CREAM STONE

Cream stone, copy of Cold Stone, this place was a crowd puller when it was introduced.  So ths place basically serves you an icecream with toppings which are so badly smashed that you won't realise they exist when you eat the icecream. I have mostly had their chocolate one, but I just don't find it good enough to substitute cream stone with my favorites like Naturals and Baskin Robbins. The chocolate flavor is not so good, and I feel no matter what you add to it (brownie or chips), these toppings will not compensate for the average taste of the basic flavor. The smaller size is priced at Rs 100 and a bit larger at Rs 150. They have very limited options with flavors and I think they should innovate with flavors and improve on the taste. 

 

KINGSBAY

I visited their new outlet on the bypass road around 1 km ahead of HiLite mall, and the other one is located at the Customs road near Kozhikode beach. The newer one has a really good ambience but I guess it cannot occupy many people. We were in a group of three girls and it was my birthday, which unfortuntely comes up on Sundays. This place was heavily crowded and we had to wait in the non-AC compartment for around 10 minutes till we finally got a table. The walls have cartoons painted depicting fishermen and their catch, ans I feel that's what their best at, seafood. I have tried their pastas, fish kebab and some chicken dishes, one that I remember I guess was Palak chicken. Pasta was just fine, though with a good amount of cheese, Palak chicken was good but nothing could beat the fish kebabs. I have heard a lot about their prawns as well, and will surely visit again to try them. Their service was very slow and they have very few options for desserts, so we decided we will visit some other place for a sweet treat and as they might more time to serve them. Overall this restaurant has been good.

CHIC KING

They have several chains at different locations in Kozhikode and the one I visited was next to RP Mall or Lamiya Silks. We all know that is an Indianised version of KFC, but I guess many like me would prefer KFC over Chic King as there is no difference in the pricing. I have tried both Veg and Chicken combos and I am not sure if it will fair to compare the taste with those of KFC. One thing I would want to alert people about is the garlic paste they serve, that it not only tastes bad but I have strong doubt that it's mostly stale. Everything else was less flavored but spicy and I feel their Veg stuff is as good as or better than that of KFC. I have a friend who travels really long just to visit Chic King as he finds everything they serve very unique and tasty. I feel the appearance and presentation of the food here is less appealing and I also found this outlet to be not that clean. The interiors are dull or could have been better to attract the children since they form a good part of customer group of such chains.

BBQ FACTORY

After shopping in HiLite Mall till late, we had limited options to have a good dinner. Just like what happens when you are in huge group of friends, we took nearly an hour to converge to BBQ factory. At some point the group got divided into two, where one part chose the newly opened Just Cafe and the other BBQ factory. One of our friend who had already tried BBQ factory had warned us that having dinner here would be like throwing Rs 700 into a pond, and that's nearly what happened. Even after our friend's rants, we decided that no matter what comes out let's try it ourselves. 

All were non-vegetarians except for one, the starters in non-veg included chicken wings, chicken kebab, fish kebab, prawns and mutton seekh kebab. In veg, starters were mushrooms, pineapple and paneer ( don't remember exactly). I did'nt try the veg starters, so nothing to say about the veg food, but on non-veg I have alot to say. The seekh kebab was dry, not cooked properly and nearly stale. The prawns were not at all cooked, tasteless and indigestable. Fish was cooked fine but wasn't marinated well to taste good enough. Rest of the starters, chicken wings and kebab, were just fine. Initially they served us a small paratha, some tiny cutlet (don't remember what exactly it was) and some sweet crispy potatoes. All these were good but the crispy potatoes were just awesome and we asked for them several times during the meal.

Regarding the main course, the salads were awful with worst one being coleslaw. The main course had chicken biryani, mutton curry and crab curry. Biryani was fine, mutton curry was again not up to the mark and crab was stinky enough to drive you away. In desserts, you had gajar ka halwa and some spice (I hope I heard it right) icecream, gajar ka halwa was dry but the icecream was good. One of our friend also complained about the food here to the manager but he didn't seem to be accepting the facts. Overall I feel this place needs alot of improvement.

WHITE HOUSE

While returning from a trip to Thusharagiri Waterfall, we came across this place somewhere 15 kilometers from our campus and that is when we realised there are few good restaurants on the other side as well, that too at almost the same distance. At that moment, during Ramadaan, this was the only place open in the evenings on that street. One of our friend was vegetarian, so we placed an order the only Veg curry available and some parothas for him. For others we ordered again the only thing that our server recommended, Mandi. Their staff was very friendly and they approached us several times for coffee or tea. We finally ordered coffee and since we were drenched after hopping in the waters of Thusharagiri, the coffee was soothing. Though the Mandi was highly customised with carrots, cabbage, chillies and cucumber, even then I felt it was good. The chicken wasn't bad at all, but many found that it wasn't well cooked. The portion size was large and even though we were five of them we had tough time to finish up. According to our vegetarian friend, he also enjoyed whatever he had. I didn't take any picture of the interiors or the restaurant, but it is a just small and simple restaurant. The pricing is also quite reasonable.

BROAST

Again a restaurant close to our campus, known for their Chicken Mughlai, Gobi Manchurian and Chicken 99, located opposite the main entrance. It has space for families on the mezannine floor and ambience is dark with normal chairs and tables. Sometimes even this place is crowded, especially during weekends. The food quality isn't great and most dishes are over flavored and highly colored. The serving size is large and again the price is reasonable. I am a person who discourages wasting food and I think at such places it is important to question the server about how many people can each plate serve to avoid wasting food. Broast has been favorite for many for an after exam meal when you are too tired to travel to city and when you feel like hogging without thinking too much after several sleepless nights and incomplete meals. The staff is friendly, they always serve with a smile and of course are quick. One issue with this restaurant is that is closes during afternoon (around 2.00 pm) and opens, I am not sure at what time.

SANGAMAM

Sangamam, how can you be a student of IIM Kozhikode and not speak about this restaurant, the most popular among the students. The only 24/7 I have come across till now in Kozhikode even if there exit any other. This place is very useful for students of our campus, since as owls you tend to get hungry anytime at night. Even though we have our own night canteen open till 3.00 am, yet this preferred over NC by many students.  I was very hesitant to enter this place for the first time, but my friends are always available to make me comfortable anywhere. They serve freshly made aloo puri, appam, parothas, chicken dacunto (weird one! but not sure if it spells like that), chicken garlic, and not to forget the most famous prawn masala. Sangamam is preferred by smokers, as they say that lemon tea which is extremely sweet gets along well with a smoke. The guy here at the cash counter often gets offended if we speak in Hindi, but provides free candies to us. I have also visited this place during exams when you are awake late night, and this is the only place available for tea after 3.00am, but I don't enjoy their lemon or regualr tea as no matter how much you request they yet add very large amount of sugar to it. I haven't had much of their food, but if you are someone who prefer healthy and quality food with less oil, then this is not the place for you. Sangamam also serves the taste buds of foreign exchange students from our campus who mostly belong to France and enjoy eating spicy food. The price is extremely reasonable and service is too quick.

TAAZA

A place, though just next to my institute, I have visited it mostly alone. It has also served several times as my fuel (biryani) station, if I feel lazy to travel to city, even though I don't enjoy their biryani much but it seems to be the best in Kunnamangalam. Some of their beef delicacies such as beef chilly is really good, but none of the other things on the menu are anything different. Service is good but extremely slow during Sunday evenings, due to large crowd which mostly constitutes families. This place has a very simple and dark ambience, but this place has been comfortable for me among all the restaurants in Kunnamangalam. They hardly have any options for vegetarians and those that exist aren't good at all, and this forms the reason for my friends not to visit this place much. I came across many of their chains on my way to Wayanad but haven't found another one in around Kozhikode city. It is located next to IIM Kozhikode main entrance with Ojin bakes on the other side. On exterior it looks huge and gives you more expectations but I feel the interiors can be improved, and also the menu card.

HAJI ALI

Haji Ali, known from Mumbai to Dubai, I have heard a lot about this place but I am not sure if the one in Kozhikode belongs to the same franchisee.  Located again at the beach road, next to Punjab di Rasoi, this place is known for its falooda's, even though they serve juices and icecreams. I visisted this lace with my mom and dad and we tried three faloodas : Rose, Dry Fruits and Mango. When we asked one of the servers about the ingredients or difference in each flavor before ordering, he just pointed at another table where a family was sitting and had ordered all flavors and said " Mango aisa dikhta hai, rose woh pink wala hai aur dry fruits woh dusra wala", both my family and the other one started laughing. The contents were just as that of a regular falooda with some nuts, vermicelli, tiny pieces of fruits, basil seeds and lots of sugar.

Even though I agree that each restaurant, state, city and even country has its own version of falooda, this one is good but not great. Since it is the first Haji Ali Juice Centre I have visited, I expected something different but they were just regular faloodas with a taste which can be found in many other restaurants. 

ZAIN'S

Located at the beach road, Zain's restaurant appears as some house from outside that is painted in red. Mostly a lady or an aged couple sit as the cashier, who I guess are also the owners. I have visited Zain's several times and always alone. I have tried all their Chicken and Prawn biryani, though both have similar taste yet both are really good. The portion is large, but I never doubt my capacity when it comes to biryani. Biryani is like fuel to me, and Zain's many times forms one of my preferred fuel stations. Biryanis are served with the traditional coconut chutney, pickle and raita, which you may not prefer if you are used having hyderabadi biryani.They are also known for their traditional snacks but I have tried them, I have als heard that they serve some great delicacies during Ramadan, unfortunately I missed this opportunity for the second time.

Families mostly occupy  the compartment inside and they also have a prayer room. The ambience is very simple, you feel like you are served at someone's house. The price is very reasoable, staff is very friendly and service is quick.

LIGHTHOUSE

The signature Arabic cuisine restaurant in Kozhikode, located behind Downtown cafe at the bypass road. This restaurant beats every other restaurant when it comes to ambience, but i must say we saw cobwebs around and mosquitos didn't stop biting us till we left this place. We ordered Falafel, Dips (Hummus, Mutabal, Babaghanoush, Garlic sauce), Chicken Kabsa, Mixed Grill, in refreshments we ordered Polo, Shamam and some 4-layered cocktail, along with turkish coffee.

We had no complains with the refreshments, falafel, mixed grill (though it could have been better, especially the Arayes) and the dips but I found Chicken Kabsa not up to the mark. The khubz were also not like the way I expected, neither soft nor fresh. The portions are large and I think you should question them how many it serves before ordering anything or else you will end up wasting too much food. The prices are I feel are on a reasonable range.