Arena Café at Kadavanthra is mostly crowded when football fever hits the roof. Shifting their focus from sports enthusiasts, they are ready to welcome steak fanatics prior to Xmas.
“We are promoting some unique steak and grill platters which combine elements from Continental and Indian cuisine. Nevertheless, if you prefer classic cuts, you’ll still find options,” says executive chef Shyju Chummar, whose menu features 19 dishes including Cheesy fried chicken steak and unorthodox options like Curried cottage cheese steak.
Pile it on!
While letting the chef choose his best for us, we ask for a rather uniquely named dish—trail quail, in the desi grills section. Keeping the idea of a satiating main course in mind, trail quail includes two birds (with hariyali and tandoori marinades) on the platter, which is served with butter naan and a thick and buttery lababdar gravy. As the quail is difficult to debone, thanks to the meager amounts of meat, I drop the knife for a more ‘hands-on’ approach.
As Shyju sticks to his ‘one-meal-per-platter’ philosophy, we indulge in more red meat specials. Cut into the beef fillet (served with mashed potato, sauteed ve, gies and bread made in-house) and you see that it retains the jus from the glazing.
Forgo the store-bought French fries and bite into the honey-glazed pork rib (with pepper sauce dip) which goes from slightly sweet notes to a spiciness that tickles the back of the palate. Vegetarians, here’s the deal you shouldn’t miss. “We use an in-house mix of Madras masala to marinate our paneer steak,” says Shyju, as we try it with a tomato dip that is reminiscent of chutney.
Till December 23.
At Olive Downtown.