Lunch at Erode Amman Mess

The man had dinner on his own at the newly opened Erode Amman Mess, and thought I would love it too. I like Indian food, but I'm very picky about it. I know what flavors I'm looking for, and the best part, I can really tell if a kitchen can cook! LOL For a non-Indian person, I think my tastebuds understand the different flavors from different regions. This restaurant specializes in Tamil cuisine from Kongu Nadu. 

So we toddled in for lunch. We arrived at noon and got in the queue (they took our names, and we waited to be called) for a table. It was searing hot at mid-day. But we were prepared to queue and to sweat it out. The restaurant's air-conditioning is weak against the humidity and 34dC heat. Even the lime-soda didn't come with ice-cubes. I didn't understand that. Ah well. 

I took the vegetarian thali lunch. Podi was offered too. I skipped the pickles. The choices were delicious. Sambar was available, but only at lunch. Sambar doesn't appear at dinner. The man also added on fish curry and mutton chukka, and sigh... 'Japan chicken'. Yup, I rolled eyes at that. 

The man was babbling about some 'Japan chicken' at the outlets in India and wanted to try it here. 'Legend' has it that some Japanese tourist wanted a non-spicy chicken, and the kitchen conjured up a dish of chicken seared, and had cashew gravy drizzled over it. 'Japan chicken' was born. So the dish looked creamy-white. I took a piece to try. Ermmm...that's a hard pass for me. It tasted so weird. No odd Manchurian dishes or chicken of any sort of me. 

The portions weren't too huge for two persons. Just don't over-order, like stick to two extra dishes instead of three. The fish curry used belt-fish, which made it really tasty. The mutton chukka was a total winner. I loved it! Tried the rasam — it's the too-thin sort that one drizzles over rice. I asked for it in a cup. Ahhh. Their rasam isn't the thicker tangy sort. Erode Amman Mess was totally worth the wait (and the sweat). I'm totally coming back here again at lunch. I can't do dinner, it's wayyy too filling.