Junior Kuppanna
Overall
4.0/5
Ambiance
3.5/5
Food
4.5/5
Service
4.0/5
Founded by Mr. Kuppanna in Erode in 1960, Hotel Junior Kuppanna has expanded their franchise to 24 outlets across 10+ cities and Hyderabad is the new entrant where it has set his foot. This restuarant basically replaces the Madras Cafe in Pheonix Towers, Hitech City. Mostly focussed on serving dinner with delicious south indian non-veg delicacies.
Getting the right buzz even before its launch , the place is owned by Mr. Andy Srinivasan , Son in Law of Veteran telugu Actor Mr. Mohan Babu. The place known for its spicy non-veg dishes didnt had to do much to make me visit them as soon as possible. The ambiance is nothing sort of what hyderbad is used to mainly in Hi-tech city premises because thats their trademark setup with pre-dominantly white and plain decor and servers also dressed in white and black which is so typical of their cuisine as well - simple and required. People who really want to relish the ambiance might not find it to their liking but as long as food delivers, I dont mind.
Chicken Lollipop - There are 2-3 items under kids menu though they are tehcnically not but thety are the least spicy dishes which can be had by kids . So on order came meagre 5 pieces of legs which were nicely done and tossed with onions. Though flavor was top notch, I felt the quantity way to low for the pricing of the dish. Not justifiable.
Chicken Pallipalayam - This is their trademark dish which is basically chicken fry made without oil and cooked and simmered with just chicken fat itself. The flavor it brings is subtle taste of chicken and the coconut slices (not grated) subdues the rich and spice of the red chillies. So inspite of having heavy dosage of red chilli seeds, it was absolutely superb. Chicken was cooked perfectly and coconut slices blended well to give that chettinad twist to it.
Kalakki - this is another simple dish - typical tamil nadu style off boil or what some of them call as bulls-eye but this one is different and is a mashed egg yolk version. Whatever said I felt this was not worth 30 Rs price label but it sufficed as a good side dish.
Egg Veechu Porotta - Anybody who is from salem/erode//madurai/trichy would know what is veechu porotta. This is unlike the paratta we get in hydereabad and is closer to rumali roti . Its just spunned multiple times to get the flakier version of poratta atta and as thin as possible and then tossed it in dosa pan to get the crispy outer texture along with egg mixed with it. This dish was totally worth it. Recommend the dish as kids completley fell in love with the dish and I could only relish the last bite.
Egg Kothu Porotta - Another erode legacy dish which has to beperfected to be again authentic and if not would be nothing but a meshed poratta soaked in salna curry with no crispiness to it. This was perfectly done and I could get the porotta taste and also the softness coming from soaking it in salna (curry). Another highly recommended dish.
Mutton Biryani (Seeraga Samba rice) - Hyderabad has already been exposed to donna rice biryani by Maa ooru biryani and I know not many relish it. This is the same version but its much more softer rice. The cooked on the button was superb and quantity was little less for my liking considering a pirce tag of 270 Rs. But as long as it took me back to my town and its way of biryani , I dont mind it. Must try. Do try it with the side salna they provide. It adds the richness to the flavorful rice.
Service & Hospitality:
Service is nothing that will make you go WOW but its typical south tamil nadu type of service and the entire crew has been brought from Erode which gives them the auethentcity towards what they serve as well but most of them seem to know telugu or hindi as well. But this needs to be improved as I know how people could be expecting these kind of details in hyderabad.
Steward Dwarakesh who attended us was very polite and brought dishes as per our order and preference and always on the feet. That is a good sign but there is always room for improvement when it comes to hospitality. I did see the owner interacting with few guests but my perspective was that he was only attending his special guests and not the normal customers which might be a dampener.
Verdict:
Hotel Junior Kuppanna, has nothing fancy to offer in terms of its location or ambiance but serves authentic erod style dishes for those who are ready to try other cuisines and who do appreciate the making style in them. This place surely took me back to my city style of eating at a local road side shop in erode or madurai (well almost) and that is a good sign which will make me go there multiple times. I say any food lover should try this place without fail.
