more accessible. A good one for the kids and of course for the grown-ups at the table as well.
This was by-far the highlight at the table. These egg parathas were soft and we just could not get enough of it. We ordered 6 and then got a few more. Its one of those dishes that you can go on eating while you are waiting for your food to come and with your food and at the end of it as well.
This was my non-vegetarian limited meal. That little handi of rice, I shared with Anoushka. In the katoris was a chicken gravy (2 of them), mutton gravy, a bangda curry, 2 dry vegetables, rasam and curds. Except for the fish, am not sure of the chicken and mutton gravies were meant to have meat in them. I got a few odds and bits. The bangda gravy was brilliant with a tangy twist, but I personally don't like bangda (yes, am a bad Mangalorean!), so ate the gravy and donated the fish to the table at large.
The mutton nalli gravy was another great order on the table. The pieces were generous and the meat really soft. With the egg parathas, they made the perfect accompaniment. Spice levels too were balanced.
We ended on a sweet note with a round of payasams all round. You know it was good when Anoushka downed an entire bowl without complaints.
In all, this was a great meal, especially when you are with family and looking for one of those sumptuous yet not to expensive meals. This meal for 7 came to around Rs 1500 which is really good. Service is as prompt as it can get and you will not be disappointed. The menu varies slightly for lunch and dinner, so if there is something you want and you don't see, then ask for it. Despite the rush at the resto, the good thing is that you will not be hurried out of your seat. You may have a few people watching you while you eat hoping you will finish soon, but by now, most of us would have developed a level of immunity to that. The toilet on the first floor is clean.
Address: 34, 5th Cross, 5th Block, Opp Nandana Grand Hotel, Koramangala, Bangalore
Phone: 41697073
Cuisine: Kongunand, South Indian non-vegetarian
Wallet factor: Rs 500 for 2
Wallet factor: Rs 500 for 2
Parking: Pray hard to the traffic gods!
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