The Gateway Hotel didn’t really have any kind of package dinner, so I just went to the restaurant and ordered off the menu. The restaurant had a lovely atmosphere, though. The view looking out over the whole city was great too. And the food was excellent.

The tables look like this

Kind of classic.

The entrance

It has an open feel.

Inside

The guests further in looked like they were having some kind of company dinner.. and there seemed to be a family gathering too..

Kingfisher

As usual, I ordered a Kingfisher, which I’d enjoyed before.

Salad

Madurai Kari Dosa

I saw there was a “Taste of Madurai” section on the menu, and this was at the very top of it, so I ordered it. Having come all the way to South India, I had to eat South Indian food. But it was more ordinary than I’d expected, so for the next dish I asked the waiter for a recommendation. This waiter was fun; he said he watches Korean dramas, and that he’d enjoyed The Uncanny Counter, or something like that.

Kari Sukka

This one was delicious. The spices were used just right, so you could taste the quality of the meat, and it went perfectly with a drink. It really seems the more fresh spices go in, the better the South Indian dish. They call it curry, but it’s not the curry we know; it’s more like a nikomi, a stew – that is, meat simmered with spices – and it got me thinking that “curry” is really just the name we gave it, and that in reality every dish made with the strong spices grown in South India is a curry.

New Zealand lamb chops

This was tasty too, thanks to the good ingredients. The price wasn’t that high either, which was nice. They seem to know what they’re doing.

This is chicken curry

I’d asked the waiter, and this time a chicken-based dish came out.. Ah.. but the taste was almost the same as the lamb.. Of course I could tell it was good, but I’d been hoping for a recommendation of something a bit different.. Maybe the young waiter was a little short on sense..

Negroni

I’d finished the beer, so I tried a cocktail, and it was decent.

Fish and chips

Given the British history here, I ordered it once, and while it wasn’t outstanding, it was fine. I suspect the difference in satisfaction comes from fish being harder to distribute than meat.. Inland, it’s probably best not to go ordering fish dishes casually..

Anyway, having eaten well like this, I went back to bed.

The view on the way back

Quite old-fashioned..

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