In a NUtshell:

A super popular single dish theme restaurant with multiple mix and match options – unique, interesting, must visit, efficient service, good interiors, great food.

Address & other details: Dhe puttu

Meal for 2: ₹300 onwards

Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster

Short description- in case u r in a hurry

We read about this place on the social media, then checked on Zomato and also were recommended by the gentleman driving us around town (he owns and himself drives a cab, is great at giving food tips and has general level of interest on everything – we could have a good conversation with him. In case u r a tourist in kochi, sharing his details for your reference – Mr. Abdul rashid +917594063114.)

The evening we went to this place, mr rashid was not around and we decided on ola. After 20 minutes wait we decided to try tuk tuk (auto rickshaw). Surprisingly the guy agreed to go on meter. Guess what – meter reading of ₹548 to and fro and 50 km ……. just to eat at dhe puttu!!!

We also realised that it is a very young but popular place when the autowallah recognised it at one go and also made some comments on good food there.

‘Puttu kadala’ is something we had many years back at a Kerala themed shop in dilli haat and later at a pop up stall in delhi

That’s the only combination we knew in our delhi days. For the uninitiated, puttu is coarsely ground rice, salt and water and grated coconut – all of that steamed inside a hollow (of course) cylindrical bamboo / metal container. Read a good description of puttu on the menu card of dhe puttu.

Kadala is a gravy of Bengal gram.

At dhe puttu it was not just kadala on the side but a wide range of permutation and combination of a good spread of vegetarian and non vegetarian Kerala dishes.

While most combinations were Kerala dishes, I also saw on the menu Spanish vegetable puttu, Punjabi house, vegetable chopsuey puttu, chocolate puttu, schezwan puttu etc as aberrations.

Some interesting names I spotted were Amar Akbar Anthony puttu, janapriya combo, ezhu sundhara raathrikal etc.

Lowest dish on the menu was ₹90 and highest was₹500 (this is good for 2 people with moderate appetite).

There were some non puttu sides in ‘chef speciality’ and ‘special of the day’ section – karimeen pollichatu, prawn ularthiyathu , paneer tempura etc.

Interiors were basic with some interesting fun murals on the wall.

Service was efficient and fast.

Loved the food.

Detailed description- in case u hv the time to njoy reading:

We went for the Splendour thali – it had 5 non vegetarian, 2 vegetarian, small mint lime juice, mini falooda, marble puttu !!! All in 1 thali. Never heard of anything like this b4.

We had the option to choose the 5 non veg curries from a list. We chose this:

Fish curry was outstanding. The gravy was full flavours of spices and fish , both complimenting each other. Coconut milk added to the richness and curry leaves left a mark on the dish. Rate it 4.75/5

Mutton curry had some fried onions on top which had been over fried and had turned bitter. We mixed it with the curry without realising. It obviously did not taste good. The curry was also slightly low on salt. Rate it 2/5. I think it was an execution led aberration though and you might b pleasantly surprised when they serve u mutton curry.

Beef curry was lovely. It was on the dry side. Small pieces of meat. Loved the robust flavours of the curry. Rate it 4.5/5

Duck curry was excellent but the pieces seemed a bit sub optimal. The meat seemed yob a bit over refrigerated. The duck curry at mullapanthal toddy shop was surely much better. Rate this 3/5.

Prawn curry was excellent – it also had coconut milk but it tasted very different than the fish curry. Loved the flavours and the freshness of the prawns. Texture of Iraq s was perfect as well – not easy to avoid it becoming rubbery. Rate it 4.5/5

In vegetarian we chose:

Kadala curry – that we chose as a litmus year and were not at all disappointed. It was one of the best kadala curries we hv tasted (all of them outside of Kerala though). Perfectly cooked gram, great balance of seasoning and hence the taste. Rate it 4.75/5

Payar curry was a super thick daal based dish. Simply outstanding. We licked off the bowl till the last drop. Rate it 4.95/5

Marble puttu was again the best puttu we have ever had – soft, not brittle and very nice.rate it 4.5/5

Falooda ice cream was creamy and good but too sweet for our taste. It was good though. Rate it 3/5

Squid ularthiyathu was outstanding. Super fresh squids, fried with spices. Perfect texture. Rate it 4.75/5

Dhe sharbat was a nice sweetish sharbat with strong flavours. We liked it quite a lot. Rate it 4/5.

Overall rating of food and beverages at dhe puttu averages out to 4.1/5

The food at mullapanthal toddy shop was way more rustic than the one at dhe puttu. While hardcore foodies wud dive in to mullapanthal, the spread at dhe puttu is more likely to b accepted by a wider base.

Look forward to revisiting. Highly recommended for tourists.