PETALING JAYA, Mar 5 — A little over a month ago, I wrote about Restaurant Daawat in Bukit Bintang and its distinctive Kerala offerings, which have fast become a firm favourite of mine.
So when I heard about Chacko Restaurant — also specialising in Kerala cuisine, but located much closer to home in Bukit Gasing — I made a point of visiting sooner rather than later.
Chacko Restaurant sits just off Jalan Gasing, in a single row of shops a short distance from La Salle School.
It is hard to miss, with its name emblazoned in gold against a black wire backdrop.
The sign is very easy to spot. — Picture by Ethan Lau
Inside, the space is relatively modern and straightforward: simple, comfortable, and most importantly in these scorching times, well air-conditioned.
The menu spans a wide range of Kerala specialities. Breakfast runs until 11.30am, with options such as puttu, parotta, idiyappam, dosa and idli.
From noon onwards, mains including Kerala biryani, a selection of curries and Chacko’s signature tawa (a cooking utensil) fry items take centre stage.
In the late afternoon, snacks such as pazhampori, or Keralan banana fritters, and vadai are available from 3.30pm to 5pm.
Dinner service follows, featuring dishes like kothu and kizhi parotta, prawn moilee and fried rice.
Between a choice of threadfin and seabass for the Elayil Pollicha Meen, the latter is slightly pricier but it does offer more buttery flesh. — Picture by Ethan Lau
I visited for lunch with a good friend, with our eyes on two things in particular: the Elayil Pollicha Meen (RM33 with seabass) and the Lamb Kerala Biryani (RM27).
The first is Chacko’s rendition of meen pollichathu, a Keralan dish I’ve come to love since first trying it. In Kerala, it is typically made with pearl spot fish covered in a thick masala of onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and chillies, then wrapped in banana leaves and cooked, sometimes over a tawa.
Here, you are given a choice between threadfin and the slightly pricier seabass. I would encourage opting for the latter, as the firm texture of seabass stands up better to the moisture-filled cooking inside the banana leaves.
The result is moist, buttery flesh with skin that is slightly chewy in a pleasant way, complementing the smoky, warm and gently tangy masala.
The second dish was biryani. Most people, myself included, tend to think first of Hyderabadi biryani.
Lamb Kerala Biryani comes with pickle, ‘raita’ and a ‘pappadam’. — Picture by Ethan Lau
It is arguably the most famous variety, to the extent that the city of Hyderabad is often treated as synonymous with the dish.
Yet India offers many regional interpretations of biryani, and in Kerala, the defining style is Thalassery biryani.
Its main distinguishing feature is the use of kaima rice instead of the more conventional basmati.
It is also characterised by garnishes of cashew nuts and golden sultana raisins, and is usually served with thairu and pickle on the side.
At Chacko, basmati is used instead, though cashews, golden sultana raisins and fried onions are scattered throughout.
Beneath the rice, pillowy, perfectly cooked chunks of lamb deliver tender, melting richness against the light, fluffy grains, sweet and fragrant from the spices and garnishes. Slather it with cool raita or punchy mango pickle to cut through the fat.
The vegetarian meal is a lunch staple, and comes with three types of vegetable dishes, pickle, ‘pachadi’, ‘rasam’, ‘sambar’, ‘mooru’ and ‘payasam’ to finish. — Picture by Ethan Lau
For a more classic Keralan lunch, the Vegetarian Kerala Meal (RM17) is the right choice.
It comprises a serving of ponni rice, a medium-grain variety popular in South India, accompanied by rasam, sambar and mooru, a yoghurt-based curry, along with a rotating selection of vegetable dishes and pachadi.
On my visit, this included a cool cucumber pachadi, a dry and chunky avial with moringa, a green bean and potato mixture, and thoran. The most compelling element, however, was the mango pickle, sharp enough to make me pull a face with every small spoonful.
The only thing left was to bolster the meal with another protein, and I opted for the Chicken Pepper Roast (RM25).
Chacko’s chicken pepper roast was the most fiery thing we tried for lunch. — Picture by Ethan Lau
What arrived was a heap of chicken pieces cloaked in a dark, fierce-looking masala, with chunks of tomato and chilli peeking through.
Despite its appearance, the dominant note was the floral, pungent character of black pepper.
Rich, chunky and fiery, it went down easily with more rice than I had expected to eat for lunch.
By the end of the meal, the sweet, rich payasam felt not just welcome, but wholly necessary. Safe to say, I may have found a Kerala fix that doesn’t require crossing town.
Chacko Restaurant
27, Jalan Chantek 5/13,
Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily, 9am-9pm.
Tel: 011-2779 6073
Instagram: @chackorestaurant
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
* Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and occasionally self-deprecating humour.
