A trip that was going along really well had another interesting part. We covered street food, messes , ethnic resort and now it was time for a luxury experience in Madurai. For a city which attracts a lot of Foreign tourists requires both classic or rustic and luxury hotels, that gives them an option.
We moved to Fortune Pandian on the second last day of our trip in Madurai. This was a perfect stay before heading out to Coimbatore. What they had to offer were on par with the hotels in metropolitan cities.
We checked in around 5:00 in the evening, we headed out for some local food on the streets. Once back it was something we actually needed, quality sleep after a lot of exploration. The lobby is where you first step in, you have a idol of God followed by the concerned front office , travel desk etc.
The rooms were well spaced , equipped with basic and additional needs like bathrobes , hangers , bathroom slippers, weighing machine (we actually used it) etc. It was a twin room and had the best view from the window when compared to the other hotels we stayed. The bathroom was spick and span , neatly arranged towels and kit. Minute additions like a notepad , a pencil , a few tags to conserve the environment etc.
I skipped breakfast ( had some fruits) because we had a quick lunch scheduled. Lunch again had a vast menu and a satisfying end to the Madurai food tour. We had Mutton sukka , tender mutton in a onion based masala was a perfect start. It had a good punch from the pepper. We also had a similar preparation with prawns. Another star was the malai tangdi, we were having something north Indian like after a week almost. Perfectly marinated , creamy rich drumsticks cooked in a tandoor. The podi chicken was good , but the fish was a little off tracks.
The biryani was a spectacular one , all the biryani here are made with short grain rice and are a complete different style of preparation. Loved this, we also had some curd rice to cool it down.
The desserts were a surprise, they turned out to be extremely delicious , especially the coconut cake slice. It was dense, a little chewy with a hit of grated coconut. The chocolate pudding was good as well, a little eggy texture.
Overall the final meal in Madurai was a satisfactory one. It was time to head to Coimbatore for a day, it took us 5 hours by road.
We reached Coimbatore at around 9 and we went straight to Dindugul Venu Biryani. We ordered quail roast, bone marrow curry and chicken biryani. Everything was bang on , pepper was the major spice in the biryani and curry.
Next morning , we had breakfast at Sree Anapoorna , simple yet amazing breakfast. A special mention for the ven pongal , this along with the coconut chutney and sambar was a show stopper. The ghee roast was good. The paniyaram was another great one with the tomato and garlic chutney. The sambar is pretty different and is what makes it the best.
Post breakfast the lunch was at Hari Bhavanam. This place was expensive but the food was worth it. The crab curry especially has my heart. A good sized crab with lot of meat in a peppery gravy. The vanjaram as well was a good one, fried and seasoned to perfection. Turkey and the biryani were decent , nothing great. We had some flavoured local goli sodas to go along with the meal.
It was time to head back , relax for a while and head to the airport. One final stop at Sri Krishna sweets , picked up achu peda, mysorepa and nungu rose milk. Still can’t get over the rose milk with ice apple in it. We had a halt to refresh ourselves and to beat the heat at a sharbath stall. That was an end to an amazing trip to Madurai and Coimbatore.
