Hotel Maris, Cathedral Road, Gopalapuram

It’s been ages since the last blog has been updated on the site and I haven’t posted any after that. Many events took place in 2019 and the writing got delayed. Here I am with the blog on Hotel Maris that’s right opposite to Madras Music Academy. I have been to this restaurant only once, sometime around 2011/2012 and have never visited it since then. We found the right occasion last week (with the family of course!) and I was strict that I have to try something other than New Woodlands & Sangeetha. This was my obvious choice and we made it for dinner.

Location – https://g.page/hotelmaris?share

It was a Friday evening and there were hardly 15 people in the restaurant. It was that time of the year – “December Music Festival” and hence the entire crowd was present at the Academy. A small number of the audience make their way to the restaurants nearby whilst the rest find their way to the Sabha Caterer who has put his stall for that particular season. We were lucky to spot “Singer Sowmya” with her family and some other violinists.

We scanned through the menu and went back to our usual template-ish order – Starters, Rotis, and Main Course.

VAZHAIPOO VADAI – INR 75/-

We started off with this item. My dad is a huge fanatic of any “vada” irrespective of the name/size it comes in. We ordered and it was good to our liking. The plate has 3 pieces and we 4 shared it across. The chutney that came for this item was good and the sambar was out of the world. I didn’t expect it to be that good but it just blew my mind. The sambhar was so good that I almost forgot the chutneys that came along with the vada. This is highly recommended for their sambar.

KEERAI VADAI – INR 75/-

Both Vazhaipoo & Keerai vadas came alongside and this was surprisingly good. The plate had 2 pieces. But it is what it is. This was good and it had the right ingredients at the right mixture. The chutneys tasted better with this vada but my favorite was the sambar. It kinda revitalized me. If you can look past the price, give it a try.

TOMATO SOUP – INR 80/-

The one item that’s always present in all dinners no matter whatsoever function is going on. We ordered 2 by 4. The soup had bread crumbs and it tasted better than some leading hotels. Without any pepper / salt, I had the plain tomato soup and relished it. It had some butter mixed and the taste was great. The quantity was good enough for 1 person. I felt this was a bit overpriced.

STUFFED KULCHA – INR 80/-

My dad was the odd one out with Butter Naan. We had stuffed kulcha. It was less oily and I liked it. The stuffing was totally filling and it tasted good. The kulcha was 1 piece cut into two and it was sufficient was for 1 person. Though kulcha is made of Maida, the stuffing literally made me go gaga about. I didn’t find even a small amount of oil in the kulcha per se, and the stuffing was so good. It tasted better with Paneer Kofta. Highly recommended.

PANEER KOFTA – INR 155/-

I am trying this dish after a long time, say about 10 – 15 years. I am a fanatic of Paneer and hence I wanted one side dish to be paneer based and hence this dish. It had 2 kofta balls and they were damn good. It seemed as if the kofta balls can be consumed as it is and that it didn’t need the kulcha or pulao. The quantity was good enough for 2 to 3 people and it was satisfying for the price. This is a must try if you are a paneer fanatic, who ain’t a fanatic for paneer now?

STUFFED CAPSICUM – INR 155/-

I am a fan of all the stuffed sides for Kulcha / Naan except eggplant. I ordered stuffed capsicum and it had one big capsicum nicely cut into two and the stuffing placed inside. The capsicum looked like it was standing in the middle of a pond – the pond of masala. Priced on par with some medium budgeted restaurants, this was good and it jelled well with both the kulcha and the pulao. I would suggest you to try this only if you like capsicum.

KASHMIRI PULAO – INR 165/-

I wanted to try the sweet pulao for long time and this was rightly in their menu. The pulao had vegetables, cashew nuts, dry grapes, and fruits. I can hear you scream – Enathu pulao la fruits ah? . I liked it and felt that it needs no side dish like the kofta and stuffed capsicum. Just the pulao and the raitha would do. A bit overpriced but a must try for explorers.

I paid the bill and it was INR 1080/-. Thus our Friday dinner ended and we made our way home.